Focus 40 - Day 14

Psalm 34:1

Bless the Lord at All Times

“I will bless the LORD at all times: his praise shall continually be in my mouth.”

 
  In the last few years there has been a phrase spread around to be “purposeful”. The purpose driven life, the purpose driven marriage, the purpose driven church; we even have a radio program that the whole purpose is to tell you how to be purposeful in your life. Webster’s Dictionary definition of purposeful helps us understand the word “to be determined, to be intentional, and to be resolute in ones faith”. Long before this catch phrase was being used, David, our Psalmist placed into motion that he would be purposeful in his BLESSING AND PRAISE to God. Notice the two parts of this verse, one is that of blessing which is an action in the heart, and second, praise an action of ones mouth.

“I will” …. Here we have a declaration “I will”, there is no indication of how often, no indication of length of praise, or what to praise the Lord about. It is clear that David has set himself to praise. Each of us has times in our day when circumstances would cause us or hinder our praise to God. On your way to work you receive a ticket for six miles over the speed limit, your boss corrects you for things said to a client, dropping off your child at school and the teacher informs you that their grades need improvement, you name the situation and there will be a time your praise just isn’t there. That’s when you need to be purposeful, determined in your blessing to the Lord. No matter what you are experiencing at the moment BLESS the Lord. Determine in your heart to be a person who BLESSES the Lord. Determine to fill your heart with BLESSING before the Lord, “bless the Lord at all times”.

“His Praise shall continually” ….. David makes a switch to be purposeful, determined, so the blessings that are in his heart may flow to a positive communication of his lips. Continually, constantly, always, never ending, the praises of what God has done in his life shall be moved from his heart and out his mouth so that all who hear will hear the praises given to the Lord.

Scripture to help us Bless and Praise the Lord Declaring of thanks (Heb. 13:15) Clapping hands and shouting (Psalms 47:1) Musical instruments and dancing (Ps. 150:4) Singing praise songs (Psalms 9:11) Psalms, hymns, & spiritual songs (Eph. 5:19-20) Making a joyful noise (Psalms 98:4) By lifting our hands (Psalms 134:2) By being still (Psalms 4:3-5, 46:10) By being loud (Psalms 33:3, 95:1-6)

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