Praise and worship

Psalm 28:7, “The Lord is my strength and my shield; my heart trusts in Him and He helps me. My heart leaps for joy and with my song I praise Him.” The Lord led me back to the book of Nehemiah this morning. In Nehemiah 1:3 it says, “and they said to me, ‘The remanent there in the province, who survived the captivity are in great distress and reproach and the wall of Jerusalem is broken down, and the gates are burned with fire.” When Nehemiah heard these words, he sat down and wept and mourned for days. He was fasting and praying before the God of heaven. He came before God and asked God to be attentive to his prayer. “Beseech Thee” it says in verse 5. Beseech means to ask urgently to do something. He came before the Lord God of heaven, the great and awesome God who preserves the covenant and lovingkindness for those who love Him and keep His commandments it says. In verse 8 and 9, Nehemiah asks God to remember the words which He commanded Moses, “If you are unfaithful, I will scatter you among the peoples, but if you return to Me and keep My commandments and do them, though you who have been scattered were in the most remote part of heaven, I will gather them from there and will bring them to the place where I have chosen to cause My name to dwell.” In a situation of great distress, Nehemiah knew where to turn. Our nation is in great distress. We are seeing evil become bolder and bolder as the enemy turns people against people. The hardening of the heart of our nation can only be softened when those who are called by His name, pray and fast and beseech God to do something to save this nation. Nehemiah knew where to turn to, it says in verse 5, “the great and awesome God”. Let us beseech God and trust in Him. Praise and worship is the title I put. God is our strength and shield, and we must trust in Him to help us. Nehemiah 8:10 ends with these words, “Do not be grieved for the joy of the Lord is your strength.” He is worthy of our praise and worship. Psalm 18:3 says, “I call upon the Lord who is worthy to be praised, and I am saved from my enemies.” We need to come before the Lord God of heaven, the great and awesome God. We need to recognize where our help comes from. When we do, we know the joy of the Lord is our strength.