Profuse in Praise

Who am I that You are mindful of me
That You hear me, when I call
Is it true that You are thinking of me
How You love me, it's amazing. - Israel Houghton

How many times in 2012 did I cry to the Lord? How many times did call upon His name this year?

Countless.

When the nights were long and dark. When buffeted, distressed and unable to rest. When I needed help, counsel and guidance. When I needed His touch. When I needed His presence.

He harkened to my cry. He heard me when I called and He answered me. He turned towards me and paid attention to me. He held me in the center of His watchful care.

I am so overwhelmed that the King of kings, the Lord of lords and the Creator of the Heavens and the earth is mindful of me. Who am I that He should be this mindful of me, that He knows my name, my every thought and hears me when I call upon Him.

I am captivated by the immensity of God's love for me.

My Response:

Praise, Praise and more Praise. Profuse praise. Overflowing, copious and superabundant praise. My praise shall ascend to the heavens like a sweet smelling perfume.

Praise the Lord O my soul and let all that is within me praise His holy name. Praise the King of Heavens, to His feet I bring my tributes. I who was ransomed, healed, restored and forgiven.

I command my soul to praise the Lord. I command my feet, my hands and my lips to praise the Lord. Let everything that has life and breath praise the Lord. I have life and I have breath, and I give praise to You, O God.

I will praise You while I live. I will lift up my hands in Your name - Ps 63:4

My mouth shall praise You with joyful lips. My mouth shall be filled with His praise and I will declare His splendor all day long. My lips will shout for joy when I sing praises to Him (Ps 71: 8, 23). I will remember Him upon my bed when I rouse out of sleep at the crack of dawn, and I will meditate on His loving-kindness. For He has been my help.

Praise be to God. For it is good to sing praise to our God (Ps 14:1, 92:1). He is gracious and lovely. Praise is fitting for God. How pleasant and lovely it is to praise Him. It is appropriate to give praise.

What informs my praise? Why do I want to lavish so much praise on God?

Psalm 145 (The Message)

I lift you high in praise, my God, O  King!
    and I’ll bless your name into eternity.

² I’ll bless you every day,
    and keep it up from now to eternity.

³ God is magnificent; he can never be praised enough.
    There are no boundaries to his greatness.

⁵ Your beauty and splendor have everyone talking;
    I compose songs on your wonders.

⁶ Your marvelous doings are headline news;
    I could write a book full of the details of your greatness.

Praise is prompted by the unique nature of God. God has been generous. In response to His generosity, we want to honor God by giving praise and thanks to Him.

Praising God is a God-appointed calling. We have been formed to proclaim the praise of God (Is 43:21). Praise is both a duty and a delight (Ps 63: 3-8). An intimate relationship of a person with God is sufficient reason for praise.

God is Great:

He is infinite. His greatness is beyond what our human mind can fathom. We praise God because we know and acknowledge that God's greatness exceeds what our mind can grasp. God does great, unsearchable and marvelous things without number (Job 5:9).

In Ps 145, David praised God for His mighty acts, for His gracious provisions and for the way He responds to those who love Him. David is a man who knew what it means to be faced with challenging situations, to be betrayed, hunted, distressed and grieved. Yet despite the bad experiences he suffered, he was a man who knew how to praise God. He vowed to praise God everyday because He is great.

I will tell of the splendor of His majesty, meditate on them, and compose songs of praise about them.

God is Good:

God is good all the time. He put this song of praise in this heart of mine
- Don Moen

He is the definition of goodness. The epitome of all that is good. God's goodness is great and abundant. His works and words are of goodness and grace. He does good to all the children of men. He satisfies the desires of all those who fear Him.

Even when we do not understand all the plans He has for us. His very nature of being infinitely good is sufficient argument for us to praise Him as long as we exist, whatever situation we may be in.

I will lift up my hands in worship, in praise, in joy and in thanksgiving. I will celebrate God's abundant goodness.

God is Loving:

God is rich in love. He is full of loyal love. He is faithful to His promises. Everything He does is suffused with grace. Everything He does is right. The trademark of His works is love. God's love is truly precious. His love is enduring.

We can rejoice in the knowledge of His love and the assurance that this knowledge gives even if we do not momentarily feel it. There is satisfaction in praising God for His loyal love. It brings joy and comfort to the soul.

He listens to all who pray. He is near to all who call upon Him in truth. He hears the cry of those who fear Him. God is present everywhere. But He is near to those who call on Him. He is an ever present help in the time of need.

Overflowing with Praise:

My mouth shall praise You with joyful lips. My mouth shall be full of thanksgiving in response to the mercies received from God. Those who see His mercies in my life also should hear His praise from my lips. Openly I will make His glory known and tell of His goodness.

I want to employ the tongues of a million angels to praise the King of glory. I want to heap praise on God,  adorn Him, cloak Him and decorate Him with praise. I want to lavish praise on Him. Praise looks good on God.

I praise You O God from a grateful and thankful heart. I will praise You with my whole heart. Such praise has to be untainted by bitterness but from someone who is truly thankful.

It is a good day, a day to give thanks and praise to God. Let us join our friends in the US to pause and ponder on the goodness of God. Let us with a grateful and thankful heart give thanks and praise to God.

As we approach the end of 2012, it is a good time to reflect on His mercies this year, and with praise express our faith and confidence in Him to take care of all our desires, hopes and dreams for the year. He is able to do exceedingly more abundant than we can ask or imagine.

Sing to the Lord with thanksgiving. Sing your thanks to God in a song.

Make music and sing songs of thanks to the Lord.

Reference:

http://www.lyricsmode.com/lyrics/i/israel_houghton/#share

http://www.lyricsmode.com/lyrics/d/don_moen/god_is_good_all_the_time.html

http://www.biblestudytools.com/dictionary/praise/

http://www.biblestudytools.com/commentaries/treasury-of-david/psalms-63-3.html