A beautiful mind - Praiseworthy (Part 9)

Let everything that has breath praise the Lord. Praise the Lord! Psalm 150:6

Psalms is a book filled with praise. God Himself is worthy of praise. In Psalms, we can praise the Lord through singing, shouting, proclaiming, clapping, being silent in His presence, lifting our hands, playing musical instruments etc. All of us can praise the Lord as long as we have breath. 

We praise God because we are awed by God's goodness and love. David lists specific details of God's blessings in Psalm 103, such as forgiveness, redemption, protection, provision, mercy, healing, justice, patience, generosity, graciousness, etc, Paul in Ephesians 1 talks about spiritual blessings, praising the Lord a number of times. 

We should not be stingy in our praise of God and others, if we stand before Jesus, He will not withhold praise and will call us "good and faithful servants" based on grace and truth. Therefore, let our praise be sincere and specific. Especially when we praise others, we praise the person for their godly character and good fruits, so that we can edify the person and encourage their good works. And let us consider one another in order to stir up love and good works. Hebrews 10:24

Let us live a life of praise and let our lives be a melody of praise. When we praise God, we don't only do so during times of blessing and good circumstances. We can even praise God more during times of trials and temptation. Praise is one of the most powerful spiritual weapons available in spiritual warfare. Whenever praise brings us to the truth, it enables us to focus on Jesus, and praise enables us to focus on the spiritual reality that Jesus triumphed over sin and death. 

In dealing with our sufferings well, we can praise God, especially before victory manifests. When we praise God, we declare that we have already won and that God is the victory. By praising God, we are claiming victory and claiming that we are in Christ more than conquerors. 

Let's conclude Phillipians 4:8 with the blessing that we praise God for every blessing, and be mindful of whatever is true honorable, just, pure, lovely, good report, and excellent. Think about it and praise God liberally! 

Blessing prayer: Praise be to you! We pray that our minds and lives are full of praiseworthy thoughts and that we proclaim your goodness and victory in our lives, in Jesus' name, Amen.