I will bless the Lord at all times; His praise shall continually be in my mouth.
My life makes its boast in the Lord; let the humble and afflicted hear and be glad.
O magnify the Lord with me, and let us exalt His name together.
Psalms 34:1-3
Don’t you just l-o-v-e to praise God and share with others about how AWEsome He is?!!? We have a great privilege, my friends! It is our honor to bless the Lord…to speak well of Him…to praise Him…to boast of Him…to magnify the Lord…to exalt His Holy name together with others. So many, many ways to do this! For example, we can:
- call someone on the phone and say, ‘Praise God! Listen to what He just did in my life!’
- text (not while driving though!) a friend telling them about His grace towards you
- smile at a stranger in the grocery store and say, ‘Look at the abundance of all these wonderful vegetables that God has blessed us with!’
- look across the supper table to our loved ones and remind them of just how very GOOD God has been to your family
- echo a praise that a friend has just posted on their FaceBook page
- dance with a child singing, ‘God is so good…He’s so good to me!’
There is much ‘unity of the Spirit’ in praising His Name together. Magnifying God and speaking well of Him crosses all of the silly denominational boundaries that exist. As the Apostle Paul admonished,
Make every effort to keep the unity of the Spirit through the bond of peace.
There is one body and one Spirit, just as you were called
to one hope when you were called; one Lord, one faith, one baptism;
one God and Father of all, who is over all and through all and in all.
Ephesians 4:3-6
We have oh-so-very-much to be thankful for! We know we should ‘in everything give thanks; for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus’ (1 Thessalonians 5:18). Let’s determine today that we will bless the Lord…speak well of Him…praise Him…boast of Him…magnify the Lord…exalt His Name together with others. Can you only imagine how that will bless Him?!?
Instead, be filled with the Spirit, speaking to one another with psalms, hymns, and songs from the Spirit. Sing and make music from your heart to the Lord, always giving thanks to God the Father for everything, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ.
Ephesians 5:18-20
Let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, to which indeed you were called in one body; and be thankful. Let the word of Christ richly dwell within you, with all wisdom teaching and admonishing one another with psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, *singing with thankfulness in your hearts to God. *
Colossians 3:15 and 16
(*One version translates this as ‘making melody to God with His grace in your hearts!’)
Our lives are filled with the grace and mercy and goodness of our Great God! As the psalmist wrote here in Psalm 34, ‘I will bless the Lord at all times; His praise shall continually be in my mouth.’ May I encourage you…me…us to try to be so very aware of His blessings that our praises are bubbling up out of our grateful hearts through our thankful lips boasting of our wonderful Father! Together may we magnify and glorify the Great I AM! <3
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Dear Lord, may You always receive the praise, the honor, the glory, the gratitude and the thankfulness that You deserve! You are so, so, SO GOOD to us! We praise You and thank You for Your grace and mercy in Jesus’ precious name. Amen.
