2 Kings 8; 1 Timothy 5; Daniel 12; Psalm 119:49–72
Sometimes I don’t sleep well. I’m thinking that the writer of Psalm 119 didn’t either. He says, “At midnight I rise to praise you, because of your righteous rules.” (Psalm 119:62) Now, he may very well wake up at midnight to praise God. Hat’s off to him if he does. On the other hand, maybe he just wakes up and can’t get back to sleep. That’s what happens to me. Rather than read a book, or click on the TV, I have learned to do something like the Psalmist. In verse 55, He adds, “I remember your name in the night, O Lord.” My goal is the same. Remember his name in order to praise, honor and glorify Him. If you know the alphabet, you can do it too. Simply assign an attribute of God to each letter in the alphabet. It goes something like this:
Almighty – Revelation 11:17
Bountiful – Deuteronomy 28:11
Consuming fire – Hebrews 12:29
Divine – Romans 1:20
Eternal – Revelation 1:8
Father – 2 John 1:3
Glory- 2 Peter 1:17
Holy – Isaiah 6:3
Immaculate – 2 Samuel 22:31
Just – John 5:30
King of kings – 1 Timothy 6:15
Lord of lords – 1 Timothy 6:15
Marvelous light – 1 Peter 2:9
Near – James 4:8
One – 1 Corinthians 12:13
Prince of peace – Isaiah 9:6
Quiet – 1 Kings 19:12
Refuge – Psalm 46:1
Slow to anger – Numbers 14:18
Teacher – John 3:2
Unchangeable – Hebrews 6:18
Victorious – 1 Corinthians 15:7
Wonderful – Psalm 139:14
eXtreme – Ok I cheated here. Read Hebrews 11 to see what I mean about God being extreme
Yahweh – 2 Chronicles 14:11
Zenith – Luke 2:14 & Mark 11:10. Yes, I cheated here too. “Zenith” isn’t in the Bible, but it sounds a lot like Luke 2:14 and Mark 11:10.
I find several benefits of this simple exercise. First, I rarely make it to the end before the Lord gives me sleep. Second, I find bigger and better descriptions for him. Finally, I have placed his name above all others, just as he asks. I Worship.