Every day
“Every day will I bless thee; and I will praise thy name for ever and ever.”Psalm 145:2
Reflection
This is the last devotional of the 365-day cycle. Perhaps you read it after a long walk, day after day, or perhaps you come upon it by chance on an ordinary day; in any case, the verse that closes the cycle is a decision: "Every day will I bless thee; and I will praise thy name for ever and ever." David does not promise a single grand gesture, but a constancy: every day. Faith is sustained in ordinary days, one after another, and not only in extraordinary moments.
Note the combination of two scales of time: "every day" and "for ever and ever". The praise that fits in one day is small, but added up the days form a life, and life flows into eternity. What we do today, in small, is a rehearsal of what we will do forever. Whoever learns to bless God on ordinary days is already training for eternity. And note the verb "bless": to speak well of God, to acknowledge His goodness aloud. To bless is the opposite of complaining, and it is an exercise learned by practice.
Why "every day"? Because God's goodness is also daily. The book of Lamentations says the Lord's mercies are new every morning, and great is His faithfulness. Each day brings a new reason to give thanks and a new need to depend. A daily habit protects the heart from routine: even on days of weariness, sadness or boredom, the commitment to bless remains, and it itself gradually transforms the mood. It is not necessary to feel like it in order to begin; often the willingness comes after we begin.
For today and for those that follow: choose a rhythm that fits your real life. It may be a prayer of thanks on waking, a short reading, a verse repeated during the day, a moment of silence at night. If you fail one day, begin again the next, without guilt. What matters most is not to have completed a list, but to have cultivated the desire to be with God. May the Lord go with you tomorrow, and the day after, and every day to come. Every day, for ever and ever.
Prayer
Lord, thank You for every day You have given me and for all You will yet give. I want to bless You every day and praise Your name for ever and ever. Sustain my desire to be with You on easy days and on hard ones. May my whole life, day after day, be praise to You. Amen.
Put it into practice
Set a simple daily rhythm for being with God (a prayer on waking, a short reading, a thanksgiving at night) and begin today. If you fail one day, begin again the next.
To reflect on
What small daily habit of blessing God do you want to keep from today on?
Bible text: King James Version (public domain).