Psalm 57:7 My heart is steadfast, O God,
my heart is steadfast;
I will sing and make music.

I think this is a pretty clear example of what the Word/Faith people would call a positive confession. To this point David has had alternating anxiety and focus on God, but here he says, “Enough of that. I’m going to praise the Lord!” Yesterday I started reading The Power of Praise and Worship, by Terry Law, and in it he talks about how choosing to praise God was what got him out of the huge pit of mourning and depression he was in after his wife was killed in a car accident. I’ve not had anything that drastic to this point, but I’ve had some pretty low times, and I have found the same truth that David and Terry did: nothing helps us correct our focus better than praising God. It can feel like total hypocrisy at times, but if it is a genuine act of the will, the heart and the emotions will eventually come along. The devil is a very clever foe. He tears us down far more with petty resentment and disappointment than with big things. With big things, we almost automatically cry out to God, but with little things we can forget to do that. Staying focused on God is as important, if not more so, in the little things as the big. I think this is a big part of what James was talking about when he said, “Submit yourselves, then, to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you.” (James 4:7) We really don’t know how to submit to God very well, because doing it grudgingly isn’t really submitting. We do it properly only in an atmosphere of praise and worship, because that is when we can know on every level that He is more than worthy of our total devotion and obedience.

This morning I was just experiencing some of the petty resentment the devil loves to use to trip us up, so this is very timely. I am reminded of Nehemiah. I need to respond to distractions the way he did, declining to change my focus to all the things the devil throws at me. (Nehemiah 6:3) I first learned the principles of praise and worship over 40 years ago, but I need to be reminded, because familiarity breeds contempt, and I must not let that happen. I need to recognize the tricks of the devil for what they are and stand against them immediately and firmly. I am to choose gratitude, praise, and worship at all times and in all circumstances. Only then will I experience the full victory God intends for me, not just for my sake but for the sake of all the people with whom I interact, bringing them along with me into God’s kingdom, for their salvation and His glory.

Father, thank You for this reminder. Thank You also for Terry Law’s book, and for making it available to me at this point. Help me not just agree with it, and the Biblical principles it explains, but put those principles into practice consistently, not just sporadically as I have done to this point. Everything I’m reading is something you’ve said to me previously, but if I don’t put it into practice, I’m just deceiving myself. (James 1:22) Help me make full use of all the weapons You are placing at my disposal, so that Your victory may be manifested indeed, in Omura, throughout Japan, and across the world, for Your glory. Thank You. Hallelujah!