Make Praise Personal
May 31, 2017·Dan Hicks
I love the Psalms. When I read, and the more I think about what I am reading, good things begin to happen in me and in how I think. Before I know it, I find myself relating in very practical ways to what I have read.
Sometimes, I must admit, my praise life is relegated to only when I am with other people who, like me, are being led to praise the Lord. Usually, I make this discovery after the fact, and most often it is when I am gathered for worship on a Sunday morning. But now and then, I read something that makes me stop and think.
For instance, this week in the Pause Journal we read Psalm 34. As I paused to think about what I was reading, it dawned on me that praise can and should be personal and frequent: “I will extol the Lord at all times.”
In reading this psalm I was impressed with how David simply listed the things that God had done: “He answered me.” “He delivered me from all my fears.” “God heard him and saved him.” This is only a sampling of what he mentions in this psalm. My response was to take a minute and think about the things that God has done for me that are worthy of my praise.
Once I began to list some of the things God has done for me, I also began to realize just how sensitive the Lord is to me. How near He is, and how ready He is, to help me. How the angel of the Lord is encamped around me. In fact, the last part of verse 8 summarized well my encounter with the Lord as I read, “blessed is the one who takes refuge in Him.”
So if, from time to time, you find that your praise is becoming mostly a corporate experience, take a minute to, ”taste and see that the Lord is good” on a personal level. Why? Because “no one who takes refuge in Him will be condemned“ (v.22). I can personally say, “Praise the Lord” for that!
