At All Times

“I will bless the LORD at all times; His praise shall continually be in my mouth.” Psalm 34:1

We have reason to bless the Lord at all times and praise Him continually. Even if we couldn’t find a reason at any particular moment, we could still bless and praise Him by an act of our will. We could choose to do it because we know that He is worthy, in spite of how we feel, in spite of our circumstances, in spite of what’s happening in the world.

The meaning of continually is constantly, always, and perpetually, stretching out into eternity. That seems a long, long stretch sometimes, isn’t it?

It requires vigilance to praise Him continually. Do we have to be on the lookout for good things to happen? Is that the only reason we praise Him—because He’s doing good things for us?

No. We praise Him because He is worthy to be praised. Always. In spite of whatever. Because He never changes, is always good, always loves—and a million other reasons.

It may take some sort of trouble in our lives to teach us see Him as big as He is—to see Him as Comforter, Provider, Healer, Lover of our souls, Lifter of our heads, Deliverer, Redeemer. He can orchestrate all that. He can lead us on a path that enables us to see Him as the great I AM.

And once we see Him as big as He is, as able as He is, as mighty as He is, as beautiful as He is, then we have praise on our lips. We can bless Him at all times.

When we are tempted to look at our current situation, and when we feel we just can’t possibly climb up out of our dungeons of despair, depression and dejection, this is what we can do: We can remember God, and declare to ourselves and to the world…

“But God said…”

“But God promised…”

“But God gave…”

“But God came…”

“But God is…”

Lord, when we think of You, praise for You will be continually on our lips, for You are great, and greatly to be praised. May it ever be. Amen.