Psalm 47:1-2. O clap your hands, all ye people; shout unto God with the voice of triumph. For the Lord most high is terrible (awesome); he is a great King over all the earth.
Aye Friends, what a grand old Saturday it is! God’s on His heavenly throne, and all is well with the world! (smile)
But yuh know what mih people, though the world might not be such a great place to be these days, because of the breath of life, the Spirit of our holy and righteous God that’s flowing through our mortal beings, we have that eternal flame, that everlasting fire called HOPE to sustain us!
Yes Friends, as they say, while there is life, there is HOPE; and taken to the limit, while there is HOPE, anything is possible!
And Gramps Schuller (Dr. Robert H. Schuller) in His Hour of Power Devotional declares that ‘HOPE is a phenomenon! We don’t know what triggers the birth of HOPE, or where it comes from. But when a person finds HOPE, there is total renewal.’
And that’s the living truth, my brethren! For HOPE just brings us back to life, renews our spirit and makes us truly feel that anything is possible! Therefore, what a joy it is to have HOPE in our lives! And HOPE leads to faith.
Remember too, that we can’t have faith without HOPE, for it is that deep down feeling of HOPE that makes faith, or belief in anything at all possible.
So the long and short of the story is, that because we have life, we therefore have HOPE, and HOPE makes faith in Jesus Christ possible, and with faith in Jesus Christ comes the certainty that with Him involved in our lives, ANY and EVERYTHING IS POSSIBLE!
And all God’s children declared in a loud and lusty voice: ‘Glory Hallelujah! All praise, and honour, and glory be to Jesus Christ, our Lord and Saviour!’
And that leads us nicely into our Bit: ‘O clap your hands, all ye people; shout unto God with the voice of triumph. For the Lord most high is terrible (awesome); he is a great King over all the earth.’
Yes Friends, our God is a great ruler over all the earth; a most LOVING and benevolent monarch to boot! Therefore we should indeed clap our hands and triumphantly shout for joy over His goodness and LOVING-kindness towards us, since not many earthly monarchs are thus disposed to their subjects as God is to true believers!
Now let’s look at some scripture passages which describe our mighty and wonderful God as such. We’ll start with Nehemiah, cup-bearer to the Persian king Artaxerxes, while the Jews were in captivity in Babylon, after he found out the terrible state that Jerusalem was in; ‘in great affliction (distress) and reproach: the wall of Jerusalem also is broken down, and the gates thereof are burned with fire.’ (Neh.1:3)
That made Nehemiah so distraught that he set about fasting and praying to God for direction. ‘And said, I beseech thee, O Lord God of heaven, the great and terrible (awesome) God, that keepeth covenant and mercy for them that LOVE him (you) and observe (keep) his (your) commandments:’ (Neh.1:5)
Yes my people, Nehemiah knew of God’s awesome power, as well as His strong faithfulness to His covenants. And the scholars explain that verse thus: ‘1:5. That keepeth covenant and mercy is a refrain from Deuteronomy 7:9 and is related to Exodus 20:6 and 34:6-7. God keeps His “covenant-LOVE” with those who LOVE Him, those in a covenant relationship with Him.’
Please check out those scripture references Friends, they are certainly interesting, and will also definitely add to your scriptural knowledge. And remember that we too are in a covenant relationship with Almighty God because of our belief and trust in Jesus Christ.
So we too can come to Him in earnest prayer and be assured that He will hear us, and answer in whatever form and fashion He deems necessary and/or adequate. For that reason, we can confidently clap out hands and shout triumphantly about our omnipotent and merciful God!
Meanwhile, in Psalm 76 – Asaph ends his song to the victorious God thus: ‘Vow and pay unto the Lord your God: let all that be round about him bring presents unto him that ought to be feared. He shall cut off the spirit of princes; he is terrible (awesome) to the kings of the earth.’ (Ps.76:11-12)
And we’ll close today with these outstanding and encouraging verses of indisputable truth from Psalm 47, from which our Bit is taken. ‘God is gone up (ascended) with a shout, the Lord with the sound of a trumpet. Sing praises to God, sing praises: sing praises unto our King, sing praises. For God is the King of all the earth: sing ye praises with understanding.’ (Ps.47:5-7)
Oh my people, there is no greater wisdom than that in all the universe, in all of heaven and earth! So please, let’s be wise and put it into practice today nuh, knowing that with HOPE and FAITH in Jesus Christ, through prayer and thanksgiving ALL things are indeed possible! Much LOVE!
…I can do ALL things through Christ…who strengthens me… (Phil.4:13)
P.S. My oh my, what a short Bit this is today! Can’t remember when last I’ve written such a short one. There obviously can be no complaints today about its length! (smile) Much LOVE!
SCRIP-BITS 