{"id":2606,"date":"2012-04-24T09:20:14","date_gmt":"2012-04-24T13:20:14","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blog.beliefnet.com\/simplelife\/?p=2606"},"modified":"2012-04-24T09:20:14","modified_gmt":"2012-04-24T13:20:14","slug":"praising-and-worship","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/simplelife\/2012\/04\/praising-and-worship.html","title":{"rendered":"Praising and worship"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/a>For the past week, I\u2019ve been listening to and reading the Book of Psalms. \u00a0Even people who don\u2019t often read the scriptures are familiar with the Psalms because of their beauty. \u00a0Additionally, the words of David and Asaph which were written thousands of years ago weirdly relate\u00a0to my everyday life.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe Lord is my shepherd\u201d acknowledges my weakness and my need for a heavenly caregiver. \u00a0Every child delights in Psalm 100. \u00a0Who doesn\u2019t want to \u201cShout to the Lord\u201d? \u00a0 \u201cDon\u2019t be upset with evil people\u201d comforts all of us because we struggle with wickedness that stems from others in our lives. \u00a0 \u201cSing to the Lord\u201d speaks of the joy that the Lord wants us to experience.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>However, not many of us realize how often David and other psalmist seek the Lord in their lyrics because they are desperate. \u00a0It is that desperation that often draws the people of God to this familiar book. \u00a0I hate to admit that often I laugh my way through many of the Psalms because of David\u2019s vindictive attitude toward his enemy.<\/p>\n

I\u2019m also enthusiastic by the Lord\u2019s insistence of having joy in our lives which is exposed through the lyrics. \u00a0The Psalms are songs. \u00a0Singing has a way of healing hurts and bringing joy into our inner being. \u00a0This week, a good friend and member of our choir came into the weekly practice angry and upset. \u00a0Because of changes in her meds, my friend, Marcia, struggles with extreme emotional reactions.<\/p>\n

Today, she is angry because of unforgiveness. \u00a0She fumes and fusses about a good friend who offended her. \u00a0After deciding that she \u201ccould and should\u201d forgive her friend, she is still unhappy. \u00a0\u201dI don\u2019t feel any better,\u201d she reports.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>We started choir and she started singing with us. \u00a0Within a few minutes, she was her happy self again. \u00a0As we shared a smile, I asked, \u201cFeeling better?\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cYeah,\u201d she acknowledged, \u201cbut I don\u2019t know why.\u201d \u00a0I didn\u2019t take time to explain that singing about the goodness of the Lord accesses for us the joy of the Lord.<\/p>\n

What is a time that you have seen the Lord\u2019s joy change hearts? \u00a0What have you learned from the Psalms? \u00a0Do you think your members are able to understand the Psalms and learn from them?<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

For the past week, I\u2019ve been listening to and reading the Book of Psalms. \u00a0Even people who don\u2019t often read the scriptures are familiar with the Psalms because of their beauty. \u00a0Additionally, the words of David and Asaph which were written thousands of years ago weirdly relate\u00a0to my everyday life. \u201cThe Lord is my shepherd\u201d…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":387,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5,40,186,49,16,8],"tags":[690,21,688,7,699,715,701,694,689,379,378,6],"class_list":["post-2606","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-christianity","category-faith","category-hope","category-inspiration","category-intellectual-disability","category-mentally-challenged-community","tag-autism-spectrum","tag-christian","tag-christianity","tag-developmental-disabilities-2","tag-faith","tag-hope","tag-inspiration","tag-intellectual-disability","tag-mentally-challenged-community","tag-psalm-100","tag-psalms","tag-simple-scriptural-truths"],"yoast_head":"\nPraising and worship - A Simple Life, a Childlike Faith<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/simplelife\/2012\/04\/praising-and-worship.html\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Praising and worship - A Simple Life, a Childlike Faith\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"For the past week, I\u2019ve been listening to and reading the Book of Psalms. \u00a0Even people who don\u2019t often read the scriptures are familiar with the Psalms because of their beauty. \u00a0Additionally, the words of David and Asaph which were written thousands of years ago weirdly relate\u00a0to my everyday life. \u201cThe Lord is my shepherd\u201d…\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/simplelife\/2012\/04\/praising-and-worship.html\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"A Simple Life, a Childlike Faith\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2012-04-24T13:20:14+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"http:\/\/specialgathering.files.wordpress.com\/2012\/04\/ipod.jpg?w=207&h=155\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Linda G. Howard\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Praising and worship - A Simple Life, a Childlike Faith","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/simplelife\/2012\/04\/praising-and-worship.html","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Praising and worship - A Simple Life, a Childlike Faith","og_description":"For the past week, I\u2019ve been listening to and reading the Book of Psalms. \u00a0Even people who don\u2019t often read the scriptures are familiar with the Psalms because of their beauty. \u00a0Additionally, the words of David and Asaph which were written thousands of years ago weirdly relate\u00a0to my everyday life. \u201cThe Lord is my shepherd\u201d…","og_url":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/simplelife\/2012\/04\/praising-and-worship.html","og_site_name":"A Simple Life, a Childlike Faith","article_published_time":"2012-04-24T13:20:14+00:00","og_image":[{"url":"http:\/\/specialgathering.files.wordpress.com\/2012\/04\/ipod.jpg?w=207&h=155"}],"author":"Linda G. 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