Psalm 111:1-2 "Praise ye the LORD. I will praise the LORD with my whole heart, in the assembly of the upright, and in the congregation. (2) The works of the LORD are great, sought out of all them that have pleasure therein."
"I will praise the Lord with my whole heart." How many times in
a day do we use those two words, "I will ..." I will do this or I
will do that. I will go here or I will be there. I will get this done. I
will, I will, I will. The Psalmist said, "I will praise the Lord." He
made the determination to do that, whether it be on a specific occasion or a
continual matter. The Psalms are filled with the instructions that tell
us to praise the Lord, but do we give it an answer from our heart? "Praise
ye the LORD." Yes, Lord, I will praise you with my whole heart. I
won't simply go through the motions of saying or singing praise to you; rather,
I will give my entire being to the action of praising you. I will praise you in
the good times. I will praise you when things are going rough. I will praise
you in the harvest. I will praise you in the drought. I will praise you when
I'm happy. And Lord, I will do my best to praise you when I'm sad.
Praise should come forth from us because the works of the Lord are great AND
they are all around us. Our God is faithful to us and I want to be faithful in
my praise to Him. "He sent redemption unto his people: he hath commanded
his covenant for ever: holy and reverend is his name." (Psalm 111:9) He
sent redemption. He made the covenant of eternal life for His people with His
Son and the Holy Spirit. He gave His only begotten Son. He sent Him into this
world that is so contrary to Him. That covenant is "commanded for
ever"! There is NO END to the promise of eternal life. The works of the Lord
are great and they are steadfast and sure. That faithfulness is based
upon the person of our Lord; therefore, I should willingly offer my praise and
thanksgiving unto Him. Can we make the determination today that we will
use every opportunity to give praise unto the Lord?
Praise Him, praise Him! Jesus, our blessed Redeemer!
For our sins He suffered, and bled, and died.
He, our Rock, our Hope of eternal salvation—
Hail Him! Hail Him! Jesus, the Crucified!
Sound His praises! Jesus, who bore our sorrows!
Love unbounded, wonderful, deep, and strong.
Praise Him! Praise Him! Tell of His excellent greatness.
Praise Him! Praise Him ever in joyful song!