God’s Rescues, Protections, and Provisions – Then and Now,  

Part 2, Isaac

The Best of Times and the Worst of Times, 

The Expansions and Contractions of a Birth, 

The Ups and Downs of God’s Shaking, 

BACKGROUND SCRIPTURES 

(John 14:27 NKJV) “Peace I leave with you, My peace I give to you; not as the world gives do I give to you. Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid.” 

(John 16:33 NKJV) “These things I have spoken to you, that in Me you may have peace. In the world you will have tribulation; but be of good cheer, I have overcome the world.” 

(1 John 5:19 NLT) We know that we are children of God and that the world around us is under the control of the evil one. 

God’s Rescues, Protections, and Provisions – Then and Now,  

Part 1

The Best of Times and the Worst of Times, 

The Expansions and Contractions of a Birth, 

The Ups and Downs of God’s Shaking, 

BACKGROUND SCRIPTURES 

(John 14:27 NKJV) “Peace I leave with you, My peace I give to you; not as the world gives do I give to you. Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid.” 

(John 16:33 NKJV) “These things I have spoken to you, that in Me you may have peace. In the world you will have tribulation; but be of good cheer, I have overcome the world.” 

(1 John 5:19 NLT) We know that we are children of God and that the world around us is under the control of the evil one. 

Some More Amazing Truths about Worship

David W Palmer

1. Worship Is Service in the Body—A lifestyle of surrender

(Romans 12:1 BSB) “Therefore I urge you, brothers, on account of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as living sacrifices, holy and pleasing to God, which is your spiritual service of worship.”

First, we see that offering our bodies as living sacrifices in obedience to God is “pleasing” to him. From Hebrews 11:6, we know that this means that we would have to be doing it by faith:

(Hebrews 11:6 NKJV) “But without faith it is impossible to please Him …”

This BSB translation of Rom. 12:1 also says that it is your “spiritual service of worship.” We know that Jesus connected true worship with serving (Mat. 4:10, Luke 4:8). But the true actions that please God are not physical, self-initiated ones done by us to be [merely physical] worship to impress him; on the contrary, they are the ones that are birthed in true worship in spirit—ones that “God prepared beforehand that we should walk in them.” (Eph. 2:10 NKJV).

So the actions that please God are not done from the flesh or human strength in a self-initiated effort to please him. They are the result of faith-filled spiritual worship—the result of bowing to God in the spirit, loving him, pouring out our heart to him in intimate affection, and submitting to his will like Jesus did when he said, “Not my will but yours be done” (Luke 22:42 NKJV). Then by his grace, we can imitate what we hear and see in the spirit with Father like Jesus did.

(John 5:19–20 CEV) Jesus told the people: “I tell you for certain the Son cannot do anything on his own. He can do only what he sees the Father doing, and he does exactly what he sees the Father do. {20} The Father loves the Son and has shown him everything he does. …”

2. Singing?

God’s word has much to say and many instructions about singing praise. But if the singing, etc., does not result in a lifestyle of surrender that pleases God—making our bodies a living sacrifice—then it’s not true worship in spirit and in truth; is it?

Singing, however, is a great benefit to true worship; it can first facilitate praise. Psalm 22:3 says that God inhabits the praises of his people (KJV). When we offer true, heartfelt, sincere praise to God, his Holy Spirit manifests himself in tangible glory. This allows all present to encounter God directly—meeting with him, hearing from him, experiencing his power, and finding his grace.

Singing can then further help us worship at this point; it can focus us on what God wants to do in us, through us, or for us. For example, we could sing about surrender, calling, healing, freedom, commissioning, impartation, etc. Meanwhile, our spirit man—the true me—can adore him, love him, honour him, yield to his will, receive his assignment, and find the grace to do it.

3. True Worship Is a Response to God’s Manifested Presence

(Matthew 28:9 NKJV) And as they went to tell His disciples, behold, Jesus met them, saying, “Rejoice!” So they came and held Him by the feet and worshipped Him.

