“Praise the Lord! (Hallelujah!) I will give thanks to the Lord with all my heart, In the company of the upright and in the congregation.
Splendid and majestic is His work, And His righteousness endures forever. He has made His wonderful acts to be remembered; The Lord is gracious and merciful and full of loving compassion. He has given food to those who fear Him [with awe-inspired reverence]; He will remember His covenant forever.
The works of His hands are truth and [absolute] justice; All His precepts are sure (established, reliable, trustworthy). They are upheld forever and ever; They are done in [absolute] truth and uprightness.
The [reverent] fear of the Lord is the beginning (the prerequisite, the absolute essential, the alphabet) of wisdom; A good understanding and a teachable heart are possessed by all those who do the will of the Lord; His praise endures forever.”
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This Psalm starts out with an “I will” statement I find fascinating … the Psalmist wills himself to give thanks. Some friends and I were discussing praises before our Bible study last night, all of the things we can praise God for, and in just 10 minutes or so we listed 5-6 significant things. And then we experienced throughout the rest of the study such a move of God’s Spirit that I know this was, in part, because we faithfully praised him. It was a truly rich and deeply meaningful experience. People shared, without shame, both struggles and deliverances; and we prayed over each other. Praise God!

I think my first take away from this passage is PRAISE IS A PRACTICE or a discipline; we “will it” to happen most of the time before it also happens spontaneously. I was reminded by one friend of the old saying, “Count your blessings, name them one by one …” And after this focus on willing himself/herself to praise, the Psalmist lists some of the things he/she praises God for: 1) his magnificent works, 2) his faithfulness, 3) his grace and mercy, 4) his loving kindness and compassion, 5) his provision for those who fear him, 6) that he will keep his word (his covenant to us), 7) his work is defined by truth and justice, 8) his precepts (or guidelines for right living) are sure, reliable, established, and trustworthy, and 9) these righteous ways of living are upheld forever! And finally, in the capstone verse, we can praise God because 10) the fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom, and the fulfillment of this wisdom (or its working out and application in life) is found by those who have hearts that are humble and teachable and seek to understand God and his will for them.

What will I rejoice and praise him for today? How about you? Maybe you are having a hard time thinking of something? Borrow one of the Great 10 from this Psalm!

Lord, I praise you for your great work in our midst. In the tough times you show your faithfulness, and in the good times your justice and provision comes through. You love to reward those who fear you and put you in first place. Today, your praise will take first place in my mind and my priorities!