Are You Breathing?

Psalm 150  King James Version (KJV)

As we finish up this study on Psalms, I want to thank you for reading my reflections on these 2,461 verses.  It has been a journey I will never forget.  It has taught me that I need to be much more patient than I am, that I need to rely on God much more than I do, and I need to listen for His voice much harder than I have.  The Psalms teach me that God is always for me, that He is always watching out for me and that He loves me more than I can possibly fathom with my feeble human understanding.

There are two results of these lessons learned.  The first is that I find myself much calmer – more at peace – when things just don’t go the way I think they should.  I know my God is bigger than anything that can come my way, and He is in control.  Nothing can harm me past what He will allow.  If He allows some trial or trouble, He is always close by to deliver me once I learn the lesson He is trying to teach me.  Trials are a time when I have to listen carefully for His voice.  I think we often forget that Job had a lengthy conversation with God before he was delivered out of his calamity.  Am I listening close enough to have the same type of conversation?

The second lesson is that I always need to turn to praise.  His praise should be on my lips at every turn of every day – no exceptions.  No matter what the day has brought, no matter what obstacles may try to distract me, no matter how I feel – I should be praising Him.  Not because He has blessed me, not because He has made my path straight, not because He has delivered me out of some trouble.  I should praise Him solely because He is worthy of my praise.  That is enough!

This last Psalm is a culmination of David’s desire to be a blessing to His God.  David calls us to pray with everything we’ve got.  Don’t hold back.  Don’t muffle or silence the praise that He deserves.  Let the whole world know about the awesome God we serve.  He is worthy.

1 Praise ye the Lord. Praise God in his sanctuary: praise him in the firmament of his power.

Not just in the sanctuary, but out in the open field, we should praise Him.  With all that’s in me, I hope by now you know how important it is to give Him praise!  It is for His good pleasure, but even more it elevates us above the hubbub of this world.  We can forget about our troubles and concentrate on Him when we praise Him.  Way too many Christians only praise Him at church – don’t be one of them!

2 Praise him for his mighty acts: praise him according to his excellent greatness.

Two reasons to praise Him.  First, for His mighty acts.   I cannot recount all He has done for me.  The list would go on and on and on.  John said if He listed all the works of Jesus. the world could not contain all the books that would be written (John 21:25).   feel like that for just what He’s done for me!

Praise Him for His excellent greatness.  Just because He is who He is.  Not for anything He has done or provided, but for who He is.  I don’t need any other reason to Praise Him than this.  Many people go through life only praising Him when good things happen.  Then in the down times, they wonder why they feel so alone.  Always praise Him for who He is, not for what He’s done.  This will keep you on top!

3 Praise him with the sound of the trumpet: praise him with the psaltery and harp.

4 Praise him with the timbrel and dance: praise him with stringed instruments and organs.

5 Praise him upon the loud cymbals: praise him upon the high sounding cymbals.

Use whatever is at your disposal to give Him praise.  There are thousands of instruments today.  In David’s day, these were the main instruments used at times of worship.  David wants to hear all of them praising the Lord.  For me, I have my voice and my hands.  I am slowly learning to play the piano – very slowly.  I use my voice to praise Him the most.  I am the worship leader at our church, where my wife is the pianist and the pastors wife is the organ player.  They are incredible as both of them play by ear and will adjust the key of the song at the drop of a hat. It is so much fun to sing with their accompaniment.

I remember when I truly learned what worship was all about.  As a young Christian, I was worship leader at our church.  The pastor could not carry a tune at all but He loved to praise the Lord.  Time after time, when I had finished leading and gone to sit down, He would keep singing God’s praises.  He did not care that he was way off tune, or how it sounded.  He just wanted to praise the Lord more.  That spirit of praise was amazing to me, and I have never forgotten it.

6 Let every thing that hath breath praise the Lord. Praise ye the Lord.

This verse needs no explanation.  I know you are breathing.  Just praise Him!