{"id":33300,"date":"2024-08-28T20:50:09","date_gmt":"2024-08-29T00:50:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/debmillswriter.com\/?p=33300"},"modified":"2024-08-28T20:55:33","modified_gmt":"2024-08-29T00:55:33","slug":"worship-wednesday-count-it-all-joy-thats-the-thing-about-praise-benjamin-william-hastings-blessing-offor","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/debmillswriter.com\/?p=33300","title":{"rendered":"Worship Wednesday – Count It All Joy – That’s the Thing About Praise – Benjamin William Hastings & Blessing Offor"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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Photo Credit: Oswald Chambers, Heartlight<\/a><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Oh, sing to the Lord a new song!
For He has done marvelous things;
His right hand and His holy arm have gained Him the victory.
2 <\/sup>The Lord has made known His salvation;
His righteousness He has revealed in the sight of the nations.
3 <\/sup>He has remembered His mercy and His faithfulness to the house of Israel;
All the ends of the earth have seen the salvation of our God.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

4 <\/sup>Shout joyfully to the Lord<\/strong>, all the earth;
Break forth in song, rejoice, and sing praises.
5 <\/sup>Sing to the Lord with the harp,
With the harp and the sound of a psalm,
6 <\/sup>With trumpets and the sound of a horn;
Shout joyfully before the Lord, the King.<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

7 <\/sup>Let the sea roar, and all its fullness,
The world and those who dwell in it;
8 <\/sup>Let the rivers clap their hands;
Let the hills be joyful together
9 <\/sup>    before the Lord<\/strong>,
For He is coming to judge the earth.
With righteousness He shall judge the world,
And the peoples with equity. <\/em>– Psalm 98<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Count it all joy<\/strong>, my brothers, when you meet trials of various kinds, for you know that the testing of your faith produces steadfastness. And let steadfastness have its full effect, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing.<\/em> – James 1:2-4<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Don’t you love when something significant happens twice, just in case you missed it the first time around? This weekend, I took a couple of Afghan girls to see the film Inside Out 2<\/a><\/em>. They had been wanting to see it all summer and we finally made it happen. Being teenaged girls themselves, they were mesmerized by all the familiar emotions depicted in the film – joy, sadness, disgust, fear, anger, anxiety, envy, embarrassment, and ennui (boredom). We all counted on the sprightly “joy” character to help Riley, the girl in the film, hold onto the sweetness of her life in the midst of all that caused her distress. Joy! She had to work really hard to make sure Riley’s life was happy. [Great movie! Exhausting and exhilarating!]<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Photo Credit: YouTube<\/a><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

YouTube Video – Inside Out 2<\/em> – All Joy Scenes Recap<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Then the next day, Pastor Cliff preached<\/a> on Psalm 98. The psalmist calls the people of God to worship their (our) King. No spectators here! All of creation sounds an anthem of praise to a righteous, merciful, faithful, and just God. The tone of this psalm was that of great joy…not buoyed by happy circumstances, but grounded on the presence and personhood of almighty God.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Therefore, no matter what’s happening in our lives – whatever emotions are evoked – we can count it all joy, when we walk with Him.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Writer, speaker Mel Walker defines Biblical joy<\/a> as “choosing to respond to external circumstances with inner contentment and satisfaction, because we know that God will use these experiences to accomplish His work in and through our lives.”<\/em> He breaks joy down into 3 components:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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  1. God, Himself, is the source of our joy.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
  2. We can choose to respond to life\u2019s trials with joy when we consider God\u2019s purpose for those times of suffering.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
  3.  <\/strong>It is possible to have joy to the fullest even during life\u2019s most difficult times.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n\n\n\n
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    Photo Credit: Heartlight<\/a><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

    Like in the film, we have conversations in our head, with God, and each other. We can’t always work out meaning or the why’s of our situations, and we’re tempted to default to the negative (and all the accompanying emotions). God calls us to look to Him to sort things out, and in trusting Him, we can enjoy that settled joy in our hearts. No matter what.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    An example of a simple joy in my life is this: Jon Schmidt<\/a>‘s arrangement of A Poor Wayfairing Man of Grief<\/a><\/em>. It is an instrumental piece on my sweet husband’s Sunday morning playlist. I want to be up and out in the living room, coffee in hand, when it plays. This piece<\/a>, all piano and strings, has several beautiful rises and falls. There is this one interval (starting at around 5 1\/2 minutes) that builds to an incredible crescendo 30 seconds in. It strikes joy in my heart, every single time.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    Simple, beautiful reminders of the God who loves us and will take us through all of life.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    When the psalmist calls us to sing a new song to the Lord, here’s one: “That’s the Thing About Praise”<\/a><\/em> by songwriters Benjamin William Hastings<\/a> and Blessing Offor<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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