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It felt so good to be back online with our Soul of Worship Ministry Online Bible Study community last night! 

After a week away, we meditated on these 4 simple but powerful verses in Psalm 89:

"Blessed are the people who know the joyful sound! They walk, O LORD, in the light of Your countenance. In Your name they rejoice all day long, And in Your righteousness they are exalted. For You are the glory of their strength, And in Your favor our horn is exalted. For our shield belongs to the LORD, And our king to the Holy One of Israel."

Psalm 89:15-18

Psalm 89 was written by Ethan the Ezrahite, a man that was known as a man of wisdom (1 Kings 4:29-31). 

And what wisdom did Ethan the Ezrahite want to share with the people of Israel? 

The blessings that are unlocked when we know the joyful sound! 

Blessed are those who know how to worship, why they worship, WHO they worship, and what true worship sounds like!

We went deep on...

One morning I was trying to pray but kept thinking of all the things happening in my life that were weighing on me. 

I kept getting frustrated as I was trying to pray about each situation, but you know how one thought leads to another, then to another, and then you’re playing out scenarios in your head and find yourself not praying at all? That was me.

I would catch myself and start praying again, only for it to happen a few more times.  I found myself apologizing to God each time. 

Suddenly, I had a vision.

I was at the altar and I had a bunch of bags with me. As I was kneeling there, I was not praying, but instead I unzipped the bag and removed what looked like coal or rocks.

I took out the dirty coal and placed it on the altar. 

As soon as I placed it on the altar it turned into a flower!

When I picked it back up to look at it, it was a coal again.

I smiled as I realized what was happening and continued to take them out of my bags and place them ALL...

Psalm 76:1 says: "In Judah God is known."

Judah is of course one of the tribes of Israel, the southern kingdom of Israel where Jerusalem is found, the tribe from which Jesus descended from, but also JUDAH means PRAISE.

We could replace the Hebrew name of Judah with praise in this verse and it would read:

"In PRAISE God is known." (Psalm 76:1)

There are A LOT of parallels between the power of praise and the blessings and heritage of the Tribe of Judah, but we are going to focus today on this: 

We make God known through our praise. 

We testify of His goodness when we sing of what He has done.

In Psalm 78, Asaph composes another song of instruction with the main lesson being this: let's learn from our past sins and positively impact our future by praising God.

"We will not hide them from their children, Telling to the generation to come the praises of the Lord, And His strength and His wonderful works that He has done."

Psalm 78:4

So...

How do I pray when I feel defeated?!

In last night's online Bible study, we gained some solid instructions on how to cry out to the LORD in the middle of great devastation. 

In Psalm 74, Asaph describes and laments the tragic state of worship and the destroyed dwelling place of the Lord.

Psalm 74 is also labeled a "Maschil" or "Contemplation of Asaph."

This is a Song of Instruction, with the purpose of providing understanding.

So I believe that Asaph wrote this song of instruction to teach us how to call on the name of the LORD in the midst of despair and oppression.

When all seemed lost, Asaph made several powerful & urgent pleas to Heaven, to the Living God, Righteous King, and Great Shepherd, to ACT on behalf of His Sheep.

As you continue to meditate on Psalm 74, I want to encourage you to think of how this psalm also applies to us now, not only as the global state of the Church is under attack by the enemy, but also...

In our online Bible study last night, we began to dig into the themes of Book 3: Psalms 73-89. 

This third volume of praise and prayer consists of only 17 psalms, 11 of which are penned by Asaph.

So I thought, who is Asaph? What's his story? 

Asaph is mentioned a few times in 1 and 2 Chronicles, from where we learn a few things:

• Asaph's name means "gatherer" in Hebrew 
• Asaph was a Levite, appointed by David when the Ark was brought into Jerusalem
• Asaph was a singer and a musician with the assignment to "raise the voice with resounding joy" 
• Asaph's assignment grew to Chief Musician, prophetic worshiper in David's army, and seer
• Asaph's sons continued in his legacy 

(References: I Chronicles 15:16-19, I Chronicles 16:4-5,7, I Chronicles 25:1-2,6-7, and II Chronicles 29:30) 

Yet, the high calling and successful ministry did not make Asaph exempt from feeling weak, confused, going through trials, or questioning his life's...

