July 15th~A Life of Praise

Psalm 136

Psalm 146-150

We closed the book of Psalms with the last five songs. It has been quite a journey reading all 150 of them in such a short time, but it has been a joy. One cannot help but see, when covering them this way, the prevailing themes of God’s unfailing love, of putting our hope and trust in Him, like David, and, finally, praising Him for who He is and what He’s done.

What better way could you end the Psalms than with thoughts like these:

“Give thanks to the Lord, for He is good! His faithful love endures forever” (136:1).

“How good it is to sing praises to our God! How delightful and how right!” (147:1).

“Let every created thing give praise to the Lord, for He issued His command and they came into being” (148:5).

“Sing to the Lord a new song. Sing His praises in the assembly of the faithful. Rejoice in your Maker and exult in your King” (149:1, 2).

“Praise the Lord! Praise God in His heavenly dwelling. Praise Him in His mighty heaven! Praise Him for His mighty works; praise His unequaled greatness! Let everything that lives sing praises to the Lord” (150:1, 2, 6).

...And my personal favorite, “I will praise the Lord as long as I live. I will sing praises to my God even with my dying breath” (146:2).

Everything that the Lord created was made to praise His name, to reflect glory to Him. That, of course, includes us. As the climax of His creation, we, more capable than anything else He has made, are charged with the purpose of praise. But are we praising Him with our words? Are we praising Him with our deeds? Do we reflect glory to Him or to ourselves?

While the mountains may not speak in words, they do reflect glory to God, and they never praise anyone other than their Maker. While the rocks and trees may not sing aloud to music, they praise the One who created them, and they will never forsake Him for someone else. But we, God’s most prized possession, often neglect to praise Him, or even worse, praise something or someone else.

Daily Reflection

What about you? Do your words praise your God? Does your life reflect glory to Him? Or are you guilty of praising another, even yourself?

Why does God deserve your praise? What has He done to be the center of your attention?

Will you commit to a lifetime of praise? Will you be one who will worship Him even to your dying breath? What will that entail? What will that require of you? Are you willing to do it?

BiAY.org | Day 196 — 169 Days to Go