One of my favorite part of Scripture is Psalm 34, especially verses 1-3: “I will bless the LORD at all times: His praise shall continually be in my mouth. My soul shall make her boast in the LORD: the humble shall hear thereof, and be glad. O magnify the LORD with me, and let us exalt His name together.”
 
My fascination with this Psalm lies in David’s determination to bless (praise, salute) the LORD no matter what. So many times we allow our emotions to influence our praise, but here we see the Psalmist making the conscious decision that he would bless the LORD at all times; the two important phrases being “I will” and “at all times.” We cannot always trust our emotions and there are times when it feels like we are passing through endless valleys, and that may be the case for some, but even then we can resolve to bless the LORD. To praise or not to praise is a decision that we make. When and how often we praise are also decisions that we make. In the words of Ralph Waldo Emerson, “Nothing external to you have any power over you,” and once we realize this, we will also realize that there is nothing or no one that can stop our praise but ourselves.
 
We cannot afford to be “situational praisers.” True worshippers see praise as an offering to God for who He is; a celebration of His attributes. Inspired by the Holy Spirit, David wrote, “Praise ye the LORD. Praise God in His sanctuary: praise Him in the firmament of His power. Praise Him for His mighty acts: praise Him according to His excellent greatness. Praise Him with the sound of the trumpet: praise Him with the psaltery and harp. Praise Him with the timbrel and dance: praise Him with stringed instruments and organs. Praise Him upon the loud cymbals: praise Him upon the high sounding cymbals. Let everything that hath breath praise the LORD. Praise ye the LORD” (Psalm 150).
 
I am with David. “From the rising of the sun unto the going down of the same, the LORD’s name is to be praised” (Psalm 113:3), so come and “magnify the Lord with me, and let us exalt his name together.” Praise ye the Lord! 

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  • Colin Wilson

    Easy going, dislike negativity, and an optimist. I believe that amidst the hustle and bustle of everyday living, each day is a gift from God and if we stop and think about it, there is at least one thing for which we ought to be thankful. In addition, I believe that every day is a great day to be alive. No matter how bad we think we have it, there are any number of people who are on the "other side" who, if they could, would gladly trade places with us. Email me at [email protected]

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