Psalm 54:6 (NKJV)
“I will freely sacrifice to You; I will praise Your name, O LORD, for it is good.”
Sometimes we find ourselves in circumstances where the LAST thing we think about, or want to do, is praise. We’re more prone to start asking the “why” questions or lose ourselves in the “brain swirl “ that keeps the focus on us… like “our” anger or “our” difficulty or “our” pain. So, what do we do when everything inside of us wants to either fight what’s in front of us or just quit? How about Praise?
You want me to do WHAT? I know and understand the hesitancy. Again, our natural tendency is to panic while we focus on ourselves. God wants us to focus on Him and praise. Praise is the tool used to shift our focus to God in the middle of our circumstances. But, how can we praise when we don’t feel like it? How do we praise when our faith has just taken a hit? Isn’t that hypocrisy? How can God accept that when even WE are not sure about it? When we know that praising is going against everything inside of us? In this instance, that is why it is called a sacrifice of praise.
To sacrifice, we have to give up something. In these very personal places, we have to give up ourselves. We stop focusing on what our emotions feel, on what our mind is thinking, or what our body is enduring, and we focus on God. In that moment, the trajectory of everything changes. Oh, the circumstances may not change, but our sacrificial response of praise changes OUR trajectory… and you know what? God is okay with it being a pure act of our will.
Why? First, and foremost, because despite our failures and flaws, the blood of Jesus makes us acceptable before Father God. But, second, because it is an act of our free will. If you look back in Leviticus 22, there is mention of a freewill offering. It is in Exodus as well. This is an offering that does not have to be perfect. It is something willfully given, not to consecrate a vow or meet some sacrificial requirement. The content of the freewill offering is just that, it is what the people “will” to bring. It didn’t always have to be perfect, spotless or unblemished, it just had to be given as an act of the will, and God received it.
Our frail effort to praise God in the midst of our heart struggle is not something God rejects. It is not something that we have to get 100% “right” before facing Him. It is the avenue for us to face Him. In all our imperfection and brokenness, praise is the answer.
I am not the master of this process, but I am trying to learn, and I want to encourage you in this as well. So, maybe, the next time we hear the voice that tells us that we can’t praise God because we’re in a hard place, an imperfect place, a broken place… maybe we laugh at that voice and say “I’ve always been broken, imperfect, and in an impossible place, and He has already accepted me.” Then let’s move on to praise the God of the universe who is never surprised and always has the option to overrule in any circumstance. Praise HIs name because He is good, kind and sovereign. Let’s allow our praise to be the path that leads us from our trouble into trust and faith, because God always accepts broken praise.
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