Should be Automatic

This year, I'm sharing my "Treasures" of my study of my "Ponder the Morsels" book. I've picked 31 Psalms to study throughout 2013. Today I studied Psalm 150. Here is what I learned.

Praise the Lord., Praise God in his sanctuary; praise him in his mighty heavens.

Praise him for his acts of power; praise him for his surpassing greatness.

Praise him with the sounding of the trumpet, praise him with the harp and lyre,

praise him with timbrel and dancing, praise him with the strings and pipe,

praise him with the clash of cymbals, praise him with resounding cymbals.

Let everything that has breath praise the Lord.

Praise the Lord. Psalm 150 (NIV)

This is my weekend at Chicagoland Speedway. As during any great time, it’s easy to praise the Lord. When there’s excitement, joy, fun, etc. praise is almost automatic. 

Right now, you might say that I’m on the mountain top. I’m enjoying spending time at the Track and all the extra blessings that God continues to provide each day. Oh, yes, my pain level is high, but I’m enjoying the experience of meeting people and seeing the cars on the track. 

The foundation of praising God, however, is not to be based on if I’m having a good time, or enjoying the situation I find myself. For when the excitement of this race experience fads, and the pain continues, God is still worthy of praise. I’m not to praise God only in exchange for “good times” or “gifts”. Rather, I’m to praise God because of Who He is. 

It’s very easy to praise God when I’m having fun. But it’s more important to praise God no matter my situation or circumstance. Praising God should be automatic each and every day. 

To create a positive day, it must include praise to God, simply because of Who He is, and that praise should be automatic out of a heart of thankfulness and awe. 

Spontaneous Clapping!

This year, I'm sharing my "Treasures" of my study of my "Ponder the Morsels" book. I've picked 31 Psalms to study throughout 2013. Today I studied Psalm 47. Here is what I learned.

Applause, everyone. Bravo, bravissimo! Shout God-songs at the top of your lungs! Psalm 47:1 (MSG)

Clap your hands, all you people. Shout to God with ·joy [jubilant shouts/cries/sound]. Psalm 47:1 (EXB)

Show your happiness, all peoples! Call out to God with the voice of joy! Psalm 47:1 (NLV)

"O clap your hands." The most natural and most enthusiastic tokens of exultation are to be used in view of the victories of the Lord, and his universal reign. Our joy in God may be demonstrative, and yet he will not censure it. The Treasury of David 

Wherefore they are called upon to declare their joy and gladness by "clapping their hands"; which is a gesture expressive of exultation and joy. Gill's Exposition of the Entire Bible 

"O clap your hands, in token of your own joy and satisfaction in what God has done for you, of your approbation, nay, your admiration, of what God has done in general, and of your indignation against all the enemies of God's glory, Job 27:23. Clap your hands, as men transported with pleasure, that cannot contain themselves; shout unto God, not to make him hear (his ear is not heavy), but to make all about you hear, and take notice how much you are affected and filled with the works of God. Matthew Henry's Commentary on the Whole Bible

Clap your hands. A simple gesture that acknowledges a job well done, that you liked something, you appreciated something. Clap your hands. It’s not a forced response rather it’s automatic. Clap your hands. It’s a response from the heart, emotions, an overwhelming sense of joy, happiness. 

When was the last time I clapped my hands for God? When was the last time I clapped my hands to acknowledge what God has done and is doing in my life? When was the last time I was so overcome with joy simply knowing God that I clapped my hands in response?

To create a positive day, I need to allow the joy of simply knowing God to overwhelm me to the point that I break out in spontaneous clapping! 

An Automatic Reflex of Praise!

This year, I'm sharing my "Treasures" of my study of my "Ponder the Morsels" book. I've picked 31 Psalms to study throughout 2013. Today I studied Psalm 150. Here is what I learned.

Let everything that breathes praise the Lord! Hallelujah! Psalm 150:6 (GW)

No one should be left out; Let every man and every beast— every creature that has the breath of the Lord—praise the Eternal! Praise the Eternal! Psalm 150:6 (VOICE)

Breath: respiration, especially as necessary to life.

Breathe: to take air, oxygen, etc., into the lungs and expel it; inhale and exhale.

Breathing is necessary to life! I take in oxygen and then expel. It’s a natural reflex. I don’t have to think about breathing. I don’t practice breathing. It “just happens”. 

Just think if praise became a natural reflex, just as breathing is. How would that change my attitude, my outlook, my overall day? 

If I want to make praise an automatic reflex, it needs two things.

First, I have to “inhale” who God is, and what He is doing. For how can I praise God if I don’t know about Him?

And secondly,  since praise is not an automatic reflex, like breathing, I must train myself! I have to create a habit of praising God. Then if I continue to practice the habit of praise.... if will become an automatic reflex! 

I can’t think of an easier way to create a positive day, than to create an automatic reflex of praise!