Tuesday 23 November 2021

The domino effect of praise (2)

“May my mouth be filled with Your praise, may it glorify You every day.” Psalm 71. 8

In 2007, after struggling for a dozen years with leukemia, pianist and songwriter Roger Bennett died. He thought he was still in remission, but the disease recurred violently. Here is what he wrote on his website : “Our enemy is chasing us exactly as the Bible describes, 'like a roaring lion.' He lurks in ambush in the bushes, on the lookout for any sign of weakness. Then he knocks. He didn't hit me physically. It attacked a more critical point in my soul: it undermined my joy... my confidence... and my hope. Whenever I turned my thoughts to the sky and the Heaven that awaited me, they fell on me like heavy lead balls. Whenever I tried to look at the bright side, I could only imagine a dark and desperate future. It was then that he fired his most effective arrow at me : doubt. “Do you call yourself a Christian ? What a hypocrite you are ! You have never been so scared as you are today. You have never been so desperate as you are today ! How beautiful is your faith, Mr. Gospel singer !" I swallowed everything he said. I tried everything to get out of this deadlock... I thought if I dozed off for a while it would pass by itself... but time seemed to pass in slow motion. No way to get to sleep. I tried to absorb myself into the Bible, but the words danced before my eyes and seemed to lose all their meaning." It was then that Bennett had a revelation - he remembered the episode of Paul and Silas in prison. “They did not abandon themselves to despair, far from it !” he wrote. “They began to sing His praises, and their very song became their most formidable weapon. One after another... old songs came back to me and I started singing them in my empty room. It was certainly not my best performance, but it was arguably the most powerful blessing I have ever received from Him." The Psalmist wrote : “May my mouth be filled with Your praise, may it glorify You every day” (Psalm 71. 8). Try this strategy : there is nothing more effective !

Source (His Word for Today)