(Matthew 28:17 NKJV) When they saw Him, they worshipped Him; but some doubted.

This is a perfect illustration of New Testament worship. When his disciples encountered the true risen Lord of lords and King of kings—the Lord Jesus Christ—their spontaneous [and almost involuntary] response was to worship him. Their body language of prostration and holding his feet signalled a heart of respectful surrender to their risen Savior. If our heart is right, if we come by faith, if we stand on his word, and if we obediently praise as directed in scripture, Jesus will inhabit our praise. The response of a true disciple? … true worship!

(Psalm 100:4 NLT) “Enter his gates with thanksgiving; go into his courts with praise. Give thanks to him and praise his name.”

I encourage you today; first, enter his gates with thanksgiving—making the sacrifice of praise, and confessing his word as truth. Then “go into his courts with praise.”

The Consequences of True Worship – Part 2

David W Palmer

Jesus is our role model for true worship in spirit and in truth. We can see his heart of worship in his life of continual surrenders to the will of his Father—a life of worshipful, yielded submission. We are looking at what the benefits of this lifestyle will be for us when we replicate it.

D. Benefits Of the 40 Day Fast—surrender of self-supplementation, etc.

(Matthew 4:11 NKJV) “Then the devil left Him, and behold, angels came and ministered to Him.”

E. He Rose Early To Pray—surrender of self-reliance

(Mark 1:35 NLT) “Before daybreak the next morning, Jesus got up and went out to an isolated place to pray.”

F. He Ministered On Retreat—surrender of self-rights

(John 6:14 NKJV) Then those men, when they had seen the sign that Jesus did, said, “This is truly the Prophet who is to come into the world.”

G. He Gave the Sacrifice of Praise—surrender of self-esteem

H. He Prayed in Gethsemane for God’s Will—surrender of self-preservation

(Luke 22:43 NKJV) “Then an angel appeared to Him from heaven, strengthening Him.”

I. He Placed His Spirit Into God’s Hands—surrender of self-determination

(Revelation 1:18 DKJV) “I am he that lives, and was dead; and behold, I am alive for evermore, Amen; and have the keys of hell and of death.”

CONCLUSION—Jesus’s surrenders always paid off, and yours will too. 

Let’s recap; as a result of his humble, yielded worship in spirit and truth, Jesus:

Jesus is no longer subject to death, and mankind is redeemed. Can I encourage you today to peel off another layer of resistance to God’s will? Draw near to him with love, praise, and thanksgiving; worship him in Spirit and in truth; receive mercy and find grace to help. The benefits of true worship are out of this world.

Jesus, Our Role Model for Worship – Part 3

David W Palmer

Jesus’s Lifestyle of Worshipful Submission

Was Jesus a Worshipper? No matter what our concept of worship is, we must all agree that Jesus is the perfect worshipper; he is therefore God’s role model for our worship. In view of how little emphasis the gospel writers put on Jesus’s singing, this leads us to ask a very profound question: What was worship in the life of Jesus? After all, if worship was his whole lifestyle, it must be obviously evident in the gospel descriptions of his life and ministry. So, what do we see in the gospel?

(John 17:4 NKJV) “I have glorified You on the earth. I have finished the work which You have given Me to do.”

Jesus said this just prior to dying on the cross. In other words, he was summing up his time of ministry in his original (one-human) body on earth. From what he said, we can see that Jesus brought glory to God in everything he did; he served God perfectly; his spirit man had bowed to his Father’s will in every circumstance. 

Jesus was undoubtedly a worshipper in spirit and in truth—the kind the Father seeks. He only did what he saw with his Father, and only said what he heard his Father say (John 5:19–20, etc.). Moreover, when their wills were in potential conflict, he always submitted to what his Father wanted (See for example: Luke 22:42). This is why he finished the work Father gave him to do, and why he fully glorified God on earth.

