February 7 – Praise Is Good and Pleasant

“Praise the Lord! For it is good to sing praises to our God; For it is pleasant and praise is becoming.” – Psalm 147:1 (NASB)

Today we have a verse found in an uplifting and encouraging Psalm. Specifically written for the people of Jerusalem after they returned from exile in Babylon to restore the Temple, rebuild the walls of the city, and secure its gates. Perhaps the Psalm’s author read again the hard questions God asked Job (Job 38-41) or asked Israel (Isaiah 40). Then turns those words of God into declarations worthy of praise. Singing praises to the Lord with thanksgiving for all that He had done results in encouragement. For we know that the God who speaks these assertions, is speaking to us as well. We can take great comfort in the promise of God’s greatness, strength, and understanding (vs 5-6). There is great value in fearing God and receiving His favor; along with those who wait for his mercy and steadfast love (v. 11). For all this we have great reasons to praise and sing praises to God from our hearts. It makes our days more pleasant. Fretting about our afflictions and the wicked who disrupt the peace of our lives is unprofitable. The LORD supports and will relieve us of our afflictions, it’s a promise (v. 6).  

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November 25 – Never Closed – Always On Duty

“It is good to give thanks to the Lord And to sing praises to Your name, O Most High;  To declare Your lovingkindness in the morning And Your faithfulness by night,” Psalm 92:1-2 (NASB)

It is Thanksgiving week in the United States. Other countries have similar celebrations at different times.  It is the time of the year when most of us spend a little more time thinking about the benefits and blessings we have from God.  Those who follow Jesus will focus a bit more on offering thanks to God for the gift of His Son.  These words mean that it is a good practice to thank God all the time. It means that it does us good to thank and praise Him. Giving thanks is not just for one day or one season of the year.   Because God is never off duty or on vacation and is a 24/7/365 God, it is good for us to respond in kind and thank God in the morning for His love for us. It helps train our focus on the blessings we receive from Him.  It is also good to thank Him at night for His faithfulness during the day. It makes the day different and strengthens our faith for the next day.  Practicing daily thanksgiving makes a difference in our lives and it makes a difference in our outlook.  Let's make it a habit we practice. 

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November 8 – Joy Comes In The Morning

“You have turned for me my mourning into dancing; You have loosed my sackcloth and girded me with gladness, That my soul may sing praise to You and not be silent.  O Lord my God, I will give thanks to You forever.”  - Psalm 30:11-12  (NASB)

The promises of God found in this passage from Psalm 30 are in the words of affirmation, thanksgiving and praise written by David.  Prior to these verses David cried for help and relief from some dire circumstances.  David's enemies had been about to rejoice over his destruction. He found himself so depressed it was as if he was in Sheol, or realm of the dead.* God promises to take care of us in the same way David affirms.  He turns our mourning into dancing and removes our sad rags an replaced with a suit of gladness.  When we are so down in spirit and feel defeated in our faith, God is there. We may cry through the night but we will find joy comes in the morning.  As God proved to be David's helper and salvation from circumstances in this psalm, He is our helper and salvation from the difficulties we face day to day.  Let's join David's words and with our heart sing praises to Our Wonderful God – No reason to be silent.  Shout for Joy instead! 

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*Sheol: A Hebrew term used to refer to the realms of the dead, the grave, the pit or the tomb. Some older translations have the term incorrectly translated as “hell”. 

October 23 – Doing What Fits

“Praise the Lord! For it is good to sing praises to our God; for it is pleasant, and a song of praise is fitting.” Psalm 147:1 (ESV)

This is an expression of the value of praising God.  The one who first put these words together was expressing the personal benefit that he received by praising God.  Reflect on these words and we think about our practice of praising God.  When we praise the Lord now in our lives we can enjoy the same benefit.  It does us good to praise God.  We can perhaps all remember how we have felt as we have done that.  Perhaps we have sometimes been discouraged and heavyhearted.  Then, when we thought of God goodness and His love for us we begin to praise Him for it.  It is then that our outlook changed.  It is as the psalmist said – a pleasant experience.  And why is this true?  It is because God is worthy of our praise.  He should be praised.  As the psalmist said, It is fitting.  It is an appropriate thing to do and it brings blessings.  

