Shalom,
Psalm 48 starts out this way:
1GREAT IS the Lord, and highly to be praised in the city of our God! His holy mountain,
The first "great" is the same word we saw yesterday in Psalm 47:2. You can see that the meaning for the Hebrew word, "gadowl" is: great in any sense, mighty, exceedingly great in magnitude, in intensity and in sound (meaning LOUD!). The word "greatly" from the KJV or "highly" from the AMP Bible is the same word translated "very" from Psalm 46! If you recall it is the Hebrew word, "me`od", which means: vehemence or vehemently, wholly, speedily, diligently, exceedingly, greatly, mightily, utterly, abundantly and with "muchness"! We REALLY liked the fact that THAT is how our God "helps" us in our time of need! Are we as excited about the fact that THIS is how we are to praise Him! DAILY! That word translated "praise" is the Hebrew word, "halal". Remember that it means to boast, to celebrate, to rave, to make a show of and to be clamorously foolish about the Lord! Verse 10 says this:
10As is Your name, O God, so is Your praise to the ends of the earth; Your right hand is full of righteousness (rightness and justice).
That word "praise" is the Hebrew word "tehillah" that we saw before, which means: laudation, admiration, praise and thanksgiving. Our praise to and of Him should equal the greatness of His Name in our lives! Now that may seem like an impossible thing to do, but remember that we have the Spirit of God living in us and ALL things are possible with God (Mark 10:27) and to the person who believes (Mark 9:23). Don't worry about "arriving" there. Just start and let the Holy Spirit flow through you!
In Acts 20 we see Paul continuing to preach the Gospel, teach the Word and minister the Life of God. Do you ever think YOUR Pastor goes on too long? How would you have liked to be in a Paul meeting? Verses 7-12:
7And on the first day of the week, when we were assembled together to break bread [the Lord's Supper], Paul discoursed with them, intending to leave the next morning; and he kept on with his message until midnight.
8Now there were numerous lights in the upper room where we were assembled,
9And there was a young man named Eutychus sitting in the window. He was borne down with deep sleep as Paul kept on talking still longer, and [finally] completely overcome by sleep, he fell down from the third story and was picked up dead.
10But Paul went down and bent over him and embraced him, saying, Make no ado; his life is within him.
11When Paul had gone back upstairs and had broken bread and eaten [with them], and after he had talked confidentially and communed with them for a considerable time--until daybreak [in fact]--he departed.
12They took the youth home alive, and were not a little comforted and cheered and refreshed and encouraged.
Don't put God in a 21st century box! Allow God to really BE God! Want to see signs and wonders and miracle like that? Be prepared to stay a little longer in church! Don't become bored with the Word of God. Remember that He confirms His WORD with signs following (Mark 16:20)! Get where the Word is being preached and taught boldly, confidently, uncompromisingly, precisely and accurately and fully EXPECT to see the God of the Bible confirm that Word! If you get bored, if you give up, if you quit too soon, you are going to miss what God is doing today!
In Exodus 5-6 we see that Pharaoh's response to Moses and Aaron is to increase the hardship on God's people. This is a good lesson to learn from. If God has promised something, He WILL do it! Don't be moved by what your senses tell you! If it APPEARS to look worse, that's the time to REALLY rejoice! You know that the enemy is riled up and his time is short! If we don't give up, we WILL see the deliverance of Almighty God just like the Israelites eventually did! Remember this in Galatians 6:9:
9And let us not lose heart and grow weary and faint in acting nobly and doing right, for in due time and at the appointed season we shall reap, if we do not loosen and relax our courage and faint.
Don't give up, don't quit and stop being so easily distracted! God is doing a GREAT work all over the world and we are supposed to be part of it! AMEN!
Shalom in Him!
