It is good to praise the Lord and make music to your name, O Most High, to proclaim your love in the morning and your faithfulness at night, to the music of the ten-stringed lyre and the melody of the harp. (Psalm 92:1-3)(NIV) Right now, on the dry-erase board in the choir room at The Ridge, I have Ps. 33:1 displayed for our choir members. This verse kinda goes hand in hand with the one above, reminding us that it is good to praise our God. Let's look at how Ps. 33:1-3 reads in both the NIV and The Message.
NIV--Sing joyfully to the Lord, you righteous; it is fitting for the upright to praise him. Praise the Lord with the harp; make music to him on the ten-stringed lyre. Sing to him a new song; play skillfully, and shout for joy. The Message--Good people, cheer God! Right-living people sound best when praising. Use guitars to reinforce your Hallelujahs! Play his praise on a grand piano! Invent your own new song to him; give him a trumpet fanfare.
It's good to praise the Lord! Why? Because He alone is worthy of all praise. And it's fitting for the upright to praise Him. I like the way that The Message puts it, "Right-living people sound best when praising." And it's not that we necessarily sound good, we might not have the best singing voice or even be able to sing in key (but God's not that concerned about those things); but we're at our best when we're assembled together, focusing on Jesus, worshiping together in unity. It's fitting for the righteous to praise Him, because when we're gathered in His name, He's right there in our midst. (Mt. 18:20)(KJV) It's good to praise the Lord because God inhabits the praises of His people. (Ps. 22:3)(KJV) So if God's presence is in our midst and He inhabits our praises, then we can rest assured that as we gather in His name and worship Him in spirit and truth---there He is. And where God is, there is love, joy, peace, mercy, power, truth, healing, salvation, deliverance, faithfulness, strength, forgiveness, life and hope. Wouldn't you like to be in the midst of some or all of these things right now? You can. Just send your praises up to God, and He will rain down His mercy, love and power over your life! I've always marvelled at how simply praising God can alleviate and/or disintegrate things like stress, depression and anxiety. Sometimes when I'm worried or stressed out about things I find that just singing a simple praise chorus or hymn will calm me down. As we focus our attention on God and His majesty, we get a better perspective on our problems and the worries of this world. As we praise Him, thinking on the eternal blessings He's poured out on us, His children, the cares of the world pale in comparison. That thought reminds me of the beloved hymn, "Turn Your Eyes Upon Jesus", by Helen L. Lemmel. You'll recall the lyrics to the chorus of the song:
Turn your eyes upon Jesus
Look full in His wonderful face
And the things of earth will grow strangely dim
In the light of His glory and grace
When we turn our eyes on Jesus, giving Him our full attention, all that this world can offer pales in the brightness of His glory-- the true Light (Jn. 1:9), the Bright Morning Star (Rev. 22:16). Truly, it's fitting for the upright to praise Him and it is good to praise the Lord! Look full in His wonderful face
And the things of earth will grow strangely dim
In the light of His glory and grace
Joey C.