Praise Devotionals to remind myself...

HOSANNA in the highest!



Psalm 118:24-29
This is the day the Lord has made.
We will rejoice and be glad in it.
²⁵ Please, Lord, please save us.
Please, Lord, please give us success.
²⁶ Bless the one who comes in the name of the Lord.
We bless you from the house of the Lord.
²⁷ The Lord is God, shining upon us.
Take the sacrifice and bind it with cords on the altar.
²⁸ You are my God, and I will praise you!
You are my God, and I will exalt you!

²⁹ Give thanks to the Lord, for he is good!
His faithful love endures forever.

Sometimes my words of praise seem so inadequate - I take that back.  They always seem inadequate. 
But I want to praise God.  He has been so good to me.  Sometimes when I pray, I just say "thank You, thank You, thank You."  That's the only thing that comes out of mouth!  Every thing else I try to say sounds so planned, so rote.  But I want to say more.  I want to give full praise. 

When the words just don't come, I can always turn to the Psalms and use the writer's words to praise God. Today, I am using Psalm 118.   I can say these beautiful words and mean every single one.

Casting Crowns (and Steven Curtis Chapman) has a song - Listen to our Hearts - that expresses our desire to praise God with words when there are no words that really can express our love and awe.

 http://youtu.be/171BPOFxJVw - Listen to our hearts - Casting Crowns

 ..."words cannot express the love we feel but we long for you to hear, so listen to our hearts, hear our spirits sing!!!"

"We will use the words we know to tell you what an awesome God you are but words are not enough to tell you of our love... so listen to our hearts." 

I'm so glad that God listens to my heart and not my fumbling words.  I'm so thankful that the Holy Spirit presents my prayers and praise to God for me.

Romans 8:26-27
²⁶ In the same way, the Holy Spirit helps us when we are weak. We don't know what we should pray for. But the Spirit himself prays for us. He prays with groans too deep for words. ²⁷ God, who looks into our hearts, knows the mind of the Spirit. And the Spirit prays for God's people just as God wants him to pray.

There is one word that says more than any other expression of worship I can think of.  Hosanna!
As Jesus entered Jerusalem, the people shouted "Hosanna, hosanna in the highest!"

Matthew 21

Jesus Enters Jerusalem

¹ As they all approached Jerusalem, they came to Bethphage. It was on the Mount of Olives. Jesus sent out two disciples. ² He said to them, "Go to the village ahead of you. As soon as you get there, you will find a donkey tied up. Her colt will be with her. Untie them and bring them to me. ³ If anyone says anything to you, say that the Lord needs them. The owner will send them right away."
⁴ This took place so that what was spoken through the prophet would come true. It says,

⁵ "Say to the city of Zion,
'See, your king comes to you.
He is gentle and riding on a donkey.
He is riding on a donkey's colt.' " —(Zechariah 9:9)

⁶ The disciples went and did what Jesus told them to do. ⁷ They brought the donkey and the colt. They placed their coats on them. Then Jesus sat on the coats. ⁸ A very large crowd spread their coats on the road. Others cut branches from the trees and spread them on the road. ⁹ Some of the people went ahead of him, and some followed. They all shouted,

"Hosanna to the Son of David!"

"Blessed is the one who comes in the name of the Lord!" —(Psalm 118:26)

"Hosanna in the highest heaven!"

¹⁰ When Jesus entered Jerusalem, the whole city was stirred up. The people asked, "Who is this?"
¹¹ The crowds answered, "This is Jesus. He is the prophet from Nazareth in Galilee."

Jesus Clears Out the Temple

¹² Jesus entered the temple area. He began chasing out all those who were buying and selling there. He turned over the tables of the people who were exchanging money. He also turned over the benches of those who were selling doves. ¹³ He said to them, "It is written that the Lord said, 'My house will be called a house where people can pray.'—(Isaiah 56:7) But you are making it a 'den for robbers.' "—(Jeremiah 7:11)
¹⁴ Blind people and those who were disabled came to Jesus at the temple. There he healed them. ¹⁵ The chief priests and the teachers of the law saw the wonderful things he did. They also saw the children in the temple area shouting, "Hosanna to the Son of David!" But when they saw all of this, they became angry.

¹⁶ "Do you hear what these children are saying?" they asked him.

"Yes," replied Jesus. "Haven't you ever read about it in Scripture? It says,
" 'You have made sure that children and infants  praise you.' " —(Psalm 8:2)

I don't want my words of praise and adoration to become empty and meaningless.  I hope this one word will trigger thoughts of adoration and praise for you like it now does for me.  When God brings "Hosanna" to your mind today, remember to praise Him for all He is, all He has been and all He will forever be for us.  He is our blessed Savior and God.  Today I will sing:

"Hosanna, Lord!  Save me, God--thank You for saving me! Heal my heart and make it clean - Deliver me from myself--break my heart for what breaks Yours - show me how to love like You love me -  Use me for Your Kingdom's cause - thank You for Your provision!

I need Your help--Your help is here!"  Hosanna! Hosanna! Hosanna in the Highest!"
I found this devotional a couple of years ago and when I read it, singing "Hosanna" became much more meaningful to me. 

The Cornerstone Devotions for Teachers
Hosanna!

I was searching for just the right phrase tonight while praying and was so excited when God gave it to me! I was in that place where you want to ask God for help (maybe 'beg' is a more accurate word), but at the same time you're trying to stay in His peace and claim victory over the situation...
I played a song called "Hosanna in the Highest" and while singing, I realized I didn't know what I was saying. What does 'hosanna' mean, anyway? I stopped the song because I knew I'd get more out of it if I understood the words. Thanks to (believe it or not) Wikipedia, I had a powerful answer within seconds. 'Hosanna' is a Hebrew word meaning 'please save' or 'save now', which seems kind of strange when you consider that people shouted when seeing Jesus enter Jerusalem, "Hosanna! Blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord!" What they were saying was, "Please save us! Blessed is He who saves us!"
So here's the amazing quote from Wikipedia that tied the two seemingly contradictory phrases together: "[Hosanna] is a cry for salvation, while at the same time a declaration of praise". I never saw that before! What a perfect word..."Save me, God--thank You for saving me! Deliver me from myself--thank You for Your provision! I need Your help--Your help is here!" That was exactly what I was trying to express. Yes, hosanna in the highest!!

http://youtu.be/ZeJZBcAMXWc   - Hosanna in the Highest!