“Praise the Lord! Praise God in his sanctuary; praise him in his mighty firmament! Praise him for his mighty deeds; praise him according to his surpassing greatness! Praise him with trumpet sound; praise him with lute and harp! Praise him with tambourine and dance; praise him with strings and pipe! Praise him with clanging cymbals; praise him with loud clashing cymbals! Let everything that breathes praise the Lord! Praise the Lord!” Psalm 150

Over and over, the Bible invites us to praise G-d, not because G-d needs our praise — but because this is all we can give to G-d: Prayer, Praise and Thanksgiving. The book of the Bible we call the “Psalms” is a book of praise for G-d and provides us many examples of how to praise G-d. During worship, we often sing praises to G-d in song. But praising G-d is not something that necessarily comes naturally to many. I have found that when I put something in G-d’s hands, I am more readily able to praise G-d for whatever the outcome might be. This is the purpose of Psalm 150 — it reminds us to praise the Lord. Read the psalm aloud or turn to most any one of the psalms to find examples of how and why we should praise G-d.

On this second day of Christmas, let us praise the Lord for all the gifts we have been given.

Dear Lord,

Thank you for the opportunity to praise you. Thank you for showing us reasons why and ways to praise you. Thank you for helping us understand that our works can be a way to praise you too. Guide us each day in how best to give you thanks and praise you in all of our words and all of our deeds. In Jesus’ name. Amen.

Pastor Dave