What was Jesus’s lifestyle of worship? It involved one surrender after another to the will of God. We see this nowhere better than in the Garden of Gethsemane where Jesus wrestled with his natural aversion to dying on the cross:

(Luke 22:42 NKJV) Saying, “Father, if it is Your will, take this cup away from Me; nevertheless not My will, but Yours, be done.”

Let’s now look at a quick summary of Jesus’s life of worship—where his inner man yielded to God’s will in humble submission:

A. Submission To Parents (Luke 2:51)—He Surrendered self-rule = submission to authority.

B. His Baptism (Mark 1:9–11)—He surrendered self-justification = trusting another to provide right standing.

C. His Father’s Son (Mark 1:11)—He surrendered self-identification = willing to imitate his Father, to becoming a replica of his Father—as opposed to being independent, unique and self-identified as his “own man.”

D. Led By The Holy Spirit Into the Wilderness (Mark 1:12)—He surrendered self-direction = allowing someone else to determine his destiny.

E. He Overcame Satan’s Temptations Through Trust in Another:

1. Stone to Bread. (Mat. 4:4)—He surrendered self-supplementation = trusting someone else (his Father) to supply his needs.

2. Pinnacle of the Temple. (Mat. 4:5–7)—He surrendered self-elevation = trusting someone else to exalt him in due time.

3. The Kingdoms of the World. (Mat. 4:9–10)—He surrendered self-gratification = trusting another to meet his need for significance.

F. He Arose a Great While Before Day … To Pray (Mark 1:35)—He surrendered self-reliance = through prayer he placed his reliance in God.

G. He Retreated To a Wilderness But Had to Minister (Mark 6:30–34)—He surrendered self-rights—the right to see to his own needs; instead, He saw to the needs of others! = Jesus trusted “compassion” to lead him, and other people’s faith to draw him.

(Galatians 2:20 NKJV)

(Colossians 3:3 APE)

God's Rescues, Protections, and Provision, Part 4A: ELIJAH - David W Palmer (2023)

Jesus, Our Role Model for Worship – Part 2

David W Palmer

2. Praise in the Life of Jesus

Surprisingly, we do not have many instances that record Jesus praising, but thankfully we do have some:

a. Jesus sings in the assembly

(Hebrews 2:12 NKJV) saying: “I will declare Your name to My brethren; In the midst of the assembly I will sing praise to You.”

This New Testament passage that speaks of Jesus’s ongoing role of singing “praise” in “the assembly” is the fulfillment of an Old Testament prophecy:

(Psalm 22:22 NKJV) “I will declare Your name to My brethren; In the midst of the assembly I will praise You.”

Interestingly, the New Testament puts it as “sing praise,” whereas the Old Testament has it simply as “praise.” In this instance, the word translated, “praise,” comes from the Hebrew word, “halal”—meaning to shine, to boast, to rave, to be clamorously foolish, etc. This implies that Jesus joyfully sings with us when we praise God together. What’s more, he sings with unashamed and unrestrained passion, declaration, and display. We should cooperate with him by joining in wholehearted praise in church meetings, etc. This will reflect God’s own gusto and excitement as described in this passage:

(Zephaniah 3:17 NKJV) “The LORD your God in your midst, The Mighty One, will save; He will rejoice over you with gladness, He will quiet you with His love, He will rejoice over you with singing.”

Words here translated “rejoice” and “singing” reveal that God “spins around under the influence of strong emotion” while making “a shrill sound”—a shout or cry of gladness, joy, proclamation, rejoicing, shouting, and singing (Strongs H1523, H7442). Jesus praises and celebrates in this way like his Father, and he is our role model.

b. Jesus jumped for joy

(Luke 10:21 NKJV) “In that hour Jesus rejoiced in the Spirit and said, “I thank You, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, that You have hidden these things from the wise and prudent and revealed them to babes. Even so, Father, for so it seemed good in Your sight.”

