THE POWER OF PROCLAMATION

NOTE: To all my readers…I am currently in route to my waystation where I will be until I am taken to my new assignment. I am writing on my flight and hope to post at the next airport. Please bear with me during this trip as I adjust to new time zones and surroundings. I intend to continue writing every day and share the words the Lord places on my heart. Please keep Grace and I in prayer as we endure yet another separation…our final one before I retire. God bless all of you and thanks for your faithful readership and comments. In Christ, Mark

Can I pray for you in any way? Send any prayer requests to faithhopegodlove@aol.com In Christ, Mark

The scriptures. May God bless the reading of His holy word.

The Lord lives! Praise be to my Rock! Exalted be God, the Rock, my Savior!

He is the God who avenges me, who puts the nations under me, who sets me free from my enemies. You exalted me above my foes; from violent men You rescued me.

Therefore I will praise You, O Lord, among the nations; I will sing praises to Your name.

He gives His king great victories; He shows unfailing kindness to His anointed, to David and his descendants forever.

2 Samuel 22:47-51

This ends this reading from God's holy word. Thanks be to God.

Chapter 22 has offered us a great study of David’s sense of gratitude and appreciation for all that God had done in his life and my hope is that it has helped us better focus as well on the multitude of blessings that we have received…especially since we are in the season of Lenten reflection.

So what should we do when we fully realize the abundance of God’s goodness?

Well, as we see in the last verses of David’s song, we should proclaim our feelings about the Lord…testifying about His bounteous benevolence to all we see. For God doesn’t bless us for us to keep it to ourselves. No…He expects that we share good news with others.

Let’s see all that David proclaimed because we could very well proclaim the same things in our own life:

1. The Lord lives!

David didn’t serve a dead Lord. No…God was active and vibrant in his life, advising him…protecting him…saving him…and correcting him when he needed it. Indeed, the Lord was very much alive in David’s life…just as He is in ours today and we, like David, should be telling others about it…about all the things the Lord has done and continues to do in our lives.

2. Exalted be God, the Rock, my Savior!

This very alive God that David served wasn’t to be discounted or slighted. No…this God of the universe…the Rock of Ages…the Creator and Savior of all…deserved nothing short of being lifted up high to be where He should be…above and over all things…the King of Kings and Lord of Lords. And so David didn’t hesitate to place God where He belonged, exalting Him in his song…and we are to not hesitate to lift Him up either before all we encounter in our own lives.

3. He is the God who avenges me, who puts the nations under me, who sets me free from my enemies. You exalted me above my foes; from violent men You rescued me.

Something amazing happens when we acknowledge the Living God and exalt His holy name. He in turn lifts us up…up out of the miry pit of sin to show us the way to righteousness…up and away from danger and peril. David saw God as his great Avenger and Deliverer who watched over him and set him free from his enemies. We need to see God the same way because nothing has changed with God. He remains the same today as He was in the time of David…and we should see Him the same way that David did…as our great Avenger and Deliverer.

4. Praise be to my Rock!…Therefore I will praise You, O Lord, among the nations; I will sing praises to Your name. He gives His king great victories; He shows unfailing kindness to His anointed, to David and his descendants forever.

And so given all this about the Lord

…that He is alive and active among His people
…that He deserves to be lifted up before mankind for His awesome presence and saving power
…that He avenges and delivers His children from harm

…how could we not find ourselves praising Him? How could we not find ourselves proclaiming His unfailing kindness and love to all we see?

Friends, we truly serve an awesome God…a God of compassion, mercy and grace…a God who saves through His Son Jesus…a God who is worthy of all our praise…a God we need to tell everyone about.

For there’s power in proclamation…especially when we exalt the One who makes it all possible.

Amen.

In Christ,

Mark

PS: Please share this with anyone you feel might be blessed by it.

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