PERSISTENT PRAISE
PSALM 34 :1
The King James Version of the Bible renders the verse thus;
I will bless the LORD at all times: His praise shall continually be in my mouth.”
It seems very presumptuous for the son of Jesse to declare in this Psalm that he will bless God, moreover at all times. Last I checked it is God who did all the blessing. That is His forte. But the second line of the Psalm let’s us know what David means. He means to praise the Lord at all times. To kneel and adore God, to bless Him with his praises at all times. The second line also adds that His praise shall be in his mouth continually.
David declares that God is worthy of praise at all times and that He should ever receive praise from the mouths of saints and sinners. But if we are honest with ourselves there are instances in life when we do not feel like God is deserving of praise. Granted He is powerful and mighty but there are times we feel He is unfair. When we become modern Jobs and are assailed by all manner of calamities without any conceivable reasons except that God has allowed them to visit with us,most of us, if not all of us are inclined to gravitate more to being like Job’s wife. The last thing on our minds is to sing or give praises to God while in great pain. We would rather curse God and some even resort to desiring death when things get really thick.
So is it possible to praise God at all times? Even in the midst of a terrible divorce? In the middle of all our questions of why did God allow this to happen to me? Where was God when I was attacked and raped? Where was God when my parents were murdered? Etc etc and the narratives can go on and on and get more gory.
The Bible answers yes. We can and should give God praise even in the midst of our pain. With tears in our eyes and amidst great heartache we can still give praise to God.
Of Job,Moses writes Job 1:20–22
Then Job arose, and rent his mantle, and shaved his head, and fell down upon the ground, and worshipped,
21 And said, Naked came I out of my mother’s womb, and naked shall I return thither: the LORD gave, and the LORD hath taken away; blessed be the name of the LORD.
22 In all this Job sinned not, nor charged God foolishly.”
We having the privilege of reading Job’s experience in retrospect know that it wasn’t God who had taken but the devil. Nevertheless, Job responded to his calamity the same way he had responded to his prosperity. He praised God. He blessed His holy name. Job and David understood that in prosperity or calamity God remains the same and as such He is ever worthy of our prayers and as such we should always praise God. In joy or in sorrow God is love. He is still the same God who was with you when things were going well and He remains the same even when things fall apart.
The last book of the the Bible tells us that a day is coming when ;
God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes; and there shall be no more death, neither sorrow, nor crying, neither shall there be any more pain: for the former things are passed away.
Revelation 21:4
Another Christian author writes about heaven and says ;
“There Jesus will lead us beside the living stream flowing from the throne of God, and will explain to us the dark providences through which He led us in order to perfect our characters.
The Review and Herald, September 3, 1903
Yes we can! We can praise God while in the storm. Yes while the billows roll we can raise our voices to God and praise Him. He Has promised that a day is coming in which He shall wipe away all the tears from your eyes. So while we cry, let us praise. Weeping may endure for the night, but joy comes in the morning. As the Hymn says ; We will understand it better by and by.
God bless you.
Keep praising.
God is good.
