I woke too early. My body was still tired, but my internal clock was still on Central Time even though I was in Hawaii. We had arrived the night before, tired from travel, and flopped into bed.
But now I was wide awake. I made my way to the windows and pushed open the curtains. I gasped at the beauty of the sun just peeking out of the gray Pacific. The sky was a spectacular painting of pink, purple, and mauve.
My heart swelled in praise and I couldn’t help singing “10,000 Reasons.” The sun was coming up. A new day was dawning. It was time to praise the Creator.
Sometimes it’s easy to praise God. The beauty of creation inspires thanksgiving. God sends overflowing blessings into our lives and we are grateful. We recognize His power in our lives and we are in awe.
But sometimes praise doesn’t come easy. Life is difficult. Problems sprout like weeds. Instead of having “10,000 Reasons” to praise, we struggle to come up with one.
That’s when we need to remember to praise God for who He is and not simply for what He gives us.
Psalm 95 gives three reasons to praise God:
Because He is the God above all gods. We praise Him for His Kingship. We praise Him for His ruling power.
For the Lord is a great God, and a great King above all gods. (Psalm 95:3)
Because everything on earth was made by Him and belongs to Him. We praise Him for His omnipotence and creative power.
In his hand are the depths of the earth; the heights of the mountains are his also. The sea is his, for he made it, and his hands formed the dry land. (Psalm 95:4-5)
Because He cares for us. We praise His love, His compassion, His provision, and His protection toward us.
Oh come, let us worship and bow down; let us kneel before the Lord, our Maker! For he is our God, and we are the people of his pasture, and the sheep of his hand. (Psalm 95:6-7)
God deserves praise. And that should be enough reason to shower Him with honor and adoration.
But praise also brings a side benefit to those who are doing the praising.
In the middle of verse 7 the psalmist takes an abrupt turn from praising God to remind his readers not to harden their hearts.
Today, if you hear his voice, do not harden your hearts, as at Meribah, as on the day at Massah in the wilderness, (Psalm 95:7b-8)
We all need this reminder. At times we all stubbornly insist on our own way and steel our hearts against God’s gentle nudges. Or we get so busy and preoccupied with life’s little hassles that we don’t even hear His voice.
Matthew Henry wrote in his commentary on this psalm, “Hardness of heart is at the bottom of all our distrusts of God and quarrels with Him.”
But maybe in looking at this psalm we can see that praise can be preventative medicine to a hard heart.
We praise God for His sake, but a wonderful side-effect happens when we do. When we extol God’s mercy and power, God rewires our souls–reminding our stubborn selfish hearts just how wonderful He is.
When we extol God's mercy and power, He rewires our souls--reminding our selfish hearts how wonderful He is. Click To TweetPraise keeps our hearts soft toward God as we praise Him for His goodness.
Next step: Write out your own psalm of praise. Praise God for His Kingship, for His creative power, and for His compassionate care.
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