Praise

Psalm 113: 1 – 3              The Message Bible

Hallelujah! You who serve God, praise God! Just to speak his name is praise! Just to remember God is a blessing – now and tomorrow and always. From east to west, from dawn to dusk, keep lifting all your praises to God!

This is one of those verses which has different readings in different translations. There are varying nuances on the theme, and you might be interested in reading it in different Bibles. One of the easy ways to do that is to go to Bible Gateway. You can bring up this, or any other passage, in multiple translations at once. I landed here for one simple reason. The idea that simply remembering God is a blessing provoked my thinking. Having read that I backed up a sentence and thought, “Just to speak His name is a blessing.” It reminded me of a chat I had with the Father yesterday. I was about to pray for some people and began my prayer with, “Father.” I was struck by what an amazing blessing and privilege it is to get to call Him “Father.” I almost wanted to whisper so He wouldn’t figure out what a bad deal He got when He got me. There is no way I am worthy to be His own child. In fact, that is crazy to me.

I don’t praise Him nearly as often as I should. I don’t sing to Him as often as I should. I remember singing for my grandmothers and how much they enjoyed that. Maybe He loves that simple time together. And I believe when I breathe His name it blesses Him simply because I am thinking about Him. It is a blessing to me, and I believe blessing flows down that connection I have established with Him when I call His name.

From the rising of the sun, until its setting, God’s children should speak His name and lift praises. That praise gives us strength and establishes us in the way we should go. It aids us in integration and walking hand in hand with Him. Praise the Lord, all His people. Sing your gratitude. Let the air be saturated with praises to the King.