HE INHABITS PRAISE!

HE INHABITS PRAISE!

Ps 22:3

3 But thou art holy, O thou that inhabitest the praises of Israel.

Matt 18:20

20 For where two or three are gathered together in my name, there am I in the midst of them.

          Psalm 22 is the cry of the crucified! Jesus, in His suffering, actually quoted large portions of it and one can hardly read it and doubt that it points to the cross. In verse 3 he gives us a secret. Paul used that secret like a key to unlock the prison gates.

Acts 16:25-26

25 And at midnight Paul and Silas prayed, and sang praises unto God: and the prisoners heard them.

26 And suddenly there was a great earthquake, so that the foundations of the prison were shaken: and immediately all the doors were opened, and every one's bands were loosed.

          We must not reduce church to a social meeting with a format and an agenda. Matthew 18 is not a guarantee that Jesus would join in on every Christian coffee klatch or quilting bee. What Jesus was saying is that he is promising to join in our praises.

          Our culture is one of such disrespect that the thought of praising someone – even God – for all eternity seems downright odd and uncomfortable. Oh, but we have not seen Him in his glory! When we do we will copy the acts of John.

Rev 1:17-18

17 And when I saw him, I fell at his feet as dead. And he laid his right hand upon me, saying unto me, Fear not; I am the first and the last:

18 I am he that liveth, and was dead; and, behold, I am alive for evermore, Amen; and have the keys of hell and of death.