PRAISE YE THE LORD. (Part 1)
Psalm 146 Verses 1-4 read:
Praise ye the LORD. Praise the LORD, O my soul. While I live will I praise the LORD: I will sing praises unto my God while I have any being. Put not your trust in princes, nor in the son of man, In whom there is no help. His breath goeth forth, he returneth to his earth; In that very day his thoughts perish.
Praise is one of man’s duties towards God. Indeed, in eternity, man will live in an environment of continuous praise and worship to God. Participants of this environment will comprise men who have obtained eternal rest in heaven together with the heavenly hosts. Praise is the celebration of God and his mighty acts. This series will focus on certain psalms of the bible that commence with the phrase “Praise ye the LORD.” Special emphasis will be given to the last five chapters of the book of Psalms. All these psalms are calls on men to praise the Lord. Why? Because God is deserving of praise based on his mighty acts and excellent greatness.
Today’s text begins with a repeated call on men to praise God. This places importance on the need to praise God. The psalmist says that “While I live, I will praise the LORD.” Beloved, praise is life-based. It is the duty of the living, not the dead. Praise must have an object, and the psalmist defines the object of his praise as the LORD, that is, the Almighty God. The psalmist chooses to make the melody of praise through the singing of songs that project the great acts of God. Melodies establish harmony in singing that beautify the praise of God.
Praise must go to a trusted one, and this is a quality that is attributable to God. Whatever a man trusts is most likely to attract his praise. We are admonished not to put our trust in princes or the sons of men. In spite of their royalty and the dignity of princes, it is a risk to put one’s trust in them because they are mortals and can therefore fail. The help of man is limited and unreliable. Praise must, therefore, go to the dependable one who can be trusted absolutely. God is the best fit for the praise of men. Beloved, the recipient of breath owes it a duty to praise the giver of breath. Yes, mortals must give thanks and praise the immortal one, who alone is truly worthy of praise.
SHALOM 🙏🙏🙏🙏🙏🙏🙏