The Pastor's Blog

By Larry Day

Did you ever notice in Scripture, that often when God gives us the command to praise him he also gives us reasons to do so?  For instance, in Psalm 150 we’re told to praise God.  Why? We praise him for his mighty deeds and his excellent greatness. That same thing happens in Psalm 103, where David tells us to bless the Lord – and then gives us multiple reasons why to do so:

Bless the LORD, O my soul, and all that is within me, bless his holy name! Bless the LORD, O my soul, and forget not al his benefits who:

Forgives all your iniquity, heals all your diseases, redeems your life from the pit, crowns you with steadfast love and mercy, satisfies you with good so that your youth is renewedlike the eagles’s.  The LORD is: merciful and gracious, slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love. He will not always chide, nor will he keep his anger forever.  He does not deal with us according to our sins, nor repay us according to our iniquities! For as high as the heavens are above the earth, so great is his steadfast love toward those who fear him; as far as the east is from the west, so far does he remove our transgressions from us. A father shows compassion to his children, so the LORD shows compassion to those who fear him. For he knows our frame; he remembers that we are dust.

Those of us, who have been reconciled to God through the cross of Jesus Christ, have an infinite number of reasons to praise God!  No, we don’t live in a vacuum that is void of trials, persecution or pain – far from it!  I think it’s important to acknowledge those hurts, it’s important to grieve and it’s important to confess our struggles. But, how can we not worship him whose mercies are new every morning, and whose compassions never fail? How can we not praise him who changes us through our trials (sometimes not necessarily the trial itself) and in so doing makes us more like him?  He is good!