Praise Oh My Jesus

This article was originally published in the Franklin News-Post.

My pastor, C.J. Martin of House of Purpose Ministries, will quickly tell you that he is a Psalm 150 preacher.  He believes in praising his Lord and Savior.  In fact, the very first words I ever heard him speak were a part of a praise.  He cried out, “Oh my Jesus!”  It was a poignant moment for everyone who heard it.

If you’re not familiar with Psalm 150 it is only six verses long.  Each having to do with a form of praise.

1Praise ye the Lord. Praise God in his sanctuary: praise him in the firmament of his power.  2Praise him for his mighty acts; praise him according to his excellent greatness.  3Praise him with the sound of the trumpet: praise him with the psaltery and harp.  4Praise him with the timbrel and dance: praise him with stringed instruments and organs.  5Praise him upon the loud cymbals: praise him upon the high sounding cymbals. 6Let every thing that hath breath praise the Lord. Praise ye the Lord.  Psalm 150: 1 – 6 (KJV)

In a nutshell, as Christians, we are to praise our Lord in ALL things and in ALL ways. The three-letter word, ALL, reads mighty large.  You see, we are not supposed to pick and choose when we praise our Lord.  Nor, are we supposed to be selective in how we praise our Lord.

Psalm 100:1 (KJV) reads, “Make a joyful noise unto the Lord, all ye lands.”  I remember a time in my faith walk where my joyful noise was much closer to lip synching than it was singing.  I was encouraged to not worry about what my singing sounded like to me or others, for that matter.  It was Jesus to whom I was singing.  And He hears with a spiritual ear.  That doesn’t mean that I am now a member of our church choir.

We are certainly in this season of celebrating the birth of Jesus.  Even though we all are in this season of celebration, not each of us is in the same celebratory mood.  Some are on a mountaintop, some are in the deepest valley, and the rest are somewhere in between.  I have found for me personally that when I am in my deepest valley, that is when it is easiest for me to call on the name of my Lord.  I am reminded of my need for Him in such situations.  When I am on my mountaintop or somewhere in between, it can be easy for me to forget just who my provider is.

Be reminded, each day, regardless of the circumstances, to praise God; to thank Jesus for all that He has done for you on that day.  It can be through a song of worship; a shout out of “Thank you, Jesus;” or through a quiet prayer of reflection.

May each of you and your families have a Merry Christmas in celebrating the birth of our Savior.