The morning sun shone in through the blinds, reminding me that the busy day ahead was waiting. I sat down with my bowl of oatmeal and cup of coffee and opened my Bible for a quick word from God to start the day. The first words I saw were these, "Let all that I am praise the Lord."
I didn’t read any farther. I couldn’t. I just sat there, stilled by the weight of the simple words.
I have probably read these words from Psalm 103 a dozen times, but on that particular morning they hit me in a new way. All that I am? Praising God?
I started thinking about what that would look like:
All of me.
It means not just the Sunday morning part of me.
And not just the part of me I put on when others are watching.
No. All of me.
It means the part of me that is exhausted and running low on patience.
Yes, even that part, praising God.
It means the part of me struggling to love a difficult person I simply don’t understand.
That part of me too, praising God.
It means the Monday morning me and the Friday night me.
It is me when I am alone and me when I am surrounded by others.
Every part of me.
In each part of every day.
Praising God.
Wow. How often I fail at this.. How many times am I so self-focused and worried about things that I don't even realize the blessings of every moment God allows me to live? God does not want just our Sunday morning praise. He wants all that we are, all of the time, praising Him.
The next morning as I sat down in the same place at the table, my Bible was still open to Psalm 103. I decided to read on. Here are some of the things I found.
“May I never forget the good things he does for me. He forgives my sins and heals all my diseases. He redeems me from death and crowns me with love and tender mercies. He fills my life with good things. … The Lord is compassionate and merciful, slow to get angry and filled with unfailing love. … He does not deal harshly with us, as we deserve. His unfailing love toward those who fear him is as great as the height of the heavens above the earth. The Lord is like a father to his children, tender and compassionate to those who fear him. … He has made the heavens his throne; from there he rules over everything.” (from Ps. 103)
The next chapter goes on to tell of God’s great power from the beginning of time. How He stretched out the starry curtain of the heavens. How He placed the world on its foundation. How at His command everything came to be.
Chapters 105 and 106 tell about the Israelites and God’s hand through their whole Old Testament story. It tells about how quickly the Israelites forgot all God had done for them and began to grumble and look for their own way without God, even though God had miraculously provided for them every step of the way!
Yet, God forgave and redeemed them because of his unfailing love.
Sometimes I like to think that I am better than the Israelites when it comes to remembering what God has done and praising Him… but am I really? How quickly do I forget the miracles that God has done in my own life or in those around me? How quickly do I start to grumble and complain about life and look for my own answers to fix things? If I’m honest, I’m no better than the Israelites. I am just as guilty of not praising God with all that I am.
God is worthy of all praise. If you are still not sure, go read Psalms 103-106 for yourself! We owe all that we have and all that we are to Him.
I would be a completely broken and lost little girl without God and his saving power at work in my life. How can I not give Him all the glory and praise He deserves?
Psalm 106:2 says “Who can list the glorious miracles of the Lord? Who can ever praise him enough?”
First: "Let all that we are praise the Lord." And now: "Who can ever praise him enough?"
I don’t know about you, but I am starting to wonder… Where do we even start with this?
I think it starts with slowing down and fully opening our eyes to see what God is doing. It starts with an awareness that everything we have comes from God. Out of this awareness should flow the praise.
We should be so busy thanking God that we have no time to complain.
Every breath, praising God.
If we all started to live like this, how different would our lives be? Our homes? Even our work environments? I think we would see a transformation. Our lives being changed from the inside out, and an impact that could not be measured.
**verses taken from the NLT translation
I didn’t read any farther. I couldn’t. I just sat there, stilled by the weight of the simple words.
I have probably read these words from Psalm 103 a dozen times, but on that particular morning they hit me in a new way. All that I am? Praising God?
I started thinking about what that would look like:
All of me.
It means not just the Sunday morning part of me.
And not just the part of me I put on when others are watching.
No. All of me.
It means the part of me that is exhausted and running low on patience.
Yes, even that part, praising God.
It means the part of me struggling to love a difficult person I simply don’t understand.
That part of me too, praising God.
It means the Monday morning me and the Friday night me.
It is me when I am alone and me when I am surrounded by others.
Every part of me.
In each part of every day.
Praising God.
Wow. How often I fail at this.. How many times am I so self-focused and worried about things that I don't even realize the blessings of every moment God allows me to live? God does not want just our Sunday morning praise. He wants all that we are, all of the time, praising Him.
The next morning as I sat down in the same place at the table, my Bible was still open to Psalm 103. I decided to read on. Here are some of the things I found.
“May I never forget the good things he does for me. He forgives my sins and heals all my diseases. He redeems me from death and crowns me with love and tender mercies. He fills my life with good things. … The Lord is compassionate and merciful, slow to get angry and filled with unfailing love. … He does not deal harshly with us, as we deserve. His unfailing love toward those who fear him is as great as the height of the heavens above the earth. The Lord is like a father to his children, tender and compassionate to those who fear him. … He has made the heavens his throne; from there he rules over everything.” (from Ps. 103)
The next chapter goes on to tell of God’s great power from the beginning of time. How He stretched out the starry curtain of the heavens. How He placed the world on its foundation. How at His command everything came to be.
Chapters 105 and 106 tell about the Israelites and God’s hand through their whole Old Testament story. It tells about how quickly the Israelites forgot all God had done for them and began to grumble and look for their own way without God, even though God had miraculously provided for them every step of the way!
Yet, God forgave and redeemed them because of his unfailing love.
Sometimes I like to think that I am better than the Israelites when it comes to remembering what God has done and praising Him… but am I really? How quickly do I forget the miracles that God has done in my own life or in those around me? How quickly do I start to grumble and complain about life and look for my own answers to fix things? If I’m honest, I’m no better than the Israelites. I am just as guilty of not praising God with all that I am.
God is worthy of all praise. If you are still not sure, go read Psalms 103-106 for yourself! We owe all that we have and all that we are to Him.
I would be a completely broken and lost little girl without God and his saving power at work in my life. How can I not give Him all the glory and praise He deserves?
Psalm 106:2 says “Who can list the glorious miracles of the Lord? Who can ever praise him enough?”
First: "Let all that we are praise the Lord." And now: "Who can ever praise him enough?"
I don’t know about you, but I am starting to wonder… Where do we even start with this?
I think it starts with slowing down and fully opening our eyes to see what God is doing. It starts with an awareness that everything we have comes from God. Out of this awareness should flow the praise.
We should be so busy thanking God that we have no time to complain.
Every breath, praising God.
If we all started to live like this, how different would our lives be? Our homes? Even our work environments? I think we would see a transformation. Our lives being changed from the inside out, and an impact that could not be measured.
**verses taken from the NLT translation