faithful

Praise the Lord with faithful people.

This thought comes from Psalm 149:1 and I just discovered that the word faithful comes from the root word for quite possibly my favorite word used to talk about the Lord… lovingkindness.

The faithful ones are described as godly and holy, kind and excellent, merciful and gracious. Patterned after the Lord who is full of lovingkindness, the most extravagant and excellent form of grace and love.

“God loves you with a never stopping, never giving up, unbreaking, always and forever love.” ~ Sally Lloyd-Jones in the Jesus Storybook Bible

And as His children, we resemble Him. As we spend time with Him, we pick up His habits and expressions. We start to say more and more of the same things, in the same way. We pick up His mannerisms. (2 Corinthians 3:18)

Psalm 115:8 warns us against becoming like the idols we worship. But the glorious truth is that we will become more and more like the Lord when we worship Him.

We become like what we worship. What we focus on. What we are consumed with. What we saturate ourselves with. What we set our affections on. What we think we have to have.

I have found in this season, a treasure in those who are seeking to praise the Lord from a heart full of and therefore overflowing with lovingkindness. Those who are merciful and gracious, kind and excellent. Those who love extravagantly because they have first experienced that extravagant love.

So be faithful. And invite others to the same. Be continually saturated with the lovingkindness of the Lord because you have fixed your eyes on Him. And together, with others who are doing the same, praise the Lord. And be known by your love for one another.