Let my mouth be with THY PRAISE and THY HONOUR all the day long.

" I will PRAISE the name of GOD with a song, and will MAGNIFY HIM with THANKSGIVING.

This also shall please the LORD better than an ox or bullock that hath horns and hoofs." Psalms 69: 30,31

This past week I was again reminded of how much the LORD is pleased when we put away murmurings, discontentment and discouragement from our lives... 

Oh, that we would fill our lives with songs of praise unto our God and offer thanksgiving to the Lord for all His love towards us. 

You  know, discouragement, murmurings, discontentment flees from us when we sing.  And we all have reasons to be thankful.

" Bless the LORD, O my soul, 

and 

forget not all His benefits." 

Psalm 103:2

Thinking upon this hymn this morning... may it encourage your heart.

REVIVE US AGAIN

author:William P. Mackay

We praise Thee, O God!

For the Son of Thy love,

For Jesus Who died,

And is now gone above.

Refrain:

Hallelujah! Thine the glory.

Hallelujah! Amen.

Hallelujah! Thine the glory.

Revive us again.

We praise Thee, O God!

For Thy Spirit of light,

Who hath shown us our Savior,

And scattered our night.

All glory and praise

To the Lamb that was slain,

Who hath borne all our sins,

And hath cleansed every stain.

All glory and praise

To the God of all grace,

Who hast brought us, and sought us,

And guided our ways.

Precious Father, May our hearts rejoice today and bring before you our sacrifice of praise and thanksgiving out of a pure heart.  

May you be encouraged to think upon the Lord's goodness to you and offer praise to the One who deserves all glory and honor.

~Ellie

The GOODNESS of GOD leadeth thee to repentance...

"Oh how great is Thy goodness, which thou hast laid up for them that fear Thee; 

Which thou hast wrought for them that trust in thee..." 

Psalm 31:19 

Reflecting on God's goodness and love this season... and reminding myself how much the LORD has done for me. 

A sinner saved by grace.

It is enough to trust my heavenly Father for all things. His grace is sufficient.

The LORD is my strength and song, and He is become my salvation...

THE GOD OF LOVE POURED FORTH HIS GRACE

The God of love poured forth His grace

That we today might give Him praise.

So let us sing aloud with joy,

And honor God in all our ways.

Not one good thing does God withhold,

His steadfast love is all we need.

No, nothing do we find to lack,

When His commandments we shall heed.

Have we indeed shown forth our praise,

In lives reflecting of His grace?

Have we forgotten how to walk,

To love our God, to seek His face?

O, Lord before Thee now we come,

It is enough to know Thou lovingly shall guide,

Thy hand, so good, so constant and so kind.
Shall keep us close and near Thy side.

Yes, our God does pour His love on us,

That we might in His sight be clean.

All dross and filth removed from us,

A perfect work, complete within.

~Ellie 12/3/2014~

May you reflect on God's goodness, mercy and love shown to you today.
Ellie

How shall we sing the LORD's song in a strange land?

" For there they that carried us away captive required of us a song..." Psalm 137:3

This morning as I read psalm 137, I immediately thought, " What can I learn from this psalm today. It's so difficult to understand. "  My attitude was one of  a deep sigh. I wanted something easy to understand at the moment. Something that was plain and simple... with words that would immediately encourage me and give me the strength I needed for the day. I even thought to jump to the next psalm. Surely it would be more promising than the one I read...

Do you ever get the same thoughts as I do? Where you want to skip over a section ... because "there's nothing there"?

Ashamed, I went back and  started re-reading the psalm. Surely God's WORD never fails.

As I began to meditate on the words I was reading, the LORD in His mercy brought food for my soul. There was  a treasure I had quickly read over and completely missed the first time around.

Is it possible to sing a song ... in a strange land? In moments when held captive? Do we opt for "hanging up our harp" because we feel sad and helpless?

" We hanged our harps upon the willows in the midst thereof..."

Psalm 137:2

Do we cry and weep when we remember moments in our lives when "everything was well"? Do we give up and forget God's goodness to us...

Such was the case with the Israelites... such is the case with us today. Woe to us if we forget God's lovingkindness...

" If I forget Thee, O Jerusalem let my right hand forget her skill.

If I do not remember Thee, let my tongue cleave to the roof of my mouth.

If I prefer not Jerusalem above my chief joy...."

Psalm 137: 5-6

And so  I was deeply encouraged by a Psalm I had "given up" on. How grateful I was to God  who opened my eyes... to see my need to sing a song of praise... even in the midst of adversity. And to prefer Him above all chiefest earthly joys.

Thank you Lord... for your patience with me... and for steering me  ever so gently to see the light.

Never hang up the harp...

And may you be encouraged today to lift your voice on high and praise the LORD with your whole heart.

~Ellie

 

 

You are the GOD of heaven, not?

