For you will go out with joy and be led forth with peace. The mountains and the hills will break forth into shouts of joy before you, and all the trees of the field will clap their hands. Isaiah 55:12.
Today your LORD (יהוה) God says:
A day of deliverance. I AM the LORD your deliverer. Nothing is too wonderful for Me. I deliver you from the hand of the foe. I surround you with songs of deliverance. “Praised be the LORD I exclaim,” sang David, “and I am saved from my enemies.” The fastest way out of the chains and prison of the enemy is songs of praise and thanksgiving—songs of deliverance—the songs of Zion. Isaiah 35:8-11. “Sing for us the songs of Zion,” even in captivity, it can bring you out with the funds to build the temple again.
David understood, he sang, “You have turned my mourning into dancing forever will I give you thanks.” And David not only sang, he also danced. That it is how I save your feet from the snare. The dance of two companies, I dance you out. “With your help, I leap over a wall,” declared David. And remember, when he was healed by the faith in the Name of Jesus of Peter and John, the beggar that had been lame from birth was leaping and jumping all over the place as he accompanied Peter and John into the court of the temple. Is that the way you enter church? Should be.
Ask Jesus for a drink and He gives you the living water leaping up in you to eternal life. And John leapt for joy in the womb of Elizabeth when Mary entered their home with Jesus in her womb. His presence made John leap for joy. Does it do the same to you? Let them praise Me with timbrel and dance, with strings and pipe, with resounding cymbals. Why? It will knock down walls, open prison gates, raise up the dead, and turn your mourning into dancing. If you are wise and want deliverance, you will start with a melody of joyful praise and thanksgiving in your heart.
Lift the joyful shout of praise and you will know fullness of days.
What is fullness of days? To round out the full number of your years. In other words, to accomplish the works I gave you to do. “Now the time had come for Elizabeth to give birth, and she gave birth to a son.” Luke 1:57. Remember what Jesus prayed to Me the night when He took on all your sins in the Garden of Gethsemane? “I glorified You on earth, having accomplished the work which You gave Me to do.” John 17:4. And Paul counseled Timothy, “But you, be sober in all things, endure hardship, do the work of an evangelist, fulfill your ministry.” 2 Timothy 4:5. And he told you about his own life, “For I am already being poured out as a drink offering, and the time of my departure has come. I have fought the good fight, I have finished the course, I have kept the faith; in the future there is laid up for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous Judge, will award to me on that day; and not only to me, but also to all who have loved His appearing.” 2 Timothy 4:6-8.
And as you run your race and finish your course, what can you expect? Can others stop you from finishing? No, only you can stop it. I am there to deliver you until your work is completed and then I take you home into Me. “But the Lord stood with me and strengthened me, so that through me the proclamation might be fully accomplished, and that all the Gentiles might hear; and I was rescued out of the lion’s mouth. The Lord will rescue me from every evil deed, and will bring me safely to His heavenly kingdom; to Him be the glory forever and ever.” 2 Timothy 4:17-18. And when you are walking out your assignment with Me, that is, the life of good deeds I prepared for you in advance in Christ Jesus that you might walk them out, you can expect Me to bring you to your fullness of days.
And you will know when you have finished. Jesus knew, “It is finished.” And Peter knew, “I consider it right, as long as I am in this earthly dwelling, to stir you up by way of reminder, knowing that the laying aside of my earthly dwelling is imminent, as also our Lord Jesus Christ has made clear to me. And I will also be diligent that at any time after my departure you will be able to call these things to mind.” 2 Peter 1:14.
And what did he remind you of? “To sum up, all of you be harmonious, sympathetic, brotherly, kindhearted, and humble in spirit; not returning evil for evil or insult for insult, but giving a blessing instead; for you were called for the very purpose that you might inherit a blessing. For, “The one who desires life, to love and see good days, must keep his tongue from evil and his lips from speaking deceit. He must turn away from evil and do good; He must seek peace and pursue it. For the eyes of the Lord are toward the righteous, and His ears attend to their prayer, but the face of the Lord is against those who do evil.” 1 Peter 3:8-12.
So how do you live out your fullness of days? In praise. That is the narrow way that leads to life and few find it. I will show you the path to life, fullness of joy in My presence, the delights at My right hand forever. You must be led by My Spirit to walk in right paths for My Name’s sake and to run forward with your high calling in Christ. But how does He lead you? “For you will go out with joy and be led forth in peace (shalom).” Isaiah 55:12. Have you never read how I led My people out of the slavery of Egypt to the Promised Land? “And He brought forth His people with joy, His chosen ones with a joyful shout and joyful songs.” Psalm 105:43. And how does Psalm 105 end? “Praise the LORD.” And how does it begin? “Oh give thanks to the LORD, call upon His name; make known His deeds among the peoples. Sing to Him, sing praises to Him; speak of all His wonders. Glory in His holy name; let the heart of those who seek the LORD be glad. Seek the LORD and His strength. Seek His face continually.” Psalm 105:1-4. And that is the only way you will come out of slavery to freedom. You come with joyful shouting to Zion. Isaiah 35:10.
Remember the early followers of the Way? Even in persecution, they could not help but be filled with JOY and the Holy Spirit. Those two go together.
Praise is the victory that overcomes all. Why? It seems too simple. But praise in the midst of a storm shows faith. You are trusting My Word for a good outcome. And faith in My Word will always prevail if you do not draw back by throwing away your confidence. And My joy is your strength. The righteous shall live by faith. Rejoice always, pray without ceasing and give constant thanks.
You will find that as you praise your path will get brighter and brighter and the more revelation and insight you have into My Words and My ways. Why is it that it brings you so close to Me? You know the answer, you enter My gates with thanksgiving and My courts with songs of praise, and you enter the Holy of Holies with prayer (the cloud of incense). And it is the prayer of faith (you believe you receive when you pray) that makes you joyful in My house of prayer. No anxiety about anything, but in everything gives thanks! And watch the wonders manifest.
Remember, the voice of thanksgiving brings wonders.
I love you. There is only one consistent, never failing way to live out your fullness of days. And you can say it in one word: “Praise.”