These lips were made for praising

I will extol the Lord at all times;
his praise will always be on my lips.
I will glory in the Lord;
let the afflicted hear and rejoice.
Glorify the Lord with me:
let us exalt his name together.
Psalm 34:1-3 (NIVUK)

I’ll be honest: Praising God is rarely the first thing I want to do. In other words, God’s praise is rarely on my lips, especially when things are going badly. You may have heard the saying:
 
“When the going gets tough, the tough get going.”
 
I wonder whether David is trying to tell us something else; something more like:
 
“When the going gets tough, my lips better get praising.”
 
David wrote this psalm after he pretended to be insane in front of Abimelek, “who drove him away and let him go” according to the intro of this psalm. The going must have been pretty tough for the man who had a heart after God’s own heart.
 
And yet, David’s first reaction is to praise God, and to encourage everyone to do so. Not just when the going gets tough, but every minute of every day, everywhere for every reason.
 
A couple of weeks ago I did a talk at an All Age Service about Solomon’s prayer at the grand dedication of the newly built temple. One of the things that stood out for me in that very long and rich prayer is that Solomon first recognised who God was, is, and always will be, and only then started asking God for his blessing and guidance. It made me wonder if other people in the Bible whose prayers were recorded also did this. And I think they did.
 
David certainly did it throughout all the psalms he wrote. Moses did it. Paul encouraged churches to do it.
 
Jesus acknowledged God’s provision before feeding the 5,000. He followed the same model when he taught the disciples to pray. He even did it in the Garden before he was crucified.
 
Why would we not do it as well?
 
Two things will happen when we praise God, ie. recognise who God is and respond accordingly: 

1. We will be doing something that is closer to our great calling in life (to glorify God and enjoy him forever)
2. Our circumstances will be put into perspective by the eternal majesty and glory of who God is. We will, necessarily, look at our circumstances differently in the light of God’s glory. 

May his praise be ever on your lips, in all circumstances, so that when the going gets tough, you’ll already know what to do, because you’ve been doing it all along.
 
A prayer - Lord God, you are majestic, just, righteous, powerful, magnificent, glorious, kind, loving, able to save, and so much more. Help me see who you are every day, in every circumstance, and let me respond in praise as it is fitting to do. Amen.
 
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