March 1, 2011 (I Chronicles 11-16, Various Psalms)

In one of the Psalms I read today it started with "Praise the Lord, I tell myself" - and I realized sometimes we really do have to tell ourselves to praise Him. We may not feel like it, but He is always worthy of being praised, whether we feel like it or not. We have to keep that at the forefront of our minds. And that goes hand in hand with I Chronicles 16:

⁷ On that day David gave to Asaph and his fellow Levites this song of thanksgiving to the Lord:

 ⁸ Give thanks to the Lord and proclaim his greatness.
      Let the whole world know what he has done.
 ⁹ Sing to him; yes, sing his praises.
      Tell everyone about his wonderful deeds.
 ¹⁰ Exult in his holy name;
      rejoice, you who worship the Lord.
 ¹¹ Search for the Lord and for his strength;
      continually seek him.
 ¹² Remember the wonders he has performed,
      his miracles, and the rulings he has given,
 ¹³ you children of his servant Israel,
      you descendants of Jacob, his chosen ones.

It seems like Psalm 106 is where we normally live our lives, though, unfortunately. God, please help us to live differently. Help us to truly honor You by trusting and praising You.

¹³ Yet how quickly they forgot what he had done!
      They wouldn’t wait for his counsel!
 ¹⁴ In the wilderness their desires ran wild,
      testing God’s patience in that dry wasteland.
 ¹⁵ So he gave them what they asked for,
      but he sent a plague along with it.


²⁴ The people refused to enter the pleasant land,
      for they wouldn’t believe his promise to care for them.
 ²⁵ Instead, they grumbled in their tents
      and refused to obey the Lord.


³⁵ Instead, they mingled among the pagans
      and adopted their evil customs.
 ³⁶ They worshiped their idols,
      which led to their downfall.

³⁹ They defiled themselves by their evil deeds,
      and their love of idols was adultery in the Lord’s sight.

 ⁴⁰ That is why the Lord’s anger burned against his people,
      and he abhorred his own special possession.

⁴³ Again and again he rescued them,
      but they chose to rebel against him,
      and they were finally destroyed by their sin.
 ⁴⁴ Even so, he pitied them in their distress
      and listened to their cries.
 ⁴⁵ He remembered his covenant with them
      and relented because of his unfailing love.