Praise, Psalms, and Abundant Life

1Sa 16:23 So it came about whenever the evil spirit from God came to Saul, David would take the harp and play it with his hand; and Saul would be refreshed and be well, and the evil spirit would depart from him.

How important is praise to you? In truth, when a believing Christian, righteous, filled with faith sings praises to God, evil will flee. Maybe not for long, but for a while. We can clear the air around us, and in our heart, with praise, making a statement of faith. Wonderful to learn this happens.

A lot of praise comes from the Psalms. Even in the midst of very depressing events there is praise. It is true praise when it comes in the midst of trials. If we praise when we are struggling, it is a measure of true spiritual praise. Our emotions are up and down, but the spirit should be steady.

I have grown to appreciate the Psalms. For many years I never thought about them, pushing them aside as poetry, and song lyrics. But, I have seen a lot of light in the Psalms recently. I am taken aback by the depth hidden in the 150 Psalms.

Where do I begin? I could relate Psalm 23 in a way you have never heard before, I think. It tells us a progression of the work of the Shepherd in our life. I’ll give you a hint: Psalm 23 is the Old Testament version of John 10:10. There is life, and life more abundantly in Psalm 23. Do you see it? It is there, and life and abundant life surrounds the only thing that can bring abundance to life, and that is the valley of the shadow of death, or the cross. It is the shadow of His death, and His cross.

Further hint: the first half of the Psalm is the life. The 2nd half of the Psalm is the abundant life. Look closely. It is there. Right in the middle is the thing that holds it all together: death. It might be a valley of the shadow of death, or it might be the cross, but it is what must be there for entrance into abundant life.

There is no abundant life without the cross of Christ. There is life, but no abundant life. We can have food, rest, water, wholeness, and restoration, but until the cross comes, there is no table filled with provision while your enemies watch, or oil running down your head, or cup running over. Do you see it?