Clothed in light

“Bless the LORD, O my soul. O LORD my God, thou art very great; thou art clothed with honor and majesty. Who coverest thyself with light as with a garment: who stretchest out the heavens like a curtain:” - Psalms 104v1-2

How does our God adorn Himself? This verse tells us that He is adorned with honour, majesty, and light. These are God’s adornments in this world of darkness and sin. Our God is light and in Him there is no darkness at all. While the best man can find for adornment is the filthy rags of his own self-righteousness God offers us the chance to adorn ourselves in His glory.

In this world of darkness, dishonour, and baseness we have a God who is adorns Himself in light, honour, and majesty. Praise the Lord that He is so wonderfully adorned!

Perfect Pity

“Like as a father pitieth his children, so the LORD pitieth them that fear him.” - Psalms 103v13

Every normal father loves his children. That love motivates a father to do all that he can do for his children, and to do what He knows is best for them. When my adult children call or ask for advice or help I will do anything I can within my capabilities and my knowledge of what is good for them to help them. This is not conditional on what they are doing, my love for them is a father’s love and it is not conditional. My “pity” on them is a father’s pity and it is not conditional.

Those who fear God are His children. As our Father He shows is His perfect pity. He is all-knowing, so He knows what I really need. He knows my heart and my emotions so He understands. He is all-powerful so He can do anything He desires to help me. Because of all of this my Father can show perfect pity. I may and do err in showing pity to my children, but my Father never errs in showing pity to me.

As far as the east is from the west

“As far as the east is from the west, so far hath he removed our transgressions from us.” - Psalms 103v12

One of the greatest problems Christians face is the guilt carried over from their life before Christ. Folks just can’t seem to come to grips with the fact that we are well and truly forgiven. As humans we can choose to not let memories affect us, but we truly can never forget past offences. They always stick in our memories so we can saddle God with the same emotion.

Yet, God is not us. He is not limited by our sin nature. He is perfect and because He is perfect His forgiveness is perfect. God tells us here that He has removed our transgressions totally and completely. So far in fact that they are separated as far and east is separated from west. God used the perfect illustration here. If we travel far enough north, eventually we will travel south. No matter how far east we travel we will never go west. In other words, at salvation God infinitely separated our sins from us!

Praise God for His total and absolute separation of our sins from us and the freedom from guilt that allows.

They shall perish, but You will endure

“They shall perish, but thou shalt endure: yea, all of them shall wax old like a garment; as a vesture shalt thou change them, and they shall be changed: But thou art the same, and thy years shall have no end.” - Psalms 102v26-27

“Nothing lasts forever” is a saying we hear quite often. We say that, but there appear to be a lot of things that do “last forever.” We see the sun, moon, and stars. We see mountains, oceans, rivers, and valleys and we say, “These things will always be there.” This is why some peoples have worshipped these very things.

Today we see the same stars that Job saw. The same sun that God created in the creation week shines on us today. Yet, one day all of these things will pass away. They will “wax old like a garment.” God will change them like we change our clothes.

In all of that eventual change God will endure forever. He will not change. He will endure, He will be the same, and He will have no end.

There is only one place to put our confidence. The Lord alone will not change or pass away. He was there before anything else and He will be there when in it all changed. Praise God that He loved us enough to give us the opportunity to put our faith in Him, the Unchanging One.

I will set no wicked thing before my eyes

“I will set no wicked thing before mine eyes: I hate the work of them that turn aside; it shall not cleave to me.” - Psalms 101v3

We all know that he eyegate is a powerful access to our hearts and souls. Satan showed Eve fruit to tempt. One of the temptations we are warned about the “lust of the eyes.” Everyone has a battle with what they see.

It is obvious that we cannot always control what we see. We can however decide what we are going to look at. This is what the psalmist is talking about when he says, “I will set no wicked thing before my eyes.” In every generation there has been plenty to look at. However, it seems obvious that wickedness is much more acceptable today than it ever has been. Films, television, and the especially the internet have made wickedness available in a more obvious way than ever in history.

Long before television or the internet the psalmist had the answer – “I will set no wicked thing before my eyes.” There it is – a very simple answer to the problem. Simply don’t let any wicked thing have a place in front of you.

No deep theological truths here – simply obey God’s word.

