Psalm 150

1 Praise ye the Lord. Praise God in his sanctuary: praise him in the firmament of his power.

2 Praise him for his mighty acts: praise him according to his excellent greatness.

3 Praise him with the sound of the trumpet: praise him with the psaltery and harp.

4 Praise him with the timbrel and dance: praise him with stringed instruments and organs.

5 Praise him upon the loud cymbals: praise him upon the high-sounding cymbals.

6 Let everything that hath breath praise the Lord. Praise ye the Lord. (KJV)

Reading this psalm, I hope you will stop and realized that everything in your world is not “All about me”. However, as you look at this psalm you will see that we are to praise the Lord. As you look at these verses you will get the picture of a modern church service:

• Praise him with the sounding of the trumpet
• praise him with the harp and lyre
• praise him with tambourine and dancing
• praise him with the strings and flute
• praise him with the clash of cymbals
• praise him with resounding cymbals
• Let everything that has breath praise the LORD

Why Praise God?

For his acts of power.  For his surpassing greatness.  What is this surpassing greatness? Paul answers this in Ephesians 1:3-14.  “Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who hath blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in Christ: even as he chose us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blemish before him in love: having foreordained us unto adoption as sons through Jesus Christ unto himself, according to the good pleasure of his will, to the praise of the glory of his grace, which he freely bestowed on us in the Beloved: in whom we have our redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses, according to the riches of his grace, which he made to abound toward us in all wisdom and prudence, making known unto us the mystery of his will, according to his good pleasure which he purposed in him unto a dispensation of the fullness of the times, to sum up all things in Christ, the things in the heavens, and the things upon the earth; in him, I say, in whom also we were made a heritage, having been foreordained according to the purpose of him who worked all things after the counsel of his will; to the end that we should be unto the praise of his glory, we who had before hoped in Christ: in whom ye also, having heard the word of the truth, the gospel of your salvation,– in whom, having also believed, ye were sealed with the Holy Spirit of promise, which is an earnest of our inheritance, unto the redemption of God’s own possession, unto the praise of his glory.”

As I finish another reading of the Psalms and Proverbs today, I realize that this month is almost over another month is almost upon me. A few years ago, I seasoned my daily readings with the daily devotional by Charles Swindoll title Wisdom for the Way. I found this devotional at the Goodwill store where I buy some of my books. On the inside cover I discovered these words “For Lindsey From the Craig’s May 2001”. The subtitle of this devotional is Wise Words for Busy People. How this book came from the Craig’s to Lindsey and then to me is a mystery, but as I look to the surpassing greatness of God, I realize how God can use a book to influence a person.

On page 62 of this devotional Charles Swindoll starts off the reading by writing “The only way we can come to terms with reality-is by trusting God, regardless.” As I continue to read this devotional, I noticed there were only two paragraphs. The first paragraph that centered on the words I and me. It is a matter of if I am trusting him, or if I do or don’t allow God in my world as I face each and every issue in my daily routine. The second paragraph centers on the word we. We can’t wait for conditions to be perfect, instead we must go on trusting. This gift of the Craig’s to give Lindsey was probably given as a treasure to help her along the way is an example of their trusting God to work in her life. Sometimes it might appear that we have fail, however because of the surpassing greatness of God their gift might produce fruit elsewhere. As this simple devotional starts with an individual, the end result because of the surpassing greatness of God will be a group result.

Verse six “Let everything that has breath praise the LORD.” forces the reader to one conclusion and that is we are to praise the Lord. The journey that begins with the first breathe that a child takes at birth to the last breath we take before we pass from this life to eternity must include the process of praising the Lord.

The posting of this last Psalm happens to fall today on Thanksgiving.  For the last one hundred and fifty days I have posted a daily psalm on my website for my children and grandchildren to know how to truly walk with the Lord.  I am so thankful for having such a wonderful Savior in my life.  As I look back on the seventy plus years I have been on this earth and have seen the many blessings I have received I realize that I have been truly blessed. 

I have also realized that there were periods in my life when I chose to live my live my way and the Lord will let me to a point.  However, for those who know Jesus as their Lord and Savior and have kept his Word and not denied His name, he will keep from falling.  This is illustrated by David being dismissed from the Philistine’s army to fight against Saul and his own nation (I Samuel 29:4).  As I look back at times in my life as well as the life of other Christians I know or have known; it was not our seeking after God that brought God in our lives, but it was the way that we responded to the seeking God as we opened the door to our heart and let him enter our inmost place to dwell. As I look to one of the psalms that all believers must hide in their heart it is Psalm fifty-one.  This psalm makes us realize that once we open the door that the Lord has provided for repentance and return to the relationship that Lord Desire of us; then the true transformation of bringing our life into this harmony with His desires will take place and we can experience the peace that passes understanding in our life