Psalm 9:1-2

It’s good for us to ask the question: “What is praise?” It certainly isn’t simply a matter of singing a few Christian songs, beautiful as they may be. And it doesn’t necessarily happen when we attend a service of worship. It has to do with the state of our hearts, not just our mouths. We can read the Bible and sing spiritual songs all day long, but if our words are not flowing from a heart that is in love with God, then we are just going through the motions. In this psalm David speaks of praising God with his whole heart. He knew that his life depended upon God and his praise flowed from the recognition that without the Lord he would have been totally lost. This is a challenge to all of us. Half-hearted worship is totally inappropriate when worshipping the God who has given us everything. CH Spurgeon, the famous Victorian Baptist preacher, put it well when he said: “A half heart is no heart at all.”

We can’t be sure when David wrote this psalm, but it has been suggested that it might have been after he had slain Goliath. What is clear, if you read on through the psalm, is that he had been up against fearful opposition. He had been taunted by his enemies and snatched back from the jaws of death (v13). David’s outpouring of praise was rooted in specific experiences of God’s grace and power.

We may well not have faced the extreme dangers that David confronted. But we have all been through times of challenge and difficulty. We have faced illness, the death of people close to us, disappointments etc and, through it all, the presence and care of God has never been far away. Our praise needs to be rooted in those experiences just as it was for David. He referred to the marvellous things that God had done. It’s important that we don’t forget the equally marvellous things that God has graciously done in our own lives so that we can use them as a springboard for praise.

Question
What are three of the marvellous things that God has done in your life?

Prayer
Lord God, I praise your name because you have blessed my life in countless ways. Help me never to forget the marvellous things that you have done. Amen

Released on 26 Oct 2023