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Daily Devotion: Psalm 149:1

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Psalm 149:1    "Praise ye the LORD. Sing unto the LORD a new song, and his praise in the congregation of saints."

Why is praise so important in our lives? Be certain that God has incorporated praise into the hearts of every human being. Every individual has praise that will escape from their lips. Some praise themselves and their accomplishments. Some praise material things that have been accumulated. Some praise other people. Some praise the power and glory and grace of our Lord.  We can be assured that the praise of God brings greater contentment than the praise of any other thing.

Praising God diverts our attention from anything that might be troubling us to the very throne of God where all mercy and grace floods into our hearts and minds. Praise takes us from the valley to the mountaintop where we can have a better view of the things that are happening in our lives. Praise enables us to better see through the eyes of Christ and enables us to endure the struggles and trials through which we have gone or possibly are now encountering.

Praise enables us to sing "a new song".  As a boy, I dreaded anyone calling out the hymn number for Amazing Grace. The reason I dreaded it was because it seemed to have 15 verses and they would sing every single verse as slow as it possibly could be sung. It seemed to take forever to get through that song. But after the Lord touched my heart and showed me the reason and importance of praise in my life, Amazing Grace became "a new song" for me.  I knew it was that which had made a change in me and my heart was filled with praise unto the Lord.

It seems to me that praise is something that occurs in our lives when we are touched by that which changes our lives.  So, I can somewhat understand praising self accomplishments, material possessions, or people in our lives. But even the praise of those things becomes more intense when we can realize that all those things come as a direct result of God intervening in our lives. When we can understand that every good and perfect gift comes from above, then our praise becomes fervent and focused upon the very source of all blessing. The song of praise becomes new and more bold than ever before.  "Praise ye the LORD. Sing unto the LORD a new song, and his praise in the congregation of saints."

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