Psalms 103Sample

The First Key

What is the first key to facing life? To live a lifestyle of worship. 

The singing that we do on Sundays at church should reflect what we have been doing all week. Nothing confuses the enemy more, whether it be human or satanic powers, than worship and praise from a believer’s lips. The devil doesn’t know what to do with a Christian who is going through problems and yet continues worshipping the Lord—it utterly confuses him.

The Bible says that when Paul and Silas were jailed in Philippi, they had their hands put in chains, their feet in stocks, and their backs were bleeding because they were given thirty-nine lashes. Yet they were singing hymns and praising the Lord at midnight. In that moment, they were not asking, “God deliver us,” or complaining. No, as they were singing and worshipping and focused on Jesus Christ, God caused a great earthquake and opened the jail. The jailer was going to kill himself because he thought the prisoners had escaped, but Paul stopped him and he and his family accepted Jesus as Lord.

What does it mean to worship the Lord? It means to make a conscious choice to ascribe ultimate value to God, considering Him the most important person in your life. It means to recognize His value or worthiness.

If there is anybody who was a wonderful example of considering Jesus the most important person in his life, it was the Apostle Paul. He was in prison facing death, and yet he said he considered everything a loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus. In other words, everything that to him was meaningful, everything that gave him significance, everything that made him feel important, he considered it like garbage. The translators of the Bible tried to be nicer than the apostle Paul. Do you know what the Greek word for garbage is? The original word is “dung” —cow manure.

I really enjoy many things this world has to offer. But we have to be careful not to make anything our idol. That should not be our significance. Christ should be our identity and our significance. To glorify and worship the Lord means to emotionally find our ultimate joy or pleasure in Him. John Piper once said, “God is most glorified in us when we are most satisfied in Him.” Who do you get your satisfaction from?