Advent - Day 26

Praise the Lord, my soul;
    all my inmost being, praise his holy name.

Praise the Lord, my soul,
    and forget not all his benefits—
who forgives all your sins
    and heals all your diseases,
who redeems your life from the pit
    and crowns you with love and compassion, 
who satisfies your desires with good things
    so that your youth is renewed like the eagle’s.

Psalm 103:1-5

We have an interesting relationship with praise. It’s become commonplace to praise people (particularly children) for behaviour that in previous generations would be regarded as average or even sub-par.

At the same time, we (particularly Australians) prefer not to give praise. Even when it’s really deserved. That would be to elevate someone else which is not in keeping with our tall poppy syndrome.

No surprise then that when it comes to the praise of God that “our soul” has some difficulty in mustering the appropriate level of enthusiasm. Do you experience this? Maybe it’s when we join together in song? Or maybe in your prayer life? Praising God feels a bit empty?

Which is why we need to dig deep into Psalm 103, as we will over the coming week. The Psalmist is stirring up his soul to the proper worship of God and hopefully in due course, ours too.

For Today:

• Do you struggle to praise God like you think/know you should?
• What stirs you up and causes you to give God praise?
• Pray today that God would help you feel and act like you should.

 
Pray:

• Praise the Father that He is worthy of all praise for who He is and all His mighty deeds. 
• Give thanks for Christ who has done mighty things for us.
• Ask God for His Holy Spirit to help you and others give Him the wholehearted praise He deserves.