Written many years ago:

Psalm 34:1-2. “I will extol the Lord at all times; His praise shall continually be on my lips.” [We can always say, “Thank you, Lord God, that in every happening there is potential growth in my focus on you and a platform upon which I can demonstrate your grace to the world.”]

“My soul will boast in the Lord.” [Thank you, Lord, for the continual reminder that in myself I can do nothing and that the thrust of my life is to give glory to you, not to me!]

“The afflicted hear and rejoice.” [How good that we can encourage others by praise, helping them also to praise, as we lead the way in extolling God.]

It is so good to look at all things through the purifying lens of God’s Word and to keep up the shield of faith with words of praise. We thank God that He is teaching us to praise, even though we are slow learners!

Prayer: “Lord, help me to remember in each disappointment, difficulty and discomfort, as well as in the positive, the preferred and the pleasant, to respond with praise, surrendering to the Truth of your being God, the final Authority, the all wise One.

Help me to affirm my trust in you by praising when I feel like complaining, by giving thanks when I feel like rebelling. May you be exalted in my life today through praise and thanksgiving. Amen.”

“Delight yourself in the Lord and He will give you the desires of your heart.”  Psalm 37:4

To delight in you, Lord, in one sense is so easy, for in every aspect you are wonderful beyond conception. You made all, you know all, you hold all together. You know the makeup of every atom, the information in every DNA molecule, the workings of every synapse in the brain, the condition of every artery, the reproduction of every cell—nothing escapes your attention and knowledge.

You have control of all events, balancing perfectly the genuinely responsible choices of billions of people with the specific plans you have for each individual, each moment, each generation, each epoch—and at the right time you will bring about the end of history, of time and of evil. You are perfect in your wisdom, perfect in your love, perfect in your justice, perfect in your mercy, perfect in your timing.

You are the God of grace, the Dispenser of justice, the King of righteousness and mercy, of truth and love, Heaven and Hell, light and mystery, purity and punishment, forgiveness and vengeance—each in its time and place.

You are in every way the delightful God: there is no repugnant, ugly, unjust, impure, evil or wrong aspect to your nature, your character, your thoughts or your actions. All of you is good, all is pure, loving, just, positive, gracious, righteous, wise and perfect.

You are all that our hearts ever desired, you are beyond what we could conceive, you are the fulfillment of every positive dream, you are “too good to be true” and yet are not only true but Truth itself.

We praise you for the wonder of your persons, the joy of being your child and the privilege of walking with you every day. You have made us to be with you, to find in you alone our meaning, fulfillment, joy, peace, grace, help, direction, safety, wisdom and goodness.

Forgive me, Lord, for seeking these things elsewhere, wanting them now, in my way, for my reasons.  Forgive me for making these my idols, the things I demand to be happy. Help me instead to turn my eyes to you, to lift up my thoughts and feelings, desires and fears to you so in the light of your presence Truth may trump, Reality may reign and my heart may be wholly united in living for you alone. Put your desires in my heart. Then I will praise you, O Lord my God, with all my heart and glorify your name forever more. For you have redeemed my soul from the pit, from the grave, from the lowest hell (Ps. 86:12,13).

Picture: the levels of complexity that God created and knows all about!

“Through Jesus, therefore, let us continually offer to God a sacrifice of praise—the fruit of lips that confess his name.”

Hebrews 13:15

Once upon a time there were two people living in a foreign land who got a package from Germany. When they went to the post office to pick it up, the customs official opened it and took out two packages of tea, the kind of tea that they really liked but wasn’t available locally. Smiling, he said, “You can’t have these; customs regulations!” And with that he put the tea into his desk drawer.

Now, how should these two people react to such random injustice? There are only two basic possibilities: to complain or to praise, and we all know which is correct. These two people took a moment to pray, “Lord, thank you for all the times tea did come to us and customs let it through. Thank you that this time you chose to have it otherwise.” Then those two left the post office with light hearts and good thoughts and had a really good day.

Praise is a wonderful responsibility that God has given us. It keeps us dwelling in the Truth, and, as you know, Jesus said in John 8:32, “…the truth will set you free.” Praise sets us free from the nasty so we can dwell on the nice, as Paul pointed out in Philippians 4:8 (think on whatever is true, noble and right, whatever is pure, lovely and admirable). Such thoughts make it easier to offer the sacrifice of thanksgiving.

“For the LORD God is a sun and shield; the LORD bestows favor and honor; no good thing does he withhold from those whose walk is blameless. O LORD Almighty, blessed is the man who trusts in you.” Psalm 84:11,12

Praise be to you, Lord God Almighty, Commander of the hosts of Heaven. To you we give glory and honor and praise, for you, King Jesus, Mighty Father, Holy Spirit, are the most High, the most Wise, the most Powerful, the most Good and the most Holy One. You are without beginning, without end, without change, without lack, without evil, sin or darkness.

You are all that is good, all that is right, all that is positive. You are perfect, you are present, you are powerful.

You are the junction point of opposites; your wisdom is on display as you combine what to us looks like oil and water, or square and circle.

You join justice and mercy,
truth and grace,
holiness and redemption,
Sovereignty and man’s responsibility.

You remain just while having mercy triumph over justice. You speak the truth, hurtful and condemning as it may be (“…light has come into the world, but men loved darkness instead of light because their deeds were evil” John 3:19),

You do this while using this truth to open us to the grace of your gospel (“But whoever lives by the truth comes into the light, so that it may be seen plainly that what he has done has been done through God” John 3:21).

You, Lord Jesus, remained holy while becoming sin for us. Only you in your eternal infiniteness could combine such qualities which to us are so different as to be mutually exclusive.

Truly, only you are worthy of obedience in total surrender. It is right to bow down to you in worship, it is right to rise up before you in obedience. Praise be to you, Lord God, King of Glory and Lord of all.

Prayer: “Lord, I so often rely on my own understanding of things, forgetting that you have a much fuller, deeper, longer, higher view of the situation. Help me to rely on you, not my own weak logic. Help me to submit my intellect intellect to your Word.”

Picture:  opposites of homeless man and businessman joined by love,

Psalm 32:7b “surely when the mighty waters rise, they will not reach him.”

[This danger is not an “if” but a “when.” Floods of trouble will come, but you will set us high upon a rock and keep us safe. “God is our refuge and strength…. Therefore we will not fear, though the earth be removed, and though the mountains be carried into the midst of the sea; though the waters thereof roar and foam, though the mountains shake with the swelling thereof” (Ps. 46:1-3).

This is true today—as the tide of culture now is flowing against you, Lord, against your Word and your children–and it’s true forever that the flood will not overcome us. I praise you, Lord, and give you glory and honor, joy and exaltation, because, whatever might come, you are there in power, love and grace. “My soul, find rest in God alone; my hope comes from Him” (Ps. 62:5).

Help us to rest in you and your greatness today, Lord Jesus, rejecting worry, fear and anxiety, instead embracing love, joy and peace, trusting in you, living in your desire: “May the God of hope, fill you with all joy and peace AS YOU TRUST IN HIM, so that your lives may overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit” (Rom. 15:13).