Praise the Lord! Praise the Lord, O my soul! I will praise the Lord while I live; I will sing praises to my God while I have my being.  Psalm 146:1-2

I will sing to the Lord as long as I live; I will sing praise to my God while I have my being.  Psalm 104:33

Waking up on a bright and warm sunny day, I’m reminded of Psalm 19 and feel that the heavens are calling me join them in praise of our God.  However, sadly, that is regularly not the case.  Despite having a natural tendency to being a “morning person”, mornings are now more about functional assessment and convincing myself to keep moving until my energy kicks in.  Once I get going, the stresses and busyness of the day often push thoughts of praise out of my mind.  It’s not that I don’t want to praise, it just seems harder at times.  Yet David says in Psalm 34 “I will bless the Lord at all times; His praise shall continually be in my mouth.”  In Psalm 92 he reminds us that it’s appropriate morning and evening.  In other words, Praising God is something we should be doing all of the time no matter how we feel or what we’re facing.  Paul and Silas saw the need in prison.  Christ was praising God the night that He was betrayed.  The point is that our circumstances, feelings or predispositions should not be allowed to prevent our praise, but rather as long as we have breath, we should praise God.  In fact Psalm 103 urges us to do it with our entire being: mind, body and soul.

As a group, I would guess that most Christians do the majority of their praising in a worship service.  However, if we’re called to do it “at all times”, this practice leaves us deficient especially considering that we can employ thought, word, metrical, spoken, written, and signed methods.  But no matter what form we use, I would suggest that our praise falls into two categories: praise of gratitude and praise of faith.  Admittedly praising God in a state of gratitude comes naturally and is generally more enthusiastic.  In addition to the truth of scripture, we feel blessed…life is good and we are well.  Our praise comes from the overflow of our hearts which are grateful to God for all of the wonderful things that He has done.  Praise of gratitude and thankfulness is an important part of the Christian life.  However, just as important is our praise of faith.  That’s the praise offered when we receive a difficult diagnosis, when we lose a job, when our relationships are strained, when someone we love dies or when we’re facing any other trial.  It is our praise of faith that declares that no matter how bad things get, we are relying on the truth of God and that our hope (Ps 42) is fixed on Him and Him alone.  It is a determined praise of conviction and trust.  Both praise of gratitude and praise of determination are vital to a healthy relationship with God.

We don’t need to be convinced to praise God in gratitude, but on those blah or darker days, we may need to remind ourselves exactly why we should engage in praise.  So here’s a short list of reasons to help you and a few psalms that speak to each one.

• In awe of God for who He is and what He has done (Psalms 19, 89, 98, 148)
• God’s lovingkindness, faithfulness, truth and justice (Psalms 31, 57, 100, 101, 117)
• Gratitude or thankfulness which should lead to praise (Psalms 7, 18, 40, 106)
• It is becoming, good, lovely and pleasant (Psalms 92, 135, 147)
• To teach our children, grandchildren, friends…the generations to come (Psalms 78, 89)
• Salvation (Psalms 9, 70, 118) Also, 1 Peter 1:3 “Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who according to His great mercy has caused us to be born again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead.”

If you find it difficult to originate praise, start reading/praying some of these Psalms as an act of worship.  You may find, like I did, that you will be drawn into praise and your spirit will be lifted.  Whether alone or with others, out of gratitude or despair, praise God with your whole being that He might be glorified and your hope might be reinforced.  Let me leave you with the following passages.  The first is one of my favorite calls to praise and the second is a prayer that God would gather us together to bless His name.

Praise the Lord!  Praise God in His sanctuary; Praise Him in His mighty expanse.  Praise Him for His mighty deeds; Praise Him according to His excellent greatness.  Praise Him with trumpet sound; Praise Him with harp and lyre.  Praise Him with timbrel and dancing; Praise Him with stringed instruments and pipe.  Praise Him with loud cymbals; Praise Him with resounding cymbals.  Let everything that has breath praise the Lord.  Praise the Lord!  (Psalm 150)

Save us, O Lord our God, and gather us from among the nations, to give thanks to Your holy name and glory in Your praise.  Blessed be the Lord, the God of Israel, from everlasting even to everlasting.  And let all the people say, “Amen.”  Praise the Lord!  (Psalm 106:47-48)