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PRAISE THE LORD!

SCRIPTURE READINGS:
ISAIAH 63:7-9
HEBREWS 2:10-18
MATTHEW 2:13-23

SUNDAY REFLECTION

Praise the Lord! is the theme for our reflection. To praise the Lord means to acknowledge the glory of the Lord and to lift up His Holy name through singing, prayer and proclamation. We shall reflect on the facts that
1. We must praise the Lord because He has given us eternal life through Christ.
2. We must praise the Lord because He is our protector.

Firstly beloved in the Lord, Christians or believers must be eternally grateful to the Lord and must praise Him for saving us or granting us eternal life through Jesus Christ. The writer of Hebrews gives us an important reason to praise the Lord always when he wrote “Since the children (sinful humanity) have flesh and blood, he too shared in their humanity so that by his death he might break the power of him who holds the power of death—that is, the devil — ¹⁵ and free those who all their lives were held in slavery by their fear of death. ¹⁶ For surely it is not angels he helps, but Abraham’s descendants. ¹⁷ For this reason he had to be made like them, fully human in every way, in order that he might become a merciful and faithful high priest in service to God, and that he might make atonement for the sins of the people. ¹⁸ Because he himself suffered when he was tempted, he is able to help those who are being tempted. (Hebrews 2:14-18) In other words, the Lord deserves to be praised because, through Christ, we have overcome death, our sins have been atoned for and we now have the power to overcome temptations through the power of the Holy Spirit. It is for this reason that we join the Psalmist to praise the Lord when he wrote, “I will declare your name to my people; in the assembly I will praise you.²³ You who fear the LORD, praise him!” (Psalms 22:22-23). How can we praise the Lord for our salvation, Paul admonishes us to “offer our bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God—this is our true and proper worship. (Romans 12:1). In addition to offering our bodies as living sacrifices, we must “Sing and make music from your heart to the Lord, ²⁰ always giving thanks to God the Father for everything, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ. (Ephesians 5:19-20). Beloved in the Lord, let us live a life of praise, always honouring God with our new nature in Christ. Our praise must be sincere and must not be limited to Sundays, during worship services but our entire life from morning to evening, and throughout the year must show our thanks and praise to the Lord for the grace He has bestowed upon us, “…for God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us. (Romans 5:8). Indeed, some of us were once upon a time drunkards, prostitutes, liars, hypocrites, fornicators, adulterers, and corrupt and were held captive by satan but today, Jesus has redeemed us and we are liberated! What then shall we do with our lives, we must praise the Lord and “Love the Lord our God with all our heart and with all our soul and with all our mind and with all our strength.” (Mark 12:30). Praise the Lord! Hallelujah!

Secondly, we must praise the Lord because He protects us from harm and our enemies. Isaiah makes this fact known to the Israelites through His message to Judea when it was being threatened by the Babylonian Empire, Isaiah said to them,“I will tell of the kindnesses of the LORD, the deeds for which he is to be praised, according to all the LORD has done for us— yes, the many good things he has done for Israel, according to his compassion and many kindnesses. ⁸ He said, “Surely they are my people, children who will be true to me”; and so he became their Savior. ⁹ In all their distress he too was distressed, and the angel of his presence saved them. In his love and mercy he redeemed them; he lifted them up and carried them all the days of old. (Isaiah 63:7-9) Isaiah praised the Lord because he had faith in His mighty and redemptive hands. Again, we see the protective hand of God at work when King Herod wanted to kill baby Jesus. God protected Jesus and His parents from the wicked Herod. We are told that “After Herod died, an angel of the Lord appeared in a dream to Joseph in Egypt ²⁰ and said, “Get up, take the child and his mother and go to the land of Israel, for those who were trying to take the child’s life are dead.” (Matthew 2:19-20) Beloved in the Lord, if it is not yet our time to die, God will protect us and ensure that we fulfil our purpose and His will on earth before our departure. Paul encourages us to praise the Lord for being our protector when he wrote “Five times I received from the Jews the forty lashes minus one. ²⁵ Three times I was beaten with rods, once I was pelted with stones, three times I was shipwrecked, I spent a night and a day in the open sea, ²⁶ I have been constantly on the move. I have been in danger from rivers, in danger from bandits, in danger from my fellow Jews, in danger from Gentiles; in danger in the city, in danger in the country, in danger at sea; and in danger from false believers…If I must boast, I will boast of the things that show my weakness. ³¹ The God and Father of the Lord Jesus, who is to be praised forever, knows that I am not lying.” (2 Corinthians 11:24-26,30-31)

Dear friend, God continues to protect us from the orchestrations and evil plans of the wicked and it is for this purpose we must live a life of praise. David testified that Whoever dwells in the shelter of the Most High will rest in the shadow of the Almighty. ² I will say of the LORD, “He is my refuge and my fortress, my God, in whom I trust.”… A thousand may fall at your side, ten thousand at your right hand, but it will not come near you. ⁸ You will only observe with your eyes and see the punishment of the wicked.” (Psalms 91:1-2,7-8) Indeed, had it not been for the Lord, our protector, many of us would not be alive to witness this day. We must endlessly praise the Lord because He is our dependable protector, we must glorify and lift up His name through singing, testimonies and the proclamation of His word, for we identify once again with David when He wrote, “You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies. You anoint my head with oil; my cup overflows. ⁶ Surely your goodness and love will follow me all the days of my life, and I will dwell in the house of the LORD forever. (Psalms 23:5-6). Praise the Lord!, Hallelujah!

In summary, we have reflected on the theme, “Praise the Lord”. We have been greatly reminded that we must praise the Lord because He has given us salvation and eternal life through Christ. Again, we must praise the Lord because He is our protector. May the Holy Spirit empower us to live a life of praise to the glory of God our redeemer and protector. Amen.