On Wings of Praise
For the Lord takes delight in his people; he crowns the humble with salvation. Let the saints rejoice in this honor and sing for joy on their beds. Ps. 149:4, 5, NIV.
I was just recovering from having partially ruptured a lower disk in my spine. I had spent three weeks in bed trying to allow it to heal with gentle, conservative treatment.
My husband, Dan, had purchased a motor home so that I could lie down as we traveled about 2,000 miles to our next evangelistic assignment. I was just rejoicing that I was doing so well when we stopped at an RV park to take a shower. The hot water in the shower suddenly turned ice cold, causing the muscles in my back to go into painful spasms. Muffling a cry of pain, I feared the disk had slipped out again.
We spent the night in a motel, thinking a hot tub bath might give me some relief-but it was in vain! I was alone now, lying in pain on the couch in our motor home, anxious and depressed, when our teammate John gave me some much-needed advice. “Don’t let your physical condition get you down,” he said.
His quiet admonition aroused me, and I lifted my thoughts to God. “Father, I really am getting more and more depressed. Please lift me up on wings of praise and fill my heart and mind with joyful songs and promises from Your Word, for when the Holy Spirit has control, there is peace and joy.”
I began singing songs of praise and happiness in my mind, and as I sang, Jesus removed the depression. The spasms lessened! Now I really praised Him! “O thank You, Lord, that the disk is not out, and that it’s just muscle spasms!” The more I praised Him, the better I felt.
It reminded me of the admonition: “Let the saints . . . sing for joy on their beds.” When do you go to bed? It’s when you’re tired, sick, or depressed. You go to bed when you least feel like singing. But on beds of pain, whether spiritual, mental, or physical, is also the very time you most need to sing and ask God to lift you up on wings of praise.
What better time than now to sing a praise song to the Lord? “Rejoice in the Lord always, and again I say rejoice.”
Used by permission of Health Ministries, North American Division of Seventh-day Adventists.
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