I will bless the Lord at all times, His praises shall continually be in my mouth, my soul shall make her boast in the Lord, and the humble shall hear thereof and be made glad. Oh magnify the Lord with me and let us exalt His name together. I typed that by memory! It is Psalm 34:1-3 and I love it. I’m always quoting it because I believe it has helped me to literally stay alive.
Praising God is what kept me from losing my mind in a very difficult and dark period of my life. When I took my mind off of what I was going through and focused on finding things to commend and applaud Jesus for, my mind was kept in perfect peace. The Word says that God inhabits the praise of His people (Israel) in Psalm 22:3 and I found that to be absolute truth. He surrounded and enveloped me with His love. The more I praised Him during that period, the more He made Himself alive in me. I will always praise and thank God for that season. Not because of the pain, but because the pain produced a greater relationship with the lover of my soul.
The words praise and worship are often time intertwined and used interchangeably. However, there are distinct difference between the actions of each word. Whereas worship is blessing and pouring adoration on God for who His is, praise is commending, applauding and congratulating God for what He has done. When we praise God, we are giving Him accolades for the marvelous job He does, for the provisions He gives and the manifestations of promises He meets. Praise is giving God admiration for the tangible and intangible things He does daily in order to provide our daily bread. I look at it like this: When you’re invited to someone’s home for the first time, you compliment them on something that appeals to you in their house. “Oh your landscaping is gorgeous.” or “What a great kitchen!”. It is the same when we come into the presence of the King. “My God how excellent is Your name. You defeated my enemies with your strong right hand.” It is giving Him recognition and honor for what He had done in and for your life.
Enter into His gates with thanksgiving, into His courts with praise, be thankful unto Him and bless His holy name… There are steps that we can take as we approach the Throne of Grace to obtain mercy from God. There is an order of procession into His presence. The first step is thanksgiving, the next praise, then worship. I think sometimes we tend to think of praise as a fast song that comes before a slow song while we are in corporate worship. But praise is not just a song or a dance. It’s not something to be rushed either. Taking your time gives God ample opportunity to come and inhabit your praise. When I think of the goodness of Jesus and all He has done for me, my soul shouts “Hallelujah!”, praise God for saving me. The word hallelujah means to excitedly and joyfully praise (hallelu) Yehovah/Yaweh (Yah). When we praise God it should be with the fruit of our lips and the activity of our limbs in such a way that God Himself knows you really are excited and joyful to applaud and extol His goodness.
This month’s S. O. A. K. Calendar is designed to help you slow down your moments of praise and take inventory of all that God has done for you this year. 2020 has been one of the most difficult times in the recent history of mankind. Yet God’s provision has allowed you to be here long enough to ever read this very words. For that alone, we owe Him our highest praise. Use this calendar as a prompt for praising God with all that you have. I promise you this, if you actually praise God, He WILL come and inhabit your life. I can guarantee it, not because He did it for me, but because He is a keeper of His Word.The benefits of praising God, such as restoring your soul, improving your joy life and redirecting your focus, are tremendous. As you list and pour out your praises, He will fill your cup to overflowing. Praise Him all ye people. Praise the Lord! As you SOAK in the praises of God, let your soul rejoice in knowing that your God is worthy to praised AND He rewards those that diligently seek Him.
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