Crazy Praise

September 23, 2019

“I will bless the LORD at all times: his praise shall continually be in my mouth.” (Psalm 34:1) You might be tempted to think that an utterance such as this is the word of someone who’s had it pretty easy in life; the well-heeled bon vivant who was born with a silver spoon in his mouth, but you would be wrong. The notes to this psalm tell us that David wrote it at a tie when he was dangerously pressed. Exiled from king Saul, who wanted him dead, he had fled to Israel’s historic enemy, the Philistines. Yes, these were the same Philistines whose champion Goliath David as a young man had rocked to permanent sleep, occasioning a military rout and earning him international fame as a fierce warrior. David must have been pretty desperate to imagine the Philistines would have such short memories that he could safely jump ship and they would welcome him with open arms. Amazingly, at first his ruse worked, but then a few astute Philistines said, “Wait a minute! Isn’t he the one about whom they sang, “Saul has slain his thousands, but David his ten thousands? We’re going out to fight against David’s people; no matter that he has incurred the enmity of Saul; if he gets the chance, he’ll surely turn on us.”

David realized he was in a tight spot, so he pretended to be insane, scribbling on the walls and drooling. They kicked him out, and David retreated into the wilderness where he began gathering together a band of guerrilla fighters who would later form the core of David’s military once he came to power.

The prelude to that 34th Psalm is important. It keeps us from imagining that praise is only possible when things are going well for us. It reminds us that praising God is what we do even when life is caving in on us. It is a choice we make to bend our will and attitude towards God even if we don’t feel like doing so. 

I’ve been asked about how I manage to write something every day. My answer is simple: I choose to do so. I don’t always feel thankful; Reasons to praise God aren’t always automatically on my mind. More often than not, I have to stop and think. It’s not that there aren’t reasons to praise God; it’s that my mind and heart are no different than anyone else’s. The Bible says “the heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked.” (Jeremiah 17:9). That goes for me just as much as it is true of anyone else. My natural tendency is to gripe and complain, to see the cloud in every silver lining. I must as Scripture says, “bring every thought to captivity unto Christ.” (2 Corinthians 10:5). Corralling my thoughts and feelings is not easy; they want to break loose and run all over the landscape of my soul. Every day, I must saddle up, ride out, and rope those wayward thoughts, and drag them back into the corral of God’s will and God’s Word. 

So today, even though my body and mind are tired, I choose to bless the LORD and have his praise continually in my mouth.