There is something wonderful about spending the first part of every day with the LORD. He loves to encounter us in different ways and surprise us with how well He knows us.

This morning I was thanking Him for this day and rejoicing in the fact that we are going to meet our first great-grandbaby today. We can’t travel much because of Mike’s physical battle,, so our grandson and his sweet wife are coming here later today. We can’t wait.

I couldn’t help but praise God. Praise choruses came to mind, so I sang them. Then this song—

“Have Thine own way LORD,

“Have Thine own way,

Thou art the Potter, I am the clay

Mold me and make me after Thy will

While I am waiting, yielded and still.”

“LORD, may I be fully yielded to Your will, Your way, Your plans, Your timing,” I prayed.

I opened my Bible randomly and Psalm 150 was the first thing I saw. It is all about praising God with every kind of instrument and with dance. But I was drawn to read Psalm 149.

Again, it’s all about praise. But verses 4-9 spoke to me with new understanding.

For the Lord takes pleasure in His people;

He will beautify the humble with salvation.

[The humble – the KJV says the meek. Meekness is power under submission to God and His control—fully yielded.]

5 Let the saints be joyful in glory;

Let them sing aloud on their beds.

6 Let the high praises of God be in their mouth,

And a two-edged sword in their hand,

[What I am seeing, is that we can do warfare even as we lay on our beds at night. We do it by Singing Praises to God. Declaring who He is and what He can do. We do it by Proclaiming God’s Word—that two-edged sword in prayer and declaration.]

Then He tells us what can be accomplished in verses 7-8.

7 To execute vengeance on the nations,

And punishments on the peoples;

8 To bind their kings with chains,

And their nobles with fetters of iron;

9 To execute on them the written judgment—

[Are there nations, kings, or political leaders threatening us, our nation, or other Christians? We have the weapons necessary to do battle with them and see them come under God’s judgment—WITH SONGS, PRAYERS, and DECLARATIONS OF GOD’S WORD—even while we rest on our beds.]

This honor have all His saints.

[This power and authority are ours to use. God has honored us with a chance to impact nations and peoples with His weapons of war. (2 Corinthians 10:3-6)]

So, even if you are bedridden, you can do something of great value for the Kingdom of God. And God is trusting us to do this as we yield in meekness to His will.

The other insight that came as I thought about these verses is this: Humble or meek people seek God’s will before their own. They check in with God before they set out to do something with their own thinking or strength. We are empty jars without power until we allow Him to fill us with His. His power only activates when we are doing His will.

Let’s seek God first in 2024. Make Him your priority and have a blessed day.

Shalom.