God hears you!

Ye that fear the LORD, praise Him; all ye the seed of Jacob, glorify Him; and fear Him, all ye the seed of Israel. For He hath not despised nor abhorred the affliction of the afflicted; neither hath He hid His face from him; but when he cried unto Him, He heard.-Ps 22:23-24

I didn't purposefully find this scripture this morning, but as I looked towards Ps 23, my eyes fell upon this portion. I read it several times. What an awesome promise! The psalmist commands us to praise God and glorify God if we fear Him. Truly God is worthy of our praise! He is worthy to receive glory! In fact, the word tells us to give unto Him the glory that is due to His name!

Check this out... These verses are connected by the coordinating conjuction "for." This suggests that we should not allow afflictions to close our mouths to His praise and giving Him glory. Time and time again, the New Testament books include information on how to carry yourself through afflictions because they will surely come. In fact, Jesus closes His classic Sermon on the Mount (Matthew 5 - 7) with the importance of grounding yourself in the Word of God. How do you ground? You hear and do what Jesus said! Many of us only give mental assent to the Word they are hearing, but in order to have a strong foundation that will withstand anything, you must read it over and over, listen over and over, and lastly, do it over and over! These are the things that moves you from mustard seed to great faith. Hearinng and doing the Word of God causes your roots to anchor and grow deep. Deep roots is similar to concrete foundations that anchor large and tall buildings. The Word of God calls you Trees of Righteousness! And not just any kind of trees, but Oaks! Oaks are known for being strong & lofty & beautiful! Look at God! Don't you feel better just hearing that? Praise God!

So praise God! Glorify God! No matter what you're going through. The verse continues that God deos not hid His face from the afflicted person. He hears the cry of the afflicted! When you praise through affliction and trial, those praises are special to God! Those praises and offerings of glory tell God you trust Him no matter what you're experiencing! You see, God knows what those praises are. He knows where they come from. He knows the depth of the affliction. He knows how strong it is on you. He knows what it took for you to open your mouth and give Him glory in the strange land. In the hard place. Those praises and offerings of glory are actually sacrifices that come from the broken spirit and contrite heart. Afflictions attempt to close our mouths to praise and open them to release complaint, offense, and speak the situation. However...we will not do that! We are going to praise the Lord at all times.* In every circumstance. For every reason, and no reason at all! So, your praise in the place of affliction is speaking something to the LORD God that opens His ears. Know that your deliverance is on the way! Our afflictions are working on us, in us and for us! Hallelujah!

May this be light for you!