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Mouths of Praise We sing, we shout, we dance, we clap, and we play instruments; we do all of this to bring honor and adoration to God. But what does God expect? What does He look for? What is He most interested in? Psalms 34:1 says "I will bless the LORD at all times: his praise [shall] continually [be] in my mouth." Notice here that "shall" and "be" are in brackets. When we read the verse without the two words, we get a deeper meaning of what David was saying. "I will bless the LORD at all times: his praise continually in my mouth." The first thing God looks for is His praise being continually in our mouths. This verse is like the one that says, "Pray without ceasing" (1 Thessalonians 5:17). How does one keep praise continually in his mouth? One way is to consciously give all credit to God for everything that comes our way. "I will bless the LORD at all times." In all things, good or bad, we can give glory to God. This is a wonderful exercise to work against the flesh. The more we give thanks and glory to God, the less our flesh gets. This way we can make our spirit man stronger and our flesh man weaker. When things go right, we usually get praised one way or the other; but we can direct that praise to God. When things go wrong, we usually get down, but we can again praise God because our steps are ordered and directed by Him. If He is truly Lord of our life, then we can praise Him no matter what! Another way to keep His praise continually on our lips is to keep worldly music out of our lips. We cannot have the praise of God in our hearts or on our lips if we are listening to anything that is not giving glory to God. The number one thing God is most interested in is our hearts. And, if our hearts are filled with the desires to listen to or sing the music of this world, then our hearts are not searching after Him. We must be rid of music (worldly or "Christian") that does not give sweet fellowship consisting of adoration, love, affection, and gratitude to God. Living with God is like being married. Our spouses give us praise whether circumstances are good or bad. We would never want our spouse to praise another or spend most of their time listening and talking to another, but we would want their adoration and affection. It is the same with God. He does not want our hearts concentrated on music of the world, but He wants our hearts to be given over totally to Him. All the praise, all the glory, all the affection are to Him. We are in the courtship days with Him and will one day be married. We should surely declare: "Let my mouth be filled with thy praise and with thy honour all the day" (Psalms 71:8). Let us praise Him, praise Him. That is truly what He desires. Let praise continually be on our mouths from now and for eternity. - Chad Ross
June 1996 Newsletter | Freedom From Bondage | The Battle | Pastor's Journal - June 1995 Mouths of Praise | Steadfastness: Its Requirements, Work and Rewards Revised: June 25, 2008. |
Biblical Counseling for Leaders
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