As you worship the Lord Jesus truthfully, with his word, your convictions grow, and so does your love for him, your faith in him, and your assurance of his salvation. Isn’t that such good news?
Hi, I’m Joni Eareckson Tada, and I’m talking up Jesus today!
I have been looking for new and fresh ways to praise the Lord Jesus in my private times of worship and prayer. Those times occur mostly in the middle of the night when I cannot sleep [it’s usually pain or that I need to be turned because of a pressure sore]. Whatever the reason, that’s the time I love talking to the Lord. I’m awake. And so, I’ll ask him to give me comfort, or to give my husband Ken Tada the strength he needs, or I’ll ask the Lord for wisdom or guidance on something. But interspersed between those things, I’ll just tell him, I’ll talk to him about how wonderful I think he is. It’s why I memorize hymns. Like “Jesus, I am resting, resting in the joy of what you are.” Or I will pray, “You’re the Rock of Ages, cleft for me, please let me hide myself in thee tonight.” Or maybe: “Jesus, priceless treasure, source of purist pleasure, friend most sure and true.” Do you see how the stanzas of these hymns are overflowing with wonderful language that you can use in adoring God and expressing to him how much you love him? But, as I said, I’ve been looking for new love language to praise the Lord, and so, I’ve turned back to the psalms – and I found a great one to memorize: Psalm 45.
It’s a great one to commit to heart because look how the third verse starts off: “Gird your sword on your thigh, O mighty one in your splendor and majesty! In your majesty, ride out victoriously for the cause of truth, and meekness, and righteousness…because you’ve loved righteousness and you’ve hated wickedness, therefore God, your God has anointed you with the oil of gladness beyond all your companions.” I love reciting stuff like this to Jesus. After all, his Spirit authored it! So, I’m sure you get the point. I think those couple of sentences [and actually, many more in Psalm 45] provide inspired words to share as an offering of praise to my Savior!
And here is the amazing thing. When we see Christ as that compelling; when we engage our emotions and offer up these words in faith [like, Lord, I’m putting my heart into this because I believe you are this good] when we do that, we hear back from God. The Spirit grants us assurance of faith. We sense that we are wedged in the middle of his will. We know that he will not let us shipwreck our faith. The Spirit confirms that no one – not even the devil – can snatch us out of the hand of our Savior. We’ll sense that God is rejoicing over us with singing. We’ll know that we are the apple of his eye as it says in Psalm 17. And we will rejoice that our salvation was purchased at such a costly price, and then we will be humbled by how our rescue cost God absolutely everything. Such praise does not go unanswered. Sometimes I’ll hear God say from Psalm 121: “Joni, I will rejoice in doing you good, I will keep you like it says and one day you will receive a rich welcome into heaven, just like you’re assured in 2 Peter.”
It’s what your heart hears. It’s what you sense. As you worship the Lord Jesus truthfully and with his word, your convictions grow, and so does your love for him, your faith in him, and your assurance of salvation. So, I want to thank you for letting me share a little bit about my private times of worship. And wouldn’t you agree? Jesus Christ is our joy! There is nothing that we can possibly desire on earth above him. See you later at joniradio.org.
© Joni and Friends