Parson to Person - I extol Thee, Lord

I recently attended a play and was reading the program to see a person was attributed the role of tapper. This raised my interest; turning to the person on my left, I inquired what was a tapper? It took me several days to discover that a tapper is the person who keeps the beat for all to follow.

Another word that we sometimes stumble with the meaning is the word extol. The psalmist uses this word in celebration and praise to the Lord.

Webster defines the word extol, ?to raise up and or to praise highly.?

Psalm 34:1 says, ?I will extol the Lord at all times; His praise will always be on my lips.?

David was rejoicing when God delivered him from great danger. Do we extol the Lord in our worship or in our daily lives?

The other night at bible study, we were studying John 19, looking at Jesus suffering on the cross for our sins, paying a debt we could never pay on our own.

A question raised during the study is what aspect of Jesus? death has made the deepest impression on you?

I find myself moved to sing like the singers on a homecoming Gaither program worshiping and singing the songs like - ?O what A Savior?; ?I Should Have Been Crucified?; and ?Because He Lives, I Can Face Tomorrow?.

The Psalmist invites us to raise up the Lord in worship and highly exalt Him. May His praise always be on our lips.

Two Americans were crossing the Atlantic and were singing the hymn, ?Jesus, Lover of My Soul.? They were joined by a third man having an exceedingly rich tenor voice. When the music ceased, one of the Americans turned to this third party to ask if he had been in the Civil War. The man replied that he had been a Confederate soldier.

?Were you at such a place on such a night?? asked the first man.

?Yes,? he said. ?And a curious thing happened that night; this hymn recalled to my mind I was on sentry duty on the edge of a wood. It was a dark night and very cold, and I was a little frightened because the enemy was supposed to be near at hand. I felt homesick and miserable. At about midnight, when everything was still, I was beginning to feel weary. I thought I would comfort myself by praying and singing this hymn:

All my trust on thee is stayed,

All my help from Thee I bring,

Cover my defenseless head,

With the shadow of thy wing.

After I had sung those words, a strange peace came down upon me, and through the long night I remember having felt no fear.?

?Now,? said the first man. ?listen to my story. I was a Union soldier, and was in the woods that very night with a party of scouts. I saw you standing there in the woods and my men focused their rifles upon you. But, then you sang out that song. We listened. We never fired. I said, ?Boys, put down your rifles. We will go home.? I couldn?t kill after that.?

Like David, let us extol the Lord at all times.