May 7, 2024
Let the peoples praise You, O God; Let all the peoples praise You. Then the earth shall yield her increase; God, our own God, shall bless us. God shall bless us,
And all the ends of the earth shall fear Him.
- Psalm 67: 5-7
To give praise to God is to express your respect and gratitude; to hold Him in very high regard; to think or speak very highly of Him. Praise is tied to thanksgiving because we cannot praise God without mentioning the various ways that He has shown mercy to us. It can also be seen as a way of recounting all He has done for others. Praise and thanksgiving are our scope of work as spiritual beings. It is not enough to pray every day; we must declare His praise and exalt His holy name.
The essence of salvation is the proclamation of the praises of God - the One who called us out of darkness. In Isiah 43 vs 21, we see that God formed us for Himself to render praises to Him alone. Many times, we are so concerned with the instructions to man in Genesis to be fruitful, to multiply and have dominion on earth that we neglect the rest of our duties to God. We give time to our careers, families, finances, health but time with God is treated as optional. We pick and choose when to serve God, attempting to take advantage of His grace and mercy. We tend to seek God’s face only when we are confronted with dire situations.
To be diligent in the place of praise is to recognize the impact of God in our lives and recount his mercies.
We are God’s special people, a chosen generation, a royal priesthood and with the job description of acknowledging who He is and what He alone can do. We do this by constantly being in the place and posture of praise and thanksgiving; after all, He is the One who called us out of darkness into His marvelous light. God should never come second in your life. At no point has He ever placed us in second place. He has been consistent in caring for us regardless of our sinful nature and shortcomings as human beings.
One of the advantages of rendering praises and thanksgiving to God is to activate blessings - when we lift our voices to praise God and thank Him, a reaction begins to take place in the spiritual realm. Our praises act as a fertilizer for the ground we stand on because the earth begins to yield in our favor when we recognize that our lives in all entirety exist to praise Him. Remember that the families that do not worship God will have no rain - Zachariah 14:17. No rain means no growth, no evidence that you have put in the work - it signals famine, exposure and dryness.
To be diligent in the place of praise is to recognize the impact of God in our lives and recount his mercies. May we never grow weary in the place of praise, worship and thanksgiving, Amen.
Song of Worship
Glory be to God in the highest– 2x.
For His mercies endureth forever, Amen 2x
Prayer - Dear Lord, thank you for your mercies, grace and kindness. Thank you for counting me worthy to be chosen as part of your special people. In times when things are great and not so great, may my voice be louder and my hands higher to proclaim the sovereignty of your reign in Jesus’ name, Amen.
Bible in 1 year: 2 Kings 4-6; Luke 24
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