The alarm clock went off in the darkness of the morning – that is, my internal alarm clock. Waking me from a comforting sleep and the warmth of our bed, the words echoed in my mind:
“Praise the Lord! Praise God in His sanctuary; Praise Him in His mighty firmament!” (Psalm 150:1, NKJV)
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, open to Psalm 150 and read the entire portion.
It is a wonderful end to the psalms, written more like a command than a praise. Perhaps it would be more proper to 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 while God is in His sanctuary, He is 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?”
On those days when my soul is struggling to praise, this song always reminds me to praise Him. It calls me to say, “Yes, Lord, for the rest of my days!”
May praise fill you wherever you you go.
We often think about delighting in God. Lisa Blair shared a practical post which shows us how to live rightly and make choices so our lives become a delight to Him. You can read “Will You Attempt the Challenge to Delight God’s Heart?” HERE.
Come, sit a spell. Bring your coffee, your posts, and your thoughts. If you link up, kindly visit those who have drawn up a seat around you.
Image by Ylanite Koppens from Pixabay
What a fun song, Joanne! My Bible-reading plan takes me through a Psalm or a Proverb every day, and while I’ve enjoyed the Proverbs this time, I’ve been eagerly looking forward to finishing today so I can get back to the Psalms. 🙂 Your post makes me even more excited about that. Hugs, friend.
I appreciate the offering of music you share in your posts!
It’s such an honor to know Him and a joy to praise Him, Joanne. Thank you for the post highlight on delighting God’s heart.
Beautiful message, Joanne. Love that there is no place, reason or instrument that is not conducive to praising the Almighty! So we have no excuse not to praise Him!
It struck me when I read your post, “Praise Him for what He does not do.” That gave me pause. How many things could He have done; but He decided not to do, for my good?
So beautiful Joanne- you got me praising God – Amen.
Praising Him is a gift full of delight!
This is beautiful Joanne. I have praises on my lips and in my mind ongoing throughout my day. At the store, in my car I’m bopping to Klove radio praising God, when I’m being porch people….
Thank you so much for hosting. xo
thank you for the meditation, for the music, for the chance to remind ourselves again that He is ever and always worthy to be praised.
Your song had me on my feet dancing!
I often wake to music echoing in my mind. What a lovely way to start the day!
I’m in the psalms now, in the 140s, so I’m nearing 150. I love your list of realizations. We truly could praise the Lord every moment if we focused on all He is and does.