THE PRAISE SERIES (PART 13) - A SONG IN THE NIGHT

Behold, bless the LORD, All you servants of the LORD,
Who by night stand in the house of the LORD!
Lift up your hands in the sanctuary, And bless the LORD.
The LORD who made heaven and earth Bless you from Zion!
Psalm 134:1-3 (NKJV)

It is a strange time for adoration to stand in God's house by night, to worship in the depth of sorrow. It is indeed an arduous thing. Yes, and therein lies the blessing; it is the test of perfect faith.In the Bible, night often represents times of trials, testings, tribulations, persecutions ... In our modern days we would easily identify some of these"nights" as times of disappointments when friends fail us, unanswered prayers, sicknesses, lost of jobs, depressions or even bereavements ...
The Psalmist in Psalm 77:6 Said "I Call To Remembrance My Song In The Night." A song in the night is always a song of faith. That is why the Bible stresses that God is a God who gives songs in the night. Songs are therapy and are like vitamins that lift the soul and give it courage to make it through the night. In Psalm 42 where there is a struggle with depression the Psalmist says in verse 8, "By day the Lord directs His love; at night His song is with me." In Job 35:1 we read of God as One "Who gives songs in the night."

Did you know that the only record that Jesus ever sing is in Matthew 26:30 and it was at night in a very stressful situation. Jesus is about to earn His title as the Man of sorrows acquainted with grief. He was heading for the worst and the last night of His life before the cross. The agony of Gethsemane, the anguish of His betrayal, arrest, and illegal condemnation was His agenda for the night, and He knew it. Yet He joins His disciples in a song. A heart filled with song is better prepared to face sorrow. The thing we need to see here is that Jesus lived as a real life on our level. Real life is like that, and Jesus is singing with His disciples now, and in a matter of minutes he will be facing the cross!The other record about people singing in the New Testament is Paul and Silas in Acts 16:25. We read, "About midnight Paul and Silas were praying and singing hymns to God." They were in the Philippian's jail and fastened in stocks. Not the best position for singing, nor the best atmosphere, but there they were praising God in song!
As Lifestyle Worshipers there are times we will walk through the "desert places" or "valley of the shadow of death". These are times God will give us a song in the night but we must make a choice to sing - to offer Sacrifice of Praise. A song in the night is always a song of faith that night is sure to give way to the light.
Personally the Lord has given me songs in the night like "As A Deer"- Martin Nystrom, "Blessed Be The Name Of The Lord" - Matt Redman ... and many more ... these songs are now more than my favourite songs, nice lyrics or good feels but they are songs that have become personally mine given by the Holy Spirit that have come out of the fiery trials!
Are you in the "fiery furnace" or in the "Lions' den" or in "the valley of the shadow of death"? Let's join the Levites (worshipers) in Psalm 134:1-3 to sing:

Behold, bless the LORD, All you servants of the LORD,
Who by night stand in the house of the LORD!
Lift up your hands in the sanctuary, And bless the LORD.
The LORD who made heaven and earth Bless you from Zion!

Have A Blessed & Victorious Week! - TPWC

PRACTISING THE PRESENCE OF GOD - PART 2

" ... In Your presence is fullness of joy; 
in Your right hand there are pleasures forever." - Psalm 16:11

How Do We Practice The Presence Of God?

Practising His presence begins in our daily walk. While living out the demands of the day, we are filled with an inwardworship and adoration. In the course of each day you need to begin to discipline yourself to make melody to the Lord. Begin to make melody in your heart to the Lord. It doesn’t happen. You have to start it … begin to sing to the Lord in the spirit no mater where, no matter when, no matter what the situation.
Maybe you do not play an instrument or sing. But you must say to yourself, “I am a worshiper.” Seek God as to how He desires you to worship Him. Believe it or not, for some it will be through your job that you worship Him. Your work will be such an excellent testimony and example that your co-workers will speak well or your work long after you are gone (Read Acts 9:36, 37a & 39a). Worship for many others may be through service at home and the care of what God has placed in your hands. Whatever it may be purpose in your heart to do it with all your hearts!
Let us look at Ephesians 6:18. “Praying always with all prayer and supplication in the Spirit, and watching thereunto with all perseverance and supplication for all saints.” You see, if you practice His presence when you are by yourself, it is not so hard to sense the presence of God when you come together with other believers. As part of being adisciplined worshiper and a disciplined life of worship, we begin to practice the presence of God. Have you ever been out somewhere when you suddenly felt like praying in the spirit? Sometime I am just walking along and all of a sudden the presence of God is there. It’s just as real as if someone were walking next to me. Then I find myself praying in the spirit. That is practising the presence of God. You may be driving along and suddenly notice the presence of God there and begin to worship Him. You begin to practice the presence of God. You may be at home sitting and watching TV, and you feel His presence is there. Turn off the TV. It takes discipline. (I think it goes without saying that TV is one primary tools of the enemy. There are many programs out there now that will really leave you vexed in your spirit).
There are other things that God may be speaking to you right now. You need to make a decision to be disciplined in a certain area or let a certain thing go if you want to move into where the Levities, the sons of Zadok (Ezekiel 44:15-16), were and come in and minster to Him unhindered.
"The priests of the Levi tribe who are descendants of Zadok the priest were faithful to me, even when the rest of the Israelites turned away. And so, these priests will continue to serve as my priests ...They will come into my temple, where they will offer sacrifices at my altar and lead others in worship." (Ezekiel 44:15-16 CEV)This is where we want to be - because we have lived the disciplined life of a worshiper, because we choose to practice the presence of God, we can enter into His presence unhindered.
But it is a matter of setting aside the time to get into God's presence and to practice His presence. When you learn to practice His presence, you know God is there. You know when He is moving. And, because of that, when more than one of us comes with a holy expectancy, it changes the whole atmosphere of the room.
(an extract from: The 2nd Flood - The Discipline of Worship by John W. Stevens)

Blessings

TPWC