When this passage says that Jesus “rejoiced in spirit,” the original Greek word means that he was jumping for joy in the Holy Spirit (Strongs G21). The Amplified Bible says that he “rejoiced and glorified God in the spirit.” Another version says, “He thrilled for joy in the Holy Spirit” (Moffatt). And yet another says, “He rejoiced exceedingly, this rejoicing being energized by the Holy Spirit” (Wuest). If this is what Jesus, our role model, did when giving thanks for a great kingdom outcome, we simply should imitate him.

3. Jesus the Singer

Again, not many Scripture passages reveal Jesus as a singer, but we do have some:

a. Jesus sang at the last supper

(Matthew 26:30 NKJV) “And when they had sung a hymn, they went out to the Mount of Olives.”

This was the last [unified] thing that Jesus did with his loyal disciples before the cross. It was an act of unity. Facing imminent death, our role model demonstrated praise in the midst of terrible circumstances. This shows the importance of singing praises—Jesus literally “blessed the Lord at all times, his praise was continually in” Jesus’s “mouth” (See: Psalm 34, 1 Thes. 5:16, etc.).

b. Singing in the book of Hebrews

(Hebrews 2:12 NKJV) saying: “I will declare Your name to My brethren; In the midst of the assembly I will sing praise to You.”

As we have already seen, Jesus sings praise with us in church as we praise God together.

What have we learned, and what can we apply today from Jesus’s lifestyle of praise? Remember to thank God for miracles—even before they are manifested in the natural realm.

Sing praise, and declare the name of the Lord in the midst of the brethren. That is, join in the corporate singing of praise in meetings with other believers. In truth, we are never alone; Jesus is always with us, and we have the Holy Spirit inside us. So let’s too live this Psalm:

(Psalm 34:1 NKJV) “I will bless the LORD at all times; His praise shall continually be in my mouth.”

Jesus, Our Role Model for Worship – Part 1

David W Palmer

Jesus’s Example of Thanksgiving, Praise, and Singing

Jesus is our ultimate example for thanksgiving, praise, and worship. After all, he is God’s will in operation. Scripture does not give us much information about singing and music in Jesus’s life and ministry, but by definition—because he is God’s idea of a perfect man—he must be our role model for worship. So what was his worship? What did it look like and what were its results? To answer these questions, we begin by looking at his thanksgiving.

1. Thanksgiving in the life of Jesus

In the New Testament, we see Jesus regularly expressing thanks to his Father. Below are some places where various Greek words—all translated “thanks” in our English Bibles—were used by Jesus:

(Matthew 11:25 NKJV) At that time Jesus answered and said, “I thank You, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, that You have hidden these things from the wise and prudent and have revealed them to babes.”

The Greek word behind “thanks” in this verse means to acknowledge or to agree fully—It’s like saying, “I recognize what you have done here, and I fully agree with it.”

(Luke 10:17–22 NKJV) Then the seventy returned with joy, saying, “Lord, even the demons are subject to us in Your name.” {18} And He said to them, “I saw Satan fall like lightning from heaven. {19} Behold, I give you the authority to trample on serpents and scorpions, and over all the power of the enemy, and nothing shall by any means hurt you. {20} Nevertheless do not rejoice in this, that the spirits are subject to you, but rather rejoice because your names are written in heaven.” {21} In that hour Jesus rejoiced in the Spirit and said, “I thank You, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, that You have hidden these things from the wise and prudent and revealed them to babes. Even so, Father, for so it seemed good in Your sight. {22} All things have been delivered to Me by My Father, and no one knows who the Son is except the Father, and who the Father is except the Son, and the one to whom the Son wills to reveal Him.”

Here, Jesus was very excited about revelation received by the seventy, and by their putting what they had received into action. The word that is translated “thank” in verse 21 means: to jump for joy, exalt, to be exceedingly glad, and to rejoice. Wow! When Jesus thanked his Father in this case, he was very exuberant and animated about it. He is our role model.