I will walk within my house with a perfect heart

“I will behave myself wisely in a perfect way. O when wilt thou come unto me? I will walk within my house with a perfect heart.” - Psalms 101v2

God’s people are called several times in scripture to walk Those of us who have saved a long time have learned really well how to do that in public. By God’s grace and in obedience to His word we behave ourselves, in public at least, in a perfect way. “

The end of the verse is the challenge. “I will walk in my house with a perfect heart.” Home is the place where everyone sees us for what we really are. There are not strong enough words to express the importance of walking perfectly at home first. If we walk one way in public, and another at home, then we will destroy our home for our family will see us for the hypocrites we are.

The most important place for us to walk with a perfect heart is in our homes. Let us prioritise that walk.

Enter into His gates with thanksgiving

“Enter into his gates with thanksgiving, and into his courts with praise: be thankful unto him, and bless his name. For the LORD is good; his mercy is everlasting; and his truth endureth to all generations.” - Psalms 100v4-5

Thanksgiving is a consistent, regular, and dominate theme in the word of God. Why then do so few of us ever learn to be thankful Christians? Why, as a rule, are we not thankful? We whinge and complain about the weather, the traffic, our jobs, other people, and everything else under the son. We are thankful when things go “our way” but not when they don’t.

There is an obvious reason why thankfulness is so hard. We focus our thoughts on our circumstances instead of on the Lord. Verse four tells us to be thankful and praise God – verse five gives us the reasons. Note that none of these reasons has anything to do with our circumstances. These are eternal truths that do not vary.

The Lord is good
His mercy is everlasting
His truth endures to all generations

The Lord is good no matter what I perceive today. God’s mercy is everlasting no matter how I may struggle. God’s truth endures, no matter how string the opposition is.

Indeed, we must be heed the words of this passage – “Enter his gates with thanksgiving and His courts with praise, be thankful unto Him and bless His HOLY name”

We are His people and sheep of His pasture

“Know ye that the LORD he is God: it is he that hath made us, and not we ourselves; we are his people, and the sheep of his pasture.” - Psalms 100v3

We so often tend to put so much reliance on ourselves. We often think that everything in out lives depends on us. Therefore when things start to go wrong we are in utter turmoil because we feel like we are not in control of the situation.

When the psalmist was in turmoil he knew where to turn. He laid out some wonderful truths here.

The Lord is God
He made us, we did not make ourselves
We are His people
We are the sheep of His pasture

There is no a lot of room in there for pride. There is not a lot of room in there for – “I can do something about this.”

He is God – that means He in control
He made us – that means He has a plan for us
We are His people – we belong to Him, a purchased possession
We are the sheep of His pasture – we depend totally on Him for our sustenance

Why do we have such a hard time with this concept? It’s simple, we are proud and we think we know more than Him.

If you love the Lord, hate evil

“Ye that love the LORD, hate evil: he preserveth the souls of his saints; he delivereth them out of the hand of the wicked.” - Psalms 97v10

God draws a clear line here. Those who love the Lord are those who choose to hate evil. There is no compromise between love God and hating evil. We really can’t have it both ways. In Romans 12v 9 we read “…Abhor that which is evil; cleave to that which is good.”

We live in a day when “good” and “evil” are often confused. Yet, God’s word is clear – there is no blurring of the lines in His mind. If we truly love we will truly hate evil. Sometimes in our attempts to “fit in” with society we may soften our view of evil. There is not much preaching on “evil” today, but God’s standards don’t change.

The Lord reigneth

“The LORD reigneth; let the earth rejoice; let the multitude of isles be glad thereof.” - Psalms 97v1

Three simple words – “The Lord reigns.” Yet, if we could ever get the full impact of what this means it would completely change our lives. We tend to forget that God is indeed in control. We get so sidetracked by various difficulties and challenges that we begin thinking that those situations, or indeed, that we need to control everything.

Sometimes in can sound trite – but God well and truly is sitting on His throne and He is in control.

· Worried about tomorrow? – The Lord reigns.
· Concerned about bills that need to be paid and the money is gone? – The Lord reigns.
Worried about how the kids will ever make it on their own? – The Lord reigns.
· Facing a serious illness? – The Lord reigns.
· Just uncertain about the future - The Lord reigns.
· God not answering prayer according to your time frame or they way you want - The Lord reigns.

Praise God the He reigns. “The Lord reigneth – let the earth rejoice!” Amen and amen!

