WEDNESDAY,
FEBRUARY 17, 2016

Praise the LORD with harp: sing unto him with the psaltery and an instrument of ten strings.  

Psalm 33:2

Thoughts:
When I was a child, my family traveled to Mississippi every summer. At some point during that trip, we were going to be in the presence of fiddlers (I do not remember harpists). And when I say fiddlers, I mean fiddlers!  These men fiddled so hard they perspired, and it seemed as if the fiddles would burst into flames.  These were not tame concerts, these were flat-out jam sessions.

When we think of praising God, we often think of very tame, discreet moments.  And there are times when the praise of God occurs in quiet moments in the deep places of our hearts.

And then there are times when the praise of God wells up in our spirits and comes out in fierce fiddling, leaps of joy, shouts of thanksgiving, and choruses of hymns marked fortissimo.

During the season of Lent we often move in quieter ways. Yet, that we are loved by a Savior who was willing to spend 40 days in the desert, in preparation for a ministry meant to change the world and to offer us salvation, well that makes me want to fiddle, or leap, or shout, or sing.  May we use our season of Lent to find authentic ways to praise, and may God receive our praise.