Praise

Praise

Praise the Lord! How good it is to sing praises to our God! How delightful and how right!

Psalm 147:1

I’ve been reading a lot about heaven recently. Consequently, I’ve also been reading about praise, because that’s what happens continuously in heaven—now and forever. Sometimes I think of heaven as an escape from pain, disappointment, frustrating work, or stressful schedules, and I am thankful that we’ll be done with all of the above when we get there. But heaven is much more than deliverance from problems—we’ll be in God’s presence and will enjoy and praise him forever. Forever is a very long time. I remember trying to understand the word eternity as a child and getting quite frustrated. Each time I thought about it, I’d think to myself, There has to be an end! But there isn’t.

If I’m going to praise God continuously in heaven, I need more practice doing it here on earth. In my devotional time one morning, I read Psalm 150:1-6:

Praise the Lord! Praise God in his heavenly dwelling; praise him in his mighty heaven! Praise him for his mighty works; praise his unequaled greatness! Praise him with a blast of the trumpet; praise him with the lyre and harp! Praise him with the tambourine and dancing; praise him with stringed instruments and flutes! Praise him with a clash of cymbals; praise him with loud clanging cymbals. Let everything that lives sing praises to the Lord! Praise the Lord!

After reading this psalm, I was prompted to do two things. The first was to read the verse about praising God with the sound of the trumpet to my eleven-year-old son, who was going to be playing his trumpet in band that day. The second was to take a walk outside after the children left for school and, while I walked, praise God. By the time I arrived back home, my heart was joyful, and I realized that praising God makes us feel full of him—as we always will in heaven!

God of forever,

We have so much to praise you for. May we practice praising you regularly on earth since we will be doing it forever in heaven. Amen.