Harden not your hearts

“Harden not your heart, as in the provocation, and as in the day of temptation in the wilderness:” - Psalms 95v8

When we were children most of us played with modelling clay and used it school. I was never any good at it. Recently at a “staff enrichment day” we were supposed to model our greatest achievements for the year in clay. My attempt was pitiful. Even though I am no clay artist, at least my clay was soft and pliable. When we were children we were always said when we left our modelling clay out and it went dry and hard, because then it was unusable.

Here is Psalm 95 God instructs us to not harden our hearts in rebellion to His word. When we hear the word of God we can react in a couple of ways. One is the “get our backs up” and harden ourselves to it. When we do that we are no better than that hardened clump of modelling clay we left out when we were children, useless and of no value to God. On the other hand, we can be soft and pliable at the Master Potter’s hand. Much more skilful than a child at play (or me trying to show my greatest achievements) God can shape us, mould us, and make us into the perfect vessels for His use.

Oh may we never harden our hearts to God’s word. May we always be soft and pliable to His touch.

“I wills” for those who dwell in God’s secret place

“Because he hath set his love upon me, therefore will I deliver him: I will set him on high, because he hath known my name. He shall call upon me, and I will answer him: I will be with him in trouble; I will deliver him, and honor him. With long life will I satisfy him, and show him my salvation.” - Psalms 91v14-16

The whole of Psalm 91 describes the benefits for those who dwell in the secret place of the Most High and under the shadow of His wing. At the end of the psalm God’s promises to those who choose to live there are summarised:

I will deliver him
I will set him on high
I will answer him
I will be with him in trouble
I will deliver him
I will honour him
I will satisfy him
I will show him my salvation

We struggle day after day trying to make headway in the midst of this wicked world. God wants us to dwell in His secret place of communion with Him.

Where would you rather focus your time and effort?

Dwelling in the secret place

“He that dwelleth in the secret place of the most High shall abide under the shadow of the Almighty.” - Psalms 91v1

It is obvious that we live in a day of tremendous change. Wickedness abounds and it seems like everyplace we turn there is no relief from evil. If we are not careful it is easy to be overwhelmed with despair as we try to honour God in this life.

What do we do when we are about to be consumed by the world? What do we do when it seems like it can’t get any worse?

Praise God there is a hiding place. God offers the “secret place of the Most High” “as a refuge in the storm. We are so often busy living in the world that we neglect His special abiding place. When we choice to spend time in His word and in prayer we are in that secret place. We can come apart from all of the troubles of the world and have sweet fellowship with Him.

What happens when we learn to dwell in the secret place of intimate fellowship? We abide under the shadow of His wing. The turmoil doesn’t end, the troubles are still there, the heat is still intense – but we can be covered with His sheltering arm.

What better place to spend our days then dwelling in that secret place.

Teach us to number our days

“So teach us to number our days, that we may apply our hearts unto wisdom.” - Psalms 90v12

When you think about it life is really, really short. Most of us are only going to live seventy or eighty years (as indicated by an earlier verse) and then our one shot at serving God is over. It is so easy to fritter away the hours, that turn into days, that turn into weeks, that turn into months, that turn into years. There is so much out there vying for our attention that before we know live had been lived while we were waiting for it to happen, and we say, “Where has my life gone?”

Sadly we can get so busy doing even good things that we forget about learning God’s wisdom. Like Martha we are so busy doing that we neglect spending time with Christ. Why are we to number or days according to this verse - so that we can apply our hearts to wisdom. Wisdom begins with a fear of the Lord. If we want wisdom it starts with knowing God better.

With God’s help may we cut our a bit of the busy-ness and account our days for the purpose of gaining God’s wisdom.

Oh that my people would listen to me

“Oh that my people had hearkened unto me, and Israel had walked in my ways!”
- Psalms 81v13

Those who are parents, teachers, pastors, or leaders often become very frustrated when we know the best answer to a situation and yet the people we deal with will not do what we suggest. People come for advice and then reject and turn against it. We can almost be pulling our hair out and saying, “Why won’t they listen to me??”

We do this even though we are not perfect and even though we may at times give bad advice. God knows that His advice is always perfect – He knows that what He says is always best for His listeners. How hard it must be the perfect God, who gives perfect instructions that He knows are best for His people, to watch them ignore Him.

