Giving God The Praise And Thanks He Deserves Every Day..continuously

Scripture: PS. 34:1 “I will extol the Lord at all times; His praise will always be on my lips.”

There’s a book in my office, still not fully read, titled “When People Are Big and God is Small.” (I will get to finish it!) That’s quite opposite of the way it is meant to be. If things in life are functioning right, it should be titled, “When God Is BIG And People Are Small.” That more properly states the relationship between the Creator and the created, doesn’t it?  Which brings me to this Thanksgiving devotional thought. While praise is an act of devotion and adoration offered God by His creatures for His being and characteristics, Thanksgiving is an expression of  indebtedness to God for His mercies. Praise is magnifying the person of God; thanksgiving is gratitude for His gifts. In scripture, the two ideas overlap. One of the main root words in Hebrew, yadah, is translated almost as many times “thank” as “praise.”

Praise springs from every part of the Bible. Note the verse above. Praise is NOT mere duty; it is the joyful response of a heart enjoying communion with the one, true, living God. It is commanded, not only because it is the right of deity to receive it, but because the praise opens the soul to receive more of that life.

How are we to praise? The Psalmist calls us to come into His house with thanksgiving. (Ps. 100:4), to praise Him in song, and on musical instruments. Our prayer(petitions) should be accompanied by thanksgiving (Phil. 4:6). We should also praise the Lord with our testimony. (Ps. 145) Jesus made the animal sacrifices unnecessary, but we are to offer God continually “a sacrifice of praise – the fruit of lips that confess His name. (Heb. 13:15) Such a sacrifice glorifies God. (See Ps. 50:23)

The apostle Paul  indicates that praise is a normal part of our lifestyle….a way of life. Even with bleeding backs and frustrated plans, Paul and Silas in the Philippian jail proved it was possible to “give thanks whatever happens,” (1 Thess. 5:18) So praise is not an indicator of our feelings nor a response to our circumstances. It is a commitment of our will. Habakkuk willed to rejoice. He said: “ 17 Though the fig tree does not bud and there are no grapes on the vines, though the olive crop fails and the fields produce no food, though there are no sheep in the pen and no cattle in the stalls, 18    yet I will rejoice in the LORD, I will be joyful in God my Savior.
19    The Sovereign LORD is my strength; he makes my feet like the feet of a deer,
he enables me to go on the heights. (Hab. 3:17-19) In the same way, God’s people declare His praises. For they were called out of darkness and have been made holy. (1 Peter 2:9)

Vocal praise, to be acceptable to God must be supported by a life of righteousness. Augustine said it this way: “You are His praise, if you live righteously.” No one expressed the importance of praise more clearly than John Wesley. Praying without ceasing, he said, is the fruit of always rejoicing in the Lord. Giving thanks “in everything” is the fruit of both rejoicing and the praying. Let’s not be satisfied to be thankful on merely a day of our year, like Thanksgiving Day. We surely have plenty to be thankful for on that Day here in America. But let’s rather seek to have a praiseful and thankful attitude that carries us day in and day out for God’s unceasing mercies, and unchanging presence as we walk with Him each day! “God, may my praise bless YOU continuously through my life as You keep making me more like You. Amen.”