Daily Bread

O praise the Lord, all you nations;
praise him, all you peoples.
For great is his steadfast love towards us,
and the faithfulness of the Lord endures for ever.
Alleluia.

I've been short-changed - hehe! Yep, the whole of Psalm 117 is comprised of four lines with 'Alleluia' (an expression of praise) at the end!

Praising God is a choice and does not depend on our feelings or our circumstances. God is always and continually worthy of praise because God, the Holy Trinity, is unwavering in their steadfast love and faithfulness.

Of course there are going to be times in our lives when we don't feel like praising God. Perhaps we are suffering with depression, feeling low, experience pain, grief, heartbreak, or shame, but choosing to praise God, even when the world around us is falling apart is an expression of faith and trust.

When my life fell apart back in 2016; when I lay alone in bed at night, sobbing with tears streaming down my cheeks and an unbearable, excruciating pain in my heart, in my desperation, I found prayer almost impossible, but I could utter the expression, "Praise to you, O God." Those words were not an expression of a happy, fulfilled heart overflowing with abundant love, but me reaching out in desperation, trusting (at least with my words) in a God I desperately hoped would be hear me.

To pray those words is a declaration, a challenge, and to move out of the shadows and make yourself vulnerable. It is to claim your inheritance as a beloved child of God, therefore, today, wherever you find yourself and whatever your circumstances, I hope you too will be able to echo those words from Psalm 117 and declare God's praise.

Holy God
Today, I choose to praise you,
for great is your steadfast love towards me
and great is your everlasting faithfulness.
When my life is falling apart
and I struggle to find the words,
my your praise be always on my lips,
as I declare my faith and trust in you.
Now and forever.