PRAISE THE LORD, O MY SOUL.

 ANCHOR OF LIFE DAILY DEVOTIONAL GUIDE For WEDNESDAY, 31ST MAY, 2023.

TOPIC: PRAISE THE LORD, O MY SOUL.

MEMORIZE: “Praise ye the LORD. Praise the LORD, O my soul. While I live will I praise the LORD: I will sing praises unto my God while I have any being.” 146:1-2.

SCRIPTURE READING: Psalm 147:1-9.

“1 Praise ye the LORD: for it is good to sing praises unto our God; for it is pleasant; and praise is comely. 2 The LORD doth build up Jerusalem: he gathereth together the outcasts of Israel. 3 He healeth the broken in heart, and bindeth up their wounds.  4 He telleth the number of the stars; he calleth them all by their names. 5 Great is our Lord, and of great power: his understanding is infinite.  6 The LORD lifteth up the meek: he casteth the wicked down to the ground. 7 Sing unto the LORD with thanksgiving; sing praise upon the harp unto our God: 8 Who covereth the heaven with clouds, who prepareth rain for the earth, who maketh grass to grow upon the mountains. 9 He giveth to the beast his food, and to the young ravens which cry.”

EXPOSITION:

Praise the Lord, o my soul, O my soul, 

And worship His Holy Name

Sing like never before, o my soul, 

And worship His Holy Name.

Psalm 146 is another psalm of praise. Some think it was penned after the return of the Jews from their captivity; but it is so much of a piece with Psalm 145 that I rather think it was penned by David, and what is said Psalm 147:2,13 may well enough be applied to the first building and fortifying of Jerusalem in his time, and the gathering in of those that had been out-casts in Saul's time. The Septuagint divides it into two; and we may divide it into the first and second part, but both of the same import.

The duty of praise is recommended to us. It is not without reason that we are thus called to it again and again: Praise the Lord (Ps 147:1), and again (Ps 147:7), Sing unto the Lord with thanksgiving, sing praise upon the harp to our God. Let all our praises be directed to him and centre in him, for it is good to do so; it is our duty, and therefore good in itself; it is our interest, and therefore good for us. It is acceptable to our Creator and it answers the end of our creation. The law for it (praise) is holy, just, and good; the practice of it will turn to a good account. Praise is good, for the following reasons…

1. IT IS PLEASANT. Holy joy or delight are required as the principle of it, and that is pleasant to us as men; giving glory to God is the design and business of it, and that is pleasant to us as saints that are devoted to his honour. Praising God is work that is its own wages; it is heaven upon earth; it is what we should be in as in our element. 

2. IT IS COMELY; it is that which becomes us as reasonable creatures, much more as people in covenant with God. In giving honour to God we really do ourselves a great deal of honour. 

GOD MUST BE THE OBJECT OF OUR PRAISES

God is recommended to us as the proper object of our most exalted and enlarged praises, upon several accounts. 

1. THE CARE HE TAKES OF HIS CHOSEN PEOPLE, “” Ps 147:2. 

2. THE COMFORTS HE HAS LAID UP FOR TRUE PENITENTS, Ps 147:3. Those who have had experience of this need not be called upon to praise the Lord; for when he brought them out of the horrible pit, and set their feet upon a rock, he put a new song into their mouths, Ps 40:2-3.  And for this let others praise him also. 

3. THE SOVEREIGN DOMINION HE HAS OVER THE LIGHTS OF HEAVEN, Ps 147:4,5.  The stars are innumerable, many of them being scarcely discernible with the naked eye, and yet he counts them, and knows the exact number of them, for they are all the work of his hands and the instruments of his providence. Their bulk and power are very great; but he calleth them all by their names, which shows his dominion over them.

4. THE PLEASURE HE TAKES IN HUMBLING THE PROUD AND EXALTING THOSE OF LOW DEGREE (Ps 147:6): The Lord lifts up the meek, who abase themselves before him, and whom men trample on; but the wicked, who conduct themselves insolently towards God and scornfully towards all mankind, who lift up themselves in pride and folly, he casteth down to the ground. God proves himself to be God by looking on the proud and abasing them, Job 40:12. 

5. THE PROVISION HE MAKES FOR THE INFERIOR CREATURES. Though he is so great as to command the stars, he is so good as not to forget even the fowls, Ps 147:8,9.

As this month of May comes to an end today, join the hosts of saints to praise God for the gift of life and all His goodness toward you. Sing to the Lord a joyful song, and He will settle your case and it will end in praise.

PRAYER POINT: Lord, I praise you with my whole being. Thank you, Jesus Christ. 

DAILY BIBLE READING IN A YEAR –  Psalms 16-18.