Praise the Lord!
O give thanks to the Lord, for he is good;
for his steadfast love endures forever. Psalm 106:1.
Oliver Cromwell, as he neared the end of his memorable life, asked his
weeping friends, ‘Is there no one here who will praise the Lord?’
Five well-known words are associated etymologically with ‘praise’:
price, appraise, appreciate, prize, precious. To praise the Lord is to
appreciate him, either in words, or songs, or attitudes.
It’s a good thing to praise the Lord! Billy Graham does it every
morning by reading five psalms. Philip Melancthon found Martin Luther
depressed and suggested: ‘Come, Martin, let us sing a psalm and spite
the devil!’
‘Your praise’, says one translation of Psalm 8:1, ‘is rehearsed above
the heavens!’ One day you and I will participate in grand celestial
‘hallelujah chorus’: even the tone-deaf will enjoy the thrill of it!
And Lord, I can’t wait! Amen.