PSALM 150

Praise the LORD! Praise God in His sanctuary; Praise Him in His mighty firmament! 2 Praise Him for His mighty acts; Praise Him according to His excellent greatness! 3 Praise Him with the sound of the trumpet; Praise Him with the lute and harp! 4 Praise Him with the timbrel and dance; Praise Him with stringed instruments and flutes! 5 Praise Him with loud cymbals; Praise Him with clashing cymbals! 6 Let everything that has breath praise the LORD. Praise the LORD!

PSALM 150:1-6

THE WHERE, WHY, HOW, AND WHO OF PRAISE

Psalm 150 is such a fitting conclusion to the Psalms. Praise for God is the beginning, ending, and middle of this Psalm. The Psalmist shares where we should praise God (v. 1). Why we should praise God (v. 2). How we should praise God (v. 5). And Who should praise God (v. 6)… “Everything that has breath!”

God is worthy of our praise on the good days and bad, happy and sad, in our rejoicing and even through our tears, He is worthy! We can celebrate His attributes. He is a God of Justice. He is Love. He shows us grace and mercy. Our world if filled with metaphors on how he cares for us (like a shepherd, or a mother hen). Even when we are in the dark or feel alone, He is worthy!

The Psalms have served as a guide for all of life to help us see God in every moment of our existence and to move us towards a sincere faith that overflows into worship. As I look back over the last five months I can’t help but feel that my life has been enriched by studying the Psalms. I’ve found myself quoting the Psalms, especially to those who are going through challenging times. and I’ve come to believe that one of the best things anyone can do to get a good understanding of how to trust God in the hard times, and to improve their overall mental health, is to read the Psalms. It has a maturing effect, or at least I feel it has for me in this season.

Speaking of seasons, Summer on the calendar has come and gone. We started early and went late to cover what we have called. “Summer in the Psalms.” We’ve glanced at every Psalm but Psalm 119. We’ll have to save that for another day. Part of me wanted to keep going and break up that Psalm as we went into October, but as the weather started changing this week and our “Alabama Summer” hinted at giving way to Fall I decided it is best to take a break and focus on other things for a while.

Life is like that, it comes and goes in seasons. September through November is a busier season than I had anticipated and so I felt it would be good to step away from writing daily in October in order to focus on a few other things. I plan to be back posting on a regular basis in November, perhaps something different than my devotional reading from scripture or maybe more of the same. I’m not sure yet.

I’ll still be reading and studying by bible daily in addition to reading several different devotional materials. I’ll probably be reading and praying through 1st and 2nd Samuel, just not blogging about it.

I am grateful for this exercise in writing through the Psalms. I hit my goal. I wrote around 500 words a day for 150 days (my original goal was 90). When you add all those words up it’s a good word count for a book. I don’t plan on writing a book any time soon, but now I know that should I be so inclined, I do have the capacity.

I am grateful for the many of you have have followed along and read my posts, put up with a few misspelled words here or there, and some poor, but hopefully improving grammar (I didn’t go back and proof anything). I’ve enjoyed your comments both on this blog and in person. I’ve been encouraged and blessed to see God’s word shape you as it has and is shaping me. May we all be more and more conformed into the image of our Lord Jesus Christ. Thank you for following along. Lord willing, I’ll be back in some form in November!

PRAYER

Father, Thank you for the wonderful gift of the Psalms. Thank you for what you have taught me about you this summer. Thank you for the gift of studying your word that we might know you better. Thank you for a sense of community and conversation that this has built in my life as I have pondered your word together with others. Thank you for how your word sticks in the recesses of my mind and is able to be called up when it is needed. Thank you that as I’ve read and understood the Psalms better this year that you have allowed me to share what I’ve learned with others. I pray that you would bless us today with more of you. We love you Lord. In Jesus’ Name, Amen.

I’m reading and blogging the Psalms Through The Summer. I’d love for you to join me. You can find out a little more here.