God has so much in store for those who would follow Him. May we always hearken to Him, then obey His voice so that He can do what He knows is best for us.

We will not hide them from our children

“We will not hide them from their children, showing to the generation to come the praises of the LORD, and his strength, and his wonderful works that he hath done.” - Psalms 78v4

“Children are our greatest commodity.” “Children are our future.” These and other quotes capture the deserved emphasis that God places on our children. In this psalm the writer mentions that each of us have been taught things by the generation before us. He then goes on the say that “we will not hide these things from our children, but will SHOW the generation to come certain things. These are vital things that we should be manifesting in our lives so that our children can see them and learn from them.

· I will show the praises of the Lord
· I will show His strength
· I will show the wonderful works that He as done

How do we do those things? It is not enough to just do family devotions. It is not enough just to teach Sunday School or children’s clubs. We must show these things to the generation to come by our lives. Our children must see God’s praise in our lives. Our children must see God’s strength in our lives. Our children must see God at works in our lives.

I have had many great teachers in my life, but the ones who have had by far the greatest impact in my life are the ones who have shown me the reality of these things by their lives.

One of my greatest goals is that the next generation see these things in me.

I Will Remember the Lord

“And I said, This is my infirmity: but I will remember the years of the right hand of the most High. I will remember the works of the LORD: surely I will remember thy wonders of old. I will meditate also of all thy work, and talk of thy doings.” - Psalms 77v10-12

In Psalm 77 the psalmist was almost overwhelmed by his inability to understand what God was doing. It seems like he was slipping into the depths of despair, even saying himself, “Has the Lord forgotten to be gracious?” In 2006 it might be understandable if we asked the same question. It seems sometimes like everything is going against God and His people. Evil seems to be running rampant, wickedness abounds and seems to go unchecked.

What do God’s people do in times like this? We would do well the do what the psalmist did – choose to remember the Lord. In the midst of his despair he said that he would:

• Remember his time with the Lord
• Remember the works of the Lord
• Remember the wonders of the Lord
• Consider the works of the Lord
• Talk about what God does

Our attitude should never be based on the circumstance, but on the God who is in control. We fail when we get it backwards, when we focus on the surroundings in stead of the Saviour.

Instead of seeing the evil today, may we choose instead to “remember the Lord.”

Hope and praise

“But I will hope continually, and will yet praise thee more and more. My mouth shall show forth thy righteousness and thy salvation all the day; for I know not the numbers thereof. I will go in the strength of the Lord GOD: I will make mention of thy righteousness, even of thine only.” - Psalms 71v14-16

Our hope in the Lord should be a continual source of praise in out lives. Yet, our hopeful resting in the Lord to deliver us from a difficult situation should not a quiet time of just resting. While we hope and praise we are to be active. Look what the psalmist said he would be doing while he hoped –

· Praise the Lord more and more
· Speak of God’s righteousness and salvation
· Go forth in the strength of the Lord

It is one thing to wait patiently on the Lord and hope in Him, but while we are waiting and hoping lets be about the tasks of serving Him.

Daily loadeth us with benefits

“Blessed be the Lord, who daily loadeth us with benefits, even the God of our salvation. Selah.” - Psalms 68v19

There are times in our lives when it seems like we are daily loaded with burdens instead of being daily loaded with benefits. We often find ourselves loaded down with weights and cares and we allow them to dominate out thoughts. When we focus on our burdens instead of our benefits we find it very difficult, if not impossible, to “bless the Lord.”

The Bible says that the Lord daily loads us with benefits. Whether we choose to focus on them or not is up to us. He benefits us within words from The Valley of Vision;

Personal mercies
A measure of health
Preservation of body
Comforts of house and home
Sufficiency of food and clothing
Continuance of mental powers
My family, their mutual help and support
The delights of domestic harmony and peace
The seats now filled that might have been empty
My country, home, Bible, and faith.

Lets choose to bless God for daily loading us with benefits, instead of doubting Him for problems and burdens we perceive.

Father of the fatherless and defender of widows

“A father of the fatherless, and a judge of the widows, is God in his holy habitation.” - Psalms 68v5

“Father of the fatherless and defender of the widows” is not a name for God that we see very often. Yet it is an important name because there is a New Testament principle for believers. When James defined pure and undefiled religion he said that it was “to visit the fatherless and widows in their affliction and to keep oneself unspotted from the world.

