Category: Praise the Lord

Psalm 7:17                                                          Thank God for God

“Oh, how grateful and thankful I am to the Lord because he is so good.  I will sing praise to the name of the Lord who is above all lords” (TLB).

 

“In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth” (KJV).  So what do I have to thank God for—everything!  He created this fantastic universe with His spoken Word.  It is His, we are His, and I am quite thankful that I am His.  When I accepted Jesus as my Lord and Savior, He assured me of life eternal with Him.  And I am most thankful for that!

The magnificence of the created universe, the magnificence of this beautiful planet, earth, speaks to the glory of God, and His glory is great.  He created the universe and mankind because He wanted fellowship.  He, of course created the universe to accommodate the physical requirements of human beings.  But, I believe that He created the universe in great beauty for our enjoyment, and He gave us the five senses with which we enjoy it.  Every time I look at a sunset or sunrise, I am in awe of the act of His creation.  But the same thing happens whenever I enjoy a nice slice of blueberry pie, smell a rose, touch a baby’s smooth skin, or hear a bird sing.

God’s love was more wonderfully shown when His Son, Jesus, came to earth to live as a human being, being subject to all the vicissitudes of life as a man, including scorn, hatred, and finally torture and death, so that we could spend eternity with Him.  In fact, He did it so that He could spend eternity with us.  Yes, His desire to be with us equals or exceeds our desire to be with Him.  That’s how important we are to God.  Of all the things for which I am thankful, this, the sacrifice of Jesus to provide eternal life for me, is the one thing for which I am most thankful.

The last part of the verse above says, “…sing praise to the name of the Lord….”  We are told to sing praises, and I get great enjoyment and am extremely blessed in that, but sometimes I get so involved in the music of a song of praise that I don’t think much about the words.  Then I remember, when I am alone, to slow down and speak the words aloud slowly, until I can praise and worship my God with my heart as well as my voice.

THANK YOU, GOD FOR BEING GOD!

Psalm 96:12                                                               Sing His Praise

“Let the fields be jubilant, and everything in them; let all the trees of the forest sing for joy” (MIV).

 

This Psalm is a song of praise, and, to me, these beautiful flowers are singing praises to our Lord and to their creator.  I had lots of ideas for this posting, but I think David says it best, so here is the totality of Psalm 96.

“Sing to the Lord a new song; sing to the Lord, all the earth.

Sing to the Lord, praise his name; proclaim his salvation day after day.

Declare his glory among the nations, his marvelous deeds among all peoples.

For great is the Lord and most worthy of praise; he is to be feared above all gods.

For all the gods of the nations are idols, but the Lord made the heavens.

Splendor and majesty are before him; strength and glory are in his sanctuary.

Ascribe to the Lord, all you families of nations, ascribe to the Lord, glory and strength.

Ascribe to the Lord, the glory due his name; bring an offering and come into his courts.

Worship the Lord in the splendor of his holiness; tremble before him, all the earth.

Say among the nations, ‘The Lord reigns.”  The world is firmly established, it cannot be moved; he will judge the peoples with equity.

Let the heavens rejoice, let the earth be glad; let the sea resound and all that is in it.

Let the fields be jubilant, and everything in them; let all the trees of the forest sing for joy.

Let all creation rejoice before the Lord, for he comes, he comes to judge the earth.

He will judge the world in righteousness and the peoples in his faithfulness.”

AMEN!

Psalm 66:4                                                                 Is It Still there?

“All the earth worships Thee; they sing praises to Thee; sing praises to Thy name” (RSV).

 

This sign was there at the Grand Canyon sixty years ago.  I wonder, is it still there?  The Scripture is still true: “All the earth worships thee; they sing praises to Thee; sing praises to They name.”  All the earth does worship the Lord.  It’s only the people who have stopped singing praises to His name.  Just look around and observe the earth still singing the praises of the Creator.  He has created fantastic beauty.  Just feet away from this sign is one of the views that people from all over the world travel thousands of miles to see—the Grand Canyon.  Okay, not all the people have stopped singing praise to Him.  There are still many millions on this earth who appreciate the beauty that God has created, and they worship and praise Him for it.

When Jesus was entering Jerusalem on what we call Palm Sunday, the people were saying in Luke 20:38, “Blessed is the King who comes in the name of the Lord!  Peace in heaven and glory in the highest” (NKJV).  The Pharisees told Jesus to stop the people from saying such things.  His answer, in verse 40 was,”…I tell you that if these should keep silent, the stones would immediately cry out” (NKJV).  I wonder if that would happen today.  Would the rocks cry out?  They do to me.  They speak of the glory of God in all their myriad shapes, colors, and composition.  But I am not going to wait for the rocks to cry out.  “Praise the Lord for He is good!”  Won’t you join me today and praise the Lord out loud where people can hear you?  Jesus speaks to the Father on our behalf.  We can certainly speak to the world on His behalf.  Let’s do it.  Let’s praise the Lord out loud every day.

Psalm 148                                                        Praise the Lord!

“Praise the Lord from the heavens; praise him in the heights above.  Praise him, all his angels; praise him, all his heavenly hosts.  Praise him sun and moon; praise him, all you shining stars.  Praise him, you highest heavens and you waters above the skies.  Let them praise the name of the Lord, for at his command they were created, and he established them forever and ever—he issues a decree that will never pass away.  Praise the Lord from the earth, you great sea creature and all ocean depths. Lightning and hail, snow and clouds. Stormy winds that do his bidding, you mountains and all hills, fruit trees and all cedars, wild animals and all cattle, small creatures and flying birds, kings of the earth and all nations, you princes and all rulers on earth, young men and women, old men and children.  Let them praise the name of the Lord, for his name alone is exalted; his splendor is above the earth and the heavens.  And he has raised up for his people a horn, the praise of all his faithful servants, of Israel, the people close to his heart.  Praise the Lord” (NIV).

What else is there to say?  PRAISE THE LORD!!!   EVERYDAY!!!

Psalm 150                                                             Praise the Lord!

“Hallelujah!

Praise God in His holy house of worship, praise him under the open skies;

Praise him for his acts of power, praise him for his magnificent greatness;

Praise with a blast on the trumpet, praise by strumming soft strings;

Praise him with castanets and dance, praise him with banjo and flute;

Praise him with cymbals and a big bass drum, praise him with fiddles and mandolin.

Let every living, breathing creature praise God!

Hallelujah!” (MSG)

 

The Psalmist certainly got it right.  Praise the Lord—everywhere in every way!  “Praise the Lord” are words found frequently in the Psalms.  Often David ends up praising the Lord after the beginning of the Psalm is full of complaints.  Maybe that’s why God said that David was a man after His heart.  He always came back to trusting and praising God.

 

“Praise the Lord” is appropriate any time, but especially during this time of year when we commemorate the death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus!  It is to His glory and our salvation that we can say, “Thank you, Jesus” and “Praise the Lord.”  Because of Jesus, we are assured of an eternity with Him.  I’ll say it again, PRAISE THE LORD!