“May the people praise you, O God; may the people praise you. Then the land will yield its harvest, and God, our God shall bless us. God will bless us, and all the ends of the earth will fear Him.” Ps 67:5-7 (Amplified)
If as I have asserted all week that there is no economic downturn in heaven and that God’s infallible word is not subject to the vagaries of economic boom and bust; If God’s ability to impact our lives and cause His will to be done is neither diminished nor enhanced by our experiences because He is the eternal God; If it is really true that God will satisfy us in drought and in dry places and cause honey to flow out of rocks for us to nullify the negative effects and challenges of living in a fallen world; If our lives are in the hands of the God who rules and intervenes in the affairs of men, an Omniscient God who cannot be blindsided by events or caught by surprise, then what do we need to do as we wait in expectation for His crunch-busting solutions?
If we thank God because of His faithfulness and praise Him because of His greatness as well as worship Him because of His holiness, the only option left for us is to praise Him for who He is. He already has an enviable track record of fulfilling His promise to His children, so we have no cause to doubt that He will do the same for us. We can even be confident that He will exceed our expectations and glorify His name. Ps 50:23 says that whoever offers praise to God creates a pathway through which God can bless him. Our anchor verse further clarifies how that blessing will come about by stating that through our praise God will cause the land to yield its harvest to us.
One man who would attest to this truth is Isaac. In obedience to God he had to live in a hostile place and under intolerable circumstances, Gen 26. At God’s command Isaac sowed his seed and in due time God rewarded him by causing the land to yield an abundant harvest. God made him great and blessed him exceedingly under difficult circumstances and even his enemies had no choice but to sue for peace with him. God has done this before and He will certainly do it again, but the key to experiencing His abundance in lean times is to praise Him regardless of whatever is going on in our physical environment. Praise elevates our perspective and lifts us above the cloud and the resultant storms that might be going on in the world. It enables us to acquire the peace that passes all understanding and to detach ourselves from the anxiety that might be pervading our world. It helps us to open the tap of heaven’s manifold blessings that God has destined to come our way as well as cultivate the right attitude, which enables us to enjoy prosperity in adversity. Praise gives us the permanent right of abode to live on the sunny side of life where God takes the glory due to Him and we appropriate His blessings. Lastly, praise makes our lives a praise as we become great advertisement of God’s goodness to other people who are positively impacted by God’s blessings in our lives and are as a consequence drawn to God through us. So, why waste your life worrying when God has everything under control. Praise Him instead and release His crunch-defying anointing to prosper in adversity into your life.
Prayer:
Father, I join the Psalmist to proclaim that I will praise your name at all times and your praise shall always be on my lips Ps 34:1. Cause the earth to yield her fruit to me today in response to my praise so that the whole world might fear you and be drawn to you through me in Jesus name. Amen.