Since God is a father to the fatherless and the defender of widows and we are told that part of our responsibility is to visit the fatherless and widows in their affliction it is clear that He places an emphasis on these two groups of people.

It is worth our time to pursue further our responsibility towards the fatherless and widows. At the very least we know that they are special to God and He wants us to care for them. This is certainly something I have not been active in doing in my life.

Lord, teach me more about how to deal with the orphans and widows. Give me a heart like You which sees us a spiritual orphans and widows in need of you protection.

Night Thoughts

“When I remember thee upon my bed, and meditate on thee in the night watches. Because thou hast been my help, therefore in the shadow of thy wings will I rejoice.” - Psalms 63v6-7

Most of us have times when we wake up in the night and just begin to think. What do these “night thoughts” consist of? Do they consist of fretting and worrying? Do we spend those moments mulling over what we must do the next day? Are those thoughts things we would be ashamed of if anyone else knew?

The psalmist had the right idea of night thoughts. He knew that that these times were precious opportunities to meditate on the Lord and remember all that He has done. Why do we waste all that time with thoughts that are at best useless and may even be sinful?

Lord, the next time any of us awake in the night, remind us of the opportunity to meditate on you, for you have indeed been our help.

I shall not be moved

“He only is my rock and my salvation: he is my defense; I shall not be moved.” - Psalms 62v6

Back in the Sixties one of the many protest songs that was used was “We Shall Not Be Moved.” As the police arrived protestors would in some cases break into this song, but in reality they would always be moved. It was a great thought, but the protestors but their faith was misplaced. Noble was their cause might have been, it usually let them down in cases like this.

There is a difference for God’s people. When we say that we will not be moved we can do so with great confidence because we have a solid Rock to which we can always cling. The psalmist writes, in reference to God that He is His only rock and salvation and that therefore his need never be moved.

There is another great lesson in this psalm. Back in verse two the psalmist wrote, “I will not be greatly moved.” Now his confidence has built to the point where he can say “I will not be moved at all.”

If we make the Lord indeed our ONLY rock – then we need to never be moved!

The God of my mercy shall come to meet me

“The God of my mercy shall prevent me: God shall let me see my desire upon mine enemies.” - Psalms 59v10

A long time ago when I was in Bible college in America a famous American footballer name Billy “White Shoes” Johnson was present for a “Christian Athletes Sunday.” A long queue of students was there to get a signed photograph. When Mary and I walked into the gym Billy saw us an got up from the platform, came to us saying, “Roger, what in the world are you doing here.” Everyone in the queue was amazed that Billy Johnson knew me by name. It was kind of special to have a “famous” person come down to meet me!

It is special when a noted person comes to see us. It is one thing to be called to their home or office, but quite another for them to make the effort to come to us.

The KJV word “prevent” does not make a lot of sense to the modern English reader. In this context the word means to “come out” to “reach out,” or to “project oneself.” The NKJV uses the phrase “come to me” instead of “prevent me.” This is a truer reflection of what the psalmist is saying here – “The God of my mercy shall come out to me.” It is almost incomprehensible that the God of Creation would come out to me. I know that He invited me to come to Him, but in His mercy He comes out to me! What an amazing truth! God comes out to me! Praise God, for without Him coming to me I would be without hope in this world.

A steadfast heart

“My heart is fixed, O God, my heart is fixed: I will sing and give praise.” - Psalms 57v7

Anyone who has been a Christian for any amount of time knows that at times life can seem anything but fixed and steady. Most of the time it seems like a roller coaster with its up and downs and twists and turns. We never know what is coming next and we find ourselves just hanging on for dear life.

A real roller coaster may be loads of fun, but this is not the kind of life God wants us to have. We all will, of course, be affected by our situations, but our life and our emotions should not be based on the “roller coaster” mentality. We have a steadfast, unchanging God in whom we can place our focus. He tells us, “I am the Lord, I change not.” When we keep our eyes always on Him, the highs and lows of life become nothing more than speed ramps, for His gives us a place of steadfast hope so the we can “sing and give praise.”

In God I will praise His word

“What time I am afraid, I will trust in thee. In God I will praise his word, in God I have put my trust; I will not fear what flesh can do unto me.” - Psalms 56v3-4

The Bible talks a lot about fear for God/s people. Perhaps that is because God knows that fear is something that His people will always face. Verse three simply says that when I am afraid I will trust God. Verse four tells us how to put it into practice.