(John 11:41 NKJV) Then they took away the stone from the place where the dead man was lying. And Jesus lifted up His eyes and said, “Father, I thank You that You have heard Me.”

In this scenario, the word Jesus used for “thank” is more like our word: it means to be grateful. Jesus was grateful for the miracle of raising Lazarus from the dead; what’s more, he expressed his gratitude to his Father before it happened. The next passage tells a similar story:

(Matthew 15:36 NKJV) “And He took the seven loaves and the fish and gave thanks, broke them and gave them to His disciples; and the disciples gave to the multitude.”

The following passage again shows Jesus expressing grateful thanks to his Father—this time for the emblems of the new covenant. He gave thanks at the outset of a major, protracted miracle, as all the amazing achievements of that new covenant were yet future.

(Matthew 26:27 NKJV) Then He took the cup, and gave thanks, and gave it to them, saying, “Drink from it, all of you.”

What can we learn from Jesus’s use of thanks and thanksgiving? We have seen that Jesus expressed enthusiastic agreement and animated joy over what his Father was doing. His use of grateful “thanks” was always in the context of—and preceding—miracles: raising a dead man, multiplying loaves and fish, enacting the New Covenant, and preceding his own resurrection.

God “seeks” true worshippers (John 4:20–24). God also wants to rebuild David’s Tabernacle (Acts 15:16–17). In the epistles, the Holy Spirit gives us several clarifying directives to help us see what God expects of us practically so we can cooperate with what God seeks and wants. The first group is found in the following passage:

1. Be filled with the Holy Spirit … speaking, singing, giving thanks, and submitting! (Continued from yesterday)

(Ephesians 5:18–21 NKJV) “And do not be drunk with wine, in which is dissipation; but be filled with the Spirit, {19} speaking to one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody in your heart to the Lord, {20} Giving thanks always for all things unto God and the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ; {21} Submitting yourselves one to another in the fear of God.”

Yesterday, we looked at the first three: “do not be drunk,” “be filled with the Spirit,” “speaking.” Today, we see that the Holy Spirit further instructs us to “be filled with the Spirit” by:

(d) “Singing”

“Singing and making melody in your heart to the Lord.” Again, this is something we can all do; we can all sing a little, but even if we cannot sing audibly, we can certainly sing and make melody in our hearts. If we feed ourselves with the right spiritual diet and a wise musical intake, we will find God-songs going over in our heart all day, when we sleep, and when we awake. This will allow his life-force to be a constant stream emanating from our hearts—a “fountain of water springing up into everlasting life” (John 4:14 NKJV).

(e) “Giving thanks”

“Giving thanks always for all things unto God and the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ.” This instruction is repeated several times throughout the Bible. For example:

(1 Chronicles 16:8 NKJV) “Oh, give thanks to the LORD! Call upon His name; Make known His deeds among the peoples!”

(1 Thessalonians 5:18 NKJV) “In everything give thanks; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you.”

Grateful people are attractive just as negative, ungrateful people are repulsive. God wants the atmosphere of heaven—and therefore the atmosphere of his church—to be one of gratitude, gracious thanks, and joyful, positive communication. The key to this is of course right thinking:

(Philippians 4:8 WEB) “Finally, brethren, whatever things are true, whatever things are honest, whatever things are just, whatever things are pure, whatever things are lovely, whatever things are of good report; if there is any virtue, and if there is any praise, think on these things.”

Gracious thanksgiving, gratitude, and encouragement in love should be the default setting for all of our conversations. Then, should the Holy Spirit prompt us to say something else—corrective or instructional—it will be surrounded by the atmosphere of heaven’s love.

