Wherever you find yourself in life, give praise. Whatever you face in life, give praise. Regardless of how you are doing emotionally, physically, or spiritually, give your praise to God. Good. Bad. Up. Down. Easy. Difficult.
Give praise.
“Praise the Lord! Praise God in his sanctuary; praise him in his mighty heavens!” Psalm 150:1
Praise God in his sanctuary and in the mighty heavens. This book of The Psalms compels us to lift our voices and praise the Lord our God. He is worthy of our praise. He is good, and he is good to us. Regardless of our current circumstances.
Praise the Lord our God!
“Praise him for his mighty deeds; praise him according to his excellent greatness!” Psalm 150:2
The reasons for our praise are beyond our ability to count them. Innumerable. His mighty deeds of goodness are expansive; thus, they all inspire praise. We are told in 1 Chronicles 16:25, “For great is the Lord, and greatly to be praised, and he is to be feared above all gods.” But the psalmist says his greatness is not simple greatness. His greatness is excellent greatness. Yes, he is greatly to be praised, but that praise is according to excellent greatness. Ponder that distinction for a moment.
Ponder that distinction for a lifetime. A lifetime in The Psalms.
Excellent greatness.
“Praise him with trumpet sound; praise him with lute and harp! Praise him with tambourine and dance; praise him with strings and pipe! Praise him with sounding cymbals; praise him with loud clashing cymbals!” Psalm 150:3-5
A lot of effort on the part of believers is given to organizing for worship. Bands and praise teams practice to lead their churches in worship. The trumpet, lute, and harp are gathered to lead. The tambourine, strings, and pipe support the efforts to lift voices in praise. Loud and clashing cymbals punctuate the praise. To name a few.
All for extravagant worship of our Lord. He is worthy of our praise.
The psalmist calls for praise from anything and everything that has breath. What an incredible last verse in this poetic work of art. The sum of this collection of songs is to let everything with breath offer up praise.
Everything.
The Psalms delivers a comprehensive theology of creation’s role and humanity’s role in praise. All of creation is assigned to praise him. Even the rocks cry out (Luke 19:40). All peoples should praise him; all peoples will praise him, too. Every tongue will proclaim that he is Lord (Philippians 2:11). Everything that breathes is to praise the Lord our God.
Breath.
Paul said in Galatians 2:20, “And the life I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.” While you and I have life and breath, we must lift our voices to praise the Lord who gave himself willingly and selflessly for our salvation. We breathe by faith and with praise.
Praise.
Psalm 33:1 says, “Praise befits the upright.” It is entirely appropriate to praise God. We’ve been made righteous by the sacrifice of God’s Son; thus, we are upright. And we are made upright only because the Son of God made us righteous. So, we are compelled to praise his name. It is only right to do so.
Everything. Breath. Praise.
The steadfast love of the Lord never ceases (Psalm 89:1). In that light, I will praise his wonderful and worthy name.
Even as I face loss.
“Let everything that has breath praise the Lord! Praise the Lord!” Psalm 150:6
Read the E-book Facing Loss: Lessons of Hope from My Unwanted Journey
Yes. Praise be to God
Amen, Lynn! Get ready for Facing Loss with the Wisdom of Proverbs next!
Congratulations on your journey through the Psalms! Grateful for your many fruitful insights. So you’re walking through Proverbs next – PTL! Your testimony continues to inspire me.
Thanks, Greg. Yes, my last segment of entries will be to walk through wisdom from Proverbs from the perspective of loss. Blessings and thank you for journeying with me!