“In God I will praise His word…” God’s word is packed with lessons and encouragements on how to not be afraid. Therefore in Him His word is worthy of praise. If I see his word as worthy of praise I have a place to put my trust.

Then, after I give praise for His word and put my trust in Him I can say – “I will not fear what flesh can do to me.” Flesh is powerless against our Lord and because of that we can put fear to flight.

Cast your burden on the Lord

“Cast thy burden upon the LORD, and he shall sustain thee: he shall never suffer the righteous to be moved.” - Psalms 55v22

We all have had times in our Christian lives when it feels like we just can’t take any more. We sometimes use the phrase, “the straw that broke the camel’s back” to illustrate when the burden just gets too heavy.

The problem is that we are so proud that we think we are the only ones who are capable of carrying our burdens properly. We think that if we pass our burden on to someone else they will not be able to sort things out properly. When it comes to other people some of that fear might be merited, though we do need to be willing to share our burdens with our fellow believers.

However, we do have a perfect Burden Bearer. Here the psalmist says, “Cast your burden on the Lord and He will sustain you.” In the New Testament we read, “Casting all your cares on Him for He cares for you.” God does not want us to be like the camel whose back is broken by the “last straw.”

There is no need for us to carry that burden – lets take the invitation to cast our burdens on Him and trust Him to sustain us.

Evening, and at morning, and at noon I will pray

“Evening, and morning, and at noon, will I pray, and cry aloud: and he shall hear my voice.” - Psalms 55v17

What a testimony and what a challenge from David. Whenever I read passages like this my heart is smitten at the lack of prayer in my own life. To my honest, at best my own testimony might be, evening, or noon, or night I will pray.

Why is pray such a difficult part of the Christian life? Why am I not a better “pray-er”? Why can so few of us say with David, “Evening, and morning, and at noon will I pray and cry aloud?”

For the most part I think it is a combination of selfishness and a lack of faith. It is selfish because I always seem to have something better to do, or someplace to be. It is a lack of faith because maybe I don’t really believe the next part of the phrase – “and He will hear my voice.”

Lord, thank you for your convicting voice in your Word. May I be the “pray-er “ that you want me to be.

The sacrifice that pleases God

“The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit: a broken and a contrite heart, O God, thou wilt not despise.” - Psalms 51v17

Sacrifice has always been a part of man’s desire to be united with their concept of God. Virtually every religion includes some time of sacrifice in an attempt to “appease the gods.” The Old Testament even had a sacrificial system. Sacrifices can be appealing because they make us feel like we have done something to make up for our sins.

Even Christians can fall into this sacrificial mindset. We sometimes think that by sacrificing our time, money, and resources we somehow do a work that will make God happy. God is pleased with all those things, but that is not what he wants from us.

The sacrifice God wants from us is a broken spirit and and broken, contrite heart. We can sacrifice all the time and effort we want, but if our hearts and spirits are not humble to His direction it is all in vain.

Against You and You alone I have sinned

“Against thee, thee only, have I sinned, and done this evil in thy sight: that thou mightest be justified when thou speakest, and be clear when thou judgest.” - Psalms 51v4

David realised the immensity of his sin with Bathsheba. Although many people were affected by his sin, Urriah was dead and Bathsheba was pregnant. Bathsheba’s son was going to die. David certainly offended many by his sin, but in reality he knew that his sin, like all sin, was well and truly against God.

All sin is an affront to and is against God Himself. God is holy and he expects His people to be holy and live holy lives. Every time we sin we go totally against God and His plan for us. We tend to not take sin that seriously, especially if there are no obvious “victims.”

We must learn to see every sin as a sin against God.

Praise Him with understanding

“For God is the King of all the earth: sing ye praises with understanding.” - Psalms 47v7

Our lives of course should be lives full of praise to our God. Everyone should know that we are His by lives we live in praise to Him. Praise is part of the Christian walk. Psalm 47 is full of admonitions to praise the Lord.

Verse seven goes just a little farther though. It is a challenge for is to praise the Lord with understanding. Our praise should not just be a mindless repetition of “Praise the Lord,” but our praise should be accompanied with the reason for the praise – who God is and what He has done.

May all of our praise be made with understanding!