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PRAISE THE LORD (PSALM 150)

REFLECTION

Praise the Lord is the theme for our reflection. To praise means to express one’s respect, reverence and gratitude towards God through speech or music. The psalmist orders all living things that has breath to praise God in His sanctuary and in the mighty heavens with instruments, for He is mighty in deeds and excellent in greatness. The psalmist begins with where we should praise God. Secondly, why we should praise God. Thirdly, what we should praise God with and finally who should praise God?

Where should we praise? The answer is “Praise God in His sanctuary; praise him in his mighty heavens!” (Psalm 150:1). A sanctuary is a holy or sacred place or a building used for religious worship. We must first understand that our bodies are the sanctuaries of God. 1 Corinthians 6:19-20 reminds us that “Or do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit within you, whom you have from God? You are not your own, for you were bought with a price. So glorify God in your body.” It therefore means that God is omnipresent and lives in the bodies of His children therefore we must use our bodies to glorify and praise Him. Secondly, whenever two or more believers meet at a place of worship, the place becomes a sanctuary, that is why Hebrews 10:25 admonishes us “not to neglect meeting together, as is the habit of some, but encouraging one another, and all the more as you see the Day drawing near.” Since God is omnipresent, Heaven is not left out as a place where God is praised. Revelation 7:11-12 tells us that “And all the angels were standing around the throne and around the elders and the four living creatures; and they fell on their faces before the throne and worshiped God, saying, “Amen, blessing and glory and wisdom and thanksgiving and Honor and power and might, be to our God forever and ever. Amen.” More than the slogan of the MTN network, “everywhere you go”, God can be praise everywhere we go. Most Christians only Praise God when they come to church but today, we learn that wherever you are God is praiseworthy.

Why should we praise God? The psalmist gives us the answer in Psalm 150:2 when he said “Praise him for his mighty deeds; praise him according to his excellent greatness!” The fact that you are reading this reflection mean you can testify to God’s mighty deeds and excellent greatness because you are not an accident victim neither are you in the mortuary about to be processed for burial. Always count your blessings and endlessly give praise to God!

What should we praise God with? God has given humanity talents and instruments; we must use our musical talents and instruments to praise God. “Praise him with trumpet sound; praise him with lute and harp! Praise him with tambourine and dance; praise him with strings and pipe! Praise him with sounding cymbals; praise him with loud clashing cymbals!” (Psalms 150:3-5). Praising God is not complete without music, this why we must invest in instrument and musicians to enhance the worth and quality of our sacrifice of praise. We need to be reminded that in the absence of instruments God has provided us with biological instruments so that we may not have any excuse, our mouth is for singing, our hands are for clapping and our entire body is for dancing. That is why it saddens my heart that energetic people go to church, and they sit or stand idle when songs of praise are being sang. Even a physically challenged person has no excuse, he or she can always praise God with what is available.

Finally, who must praise God? “Let everything that has breath praise the LORD! Praise the LORD!” (Psalms 150:6). Psalm 148:9-13 gives us a clearer picture of who must praise God, the psalmist says “Mountains and all hills, fruit trees and all cedars! Beasts and all livestock, creeping things and flying birds! Kings of the earth and all peoples, princes and all rulers of the earth! Young men and maidens together, old men and children! Let them praise the name of the LORD, for his name alone is exalted; his majesty is above earth and heaven.” Indeed, we have no excuse at all, you cannot be beneficiary of God’s grace and refuse to praise Him with everything that is within you. Let us learn to live a life of praise in order to please God. If we refuse to praise the Lord, non-living things will be made to replace, In Luke 19, we are told, “As Jesus was drawing near—already on the way down the Mount of Olives—the whole multitude of his disciples began to rejoice and praise God with a loud voice for all the mighty works that they had seen, ³⁸ saying, “Blessed is the King who comes in the name of the Lord! Peace in heaven and glory in the highest!” ³⁹ And some of the Pharisees in the crowd said to him, “Teacher, rebuke your disciples.” ⁴⁰ He answered, “I tell you, if these were silent, the very stones would cry out.” (Luke 19:37-40)

In summary, we have leant that God is praise worthy, also found answers to the questions, where we should praise God? Why we should praise God? What we should praise God with? and finally who should praise God? Shalom.

PRAYER

LORD, FORGIVE US FOR NOT PRAISING YOU ENOUGH, MAY YOUR SPIRIT STRENGTHEN US TO LIVE A LIFE OF PRAISE. AMEN