Testify

Age has a funny way of changing your perspective. When you are young you have a different perspective than when you are older. Youth has a way of leading one to believe that they know it all. When you get older you look back and see the foolishness of youth, and I say this coming from a ripe old age of 34. As we move along the timeline of life we gain insight from the experiences that we encounter. I love listening to the older generation, they offer so much wisdom, especially those who have walked with the Lord for a long time. There is a closeness that people who have walked with the Lord for years carry, the people who walk with God closer everyday are the people that I want to learn from.

Psalms 71 is written by an unknown author that seems to be in his later years of life. So he is writing from a perspective of having gone through somethings. He speaks about his experience of walking with God for a long period of time. This psalm is chock full of statements that give us a wise perspective of how to walk with the Lord. He says:

As for me, I will always have hope; I will praise you more and more. Psalms 71:14

Here are two things that we can grab today and continually practice in our lives.

Always have hope - How can you always have hope? We go through tough things in life, there are so many in society that have no hope. This last year suicides and attempts at suicide have spiked, depression has sky-rocketed. It seems impossible to always have hope. This statement is not speaking to a mindset that we work to keep ourselves in. This is a statement that chooses to look to the future from the eyes of the past. It is a statement that says I know what the Lord has brought me through, and I expectant that he will lead me through again. This is a statement from an old man saying that I have been through hard times, I have had people attack me. I have walked through trouble and bitterness, but through it all God has been with me. See our hope is forged when we walk through hard times with our eyes on the Lord. His faithfulness will lead us through every season of life.

The author can say that I will always hope in the Lord because he brought me through every battle and obstacle I have faced. Reflecting on what he has done is like the altars that were built in the Old Testament. They stood as a reminder of what God had done for them. Do you have altars that you have built in your heart of God's faithfulness? If you don't, think back and see where he has been faithful, let the Lord remind you of his faithfulness. We have an opportunity approach our today with the hope that has been built on who He is in our lives.

Praise Him - Our response to these altars that we have built is to praise and thank him. Thanksgiving centers on what God has done in our lives and praise centers on who he is. Praise springs forth out of the hope that we have in him. What praise will do is lift your eyes off of the problem you are facing and onto the one who knows the solution to the problem. When we praise him, we magnify him. What happens to something that we magnify? It gets bigger in our vision, it consumes all of our focus. The other thing that happens is that it gives greater clarity to all the detail of the object that holds our focus. When I begin to praise the Lord I begin to become more aware of all the things he is doing and working in my life. I get to see the detail of all he has done and what he is currently doing. It seems that those who don't see God working in their life might not be magnifying him in their circumstances.

I like how the psalmist said that he would praise more and more. When you start praising it begins to roll out of your spirit, kind of like the floodgates being opened. When I think about this I see a snow ball at the top of the hill. When we start praising and thanking him it may just a simple "thank you God" but as we continue declaring our thanks and praise out of our mouth that snowball begins to move down the hill. As it does it begins to get bigger and gains momentum, pretty soon you might be shouting and dancing before the Lord.

Let's approach our week with the hope of God established in our heart and his praise coming forth from our mouths and watch what he does this week!