Praise Him Still

I will bless the Lord at all times;  His praise shall continually be in my mouth.

(Psalm 34:1 NKJV)

Different seasons of life call for different responses.  The farmers will know when it is time to prepare the ground, to plant and even to harvest.  If one is found planting during a harvest season, he is likely to be considered out of touch.  It is possible that there is something that he knows that others do not know yet, but in the usual rhythm of life, he will be an outlier.  In the same manner, we all tend to be socialized to behave in a certain way depending on situations, we even have attires for different occasions, for example: black wear for funerals and bright coloured outfits for weddings and celebrations.  As such, it is often considered unwise to behave in a manner which contradicts the season or occasion.  All this speaks to the words that there is a time for everything (Ecclesiastes 3:1-8), a passage which gives us fourteen (14) pairs of times.

The appropriate response to a season and a time is what is expected of us as members of the community.  However, our reference verse above introduces us to an aspect of ‘all times’.  The psalmist clearly says that he will bless the Lord at all times, and that his mouth will praise God continually.  This sounds counter-intuitive for we tend to praise when things are all good, when our hearts are in joy or happiness.  The psalmist who had experiences of battles and victories, knew what it meant to be sad and defeated, as well as to conquer and celebrate.  Yet, despite these personal experiences he still chose to be categorical about praising the Lord continually.  It sounds to me like there is something he knew about God and which we need to learn.  We do not praise God just for answered prayers and the benefits of knowing Him, we praise God in spite of our situations.  We praise and honour Him as the ‘great I Am’, who never changes. 

We could be in discouraging circumstances but we can still count on our God as able and faithful.  Beloved, it is our knowledge of who God is, that will help us to praise Him at all times.  We praise God for who He is, for His great and glorious name (1 Chronicles 29:13); we praise  God who is good and whose love for us endures forever (Psalm 106:1; 1 Chronicles 16:34); we acknowledge that He is the King above all kings and so we honour Him (Psalm 95:2-3).  Brethren, there is little else we can give to our God but praise, it is our awareness of Him as God alone that draws us to praise Him no matter what is happening.  The psalmist had such a deep revelation of God that he dedicated many psalms to praise and worship, even stating that he will praise his God before all other gods (Psalm 138:1).  Beloved, our praise and adoration of God comes from whom we have known Him to be, our reverence of God will well up from our hearts when we get to accept that He alone is God and that He is faithful to those who seek His face.  Situations around us will try to tell us differently, but we can stand on one thing, God remains God and for that alone, He is worthy of our praise.

Thoughts:

Why do you praise the Lord?

When have you found it difficult to praise God?

How can you continually praise the Lord?