LifeLink Devotions

Monday, September 4, 2023

Psalm 145:1   “I will praise you, my God and King, and bless your name forever and ever.”

Several years ago, my brother gave me a Bible. It had been our mom’s personal study Bible. It had been given to him as one of the personal items we divided up after mom died. He handed it to me and said that he would like me to have it and use it. I accepted and said that I would.

As I opened the Bible one morning I was immediately taken to Psalm 145, where my mom had written some extensive notes on praise. There is an old outline of the chapter written in the margins of her Bible, and then there were notes on paper expanding on the outline. The notes in the Bible were old.  I can tell from the quality of the paper notes that they were made not long before her death, probably after she had been diagnosed with her terminal cancer. That’s what makes them so meaningful. The notes are entitled “Reasons to Praise.”

Imagine that – my mom’s focus during her dying days was on praising God. I started to cry. They were tears of loss mixed with tears of shame. I am embarrassed that I don’t praise God more, especially when according to my expectations things are going wrong. I suppose you can relate. We have an expectation about how the circumstances of our lives should result in good, and we get discouraged and annoyed when they turn out wrong. Yet from God’s perspective there is nothing wrong. There is only the expression of His grace as He trains us to have more faith and to be more faithful.

Here’s my challenge to you today. Read Psalm 145. Use my mom’s outline as a tool to let the Lord teach you how and why to praise God. Then consider this – how bad do things have to get before we let go of our need to control and complain? When will we start praising God who is in control of all things and working them out for His glory and our good?

Reasons for Praise (by Ruth A. van Gorkom)

1. God’s Greatness – vs. 1-3
2. God’s Majesty – vs. 4-6
3. God’s Mercy – vs. 7-9
4. God’s Kingdom – vs. 10-13
5. God’s Grace – vs. 14-16
6. God’s Holiness – vs. 17-20
7. God’s Name (His Character) – vs. 21

I will praise His holy name for ever and ever! Thanks for modeling that to me, Mom, even when in my opinion everything was wrong.

Pastor John