Focus: Poised For Praise (Pt.2)

Text: Ps.145:2

"Every day will I bless thee; and I will praise thy Name for ever and ever."

We must admit from the onset that not all days are good. Some days are good; other days are not so good. But we can wake up each day, saying to ourselves, "This is the day which the LORD hath made." So be any day good or bad, the maker of all the days of our lives is worthy of our praise, and He has all the power in the world to turn a bad day into a good one. A bad day takes nothing away from the good God. God will never cease to be God because of a bad day or because of an ugly season.

Like David, tell yourself, "Every day I will bless thee…" After all the calamity that befell Job, we are told that "in all this did not Job sin with his lips" (Jb.2:10). And again, "Then Job arose, and rent his mantle, and shaved his head, and fell down upon the ground, and worshipped" (Jb.1:20). On one hand, Job did not sin with his lips, and on the other hand, Job bowed his face to the ground and worshipped his God. It really takes doctrine in the soul to do that. Giving God praise must become a creed in the soul for anyone to praise through pain and sing through grief. It takes faith to turn a sigh into a song. 

Every day praise is both a choice and a culture. The man of character praises God with intentionality and tenacity, passion and determination.

God has put the believer in Christ in a position of praise. Peter writes, "But ye are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, an holy nation, a peculiar people; THAT ye should shew forth the PRAISES of him who hath called you out of darkness into his marvellous light" (1Pet.2:9). First, God has done something for us. He has called us out of darkness into His marvelous light. Second, God has transformed our spiritual status. God has made us His chosen generation, His royal priesthood, His purchased possession, and His holy nation. Now the reason behind all that, is to the effect that we may sound forth or publish the praises of our God. The psalmist, "Let the high praises of God be in their mouth…" (Ps.149:6). 

We are called and positioned for divine praise. The Chronicler tells us that David "appointed certain of the Levites to minister before the ark of the LORD, and to record, and to thank and praise the LORD God of Israel" (1Chron.16:4). We are divinely appointed to praise the Lord. If you read the next two verses of 1Chron.16, you will see the names of those appointed, and in case your name is missing, you can willingly and gladly add it. You belong to the class of those divinely assigned with the sacred task of praising God, and you are to do it continually before His presence. In the days of Hezekiah, these Levites were instructed to "sing praise unto the LORD with the words of David, and of Asaph the seer. And they sang praises with gladness, and they bowed their heads and worshipped" (2Chron.29:30).

In every condition or circumstance of life, praising God is not negotiable for the believer in Jesus Christ. On His way to the cross, Jesus Christ sang a hymn. Matthew says, "And when they had sung an hymn, they went out into the mount of Olives" (Mt.26:30). Going by a literal translation, they 'hymned' to God. They celebrated God in song. That is praise going up to God from the lips of a man who was facing imminent death! 

Do you know why God lets you praise Him in your condition? It is because no condition is permanent. Your condition is bound to change, but your God is forever changeless. He is the unchangeable changer.

Moses, in his song of redemption, asked, "Who is like unto thee, O LORD, among the gods? who is like thee, glorious in holiness, fearful in praises, doing wonders?" (Ex.15:11). The psalmist says, "But thou art holy, O thou that inhabitest the praises of Israel" (Ps.22:3). By our praises we construct a dwelling place for our God.

People of God, let us praise God anyhow! Even from a jailhouse you can praise God. Luke tells us of Paul and Silas, "And at midnight Paul and Silas prayed, and sang praises unto God: and the prisoners heard them" (Act.16:25). For them, praising God was the proper thing to do. They had cultivated and formed the habit of making God proud in every situation. David says, "Therefore I will give thanks unto thee, O LORD, among the heathen, and I will sing praises unto thy name" (2Sam.22:50).

From your priestly position, praise the Lord! In your present condition, withhold not your praise! Say with the psalmist, "While I live will I praise the LORD: I will sing praises unto my God while I have any being" (Ps.146:2).

There is always a reason for us to praise God. The psalmist says, "Sing praises to God, sing praises: sing praises unto OUR KING, sing praises… Praise the LORD; for the LORD is GOOD: sing praises unto his NAME; for it is PLEASANT… Praise ye the LORD: for it is GOOD to sing praises unto our God; for it is PLEASANT; and praise is COMELY" (Ps.47:6; 135:3; 147:1). Hallelujah! Praise the Lord!

Finally, Isaiah declares, "I will mention the lovingkindnesses of the LORD, and the praises of the LORD, according to all that the LORD hath bestowed on us, and the great goodness toward the house of Israel, which he hath bestowed on them according to his mercies, and according to the multitude of his lovingkindnesses" (Isa.63:7). Get poised for praise, for it is the highest business of heaven! If you are not in the business of praising God, then you are jobless. With your lips and by your life praise the Lord!

by Bishop Moses E. Peter