Perpetual Praise

Psalm 71

My praise is continually of You. . .

My mouth is filled with Your praise

And with Your glory all day long. . .

But as for me, I will hope continually,

And will praise You yet more and more.

My mouth shall tell of Your righteousness

And of Your salvation all day long;

For I do not know the sum of them.

My lips will shout for joy when I sing praises to You;

And my soul, which You have redeemed.

My tongue also will utter Your righteousness all day long . . .

Verses 6, 8, 14-15, 23-24

The Holy Spirit has used this passage (and the book as a whole) to convict me that the same attitude of praise and worship expressed in the corporate setting should also be that which characterizes all private settings. In corporate worship it is easy to focus completely on Christ, His person and work, to be thankful and full of joy and wonder at His glory. When we leave the building and go about the tasks and struggles of our daily lives - cooking, cleaning, changing diapers, tending mess-making and disobedient toddlers, miscommunication with loved ones - it is so easy to forget the glory and splendor of the King of kings and to get frustrated and bogged down. The tasks in themselves are not inherently bad, but shifting our focus onto them is. The effects of the Fall still express themselves in all our relationships, but there is victory in Christ, who overwhelmingly conquers. The challenge is to depend fully upon the grace of God through prayer as I practice conducting myself in a perpetual state of praise and worship, full of joy and gratitude every moment of the day, every day through the week.

And God is able to make all grace abound to you, so that always having all sufficiency in everything, you may have an abundance for every good deed

2 Corinthians 9:8

Be filled with the Spirit. Speak to one another with psalms, hymns and spiritual songs. Sing and make music in your heart to the Lord, always giving thanks to God the Father for everything, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ.

Ephesians 5:18b-20

Rejoice always; pray without ceasing; in everything give thanks; for this is God's will for you in Christ Jesus.

1 Thessalonians 5:16-18