DAILY SONGS OF JOY: I CHOOSE TO SING
It is good to praise the LORD, and to sing praises to Your name, O Most High, to proclaim Your loving devotion in the morning and Your faithfulness at night with the ten-stringed harp and the melody of the lyre. For You, O LORD, have made me gladH8055 by Your deeds; I sing for joyH7422 at the works of Your hands. How great are Your works, O LORD, how deep are Your thoughts!
Psalm 92:1-5 (a psalm for the Sabbath day)
God’s loving devotion, faithfulness, and mighty deeds are all reasons to praise His name joyfully with singing and playing of instruments. However, being in an attitude of praise all day long no matter what is happening within or without is easier said than done even just for the Sabbath day. Praise and rejoicing should be a daily practice or lifestyle of the believer rather than something we muster up on the Lord’s Day. By Sunday, we should all be so filled with the Holy Spirit from remembering God’s loving devotion, faithfulness, and mighty works in our lives all week that the church building becomes a “filling station” for those who are going through a rough time. Our joy in the Lord should flow freely so that others can drink it in and be reinvigorated to praise the Lord themselves. Verses 12-15 of Psalm 92 talk of those who follow the Lord being like an evergreen tree, “full of sap” in the Amplified Version. The way to remain full of vigor into old age is to practice what these first five verses of the Psalm tell us is “good.” Every day, we need to proclaim God’s love and faithfulness and remind ourselves not only of His mighty deeds recorded in the Bible but those seen in our own lives on a day-to-day basis.
Try beginning each morning with a prayer of praise for the Father’s love rather than just petitioning Him for what He can do for you. Try ending each day remembering God’s faithfulness and His answers to your prayers, His works in your life. Remember that you yourself are “God’s workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance as our way of life” (Ephesians 2:10). You may want to try keeping a journal of answered prayer or works of God in your life that you can pull out when it is difficult to see His love and faithfulness during a rough time.
Father, we praise You for Your unfailing love for us even when we fall short of Your desires for us. We praise Your faithfulness that never fails even though we fail to recognize it at times. We thank You, Lord, for the many ways You have worked in and through our lives to bring glory to Your name.
Worship opportunity: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5_aIauL2xKA