“My soul shall make its boast in the Lord; the humble shall hear of it and be glad (Psalm 34:2).”
We have spoken before of the soul’s makeup involving the mind, will and emotions. The act of praise and worship is a total soul involvement. The Psalmist declared his intention to “bless the Lord at all times and to have praise always in his mouth (Psalm 34:1).”
Praise, then, is a cooperation of mind, will and emotions resulting in visible, audible or vocal adoration of God. The mind assumes the stance of faith and declares to the emotions and will that it is a viable thing to do to worship God. This declaration of the mind is not without documentation. While the mind is yet without God, worship seems to be among the most foolish of exercises. Once God has gifted the soul with faith, the mind, under the power of the Spirit of God, is changed. The life of God in man’s spirit touches all the faculties of the soul and there is a dramatic shift. Foolish things become wise and viable. With the new birth there is a new thinking system, a new sense of emotion and a new response of the will.
All through the Psalms David and others record their intentions to worship with their whole beings, declaring that it is comely, proper and rewarding.
No stated intentions are more focused than our text: “My soul shall make its boast in the Lord.” In this procedure the mind brings the matter to the table, the emotions add their “amen” and the will prompts the expressions of “boasting in the Lord”. There are times when the order of the worship experience shifts with the emotions leading the way. There are other times when the emotions seem dulled or passive and the will leads the way, pressing the emotions to join the party. To wait on the emotions may be costly to the worship experience as our feelings are often incarcerated by the atmosphere of an area or attitudes we have contacted during the way. While the emotions furnish a rewarding experience, we often must proceed without them with the mind’s knowledge or the will’s strength.
Since our relationship with God is a spirit-to-Spirit experience, God’s Spirit in us stirs the whole conscious being -- the soul -- to engage in worship. The result is loving God “with all our heart, mind, soul and strength (Mark 12:30).”
Nothing affects our environment as powerfully as “boasting in the Lord”. The immediate result is that others will hear and be blessed, “The humble shall hear of it and be glad (Psalm 34:2b).” Gladden your world today; let them hear and see your praises. Say it with me:
“Today I will make my boast in the Lord; Those around will hear and be glad.”
Closing note of interest: This document was composed while the author’s emotions were on a brief vacation and were not in registered attendance while mind and will were considering the issue of worship. At the end emotions were detected hesitantly returning to the room.
JRT
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2 comments:
Jack, Kathy and I are so grateful for your prayer for us last night at Northwood. Compensation for injustice. Every time we have seen you over the past 15 years it seems that we have had need of a word from God. Each time he the word He has given you have been 100% accurate. The first one was at a Baptist Church in Irving Tx in about 1996. We were experiencing some unusual spiritual attacks from executives of a large company we worked for. We had discovered that they were involved in the occult. We asked you to pray for us, expecting you to ask God to remove them so we could work in peace. Instead you prayed for us to be removed. We were shocked. Within a few short weeks we were out of there by God's own hand. Everytime the word has been counterintuitive and, fulfilled. Once more the word you gave us last night was unexpected. We will continue to pray for you and watch your schedule for further Dallas Ft Worth visit. I like Eph.2.16 in the Amplified...For we are God's [own] handiwork (His workmanship), R4 recreated in Christ Jesus, [born anew] that we may do those good works which God predestined (planned beforehand) for us [taking paths which He prepared ahead of time], that we should walk in them [living the good life which He prearranged and made ready for us to live]. We enjoy your blog. We have been interested in this subject since reading Jesse Penn Lewis on the topic. God bless the two of you.
Outstanding blog and we miss you in Mobile! God bless you Brother!
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