Psalm 119:164 Seven times a day I praise You, Because of Your righteous judgments.
I have been meditating on Psalm 119 over the last several months, and have read this verse over 200 times during that period, but I only truly noticed it yesterday. Is God’s Word not amazing? No matter how many times we reach into it, it never runs dry! Since this verse gripped me and won’t let go, I figured I’d better try it out. Naturally, I started by doing a bit of math:
Between 6:30 in the morning and 11:00 at night there are sixteen and a half hours. Divide that into seven equal sections, and each one is two hours and forty-five minutes. With an iPhone timer set, I’m in less danger of losing track of time.
Praise is an important part of prayer, and one that is often neglected. The Hebrew word for praise in this verse is the one from which we get “Hallelujah” (praise the Lord). It means to boast or exult, so basically just telling God (and others) how wonderful we think He is. There are many ways to incorporate praise into prayer, and I’ve made a list of some I use:
Psalm 7:17 I will praise the LORD according to His righteousness, And will sing praise to the name of the LORD Most High.
2. Praise God for what He has done in your own life. He saved you, keeps you, and gives you everything you need each day.
Psalm 71:6 By You I have been upheld from birth; You are He who took me out of my mother’s womb. My praise shall be continually of You.
3. Praise God for what He has done throughout history. Creating the heavens and the earth, sending His Son as a sufficient sacrifice for all the world, sustaining life and withholding His wrath.
Psalm 148:1-5 Praise the LORD!
Praise the LORD from the heavens; Praise Him in the heights!
Praise Him, all His angels; Praise Him, all His hosts!
Praise Him, sun and moon; Praise Him, all you stars of light!
Praise Him, you heavens of heavens, And you waters above the heavens!
Let them praise the name of the LORD, For He commanded and they were created.
4. Praise God to other people. Whether in a blog post (cough), on FaceBook, through a text message, but most especially in real life, face-to-face conversations, tell your friends why you think God is so awesome.
Psalm 108:3 I will praise You, O LORD, among the peoples, And I will sing praises to You among the nations.
5. Praise the Lord using songs and psalms. We have many hymns which express praise to God, and the psalms are also full of verses of praise. If you are struggling to come up with your own words of praise, use the words of these faithful men as a starting point.
- Psalm 145: A Praise of David
- O Worship the King
- How Great Thou Art
- I Sing the Mighty Power of God
Psalm 47:6 Sing praises to God, sing praises! Sing praises to our King, sing praises!
6. Praise the Lord over and over for the same thing. Repetition is a powerful tool, if used with focus and purpose.
Psalm 34:1 I will bless the LORD at all times; His praise shall continually be in my mouth.
7. Praise the Bible, the Word of God.
Psalm 56:10 In God (I will praise His word),
In the LORD (I will praise His word),
11 In God I have put my trust;
See, with a list like that it's not so hard to praise the Lord seven times in one day. Just a couple minutes to focus on God is all it takes. I found it to be a fun exercise, something different from my usual Bible time routine.
No comments:
Post a Comment
We appreciate your comments so much that we like to know who they are from. Please leave your name with your comment!