Psalm 113:1-3 "Praise ye the LORD. Praise, O ye servants of the LORD, praise the name of the LORD. (2) Blessed be the name of the LORD from this time forth and for evermore. (3) From the rising of the sun unto the going down of the same the LORD'S name is to be praised."
We often say, "Praise the Lord!" And we mean it when we say it.
But have you ever really stopped to think, "What is praise?"
According to the concordance, praise means, among other things, to
celebrate, to boast, to rave. I don't mean this in a criticizing manner,
but how timid are we when we praise our children for their accomplishments? How
shy are we when our favorite team is doing something really well? We rave
about how good our favorite player or actor might be. Another meaning of
the word (and this meaning surprised me) is to express rage. We rave when
our team is doing well and sometimes we rage when they lose a game they should
have easily won.
So, let's go just a little deeper into the meaning of the word, praise. It
seems to me that praise is a vocal expression of emotion that rises from deep
within us. Notice I use the word emotion simply because of the extensive line
of meaning from celebration to rage. Let's take the stance that praise is
when we use our mouths to express the deep feelings that are within us. Worship
can be done in silence; but, I believe praise must incorporate the sound of our
voices. Could it be that we, as children of God, have been squelched in our
praise unto the Lord? Could it be that we sometimes take the position that
others might be offended if we are too vocal about our God?
David speaks often about praise. Without actually counting, I would dare say
the majority, if not all, of His Psalms incorporate praise of some sort for
some particular reason. When are you and I the most vocal about our
praise? Is it not when we experience a particular blessing or an answer to a
fervent prayer that we have offered unto the Lord? He gives us our answer
and we might say out loud, "Thank you, Lord" or "Praise the
Lord". But according to David, when are we to praise God? "From
the rising of the sun unto the going down of the same the LORD'S name is to be
praised."
What day are we to praise Him from the rising to the setting of the sun?
Is it only one day a week? How often does the sun rise and set? Is it not
every single day? I usually do not make blanket statements about any particular
subject, but today I'm going to do that very thing. What is that
statement? God is to be given praise every day of our lives, no matter
the circumstance, without exception. Is it difficult sometimes to praise Him in
certain times of our lives? Yes, because of our humanity we sometimes are not
as diligent as we should be. Does God understand this? Thankfully, yes He does.
Go back to Psalm 103 and see what the Psalmist says about God's understanding
of our human frame. The purpose for today's writing is to remind myself
that our God is worthy of vocal celebration, boasting, and yes even raving
about His goodness, mercy, love, and grace.