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August 19 – Chosen Out of Darkness to Light

“But you are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, God’s special possession, that you may declare the praises of him who called you out of darkness into his wonderful light.” 1 Peter 2:9 (NIV)

We should never forget what great benefit there is in being a child of God. When the Apostle Peter wrote his first letter he emphasized what God has done for His people.  Yes, we have much for which to praise our Lord. Our verse tells us that we do have a wonderful relationship to God – we are God's special  possession because we are His by choice through His love and grace.  Let's think, though, of the last words in our verse for today, especially of the great change that came into our lives when God called us in to His marvelous light.  God knew that we were working in darkness not knowing what lay ahead of us.  He called us into His family with a glorious future ahead of us going on into eternity. As we live here, He lights our way so that we can see our path from day to day.  The promise today is that we are chosen by God Himself to belong to Him.  That is something for which we can certainly declare His praises. 

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March 23 – Carried By Him

“I shall make mention of the lovingkindnesses of the Lord, the praises of the Lord, According to all that the Lord has granted us, ... Which He has granted them according to His compassion And according to the abundance of His lovingkindnesses. For He said, “Surely, they are My people, Sons who will not deal falsely.” ... In His love and in His mercy He redeemed them, And He lifted them and carried them all the days of old.” Isaiah 63:7-9 (NASB)

The prophet Isaiah often reminded the people of God's goodness. These three verses display His lovingkindness – also called mercy and steadfast love. In verse 8 he recounts what God says about His people and the last words in verse 9 give us the picture of what the Lord did for His people long ago. We've shared this verse today because they remind us of how He is taking care of us these day. If you are a follower of Christ and call yourself a Christian, you are likely noticing a growing hostility in society toward all who also call themselves Christian. But in this time, we still trust his promise that He is lifting us up and carrying us.  We are living the Christian life, not  in our own strength, but in the strength that God provides to us each day. On our own we would know how to walk by faith. So we are thankful to God today that He has promised to to carry us.

January 28 – All Your Heart

“It is good to give thanks to the Lord, to sing praises to your name, O Most High;” Psalm 92:1 (ESV)

When God's people get together to worship the Lord, they devote a good part of their time to praising God. They also sing and make music to honor His name. This has always been true since the day when the Psalms were composed. This is true today as you will see it in church or on the television if that is where you are. We trust that you will join in praising God today wherever you are. You will find that as you praise God your heart will be blessed. So don't just go through the motions of worship. Don't just sing the words by habit, but with your whole heart, praise God. Praise Him with all your heart and soul because it will do you much good. That is the promise of this verse. It is good to give thanks to God and to sing praises to His  name – he is the Most High. 

December 14 – Praising and Thanking

“Through Him then, let us continually offer up a sacrifice of praise to God, that is, the fruit of lips that give thanks to His name.” Hebrews 13:15 (NASB)

During the days before Christmas we hear about the angels who sang praises to God when Jesus was born. We know that angels do sing praises to God in heaven and the Bible urges us to sing His praises too. That is the message of our verse today. The reason the angels keep singing praises to God is because they know how great and wonderful He is. The more we know about our Lord, the more we will want to praise Him. Let's be careful during these days of activity before Christmas that we do not let the lights and the beauty of decorations distract us and cause us to forget God's greatness and His love for us. As we sing carols let's be sure to remember to really praise our God with all our hearts. Lets make it a time of truly praising and thanking God. 

November 23

“…that my heart may sing your praises and not be silent. Lord my God, I will praise you forever.” Psalm 30:12 (NIV)

It is evident that David was not waiting for a special Thanksgiving Day to express his thanks to God. He said he would be thanking God forever. One interesting and helpful thought in this verse is that David was singing his thanks in his heart. We remember that David was a singer and song writer. He sang the songs he composed and we are sure that he usually sang with his voice. But he speaks of his heart singing too. That is how we can be thanking God as well, in our hearts. It will be as if our hearts are singing to Him. And we can do that wherever we are, in whatever circumstances.