eek His Face! Sing His Praises!

Give thanks to the LORD, call on his name; make known among the nations what he has done. Sing to him, sing praise to him; tell of all his wonderful acts. Glory in his holy name; let the hearts of those who seek the LORD rejoice. Look to the LORD and his strength; seek his face always. (1 Chronicles 16:8-11)

When do you seek the Lord's face? Like the above verses suggest, one might seek His face for strength or when one wants to be in His presence or to feel His love or comfort. I often use singing His praises to do this.

Come before Him with joyful singing. Enter His gates with thanksgiving and His courts with praise. Give thanks to Him, bless His name. For the LORD is good; His lovingkindness is everlasting and His faithfulness to all generations. (Psalm 100:2, 4-5)

Go through the gate of praise (Isaiah 60:18); come into His presence (Psalm 100:2, Psalm 95:2). Be filled with the Holy Spirit (Ephesians 5:18-19). Let the word of Christ dwell richly in and among you (Colossians 3:16). There is nothing like seeking the Lord's face and coming into His presence.

In His presence:
There is fullness of joy. You will make known to me the path of life; In Your presence is fullness of joy; In Your right hand there are pleasures forever. (Psalm 16:11)

There is love.
The LORD your God is with you, he is mighty to save. He will take great delight in you, he will quiet you with his love, he will rejoice over you with singing. (Zephaniah 3:17)

There is rest.
Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. (Matthew 11:28)

There is peace.
Peace I leave with you; my peace I give you. I do not give to you as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled and do not be afraid. (John 14:27) The LORD bless you and keep you; the LORD make his face shine upon you and be gracious to you; the LORD turn his face toward you and give you peace. (Numbers 6:24-26)

There is light.
For God, who said, Let light shine out of darkness, made his light shine in our hearts to give us the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Christ. (2 Corinthians 4:6)

It was not by their sword that they won the land, nor did their arm bring them victory; it was your right hand, your arm, and the light of your face, for you loved them. (Psalm 44:3)

There is victory.
Save us, O LORD our God, and gather us from the nations, that we may give thanks to Your holy name, and triumph (glory) in Your praise. (Psalm 106:47)

O CLAP your hands, all you peoples! Shout to God with the voice of triumph and songs of joy! (Psalm 47:1)

There is strength.
The LORD gives strength to his people; the LORD blesses his people with peace. (Psalm 29:11)

There is comfort.
Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of compassion and the God of all comfort, who comforts us in all our troubles, so that we can comfort those in any trouble with the comfort we ourselves have received from God. For just as the sufferings of Christ flow over into our lives, so also through Christ our comfort overflows. (2 Corinthians 1:3-5)

There is hope.
Therefore, since we have been justified through faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have gained access by faith into this grace in which we now stand. And we rejoice in the hope of the glory of God. Not only so, but we also rejoice in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance; perseverance, character; and character, hope. And hope does not disappoint us, because God has poured out his love into our hearts by the Holy Spirit, whom he has given us. (Romans 5:1-5)

There is abounding grace.
And God is able to make all grace abound to you, so that always having all sufficiency in everything, you may have an abundance for every good deed. (2 Corinthians 9:8)

There is healing.
... I am the LORD, who heals you. (Exodus 15:26)

Heal me, O LORD, and I will be healed; save me and I will be saved, for you are the one I praise. (Jeremiah 17:14)

There is fullness of life.
I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full. (John 10:10)

In the light of a king's face is life, and his favor is like a cloud with the spring rain. (Proverbs 16:15)

WOW! This is just a glimpse of what it means to be filled up to the measure of all the fullness of God.' (Ephesians 3:19). To appreciate the mystery of Christ or as the amplified bible states [to have the richest measure of the divine Presence, and become a body wholly filled and flooded with God Himself]! No wonder Paul writes: I consider everything a loss compared to the surpassing greatness of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord, for whose sake I have lost all things. (Philippians 3:8)

But this is not all. There is another aspect to seeking His face thru singing that I didn't consider until I stumbled on the following scripture. It adds a new dimension to this whole process.

In the church at Antioch there were prophets and teachers: Barnabas, Simeon called Niger, Lucius of Cyrene, Manaen (who had been brought up with Herod the tetrarch) and Saul. While they were worshiping the Lord and fasting, the Holy Spirit said, Set apart for me Barnabas and Saul for the work to which I have called them. So after they had fasted and prayed, they placed their hands on them and sent them off. (Acts 13:1-3)

Barnabas and Saul received a call from the Lord. Notice it was during worship and fasting that the Holy Spirit spoke. Look at how seeking the Lord's face, worship, fasting and prayer are linked!

Before putting these scriptures together, I really didn't even think about using singing praises to seek His face for guidance or direction to accomplish His purposes. This makes sense to me now. There were even clues to this in the previous verses. As a result of seeking His face and coming into His presence thru praise, the light of His face shines upon you.

When His lamp shone upon my head, and when by His light I walked through darkness. (Job 29:3)

Righteousness and justice are the foundation of Your throne; Mercy and truth go before Your face. Blessed are the people who know the joyful sound! They walk, O LORD, in the light of Your countenance. In Your name they rejoice all day long, And in Your righteousness they are exalted. (Psalm 89:14-16)

His light enables you to find your way thru the darkness to walk in His path, the Way of Holiness (Isaiah 35:8). Those who walk in this Way will enter Zion with singing; everlasting joy will crown their heads. Gladness and joy shall overtake them and sorrow and sighing shall flee away (Isaiah 35:10). There will be no more night (Revelation 22:5), no more darkness, for the LORD will be their everlasting light (Isaiah 60:20). There will be no need for the sun or the moon to shine, for the glory of God will be their light, and the Lamb their lamp. (Revelation 21:23).

SEEK HIS FACE ALWAYS!

Lord help us always to seek Your face.
Let us seek not only Your strength, love and comfort but
also Your guidance and direction,
the light of Your face,
Your will,
that we may walk in Your Way, the Way of Holiness.
Let each heart sing Your praises and glory in Your holy name!
Let the hearts of those who seek the LORD rejoice.
Rejoice in the Lord always. I will say it again: Rejoice!

If you seek the LORD your God, you will find him if you look for him with all your heart and with all your soul. (Deuteronomy 4:29)

Voice of the Gospel Christian Radio - Radio Stimme des Evangeliums

Freitag, 22. Juni 2012

eek His Face! Sing His Praises!

eek His Face! Sing His Praises!

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