It’s 4:50 AM. I should be sleeping, but you know how that goes! So, I find my friend, C. H. Spurgeon, and listen to his sermon called “A Wilderness Cry” on Psalm 63:1,2. I love listening to Pastor Gavin Childress. His British accent and tone are soothing. Often, I will fall asleep—most of Spurgeon’s sermons are forty-five minutes—but not this morning or night or whatever it is. Time stood still, and my heart sang after listening! So, I am sharing it with you!
I’d like to say that I never battle discouragement or depression, but that’s not true. Perhaps it’s my age, or my aches and pains, or my “station of life” at the moment, but there are days when I question EVERYTHING! What was different about this night? I was not awake because of the load of care or worry. I was awake because of a heart overflowing with something else. What was it? Praise! Praise to our God!
Praise God—
It is the secret spice that awakens our taste buds to the sweetness of our Lord.
It is the beacon of glorious light that illuminates our hearts to His goodness.
“O taste and see that the Lord is good” (Psalm 34:8 [NKJV]).
It is the magic bullet that kills discouragement and depression, because we become dead to all that is mere living in the old man and become alive to that which is real in Christ.
“Though he die, yet shall he live” (John 11:25 [ESV]).
It is the miracle drug that shrinks the tumor of pain and sorrow and brings hope to the helpless.
“Praise Him! Praise Him, all ye little children! God is love. God is love.”
When life gets too heavy, and the next step seems impossible to take:
“Praise Him! Praise Him! Jesus, our blessed Redeemer!”
When hope is shattered, and disappointment rules the day:
“I will praise Him! I will praise Him! Praise the Lamb for sinners slain!
Give Him glory all ye people! For His blood has washed away each stain.”
In those dark hours, whether at midnight or noon, when the world and the god of this world attack, there is a place of refuge—a place to find hope, comfort, and assurance. Praise helps us remember who we are in Christ and Who He is. As born-again believers, we have a Best Friend who longs to comfort and lead.
Sometimes, we need to focus on clearing the path that we’ve littered with our doubts and unbelief. Through study and prayer, the way clears, and He is there to redirect our focus off the struggle and back onto Him—the great “I AM.” That’s when God breaks into our thoughts and reminds us why we are here: to praise Him! And in doing so, everything changes! I can’t explain it, but He sets us aright and all is well.
“For a day in Your courts is better
Psalm 84:10 (NKJV)
than a thousand.
I would rather be a doorkeeper
in the house of my God
Than dwell in the tents of wickedness.”
Try it! You’ll see what I mean!
Beyond Common Sense 
🙂
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