Praise
the LORD, O my soul;
all
my inmost being, praise his holy name.
Praise
the LORD, O my soul,
and
forget not all his benefits—
who
forgives all your sins
and
heals all your diseases,
who
redeems your life from the pit
and
crowns you with love and compassion,
who
satisfies your desires with good things
so
that your youth is renewed like the eagle’s.
Psalm 103:1-5
NIV
Praise God! Bārak, the Hebrew word used
here for praise, shows action such as to bless, pronounce blessings, give
praise, give thanks or extol. Our modern thesaurus uses commend, compliment,
acclaim, approve, pay tribute, laud or extol. In this Psalm, David exhorts us
to glorify—sing the praises of Jehovah God Almighty.
David had much to complain about, but he
chose instead to praise God. In these verses, he gives us a list of reasons with
which to begin our praise:
1.
He forgives our sins
2.
He heals our diseases
3.
He redeems our life from the pit
4.
He crowns us with love and compassion
5.
He satisfies our desires with good things
We have done nothing to deserve any of
these. Unlike the modern television offers of free gifts, that always cost
shipping and handling, God’s gifts are truly free.
I am reminded of Erma Bombeck’s book, If life is a bowl of cherries—what am I
doing in the pits? In one section she makes this statement, “The bad times
I can handle. It’s the good times that drive me crazy. When is the next shoe
going to drop?”
If that is you, stop and praise God! No
matter what your day may hold, take five minutes to stop and praise God! If you
are in a pit of despair today, stop and praise God! If your health problems
give you legitimate reasons to worry about your future, stop and praise God! If
life is good and all is well, stop and praise God!
If you can think of nothing for which to
praise God, remember the words of the Apostle Paul when writing to the
Ephesians. (Ephesians 2:8) “For it is by grace you have been saved, through
faith—and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God.”
You may already have a time set aside in
your day to praise God. If not, today would be a great day to begin that daily
routine. When I practice the “Praise the LORD, O my soul” attitude, I find it
colors and shapes my day with light rather than darkness, with positive rather
than negative, and with hope rather than hopelessness.
So today, I determine to
open the lens of life to a slow shutter speed and let the light in. Five
minutes of praise can change the direction of your day! Together let us “Praise
the LORD, O my soul.”
©JP
2013
No comments:
Post a Comment