Descrambling the Letters of Your P-R-A-I-S-E

All glory and praise
To the God of all grace,
Who hast brought us, and sought us,
And guided our ways.

Refrain:
Hallelujah! Thine the glory.
Hallelujah! Amen.
Hallelujah! Thine the glory.
Revive us again.

Revive Us Again (1863)
By: Mackay, William Paton, M.D. (1839-1885)

Listen to this version in a gospel style as you prepare to ponder this hymn. Please make certain to enjoy the video below.

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Everyone, enjoy this video, and the transcript below.

Transcript may be found below, at the end of the blog.

We continue our journey through this classic hymn sung across oceans and denominations for 150 years. Our prayer is the same as all the saints who have sung it before, “Revive us again.” Let’s tune our hearts.

What Are You Working With?

Ever played Scrabble? You pick your letters out of the bag and start to line them up to see what words you may be able to create, and you realize you can not think of a single word beyond three letters. You decide to take a turn and exchange all your letters only to end up with 7 consonants, like W-S-M-J-M-R-C!

That is such a frustrating experience. Fortunately, it is only a game, right?

But what about the times it seems life has given you all consonants. Maybe you are in such a moment today. Not quite certain how to turn the letters or the material you are working with into something useful, a word worth more than points, let alone praiseworthy.

You are not alone, and your experience is not uncommon. We have all found ourselves in situations like that. The difference between Scrabble and your life before God is that He wants even those moments of all “consonants” to turn your energy and effort back to Him. The “letters” you have drawn are by no mistake and have come to you as an opportunity to create something that brings glory to God, even if it sounds to you more like a muddled bundle of consonants you might be tempted to utter under your breath in exasperation.

God has given you the material you are working with to give Him praise. Consider the first line of this stanza against that backdrop and the context of the Psalmist’s commitment. Imagine how God may be working through that jumbled mess.

All glory and praise

My mouth is filled with your praise, and with your glory all the day. Psalm 71:8 ESV

Sometimes is seems your mouth is filled with W-S-M-J-M-R-C, but God wants to turn that confusion into praise and He can do it. Will you offer the letters of your life to Him again today and step back to see what the Master De-Scrambler will do?

Jesus, help me give all glory and praise to You.

RESONATE!
Offer the letters you have been given back to God today. He wants to take them and turn them into praise. He can do it. It may be more than you can imagine is even possible, you may feel like you have not vowels, but God makes no mistakes. Tell Him again today you will open up your mouth if He will fill it with praise.

What Will You Make of It?

As you hand your letters back to God fully expecting Him to drop them back in the bag and pull out the perfect letters to spell a great new word, He may just surprise you. You can see PRAISE in the letters clearly once they are set in the right order, but S-I-R-A-P-E looks very different. Might it be possible you actually have all the right material to create the word that will bring God the greatest glory today?

Maybe you feel like you have been suffering through some difficulty and you are really struggling to give God praise. Grace may seem about as far away as you could have ever imagined it might, and yet maybe it is closer than you could have ever dreamed. Give God the opportunity to change your perspective on your circumstances today.

To the God of all grace,

And after you have suffered a little while, the God of all grace, who has called you to his eternal glory in Christ, will himself restore, confirm, strengthen, and establish you. 1 Peter 5:10 ESV

Grace is getting what you do not deserve, but normally is seen as better than what you should have gotten. Maybe the letters you have drawn have left you feeling like you do not deserve them in an entirely different way. God is worthy of glory and knows how much we are capable of trusting Him through.

Sometimes God receives the greatest glory when we have received what looks to others like a terrible draw. It may look like that to us as well, but our response determines the true nature of our trust in God. How will you respond? What will you make of the letters you have been given?

RESONATE!
Whether it seems that way or not, the letters you have drawn are the letters that will give you the best opportunity to give glory and praise to Jesus. Resolve to make the most of them today and prepare to be amazed what the God of all grace will do. Rest in your calling into His eternal glory and give praise to Jesus.

Jesus, take the letters of my life and turn them into praise. Help me trust You to restore, confirm, strengthen, and establish me. I declare my desire to make the most of what I have been given. Amen!

Unscrambled Tuning!

Keep coming back, and we will work to help you remove the things that may hinder your longing for His return by cultivating an awareness of God’s presence. We will help you tune your heart to live out your worship by providing resources like this to help you acknowledge the greatness of God as you become more Resonant, 7 days a week.

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Video 22.5 Transcript

Welcome to Tuesday Tunings at Resonant 7, where we reflect on the reality of God and resolve to let it resound in our lives, repeatedly. Let’s tune our hearts.

All glory and praise
To the God of all grace,
Who hast brought us, and sought us,
And guided our ways.

Refrain:
Hallelujah! Thine the glory.
Hallelujah! Amen.
Hallelujah! Thine the glory.
Revive us again.

We know He is worthy of all glory and praise, and yet two other things happen. Sometimes we take the glory for ourselves, and other times we simply fail to give it to Him. Ask for His forgiveness, and then for His help in giving it all to Him.

Jesus, help me give all glory and praise to you.

Grace is getting what you do not deserve. God has certainly blessed every one of us in this way, not only in the gift of salvation, but in some many smaller ways. Thank Him for the grace He has already shown you, and that which is coming in the future.

Father, thank You for your unmerited grace.

We were each wandering along hopeless and lost and we did not even realize it. God came after us and made a way back to Him through the sacrifice of His Son. No other reason motivates our praise any more than that. Thank the Spirit for that work in you.

Spirit, thank You for seeking me and bringing me.

Like a shepherd Jesus has guided us. Once we come to know His voice, we can surrender to His influence in our lives. Are you seeking guidance in a particular matter today? Ask Jesus to help you discern His voice so you can follow His lead.

Jesus, help me hear Your voice.

Take a few moments to talk to Jesus about what has surfaced in your heart, or just listen to what He is saying to you, then we will sing once more.

Sing

Take the awareness of God’s presence cultivated in these last few minutes into the next ones and beyond.  Until next time, Be Resonant.

The post Descrambling the Letters of Your P-R-A-I-S-E appeared first on Resonant 7.

Image Attributions
All Glory and Praise – https://pixabay.com/photos/praise-word-scrabble-message-stick-1987229/
To the God of All Grace – https://pixabay.com/photos/scrabble-game-letters-play-1615793/