PRAISE HIS HOLY NAME
Opening Prayer
God, I praise You for Your goodness to me.
Read Psalm 145
1 I will exalt you, my God the King;
I will praise your name for ever and ever.
2 Every day I will praise you
and extol your name for ever and ever.
3 Great is the Lord and most worthy of praise;
his greatness no one can fathom.
4 One generation commends your works to another;
they tell of your mighty acts.
5 They speak of the glorious splendor of your majesty—
and I will meditate on your wonderful works.
6 They tell of the power of your awesome works—
and I will proclaim your great deeds.
7 They celebrate your abundant goodness
and joyfully sing of your righteousness.
8 The Lord is gracious and compassionate,
slow to anger and rich in love.
9 The Lord is good to all;
he has compassion on all he has made.
10 All your works praise you, Lord;
your faithful people extol you.
11 They tell of the glory of your kingdom
and speak of your might,
12 so that all people may know of your mighty acts
and the glorious splendor of your kingdom.
13 Your kingdom is an everlasting kingdom,
and your dominion endures through all generations.
The Lord is trustworthy in all he promises
and faithful in all he does.
14 The Lord upholds all who fall
and lifts up all who are bowed down.
15 The eyes of all look to you,
and you give them their food at the proper time.
16 You open your hand
and satisfy the desires of every living thing.
17 The Lord is righteous in all his ways
and faithful in all he does.
18 The Lord is near to all who call on him,
to all who call on him in truth.
19 He fulfills the desires of those who fear him;
he hears their cry and saves them.
20 The Lord watches over all who love him,
but all the wicked he will destroy.
21 My mouth will speak in praise of the Lord.
Let every creature praise his holy name
for ever and ever.
New International Version (NIV)
Holy Bible, New International Version®, NIV® Copyright ©1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.® Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.
Reflect
Think of three good things about the past 24 hours. Write them down, then hold that thought as you read today’s passage.Today’s psalm reminds us that the very best thing we can do with our mouths is praise the Lord.
What were the three things you wrote down earlier? Have you thanked God for them? Was it hard to come up with three? Or maybe it was hard to limit it to three!
The psalms of David, as well as many of the writings of Paul, teach us that whatever our circumstances, God is always worthy to be praised. He is always gracious and compassionate, trustworthy and faithful, righteous, glorious and rich in love.
Our hearts and minds can be easily confused by the illusions of this world. Praising God for who he is and what he has done is a helpful way of training ourselves to see the world from his perspective. As we choose to focus on who he is and what he has done for us and for others, we begin to notice him more than our circumstances. Or as the old hymn put it, “The things of earth will grow strangely dim in the light of his glory and grace” (Helen Howarth Lemmel, 1863–1961).
Apply
Psalm 145 is an acrostic, with each verse beginning with a different letter of the Hebrew alphabet. Write a list, poem or psalm with one thing to praise God for, for each letter of our alphabet.
Closing prayer
Now, thank God for each thing you wrote down!
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