Praise ye the Lord

Well, I wish I had pics to share from a fabulous birthday, but sadly I don't.  With my oldest daughter getting sick the night before, we had to cancel.  Thankfully my little two year old didn't seem to mind.  She was happy as anything just to have a cake all to herself and her first, very own, Barbie (or Bobby as she calls it).  Her big sis was feeling better the next morning, but with the rain and storms, God knew it would be best to postpone.  We are shooting for a Thursday evening gathering...but as we have said before..."if the Good Lord willing!"

Thankfully the little one did not feel bad on her birthday, but she was sick Sunday afternoon.   But in no time she was bouncing back with playing and singing.  I love to hear her sing, "Praise ye the Lord".  Her Hallelujah's are so cute.  So her little voice rang in my ears as I was finishing a study of Psalms over the last few days.   I discovered something that I had never really pondered.  It was the wonderful phrase of "Praise ye the Lord".

Now yes I knew this phrase was found in the Bible, but you see, these four little words appear at the beginning and the end of each of the five last chapters in Psalms.  There are so many songs and hymns and Bible verses that remind us to praise Him, but how often do we really focus on praise?

I had a rough day yesterday...I mean pretty rough.  And to be totally honest, I wasn't feeling much praise in my heart.  As I sat down to pray for strength, I realized I started the first few sentences of my prayer with "Lord I need.....".  I stopped.  I realized how selfish I sounded.  I realized I was not beginning my prayer correctly.  I realized I needed to "Praise ye the Lord."

We can praise in song.  We can praise in prayer.  We can praise out loud, any time and any place.  We can never praise God too much.  My KJV Women't Study Bible asks and answers the following questions...

1)Where should God be praised?  Everywhere... (Ps 150:1)
2)Why should God be praised? ... for His inherent greatness (Ps 150:2)
2)How should God be praised?  With every suitable instrument...(Ps 150:3-5)
4)Who should praise God?  Everything that breathes. (Ps 150:6)

Today's Verse
"That at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of things in heaven, and things in earth and things under the earth; And that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father."
Philippians 2:10-11

There will come a day when every thing will "Praise ye the Lord".  Every single person will bow to Him and will confess His name.  But as Christians today, let's make sure we are praising Him every chance we get.  Yes on the bad days it is difficult.  On the, "But Lord I worked four hours on this cake and cupcakes that nobody will be able to eat" days it can seem impossible to praise.  But it is essential to life as Christian, because if nothing else we have God's love and forgiveness...and that is EVERYTHING to offer praise about!