The alarm clock went off in the darkness of the morning, waking me from a comforting sleep, and the words echoed in my mind:
“Praise God in his sanctuary; praise him in his mighty heaven!” (Psalm 150:1).
My feet hit the rug and head straight to the kitchen to grab a cup of coffee. Not any cup of coffee, but the largest mug, which I intend to fill to the top. With my coffee in hand, I sit at my desk and open to Psalm 150 to read the entire psalm.
It is a wonderful end to the psalms and written more like a command than a praise. Or maybe I should say, it is a call to worship.
The psalmist is calling
all people
for all time
to praise God
for all of their days.
In reading the psalm through multiple times, I come to the realization:
- There is no place, on earth below or in heaven above, where praise should not occur. God is to be praised everywhere.
- There is no reason, God is not to be praised. Everything about God and all that He does, or does not do, is worthy of our praise.
- There is no instrument excluded from praise. We can use musical instruments and human voices. We can stand still or dance before the Lord. But everything that has breath is called to worship God.
“Give praise to God who reigns above
For perfect knowledge, wisdom, love.
His judgments are divine devout.
His paths beyond all tracing out.
Come, lift your voice to heaven’s throne.
And give glory to God alone!”(James Montgomery Boice, as quoted in the Holman Old Testament Commentary)
The beautiful thing is that while God is IN His sanctuary, He in IN us. He makes our hearts His sanctuary. He makes our homes His sanctuary. And if you are driving today … He makes your car, His sanctuary.
The question becomes, “Will each of us respond in praise to God today?”
May praise fill you wherever you you go.
Today I am joining … Unite and TrekkingThru the Week and Porch Stories and Tell His Story and Coffee For Your Heart and Woman to Woman .
Hi Joanne, What a beautiful reminder that He makes our hearts His sanctuary! Wow! Who am I that He is mindful of me? Thank you for inspiring me to praise Him this morning.
How different would we live if we really began to believe that our hearts truly ARE God’s sanctuary! Much that we can dwell on in this truth! Thanks!
God is so worthy of our praise, everywhere and all the time. Thanks for this reminder to praise him even now, Joanne!
Joanne,
I had to chuckle….like you, I rise early and head straight for the coffee pot. My husband knows to stay out of my way. Once sufficiently caffeinated I love to start my day with reading His Word. Throughout the day, I’ll put on praise music and sing along. Thankfully my beagle doesn’t mind my off-key singing. I’ve even made my SUV a singing sanctuary (much to the amusement of those around me because I’m a hand raiser). But I don’t care…to Him be the glory and praise. Loved this reminder this am.
Blessings,
Bev xo