Praise The Lord

Psalm 135:1-12

1Praise the LORD!

Praise the name of the LORD!

Praise him, you who serve the LORD,

2you who serve in the house of the LORD,

in the courts of the house of our God.

3Praise the LORD, for the LORD is good;

celebrate his wonderful name with music.

4For the LORD has chosen Jacob for himself,

Israel for his own special treasure.

5I know the greatness of the LORD—

that our Lord is greater than any other god.

6The LORD does whatever pleases him

throughout all heaven and earth,

and on the seas and in their depths.

7He causes the clouds to rise over the earth.

He sends the lightning with the rain

and releases the wind from his storehouses.

8He destroyed the firstborn in each Egyptian home,

both people and animals.

9He performed miraculous signs and wonders in Egypt;

Pharaoh and all his people watched.

10He struck down great nations

and slaughtered mighty kings—

11Sihon king of the Amorites,

Og king of Bashan,

and all the kings of Canaan.

12He gave their land as an inheritance,

a special possession to his people Israel.

This psalm begins with “Praise the Lord” and it ends with “Praise the Lord.” That’s the way Billy Bray started and ended things, too.

In the early 1800s Billy Bray was known as a no-good drunken miner in the village of Twelveheads in Cornwall, England. Then, through the reading of a book by John Bunyan, Billy was converted to Christ, and he was never the same again.

“I can’t help praising God,” he once said. “As I go along the street, I lift up one foot, and it seems to say, ‘Glory,’ and I lift up the other, and it seems to say, ‘Amen.’ If they would put me into a barrel to keep me quiet, I would shout, ‘Glory’ out of the bunghole. Praise the Lord.”

Billy would often say about the Lord, “He has made me glad and no one can make me sad; he makes me shout and no one can make me doubt; he makes me leap, and no one can hold down my feet.”

Shortly before his death, Billy was asked if he was afraid, and he answered, “My Savior conquered death. If I was to go down to hell, I would shout, ‘Glory, glory’ to my blessed Jesus until I made the bottomless pit ring again, and then old Satan would say, ‘Billy, Billy, this is no place for you; get out of here.’ Then up to heaven I should go, shouting, ‘Glory, glory, praise the Lord.’ ”

The following tribute was written for him:

His dress was always homely;

His dwelling somewhat poor,

But the presence of his Savior

Made up for that and more.

AUTHOR UNKNOWN

Psalm at a Glance

This psalm gives four reasons for praising God: (1) He is good (verse 3); (2) his choice of Israel as his people (verse 4); (3) his creative power (verses 5-7); and (4) his deeds throughout history (verses 8-12).

Notable Quotable

“Israel’s election (as ours) was an election to responsibility more than privilege.”

W. T. PURKISER