It often strikes me about how little I praise God in my normal routine of life. For a God Who does so much for me every day, I fail to stop and thank Him. I am embarrassed as I think about my generally ungrateful attitude. I have seen God bless us in so many ways, the most exciting one being that I was once on my way to Hell, and now, because of His grace, I am on my way to Heaven! Not only do I have eternal security, but I also have the privilege to live with the influence of the Holy Spirit in my life every moment of the day!
Today I read, “Behold, bless ye the LORD, all ye servants of the LORD, which by night stand in the house of the LORD. Lift up your hands in the sanctuary, and bless the LORD. The LORD that made heaven and earth bless thee out of Zion” (Psalm 134:1-3). This short chapter is packed with encouragement to us to praise and bless the Lord. I must admit, I wish I was more demonstrative in my praise. I tend to be more introverted when it comes to showing my praise to God. There have been times that I wanted to lift my hand in praise to God, but something in me fights it.
This past Sunday, I was preaching in a state prison here in Pennsylvania. As these men sang praises to God, they had no problem with raising a hand in praise to God. I felt envious in some ways. The thought came to my mind then, and strikes me now … for those who have been forgiven of much, it is far easier to praise. With that thought in mind, I realize that all of us have been forgiven of much. If God were to weigh our sins as He sees them, we would all be in trouble. We tend to look at our sins through the eyes of our own reason. If we looked at them through God’s perfect perspective, we would be totally embarrassed.
I realize that God has blessed me far beyond what I could ever imagine. I want to make sure that I don’t miss the chance to give God glory through my life. As the verse said, I want to praise God in the night, in the church house, and wherever I might go. When I see a spectacular sunset, or a beautiful flower, or a child praying to trust Christ, or a person recovering from an illness, I want to praise Him. I want to praise Him for waking me up in the morning, and helping me to sleep at night. I want to be a person whose life is marked with genuine praise to a well-deserving God! We complain quickly, and praise sparingly. Let’s turn that around today! Join me in looking for ways to glorify God, and to praise Him for His blessings on our lives today. Who knows, it could be your praise that will be used by God to draw someone else to Him today!