" Praise the LORD; for HIS mercy endureth forever."  2 CHRONICLES 20:21

While  meditating on the 20th chapter of second Chronicles, I was deeply touched at God's provision for His people. Even when the people were in the midst of fear from their enemies, God was merciful. At first glance, victory over the enemy was quite impossible... the numbers were against them. How often I find myself in the same situation... fearful in the hand of the enemy. But God reminds us to be still. He will fight for us... and win the battle!

In my thankfulness to God, I decided to jot down a poem of sorts. He is the God of heaven, is He not? He can do ALL things!

YOU ARE THE GOD OF HEAVEN, NOT?

*

When everything around us seems to sway

And fears arise within our hearts.

We see our strength can sometimes falter,

From many swift and flying darts.

*

And thus we find ourselves no longer strong

With things that come and cloud our way.

Amidst it all we lift our eyes on thee O Lord,

And bow accepting what ever may.

*

You are the God of heaven, not?

And in Thine hand is there not might?

We cry to Thee and Thou wilt hear

For we by faith shall live, and not by sight.

*

In our affliction Thou art always near,

You ask  of us to  just be still.

In truth , salvation comes from Thee,

And so we kneel and  bow before Thy  will.

*

You have  a plan to rescue us

Thy Word is true, we can be strong.

"The battle is not yours, but mine."

O Lord forgive, for we've been wrong!

*

We praise your name, O Lord

Our way's  established from all ill

To Thee be glory, praise and honor 

As we abide before Thee still.

*

In Thee is victory indeed,

Our battle has been won.

We put our trust and hope in Thee

To find all  fear is slowly gone. 

~Ellie 5/6/2014

May you know the God of heaven and rejoice that we have victory  through Him.

~Ellie

Praise Ye the LORD... Praise the NAME of the LORD.

 "Blessed be the NAME of the LORD from this time forth and forevermore." Psalm 113:2

These past several weeks my husband and I have been reading through the Psalms. We like to read  the BIBLE in order, it's something we've always done. So throughout our marriage we've read the Bible from Genesis to Revelation a few times. But I am always blessed to see how the WORD of GOD is always new... there's always something new the LORD reveals.  If only we have ears to listen.

While reading through the Psalms this time around, I've especially noticed how God desires that we praise HIM. Many, many psalms start out by exhorting us to praise  GOD'S HOLY NAME.... urging us to give thanks to God: " Praise ye the Lord. O give thanks unto the Lord."

And why should we praise HIM?

Because HE is GOOD ... and HIS mercy endureth forever!(Ps. 106:1). That's enough to praise HIM all day long!

But can we praise HIM all day? I mean, even when we are going through trials, or when discouraged? God says we can... because we are to give thanks in ALL things. But not of our own strength. For when we are weak HIS strength is made perfect in us.

I know it's hard to apply a thankful attitude and to have praise on our lips even when... deep in hurt, deep in discouragement, deep in pain, deep in loneliness, deep in abandonment. But He is our strength even when our flesh and heart faileth! Psalm 73.

Blessed be HIS name, for:

" HE raiseth up the poor out of the dust, and lifteth the needy out of the dunghill."

PS. 113:7

And God doesn't just stop there:

" That HE may set him with princes, even with the princes of HIS people" 

Isn't it beautiful where He places us? Oh, that I might praise HIM in ALL things!

Today was such a beautiful reminder for me. To PRAISE HIM... ALL day long. I don't know about you , but when I take a hymn and sing, I find my heart at peace. There is something that happens when we sing a song of praise to our GOD almighty... it brings wonderful peace.

And today this verse in Psalm 113:3 made me aware of praising GOD even more so than before.... because He desires praise... for our good and HIS glory!

" From the rising of the sun unto the going down of the same the LORD'S name IS to be PRAISED."  

May you praise our Heavenly Father today... trusting that HE is at work even when we are deep in discouragement or when we are full of joy.

~Ellie

Who is so GREAT a God as our GOD?

" Your righteousness, God, reaches to the heavens, you who have done great things. Who is like you, God? "  Ps. 71:19

After reading Psalm 77 this morning, I stopped a bit and reflected on the verse that asks the question, " Who is so great a God as our GOD?" vs. 13. I meditated on God's power seen in everything around us... the nature is full of HIS glory. And I also reflected on HIS faithfulness to HIS people.... throughout all generations. OH, how true... there is none besides HIM!

Before stepping out to face the day, I began singing a few words of praise to my LORD... before long I thought the words went so well, that I took a pen to jot down my thoughts in free prose. In a matter of minutes I wrote a 4 stanza song as a praise to GOD... who is the only one deserving of our praise.  May HIS great power be enough for us today, for HE carries us in the palm of HIS hand.

O, LORD you are mighty 

O, Lord you are great 

 You are the only one

 Deserving of our praise

****

Your hand always protects us,

You guide us on our path,

To keep us from all ill

And satisfy our hearts.

***

O, LORD you are gracious,

O, LORD you are faithful,

Your mercies never fail

We honor you today.

***

Thank you Lord Jesus,

For dying on the cross

Redeeming us forever

To thine eternal care. 

~Ellie 3/13/14

May you know how GREAT our GOD is today... HE can accomplish anything that comes your way.

~Ellie