Praise Him!
OPENING PRAYER:
Mighty and strong Lord, lead me to your strength that never fails, and your Word that ever speaks.
1 Praise the Lord.[a]
How good it is to sing praises to our God,
how pleasant and fitting to praise him!
2 The Lord builds up Jerusalem;
he gathers the exiles of Israel.
3 He heals the brokenhearted
and binds up their wounds.
4 He determines the number of the stars
and calls them each by name.
5 Great is our Lord and mighty in power;
his understanding has no limit.
6 The Lord sustains the humble
but casts the wicked to the ground.
7 Sing to the Lord with grateful praise;
make music to our God on the harp.
8 He covers the sky with clouds;
he supplies the earth with rain
and makes grass grow on the hills.
9 He provides food for the cattle
and for the young ravens when they call.
10 His pleasure is not in the strength of the horse,
nor his delight in the legs of the warrior;
11 the Lord delights in those who fear him,
who put their hope in his unfailing love.
12 Extol the Lord, Jerusalem;
praise your God, Zion.
13 He strengthens the bars of your gates
and blesses your people within you.
14 He grants peace to your borders
and satisfies you with the finest of wheat.
15 He sends his command to the earth;
his word runs swiftly.
16 He spreads the snow like wool
and scatters the frost like ashes.
17 He hurls down his hail like pebbles.
Who can withstand his icy blast?
18 He sends his word and melts them;
he stirs up his breezes, and the waters flow.
19 He has revealed his word to Jacob,
his laws and decrees to Israel.
20 He has done this for no other nation;
they do not know his laws.[b]
Praise the Lord.
Footnotes
[a] Psalm 147:1 Hebrew Hallelu Yah; also in verse 20
[b] Psalm 147:20 Masoretic Text; Dead Sea Scrolls and Septuagint nation; / he has not made his laws known to them
REFLECT:
‘... there is no one like the Lord our God’ (Exodus 8:10). Praise him!
How’s your praise life? Like me, do you find it’s a little up and down based on mood, circumstance, pressure, and priority? Depending on what you include, I counted around 33 reasons and instructions in this psalm to praise the Lord. Do we dare take the praise challenge? Stop what you’re doing and see if you can come up with – and speak out to God – 33 reasons to praise him.
The psalmist’s approach is to zero in on what God has done for his people (vs 2,3,6,13,14,19,20), his greatness (v 5), how he acts toward creation (vs 10,11). You get the feeling that not every one of these elements just spontaneously sprang into the psalmist’s mind, but were the product of many meditative moments – being still, considering God, praying, waiting – as well as boisterous expressions of exuberant praise. Another key to praise in this psalm is to fear God (v 11): to honor, revere and worship him.
It’s quite difficult to praise silently. Not impossible, but difficult. What habit or practice could you adopt to develop your praise of God? Perhaps one might be to grow in your ability and vocabulary of praising God out loud. Why not practice this by yourself when praying – just you and God – as well as with other Christians in meetings?
APPLY:
Finally, let this truth encourage you in your praise of God: he takes pleasure in you as you hope in his steadfast love (v 11).
CLOSING PRAYER:
Almighty God, I want to bring you delight, in my worship and obedience to you. Bless the Lord O my soul!
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