Now, you all know that I love to declare, "Worship is my warfare!".

So in last night's online Bible study Zoom class, we unpacked the purpose and power behind a war song.

A war song is also known as a battle hymn or a warrior's cry. It is a call to arms.

Battle hymns have been used since Biblical times and through our recent era. I asked my husband, who is a history buff, about his thoughts regarding the intention behind war-time songs and military bands and we came up with the following 3 main purposes:

1. War songs raise morale and bolster the spirits of soldiers going into battle. The song reminds them of their purpose and reason for fighting.

2. War songs inspire, comfort, bring confidence, and unify the entire army. 

3. War songs are tactical & strategic. When everyone is marching to the same cadence (rhythmic flow of sounds), the army can advance quickly, effectively, and predictably. 

As it is in the natural, so shall it be in the...

"Now there was leaning on Jesus’ bosom one of His disciples, whom Jesus loved."

John 13:23

If you read the Gospel of John, you'll read on 5 occasions John referring to himself as "the one whom Jesus loved."

If you're like me, you're probably thinking, "John, what is your deal? He loves everyone, doesn't He?"

Well, God took me on a personal journey that brought some clarification to this question.

When I renewed my faith in God, He took me to a place of solitude. I wasn't working, I lost the relationship I was in, I wasn't hearing from friends or family, my mom ended up in ICU and eventually passed, and I was going to church, but no one was really talking to me.

No one knew what was happening in my life.

In hindsight, people tell me at that time that they tried talking to me or they just didn't know how to approach me because I looked so serious or stoic.

But I wasn't! See, God had put me in a cave for a reason.

At that time, I asked God, "What's the deal here? It's like I'm...

Though situations arise that seem hopeless, overwhelming, oppressive, and fearful, the Psalms remind us that God is our hope in every circumstance.

What is hope?

In general, "Hope" can be defined as: 

• an optimistic state of mind,
• a feeling of expectation, and
• a desire for a certain outcome.

We might casually say, “I hope it doesn’t rain tomorrow, because I’d like to take a walk.” But keep in mind, that kind of hope doesn’t come with any guarantees.

What is Biblical hope?

Biblical Hope is the strong and confident expectation that God *will fulfill* His promises over us.

The strength of our Biblical hope is in God’s faithfulness.

We can be confident in God’s promises because God has always been faithful.

So our hope is secure and steadfast, because we have no reason to believe that His faithfulness will end with us.

"Why are you cast down, O my soul? And why are you disquieted within me? Hope in God, for I shall yet praise Him For...

While all Scripture is powerful and meaningful, there are quite a few psalms that truly stand out. 

Psalm 51 is definitely one of those.

There are 7 Songs of Confession in the Psalms: 6, 32, 38, 51, 102, 130, and 143.

These psalms all express deep sorrow for sin, 5 of the 7 written by David.

These songs of confession and repentance remind us that we were all born sinners and are in need of a Savior.

These psalms help us to recognize our sinfulness, express our sorrow, and ask for God’s forgiveness so we can be washed, purified, and renewed.

Psalm 51 also reminds us that if we are not careful, it is very easy for even a "Man after God's own heart" to get entangled with sin.

The enemy is always looking for ways to take us down, so we must stay on guard!

But we should also confidently know that if we humbly come back to the LORD with a broken and contrite spirit, God is so merciful to forgive and restore us.

With this week being...

On this Palm Sunday, I want to share with you the lyrics of this beautiful hymn, "All Glory, Laud and Honor" written by Theodulph of Orleans circa 820.

As you read through, meditate on these powerful words and vow to raise your melody and sweet hosanna!

All glory, laud and honor, to Thee, Redeemer, King,
To Whom the lips of children made sweet hosannas ring.

Thou art the King of Israel, Thou David's royal Son,
Who in the Lord's name comest, the King and Blessed One.

The company of angels are praising Thee on high,
And we with all creation in chorus make reply.

The people of the Hebrews with psalms before Thee went;
Our prayer and praise and anthems before Thee we present.

To Thee, before Thy passion, they sang their hymns of praise;
To Thee now high exalted, our melody we raise.

Thou didst accept their praises, accept the prayers we bring,
Who in all good delightest, Thou good and gracious King.

Isn't that beautiful?

Keep making a sound,

Sara-Marie