(f) “Submitting”

“Submitting yourselves one to another in the fear of God.” This is a very interesting instruction—one many of us dread. Thankfully, the apostle Paul goes on in this chapter to expand on what the Holy Spirit means by “one to another”: he specifies exactly to whom he expects us to submit. (For example: wives to their own husbands, workers to their own bosses, children to their own parents, etc. See: Ephesians 5:22–6:9.)

Is submission all that important to a life of worship? Absolutely, “Yes!” Submission is fundamental to worship. Think about Jesus, our role model for worship; his whole lifestyle consisted of one surrender to God after another: 

Today I encourage you to follow the Holy Spirit’s instruction to: make constant melody to God, give thanks in everything, and to remain humble and submissive

Jesus gave us the first New Testament “heads up” on the vital importance of worship when he said that God “seeks” worshippers who will worship him in spirit and in Truth (John 4:20–24 NKJV). In the book of Acts (15:16–17), the Holy Spirit revealed that God also wants to restore/rebuild David’s tabernacle. The purpose he gives—among other things—is to energize evangelism. In the epistles, we see the Holy Spirit clarifying and expanding on what he and Jesus said; he gives us at least six directives. The first is found in the following passage:

Be filled with the Holy Spirit

(Ephesians 5:18–21 NKJV) “And do not be drunk with wine, in which is dissipation; but be filled with the Spirit, {19} speaking to one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody in your heart to the Lord, {20} Giving thanks always for all things unto God and the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ; {21} Submitting yourselves one to another in the fear of God.”

Here, the Holy Spirit gives us several very important directives—instructions if you like:

(b) “Be filled with the [Holy] Spirit”

I genuinely feel I need to emphasize that this is a directive from the Holy Spirit. You could say that it’s an edict or command from the Lord Jesus Christ to us. He commands us to be “filled with the Holy Spirit”; so this is something he expects us to take responsibility for. How can we do this? Isn’t he already in us? How can we be more filled with him if we have already received him? After all, he is infinite.

The New Testament records many instances of people being “filled with the Holy Spirit”: John the Baptist, Elizabeth, Zacharias, Jesus, the 120 at Pentecost, Peter, and Paul. After Acts 2, when they were all initially “filled with the Holy Spirit,” the term is used to describe special manifestations of the Holy Spirit that enabled spirit-filled believers to do extraordinary things. For example, when freshly filled: Peter spoke powerfully, convicting the Sanhedrin; Paul declared “blindness” over an opponent of his gospel preaching; and all the believers “spoke the word of God with boldness.” (See: Acts 4:8, 4:31, and 9:17.)

These manifestations happened as the Spirit willed. So why is this given to us as a directive? After all, God wouldn’t command us to do something over which he has not given us the right to exercise our will (See: 1 Cor. 12:11). The context  in Ephesians 5 clarifies. After the edict to “be filled with the Spirit,” the Holy Spirit gives us a list of things that are under the control of our will. If we obey them, they will keep us ready for the Holy Spirit to use us—as he wants and when he wills to.

(c) “Speaking”

The third directive in this passage is: “speaking to one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs.” This is clearly something we can do—by his grace. We should simply choose to receive this as a command from our Lord; it is not optional. If we are fully willing, the Holy Spirit will enable us to do it. Even if we are not good singers, God’s word still includes us because he says, “Speaking …”; even if we do not consider ourselves to be singers, we can simply say the words of the “psalms” etc. to one another.

Today, I challenge you to begin putting this whole list into practice. Live in a way that positions you to be fully available for the Holy Spirit to “fill” as he wills, by: speaking the words of psalms, etc., singing and making melody in your heart to the Lord, giving thanks in all situations, and submitting.

If we do as he directs in this passage, we will be ready for him to operate through us as he wills. Today, he might give you a prophecy for someone, use you in tongues and interpretation, manifest his gift of healing through you, work a miracle by you, use you in special faith, or inspire you with his words of knowledge and wisdom. He may even move on you to see or discern spirits.