Praise ye the Lord. I will praise the Lord with my whole heart... Psalm 111:1
At one point in his life, this psalmist had been to the lowest pit of life. He had rolled around in the filth of his depravity. He had floundered in the loneliness of broken relationships. He had walked through the valley of the shadow of death. He had known defeat. But this day was different. When the sun rose on this particular morning there was a different feel in the air. Instead of begging for relief, he was basking in blessing. His cup wass full and running over. The winds of time had driven the darkness out of his life and had ushered in a season of praise. He breaks out into a psalm of praise that the sweet Holy Spirit preserves in the Word of God.
He gives thanks for several things, but there is one thing that has caught my eye as I read it. He says, The works of the Lord are great. Everything the Lord does is great. When looking at His mighty work in creation you have to say, The works of the Lord are great. When thinking about His deliverance of the children of Israel from the oppressive hand of Pharaoh, you have to say, The works of the Lord are great. When giving thought to the mighty victory over the Philistine giant, you have to say, The works of the Lord are great. When thinking about the fire on mount Caramel, you have to say, The works of the Lord are great. When you think about the Hebrew boys being saved from the fiery furnace, you have to say, The works of the Lord are great. When you contemplate His feeding of the five thousand, you have to say, The works of the Lord are great. When you think about the way God sent Jesus to redeem us from the curse of sin through His shed blood on Calvary, you have to say, The works of the Lord are great.
If the Lord is great in all of these circumstances, will he not be great in your life? If He raised the dead, can He not send salvation to your family? If He kept the barrel full for the widow, can He not send bread to your table? Many times we are quick to give up on the Lord because He is not moving in our time. Remember, the works of the Lord are great. Let the Lord move your life in the direction He wants it to go in. Allow Him to have control over the things that control you. God is a great God and He wants to do great works through you. Just remember as you go through life listening to the scoffers and mockers, the works of the Lord are great. Then you can say like the psalmist, Praise ye the Lord. I will praise the Lord with my whole heart.
