Don't Hang Up Your Harp

This devotional was inspired by a sermon I heard a couple years back at ishare by Pastor David Solomon Hall.  If you got time, check it! "Don't Hang Up Your Harp"

It was a Sunday evening and I found myself waist deep with things that I had to do for the day.  I had spent two hours doing outreach for Daniel class, another hour in a meeting, plus it was a friends birthday that evening, which I found necessary to stop by and celebrate for a little while.  So after that I went back to my room overwhelmed with a load of work.  Normally I'm able to keep my composure and do things one by one, but this time it was a little different.  This voice was just persistently telling me that there is no way I'll get everything done, and that I should just give up.  But then Psalms 137 popped up into my mind, and as I read that book, that voice had no choice but to shut up.  

1) Don't weep when life is not as easy as it once was

By the rivers of Babylon There we sat down, yea, we wept When we remembered Zion.  We hung our harps upon the willows in the midst of it.  Psalms 137:1-2

In the context of this psalm, a group of Israelites are portrayed as sitting down near a river in Babylon reminiscing of home and the memories that seemed forever gone.  They got so discouraged that the very instruments they used to praise God were hung on a weeping willow tree.  Imagine the sadness that flooded their hearts, because they were far away in a foreign land.

Times are going to come when we feel far away from home, both literally and spiritually.  You may feel distant from God because your devotional life is lacking or maybe because you have lost a loved one.  The question will arise, are you going to hang up your harp?  The very instrument used to represent praise to God is either going to keep on being played or collect dust on a tree.  It's really up to you.  

2) When the Devil whispers to your ear, reply back with praises to God.

For there those who carried us away captive asked of us a song,
And those who plundered us requested mirth,
Saying, “Sing us one of the songs of Zion. Psalms 137:3

As this group of Israelites are sitting by the river, the Babylonian head honcho had the the audacity to taunt them by asking them to sing one of those songs of Zion.  So not only were they away from their home land, but now they're being made fun of.  They must have been having a pretty bad day.  

In life there are moments when the going gets tough and the devil is going to whisper in your ear, " (Insert name here), I dare you to praise your God right now."  You can agree with that voice and stay silent because you are in a foreign land, or you can make a covenant to praise God no matter what the circumstance.

Choose one of two decisions:

1) I'm going to hang up my harp cause my life is a mess

2) I'm going to praise God though the heavens fall.

Which decision are you going to make?  If you look on to the first verse of the next chapter, it writes:

I will praise You with my whole heart; Before the gods I will sing praises to you. Psalms 138:1

 Choose to praise God!  Life is going to get hard folks, but please, don't hang up your harp.

“May you be praising God so loudly that you can’t hear the devil whisper in your ear
”