Schizophrenic Praise - Part TWO

Wednesday, February 8, 2023

All heaven will praise your great wonders, Lord; myriads of angels will praise you for your faithfulness.  For who in all of heaven can compare with the Lord?  What mightiest angel is anything like the Lord?  The highest angelic powers stand in awe of God.  He is far more awesome than all who surround his throne.  O Lord God of Heaven’s Armies!  Where is there anyone as mighty as you, O Lord?  You are entirely faithful.  You rule the oceans.  You subdue their storm-tossed waves.  You crushed the great sea monster.  You scattered your enemies with your mighty arm.  The heavens are yours, and the earth is yours; everything in the world is yours—you created it all.  You created north and south.  Mount Tabor and Mount Hermon praise your name.  Powerful is your arm!  Strong is your hand!  Your right hand is lifted high in glorious strength.  Righteousness and justice are the foundation of your throne.  Unfailing love and truth walk before you as attendants.  Happy are those who hear the joyful call to worship, for they will walk in the light of your presence, Lord.  They rejoice all day long in your wonderful reputation.  They exult in your righteousness.  You are their glorious strength.  It pleases you to make us strong.  Yes, our protection comes from the Lord, and he, the Holy One of Israel, has given us our king.  

Psalm 89:5-18

I like consistency; I like to know what’s planned, and I like to see things unfold exactly as planned.  Call it O.C.D. (obsessive-compulsive disorder)…but I don’t like surprises.  It was painful to read Psalm 88 yesterday, with its darkness, despair, and questioning.  And now, here I am this morning, reading the unabashed gushing of unwavering faith and praise in Psalm 89. 

If you lay aside the circumstances of these two psalms, the change from valley to mountaintop can make one dizzy!  What a ride!

As settled as I like things and people to be in my life, I am often moody and affected by uneven circumstances and events.  Life is not charted with a straight edge.  Rather, it can be, and often is, messy.  I’ve heard all kinds of advice…

There are Psalm 88 folk who are deep thinkers…go ahead, question God, they say; Brood if you must; God will answer when he’s ready.  It’s a dark way.      Psalm 89 folk are more positive….they say (with a smile):  when you’re bummed, just lift your hands and praise!  God is good; circumstances aren’t important!  Because I’m more of a brooder, I want to smack Psalm 89 folk upside their happy countenance (in a loving, Christian way, of course!).

So, what to do?  As much as I hate to admit it, I always feel better when I praise God in a Psalm 89 burst of praise.  The problem is, the rarefied atmosphere of the mountaintop fades away, and I’m left wondering if God heard anything I said.  When I stay chained to Psalm 88, with its questioning, blood-letting agony of walking God through why His plan doesn’t seem to be working (often winding-up in the woodshed for my trouble), I am also left wondering if thinking this deeply is worthwhile.  So….maybe this is the reason why God had these Psalms put next to each other.  We are supposed to do the gut-wrenching work of Psalm 88, questioning and agonizing with God like Job.  But we’re also meant to frame it all with the praise of Psalm 89!  It’s a two-pronged fork…Probing and Praising!

For You Today  

I’ve found this to be so helpful.  Whether you’re a brooder or a praiser, get out of your rut!  Get in there and wrestle with God like Jacob at the River Jabbok ^{Genesis 32}, but then come out praising Him like a charismatic at a camp meeting!  It’s not schizophrenic – it’s living life close to the vine!

You chew on that as you hit the Rocky Road; have a blessed day!

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There are about 2,000 devotional posts and 400 sermons in the Rocky Road Devotions library.  To dig deeper on today’s topic, explore some of these: 

Worship Smiles  and  Bi-Polar Prayers 

This is an updated version of “Schizophrenic Praise - 2013 published on Rocky Road Devotions August 12, 2013

Images:  Title Pixabay.com   Images without citation are either personal property of the author, or in public domain.

Unless noted, Scripture quoted from The New Living Translation^©