PSALM 148:1-4 – Praise the LORD! Praise the LORD from the heavens; praise him in the heights! Praise him, all his angels; praise him, all his hosts! Praise him, sun and moon, praise him, all you shining stars! Praise him, you highest heavens, and you waters above the heavens!
THEME OF THE DAY. A LIFE OF PRAISE. It isn’t difficult to get the emphasis in today’s scripture. Eight times in four verses the theme of praising the Lord appears. This is a redundancy and repetition that is good for the soul and one of the key indicators of having a healthy spiritual life. But praising the Lord goes beyond affirming our walk with Him is good. There are four other things praise does for us that will deepen our intimacy with the Lord Jesus.
First, praising the Lord reminds us of our created purpose. We are people made in the image of God for the praise of His glory (Ephesians 1:3-14). The more we focus on worshipping Him; of singing His praises, the more our minds are conditioned to remember why we exist.
A second benefit of a life of praising the Lord is we live conscious of the Creator-creation relationship we have with Him. Praise not only causes us to remember our created purpose, living in praise to Him also keeps us aware that God is not like us and we exist for His good pleasure (Psalm 100).
Still yet another positive spiritual fruit from praising the Lord is the on-going realization that life doesn’t revolve around us. Truly life and all things are about God, not His creation (Romans 11:36). The more we grasp this, the greater freedom from stress, worry, and anxiety we will experience. It is amazing the power in praise. As we focus on the Lord, focusing on His praise, our problems grow small as He grows big in our thinking. Conversely, drift away from a life of praise and we dwell on ourselves, our circumstances, and our challenges. They grow big in our eyes and God quite small but learn to praise throughout the day and watch how sufficient His grace will be for us.
Finally, a life of praising the Lord brings Himself closer to His people in sweet fellowship. God’s Word tells us “that the Lord inhabits the praises of His people” (Psalm 22:3). Another word for “inhabits” is “enthroned” picturing the King of Kings sitting high and lifted up. And where would that throne room be for the King of Kings to occupy with delight and pleasure? The worshipping hearts of His people.
A life of praise is the life Jesus died for us to have. It is not only a mark of healthy Christian living but provides practical help in Christian living by reminding of us why we exist, what our relationship with God is, who life really is all about and brings us ever so close to the Lord we are praising.
PRAYER: “Father, build within me a heart of praise that carries me through all day long.”
QUOTE: “Praise is one of the greatest indicators of a good spiritual walk with the Lord.”