Living in Praise

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

(Psalm 34:1, NKJV)

In many churches and Christian gatherings, there is a moment set aside for praise and worship.  This is normally at the beginning of the gathering as a way of drawing those in attendance to the purpose of their coming together.  In charismatic congregations, the sessions of praise and worship are energized with beautiful loud music which many dance to with vigour.  I realize this is not the trend in all places as an accepted culture of the community determines how we express ourselves.  Given the importance and positive expressions of joy identified with this part of the ceremony, many will be heard saying that it is their favourite time of being in church.  It is also worth noting that some people will only engage with praise when they are among others in celebration to God.  Admittedly, to most of us, praise comes easy when our of hearts are full of gratitude for the blessings we have received from God.  Our grateful hearts are quick to praise the Lord from a point of humility and sincerity. 

 While we also note that often our praise is linked to the happenings around us.  There are times when our hearts are heavy with the cares of the world and we have to be deliberate to praise Him.  When I looked at our reference verse, I noted that praise is to be continually in our lips, it is what we are to offer at all times.  Beloved, I confess that this is an area where I am still growing in, I do not know about you.  Can you say that you are always in praise or does what is happening around you impact your praise?  The psalmist calls us to the revelation that our praise is not to be limited by our circumstances, it is not to be offered only when it is convenient to us, but it is to be our default position all the times. The bible introduces us to a term, ‘sacrifice of praise’, which is used when we offer praise as an offering of sacrifice to God when things are difficult (Hebrews 13:15).  I thank God that He understands we go through tough times and our praising Him for who He is, is received as a sacrificial offering.  Beloved, with this, we have no excuse not to praise the Lord at all times, good and bad times notwithstanding. 

 When I checked some references on the word ‘praise’, I got words like expression of admiration, gratitude and reverence to God.  When we offer praise to God, we acknowledge that He is holy, great, powerful and worthy.  It calls us to take a position of acceptance that God is God regardless of the situations around us.  He remains supreme and He never changes.  We therefore focus on Him with humility through praise.  Praise is not just about the songs we sing but also the actions we undertake as we honour the unchanging character of God.  Through praise, we lift our eyes to the eternal and ever present God, creator of all.  Thinking of the attributes of God will help us to praise Him in spite of our current experiences.  We will praise Him for His love and faithfulness towards us (Psalm 117:1).    The book of Psalms gives us various references to praise, we praise the Lord for He is good and His mercies endure forever  (Psalm 106:1).  We are given enough reason to praise the Lord, for He is worthy on all counts.  No wonder, all living things are called to praise the Lord (Psalm 150:6).  Beloved, if all life will praise the Lord, how about us who have been loved with an everlasting love?  In the midst of all that we face and the news of struggle that go around us, may our hearts learn to lean into praising the Lord for He is God and His ways for us are perfect.  Praise be to God.

 Thoughts:

 How are you praising God?

 What is your experience of offering a sacrifice of praise?

 What holds you from living in praise?