Psalm 113:1-9 Continual Praise Due

Praise is due our God for His hand on His creation. He never stops working on behalf of His children. Continual praise is due Him.

“From the rising of the sun to its setting, the name of the Lord is to be praised!” (verse 3). I would say that these exhortations are for ALL the earth. That way there is continual praise resounding to Him. As the sun is setting in one area it is also rising in another. An unbroken chain of praise.

Praising God isn’t only a ‘daytime’ thing either. Praises and prayers ring out in the night too. Why? Because He is worthy and our hearts know this well. The mother whose troubled child can’t sleep. She sings His praises and her child finds rest.

This was my middle son. He had ear infections so often as a child that I wondered if he would ever have peace. I remember MANY times standing in the waiting area of the clinic or emergency room with him in my arms. The ONLY thing that quieted his cries was one specific song of praise to the Lord. I would sing it to him as I pivoted in a circle swaying to the music and rocking him in my arms. NO other song would do. I still think of those nights when that song rises in my heart. The comfort it gave my son is beyond words. His little heart seemed to know that song was a promise of peace and security for him. I was looking on YouTube for a video of it but I couldn’t find one. Maybe I will post one later. Too noisy right now with my vacuum going.

I LOVE the last picture this psalm gives us of God’s hand at work. “He gives the barren woman a home, making her the joyous mother of children. Praise the Lord!” (verse 9). This is not a sorrow that I have personally struggled with but it is one close to my heart. My heart breaks for the women in the world who long for a child but their own bodies deny them this gift. God still hears their cry and sometimes He chooses to answer it in a different way. Sometimes it is through a miraculous conception like in Elizabeth’s case and other times it is through caring for children God has already placed in the world. The single father who God brings across this yearning woman’s path. Her heart is bursting with love and God gives her a place to express that love and children to fill that longing. This sounds exactly like the description given in the psalm. We don’t know why the father is without a mother for his children but we see that God met the needs of everyone in this family.

Another way God can meet this yearning is through adoption. A child in need of both mother and father can find love just waiting to be shared. And it doesn’t have to be only an infant. Children of ALL ages need love. Even those that have been damaged by their previous life. My God who is able to fill the barren mother’s heart can also fill the child’s.

I have no idea how I got off on that track but I trust someone needed to hear it. God knows what He is doing even when we don’t understand it. Trust Him with your WHOLE heart. And give Him praise for the life he has given you. He knows EXACTLY what we need. Sometimes what we need is to turn that longing towards Him instead. Only He knows what tomorrow holds. Praise Him for yesterday, today AND the tomorrow He has in store for you; even if that tomorrow doesn’t line up with what you had envisioned.

Father God You ARE worthy to be praised. There is NONE like You in all the universe. You know exactly what I need in life and exactly how to bring me closer to You. Thank You for the love You pour out on all of Your children. Forgive me for not always recognizing Your love in ALL of its forms. ‘Lessons’ are love too. Thank You for ALL of them!

Thank You for bringing someone to stand beside me in life. My life isn’t exactly what I would have planned out but it is what YOU gave to me. I praise You for every step of it!