Praising the Lord

Last night I came up on a wonderful little chapter. Apparently, this is the shortest psalm in the whole book and it speaks of praising the Lord. Psalm 117, "Praise the Lord, all nations; laud Him, all peoples! For His loving-kindness is great towards us, and the truth of the Lord is everlasting. Praise the Lord!"

The definition of Praise is, "The offering of grateful homage in word or song, as an act of worship: a hymn of praise to God"; and "singing someone's praises, to praise someone publicly and enthusiastically."

Many verses in the book of Psalm speaks of praising the Lord. "O clap your hands, all peoples; shout to God with a voice of Joy." (Ps. 47:1) and "Shout joyfully to the Lord, all the earth; break forth and sing for joy and sing praises." (Ps. 98:4) are just a few. Have you ever just praised God for who He is? - The Great I AM, Son-of-Man, Divine teacher, Soul Winner, Great Physician, Bread of Life; Defender of the Weak and Light of the World. I have a long list of these kinds of names I like to praise the Lord with every morning. It feels so good just to praise Him before I start my time with Him. Gets my mind focused on whom I worship.

My notes in my study Bible also say this about praising, "The praise of God in the Psalter is rarely a private matter between the psalmist and the Lord. It is usually a public (at the temple) celebration of God's holy virtues or of His saving acts of gracious bestowal of blessings as in Psalm 9:1, "I will give thanks to the Lord with all my heart; I will tell of all Your wonders." I love worship every Sunday as I stand next to others singing praises to God together as one. - Krista Jones 2.5.08

I know there are times when praising is not on my lips. When times are difficult or I'm hurting. That is when it's the most important. No matter what I'm dealing with, He is right besides me being who He is - Defender of the Weak, Sympathetic, Mighty God, Strong, Victorious, Powerful, Loving, Merciful, Forgiving, Model Sufferer, Miracle Worker, Mighty Fortress, Freedom, Liberator, Understanding, Graciously Hears, All-knowing, Hope, Just, Gentle, Merciful, Great Healer, Provider, Lifter of my Head, Renewer, Breath of Life, Wounded Lord, Water of Life, Consoler, Compassionate, Light, Joy Giver, Steadfast, Strength, Protector, Satisfying, Redeemer, Deliverer, Exhorter and Relief Giver. He is also our Messiah, Jehovah, Lord Savior, Son-of God, Everlasting Father, Abba, Living Word, Good Shepherd, True Vine, Creator and Christ. His name is ABOVE EVERY NAME. I encourage you to pick one of these attributes of God and cling to it. Study what it means and what the Bible says about it. Find comfort, healing and strength from what the Word says to help get you through your difficult time. Romans 8:39 says, "Neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord." Did you get that? NOTHING can separate us from the Love of God.

Krista Jones
2.18.08