God Inhabits The Praise Of His People

God inhabits the praise of his people.

“Lord what can I do?”

Have you ever said that?

Have you ever cried out to God in that way?

I have said that on numerous occasions in my life… as I am sure most of us have…

if not word for word… still we have made a similar statement…

In my personal prayer time and Bible study this week I even saw where King David cried out to God…

David… the most beloved King of the Nation of Israel… even to this day…

David… the man who wanted to please God

David… the Man we know as a man after Gods Own Heart…

David cried out to God and said “My God My God why have you forsaken me”…

Then He continued on…

Psalm 22:1–2 (NIV84)

1 My God, my God, why have you forsaken me? Why are you so far from saving me, so far from the words of my groaning? 2 O my God, I cry out by day, but you do not answer, by night, and am not silent.

David tells us that he cried out to God… he called out to God… Day and Night he called on God… Seeking… Longing… Looking for the answers…

Have you ever been there?

Has there been a time in your life where you have called out to God…. Cried out to God seeking answers…

Seeking HELP…..

…..David said… basically….

…. Lord… what can I do?

… I actually found myself repeating that phrase a couple of times one day this week… due to different situations going on around me…

“Lord what can I do”

“Lord what can I do”

I even wrote it in my prayer journal this week… because the question kept coming up, coming to mind, and flowing from my lips…

Lord what can I do…

And my friends… I got an answer…

I wrote the answer down as well….

And I kept getting an answer from God…

But I will be honest with you this morning..

The answer I kept getting… caught me off Guard…

………………………………………….

Take your Bibles this morning if you would…. And turn to the 22 psalm…

And I am going to read part of it now and touch on a little more in a minute…

Psalm 22 (NIV84)

1 My God, my God, why have you forsaken me? Why are you so far from saving me, so far from the words of my groaning? 2 O my God, I cry out by day, but you do not answer, by night, and am not silent. 3 Yet you are enthroned as the Holy One; you are the praise of Israel. 4 In you our fathers put their trust; they trusted and you delivered them. 5 They cried to you and were saved; in you they trusted and were not disappointed.

……………………………………….

When I asked the question this week… just as I have asked before… just as most of you have asked in one way or another…

The answer I kept getting when I asked “Lord what can I do”…

Is…. Praise the Lord…

Lord what can I do?

Praise the Lord…

…. But…Where does that come from?

How can that be the answer?

What is praise all about…

The passage we just read gives us a glimpse into some difficult time in King David’s life…

And in this passage… he tells us how he feels… and when he gives us the illustrations here of how he feels… we can relate…

David said starting in verse 12.. 12 Many bulls surround me; strong bulls of Bashan encircle me. 13 Roaring lions tearing their prey open their mouths wide against me. 14 I am poured out like water, and all my bones are out of joint. My heart has turned to wax; it has melted away within me…. 15 My strength is dried up like a potsherd, and my tongue sticks to the roof of my mouth; you lay me in the dust of death. 16 Dogs have surrounded me; a band of evil men has encircled me, they have pierced my hands and my feet. 17 I can count all my bones; people stare and gloat over me. 18 They divide my garments among them and cast lots for my clothing.

David is illustrating to us this list of troubles… and as I read it I feel he is almost at the point of giving in and giving up…

I feel like he comes to the point where he says “Lord what can I do”

… and 5 times in this psalm… David mentions praise… praising God… praising the Lord…

…. But… realistically… How can that be the answer…

…. There are of course… many Biblical examples of Praise…

The word praise is used more than 470 times in the Bible… and most of the time it is referring to Praising God…