DAVID’S PSALM OF PRAISE

The central verse of this psalm provides today’s topic for meditation, because it emphasizes a significant but neglected responsibility. Worship and praise should not be limited to the formal gatherings of the assembly, but should be a vital part of the staple diet of our normal intercourse with the saints, v. 11.

The good sense of this is obvious. If praise is merely an attitude artificially cultivated for a few hours each week when we assemble to break bread or spend time in collective prayer, our hearts may well become hardened and coaxed into the complacency of a lifeless ritualism, Matt. 15. 8. Surely a praising spirit should always characterize God’s redeemed ones! David promises to bless the Lord daily, v. 2, and since God’s greatness is unsearchable, v. 3, there is no danger of running out of material for thoughtful adoration. It is only wise, then, to nurture our heart’s affections for God by filling our regular conversation with an appreciation of His majesty. When we read that the God-fearers in the O.T. “spake often one to another … (and) thought upon his name”, Mal. 3. 16, we can guarantee that the theme of their discourse was not the trivialities of the passing world, for “the world passeth away”, 1 John 2. 17, but the eternal excellencies of their God.

David’s psalm is the ideal guide to uplifting Christian conversation. When you are feeling low, get a friend to read it aloud to you, so that your thoughts may be brought into line with heavenly truths. Its content is simple but profound, rehearsing God’s greatness, vv. 3-7; grace, v. 8; and goodness, vv. 9, 14-20. How in all conscience can we remain gloomy when confronted with the glories of Jehovah, especially when told, “happy is that people, whose God is the Lord”, Psa. 144. 15. If only we were to grasp what our God is, we would find ourselves blessing His name, v. 10, encouraging other believers with what we have learned of His splendour, v. 11, and testifying to the unsaved, v. 12. Is your conversation filled with “the praise of the Lord”, v. 21, or is it composed of “salt water and fresh”?, James 3. 11, 12.

“And they talked together of all these things which had happened”, Luke 24. 14.