Forever Praise

Ps. 104:33-34

I will sing to the Lord as long as I live; I will sing praise to my God while I have being. May my meditation be pleasing to Him for I rejoice in the Lord.

 

Bless the Lord, O my soul! O Lord my God, You are very great! For clothes, God covers Himself with splendor, majesty, and light stretching over the heavens like a tent. All of creation from the largest element to the very smallest element, He has personally crafted and put in place. Nature, [the winds, the thunder, the lightning, the water, the sun, the moon], is at His disposal to use as His messengers, His servants. He also crafted nature to supply the needs of man from the water and springs to the crops in the fields, from the grass for livestock to the plants for man to cultivate, from the grapes on the vine to the wine that gladdens the heart, from the oil to make man's face shine to the bread that  strengthens his heart. What a God is this! How foolish is man that he persists in thinking that he has determined the course of his life and provided all that he needs. God put in place the seasons, the cycle of the sun and moon, and darkness and light making some creatures nocturnal and some  functioning in the day including man and his cycle of work. It was with His infinite wisdom that God has established all this. All life looks to Him for food in due season. When He opens His hand, mankind is filled with good. When He turns His face away, man is dismayed, and when He takes breath away, man returns to the dust. Nothing functions or operates apart from God's express will and purpose.

 

What should be man's response to this great God? Praise Him now and forever, but sadly, that is not often the case. However, the psalmist does have a heart of praise. I see how good it is to rehearse all that God has done, to bring it to the forefront of my thinking so that it never becomes something to be taken for granted or ignored. Like the psalmist, I want my song to be His song as long as I live. My being, my purpose, and my focus must be on praising Him until He takes me home. It is my prayer that my meditation will be pleasing to Him. What would make it pleasing? Perhaps it is just praising and rejoicing in the Lord, thanking Him for all that He has done, and remembering His greatness. I know that my heart is often forgetful and preoccupied with other things. I know He is saying to me to remember and be thankful with whatever He has given me, the pain, the suffering, the trials, and the good times. They are all from His loving hand and His loving will that He promises will be for my good.

 

Father.

Teach me to keep my eyes focused on You so that my praise will be ever flooding forth from my lips and my heart. Convict me and strengthen me when I begin to deviate. Help me be pleasing to You.

In Jesus name,

Amen