Praise at all times
“I will bless the LORD at all times: his praise shall continually be in my mouth.”Psalm 34:1
Reflection
The title of Psalm 34 reveals a context that changes everything: David composed it after pretending to be insane in the court of an enemy king to escape with his life — drooling on his beard, scratching at doors, in the most humiliating episode of his biography. It was FROM THERE, just out of the cave of embarrassment and still a fugitive, that he wrote: "I will bless the Lord AT ALL TIMES". Not in the good time. Not when he felt like it. At all times — including the time of shame, of flight, and of fear.
This redefines praise: it is not a thermometer of circumstances, it is a thermostat of the heart. The thermometer only measures the climate; the thermostat transforms it. Whoever only praises when everything goes well has a thermometer-praise — a hostage to the day. David proposes something else: praise as a decision ("I WILL bless" — future, choice) that alters the inner atmosphere before the outer one changes. That is why the psalm continues: "I sought the Lord, and He heard me, and delivered me from all my fears". Praise did not deny the fear; it was the way out of it.
Something happens when you praise in the valley that does not happen on the mountain. On the mountain, praise is a response; in the valley, it is warfare and declaration: "God, I worship You for who You ARE, not for what I see". It was the midnight praise that shook Paul and Silas’ prison; it was with the Levites singing IN FRONT of the army that Jehoshaphat won; it is "You are worthy" that the heavens sing before the throne while the earth boils. The enemy knows how to handle your complaining — it is his language. But he has no defense against a child who worships while bleeding. "Continually in my mouth" also points to a lifestyle: praise leaving the service hour and contaminating the daily — gratitude said aloud in the car, a song at the kitchen sink, a "thank You, Father" before coffee. Hebrews calls it a "sacrifice of praise": a sacrifice, because sometimes it costs; praise, because it always rises.
Prayer
Lord, I praise You now — not because everything is fine, but because You are good. Turn my praise from a thermometer into a thermostat: may it not depend on the climate of my days, but transform it. Receive my sacrifice of praise, including what costs me. You are worthy at all times. Amen.
Put it into practice
Begin the next 3 days with 2 minutes of praise BEFORE any request: list aloud who God is and give thanks — especially if the day dawns hard.
To reflect on
Has your praise been a thermometer (measuring your days) or a thermostat (transforming your days)?
Bible text: King James Version (public domain).