Worthy to be Praised!

The Lord is my rock and my fortress and my deliverer, 

my God, my rock in whom I take refuge, 

my shield, and the horn of my salvation, 

my stronghold and my refuge, my savior, 

you save me from violence. 

I will call upon the Lord, who is worthy to be praised... 

(2 Samuel 22:2-4)

We praise God because He is worthy to be praised! When the earth seems to crumble beneath our feet, He is our Rock. When we need a place of safety and peace, He is our fortress, our defender, a shield around us. When we need to be rescued, He is our Savior. When we consider His works and His character, we are left amazed and our lips can do nothing less than praise Him. 

God never fails to respond to our call. His presence and power in our lives are constants in which we can completely trust. He is never too busy, never disinterested, never too distant to hear our call to Him. He is worthy of our praise. What are some of the ways you praise Him?

Page: Background color is blended chalks, sprayed with fixative. Most of the margin words and the flowers are stamped (Sweet 'n Sassy Stamps: Rebecca Script Alpha, He is Worthy, His Wings, Words of Life: Collections 1 and 2, and Long-Stemmed Silhouettes).

Do You Ever Want to Fly Away?

 "And I say, 'Oh, that I had wings like a dove! 

I would fly away and be at rest; 

yes, I would wander far away...

I would hurry to find a shelter 

from the raging wind and tempest'." 

(Psalm 55:6-8)

 

Who of us hasn't wanted to run away from it all...just leave the worries, responsibilities, troubles behind and find a place of rest and shelter. Of course, all of us have wanted that. Even King David wanted to fly away. There are times when life is just so hard that we wonder if the struggle, pain, heartache, or thought is worth it.

In our flesh, we would probably answer, "No, this isn't worth it." But most of the time it is...because of what God can do with our challenges. The problem always is, God's timing usually takes longer than our patience or endurance lasts. God knows that. I believe He often waits to intervene until we fully relinquish our struggle to Him, until we lay it all at His feet in full surrender. When we've spent ourselves in sleepless nights and anguished worry, we come to the Savior and hand our emptiness to Him. That's the only way He can fill us completely...to be emptied of ourselves, our resources, our thoughts, our ways, our plans.

The book of Psalms, chapters 55-57 shown here are full of encouragement for those who, like King David, would just love to fly away to escape our problems. I invite you to go to your Bible, spend some time in these chapters. I promise they will strengthen and encourage you. They are wonderful passages to guide your prayer time.

For my pages, I've used Sweet 'n Sassy stamps (Skinny Lowercase Alpha, Rebecca Script Alpha, and How Tweet), Copic markers to color and Washi Tape accents