Wednesday, January 18, 2006

Wear Praises!

My Mom is my greatest inspiration and a much better writer than me. There was a time when she was living in Houston and I was here in Dallas. I was engaged and frantic as I was trying to plan my Wedding with her living four hours away. She was there to help me and talk me through so many moments of panic. She has always been my rock and this is what she shared with me years ago. I have a denim, Calvin Klein jacket with the words "Garment of Praise" written inside with a sharpie. I love you Mom! Thank you for reminding me daily to wear His praises. Oh and I am so glad I have you so close to me now! See you tonight Mom. Enjoy everyone! This is what my mom wrote.

Wearing Praise
To appoint unto them that mourn in Zion,
to give unto them beauty for ashes,
the oil of joy for mourning,
the garment of praise for the spirit of heaviness;
that they might be called trees of righteousness,
the planting of the LORD,
that he might be glorified.
Isaiah 61:3

In 1976, David Ingles pinned the song, Garment of Praise. It goes like this:

Put on the garment of praise for the spirit of heaviness;
Life up your voice to God.
Praise with the spirit and with understanding.
O, magnify the Lord.

Pick up the garment of praise and WEAR it. In Psalm 34:1, David declared, "I will bless the Lord at all time; his praise shall continually be in my mouth. David said, "his praise shall continually be in my mouth". Continually simply means that it is uninterrupted. Why is it that we feel we only need to praise God when things are going our way? We should praise Him because of WHO He is -- not because of WHAT He has done. His name is great and greatly to be praised.
In EVERYTHING we are to give Him thanks. Remember, we enter His gates with thanksgiving in our hearts but we enter his COURTS with praise. I love to praise the Lord. The Lord has blessed me because I have learned to praise Him. The Lord has healed my body while I have been praising Him. I wasn't down on my knees begging God to heal me -- I was praising Him for being my strong tower that I can run into and be safe. I was praising Him because He is an awesome God. I was praising Him because He is my refuge and my fortress.
I was praising Him because He has given His angels charge over me.
I was praising Him because He is my rock; He is my healer; He is my deliverer; He is my peace; He is my comfort; He is the lover of my soul; He is my provider; He is my banner; He is my shepherd; He is my righteousness; and He is my Lord who is there.

I encourage you to "put on the garment of praise". When you are feeling down, delight YOURSELF in the Lord, encourage YOURSELF in the Lord, and bless His holy name. He is worthy of your highest praise. There is none greater than Him. He knows your need before you ask so praise Him for who He is.

Wear Praises!
Written by Karen Pierce

4 comments:

Anonymous said...

Awesome! I praise Him for you!! Your so right, praise Him when we're down and out and thank Him when times are rough, because He will see us through! He blesses us thru our trials and makes us stronger and wiser! Thank you for this blovel (that is cooler to say)!! haha Love you!

Sonya Terrell said...

WOW! I needed this today! I woke up in a funk, feeling depressed, feeling anxious and overwhelmed. I read Christys blog and then I read yours and during quiet time this morning I read the same verses in Isaiah! I need to shape up and let the funk feelings go! Praise God even in the mist of my negative feelings. I need to put on the "garment of praise:!

Christy said...

Wow so true.. ya know a song I like says "Praise Him thru your circumstance"... maybe some times He wants us to get thru things by praise alone. Something to think about. I am sure if I spent the time praising that I do compaining some times I'd come thru something alot faster. Thanks for the post. I just might need to post that on my cell phone, in my car, on my mirror so when I look at it I am reminded of HIM and not what "I" see!

Anonymous said...

We can praise Him in all situations, because He is worthy!
I love you and appreciate the insights the Lord gives you. Thank you for writing today. You bless me so much!