A Garment of Praise

I was in prayer today about the situations that my wife and I are experiencing with our recent set backs and I could hear the voice of the Lord telling me to 'put on your garment of praise.' I was reminded of the psalmist David as he wrote 'You have turned my mourning into dancing for me; You have put off my sackcloth and girded me with gladness, To the end that my tongue and my heart and everything glorious within me may sing praise to You and not be silent. O Lord my God, I will give thanks to You forever.'(see Psalms 30:11-12) How awesome to think that of all the things that David went through as the shepherd boy, as the king's musician, and as the king himself that he would praise God. There are so many people hurting today. There are so many things that are going wrong today we can either put on a

garment of sorrow or put on a garment of praise. Are you going through a trial? In John 16:33, Jesus told us that we will have trials and tribulations but to "be of good cheer" for He already conquered it! Praise God! We don't have to settle for the devil's antics and mind games but instead we can overcome him with praise. Can you imagine the demons in hell quaking at the sound of the saints of God praising the Lord? Can you imagine the impact it would have on our lives and our blood pressure if we took moments in time to praise instead of complain? Just think of Paul and Silas as they were imprisoned. Silas didn't look at Paul and say, "look what kind of mess you got us in, Paul. I have to sit here in slime and trash, gee thanks!" Instead, they broke out in praise. It was then they had a breakthrough so to speak. (see Acts 16:24-26) What an awesome testimony to show in the midst of the fire to someone who doesn't know Christ that you can stay glued together. Sometimes we have to be like Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego and go through the fiery furnace before we can see God in the midst of our trial.