I will give thanks to the Lord with my whole heart; I will recount all of your wonderful deeds. I will be glad and exult in you; I will sing praise to your name, O Most High. Psalm 9:1-2 ESV
David wrote this psalm of praise and thanksgiving. In the face of enemies, he chose to praise God. I’ll admit, praise is not my natural go-to when life gets messy. Yet it’s precisely in those moments that I have to choose what will fill my head space; fear or faith, panic or praise.
Note David repeats the phrase “I will . . .” Praise is a choice. It is intentional. It is a deliberate decision to lift our focus off our situation and focus on the One who is our refuge in times of trouble (vs 9).
I will . . . give thanks
I will . . . recount
I will . . . be glad and exult
I will . . . sing praise
Then he goes on to enumerate all that God has done.
“Praise is the big gun of faith. Don’t make praising God the last weapon you take out of your arsenal in troubled times. Praise the Lord. Praise Him with all your might like David did. Praise Him until your victory breaks forth and changes even the most impossible situation” (Kenneth Copeland Ministries, https://www.kcm.org/real-help/faith/learn/36-reasons-praise-lord?language_content_entity=en-US)
Prayer: Lord, we lift up our eyes and our hearts toward you. Though sometimes hard-sought and hard-won, I will choose to praise you until my heart and my soul move beyond the here and now. In your name I pray, Amen.
Thought: In the hard times, praise is an act of obedience and discipline. It may not be spontaneous, but when we manage to praise God in the midst of the pain, the results can be dramatic – Dr. David Jeremiah