The Comely Christian / The Comely Christian

Mrs Joy Samples

Pastor's Wife

Grace Baptist Church

Urbana, OH

The Comely Christian

Psalm 147:1

"Praise ye the Lord:  for it is good to sing praises unto our God; for it is pleasant; and praise is comely."

The word comely means "suitable or beautiful."  The Bible says that PRAISE is comely.  It is beautiful.  It is good for us to sing praises unto our God.  It is pleasant for us to sing praises, and our praise is beautiful.  It suits us as Christians.  It is appropriate for Christians to praise our God.  But sometimes praise does not come easily.  Sometimes we can become less than happy in our Christianity, and our praise does not flow from us as it should.  Stumbling blocks of sin and pride, grief and sorrow, pain and loss, anger and bitterness, even illness or exhaustion can cause our tongues to be silent when they should be praising.  How can we remedy our heart's silence?  How can we let our comely praises flow?

1.  Look unto Jesus.

Once during a time of sorrow and disappointment in my life, a precious Christian friend reminded me to keep my eyes on Jesus.  I had taken my eyes off of Him and was looking at the hurtful situation I found myself in.  Her wise counsel has helped me again and again, as I seek to rightly view what God is doing in my life.  People and circumstances may disappoint and hurt you, but Jesus NEVER fails.  

Psalm 147:2-7 continues, "The LORD doth build up Jerusalem:  He gathereth together the outcasts of Israel.  He healeth the broken in heart, and bindeth up their wounds.  He tells the number of the stars; He calleth them all by their names.  Great is our LORD, and of great power:  His understanding is infinite.  The LORD lifteth up the meek:  He casteth the wicked down to the ground.  Sing unto the Lord with thanksgiving; sing praise upon the harp unto our God:"  

When I put my eyes upon the Lord, I can see His working, and I can trust Him.  He builds, He gathers, He heals and binds up, He knows each star in the sky, He is great and powerful and has inifinite understanding.  He lifts the meek and casts down the wicked.  When I see all He can do, I am taught to trust and not be afraid. 

I am learning not to resist His working in my life, even when it hurts.  God uses the trials and sufferings of our daily lives to draw us to Himself, to turn our eyes to the Healer.  Look unto Jesus, my friend, and praise Him.

2.  Speak Truth to yourself.

What do you say to yourself about the things that are happening in your life?  Are you proud of yourself?  Are you discouraged with yourself?  Are you angry at someone and talk to yourself inwardly about it?  Do you allow bitter thoughts to rule your mind?  What we say to ourselves determines how we will walk the path God has put us on.

One evening as I was trying to fall asleep, I recognized that there were some false and sinful things I had been saying to myself about my situation, and I determined to try with God's help to speak the truth to myself.  I started with, "I know I am a sinner.  I know God has saved me from my sin.  I know God is the only perfect Person I know. I know that I have been blaming other imperfect people for the hurt I am feeling.  I know that my hurt is causing me to feel bitter.  I know that God will forgive my bitterness and free me from it when I ask Him to.  I know that I don't deserve forgiveness, but it has always been given freely to me, and I am commanded to forgive as I have been forgiven.  I know that God can heal the hurt in my heart when He has finished His work in me.  I know that God sees what is happening in my life and will use it for His glory one day."  As I spoke truth to myself, the lies of Satan fell away, and for the first time in a very long time, I began to feel peace.  Our Enemy does not want us to speak the truth to ourselves or to others.  He deceives our minds until our thoughts are confused.  The only place to find the Truth for every situation is in Scripture. When you read God's Word, He speaks the Truth to your heart.

Hear the voice of the Psalmist as he speaks Truth to himself about what God can do..."Who covereth the heaven with clouds, Who prepareth rain for the earth, Who maketh grass to grow upon the mountains.  He giveth to the beast his food, and to the young ravens which cry.  He delighteth not in the strength of the horse:  He taketh not pleasure in the legs of a man.  The LORD taketh pleasure in them that fear Him, in those that hope in His mercy." (Psalm 147:8-11)

Our Almighty God is bigger than the trials and testings of our lives.  He makes provision for even the beasts of the earth that no one will ever see, and He makes provision for us.  His power is so great that the things people take pride in are nothing to Him.  Strength, as in a horse, or the legs of a man, that people esteem so highly, are not as honorable to the Lord as those who fear Him and trust in His mercy.  Speak the Truth to yourself about Him.  Find His Truth in His Word, and let it soothe your soul.  Let the Truth draw praise from your lips...the comely praise of Truth.

3.  Feed your soul.

Our souls, like our bodies, must be fed regularly.  I don't know about you, but what I really like to feed my body is chocolate!  I eat chocolate every day without fail!  I guess I could say it is my comfort food.  I so wish it were as good for me as broccoli is!  If only I could eat all the chocolate I want all the time, and have it nourish me completely, I would be so satisfied!  But we all know that isn't true.  As much as I would like to nourish myself with chocolate, I would be a very weak, unhealthy person if that is all I ever ate.

My sweet friends, our souls must be nourished with more than the pleasures the world offers.  The world would feed our souls with humanistic philosophy, man-centered thinking, that lifts us up and makes us proud and self-satisfied, but later we find ourselves weak and unnourished and empty.  Only God's Word feeds us with the Heavenly nourishment we need to be the strong, faithful Christian God wants us to be.

The Psalmist concludes chapter 147 with these verses:  "Praise the Lord, O Jerusalem; praise thy God, O Zion.  For He hath strengthened the bars of thy gates; He hath blessed thy children within thee.  He maketh peace in thy borders, and filleth thee with the finest of the wheat.  He sendeth forth His commandment upon earth:  His Word runneth very swiftly.  He giveth snow like wool:  He scattered the hoarfrost like ashes.  He casteth forth His ice like morsels:  who can stand before His cold?  He sendeth out His Word, and melteth them:  He causeth His wind to blow, and the waters flow.  He sheweth His Word unto Jacob, His statutes and His judgments unto Israel.  He hath not dealt so with any nation:  and as for His judgments, they have not known them.  Praise ye the Lord."

His commandment...His Word...His statutes...His judgments...These are all descriptions of God's Word, the Bible.  The Psalmist recognized the power in the Word of God, and when he saw God's power in God's Word, he praised Him.

When you feed your soul with the Living Word, you find a precious secret.  The Word which nourishes you like broccoli tastes as sweet as chocolate.  Only God can make something so nourishing taste so sweet.  His wonderful Words of Life feed and nourish and strengthen and comfort.  I need it every day, and so do you.  Feed your soul until it is full of the goodness of God, and praise Him!