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Psalm 96

Reflect

Search the Internet for news headlines with the word “praise,” and you’ll find things like:

• Cordarelle Patterson Receives Ultimate Praise (He’s a wide receiver for the Chicago Bears. Apparently, he was doing really well.)
• Johnson & Johnson Praised (They were pulling some products from the market that might be dangerous.)
• Rockets Praise Stern’s Vision, Influence (David Stern was the commissioner of the NBA. After his death, people had some very good things to say about him.)
• Investors Praise Scripps, Journal Communications Deal (The two companies were merging broadcast operations.)

The world has no problem praising things that are remarkable. But there’s something – or more accurately, someone – who doesn’t rate nearly the level of praise that He’s due. Most often, God gets our leftovers, especially when times are “good.” When things are great, too many people tend to remember God, not at all, and when they do, it’s rarely to simply give Him “His props.”

How many of these things have you done lately?

• Made a world.
• Created an animal.
• Produced water from thin air.
• Fed 5,000 people with a few loaves of bread and a few fish.
• Raised someone from the dead.
• Raised yourself from the dead.
• Etc., etc., etc.

God has done all of those things (including all of the miracles performed through Jesus), and yet we tend to only remember Him when we need something. Most of the time, we should really just thank Him for being who He is, and for being awesome and incredible.

This week, start each day with a time of praise for the Lord. God wants you to pray to Him and definitely hears your requests, but He’s deserving of our worship, praise and adoration just because He’s God.

Reflection copyright © 2021 Doug DeBolt

Scripture quotations are from The Holy Bible, English Standard Version® (ESV®), copyright © 2001 by Crossway, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers. Used by permission. All rights reserved.