I will praise you

Psalm 150,

"Hallelujah!
Praise God in his sanctuary.
Praise him in his mighty expanse.
Praise him for his powerful acts;
praise him for his abundant greatness.

Praise him with trumpet blast;
praise him with harp and lyre.
Praise him with tambourine and dance;
praise him with strings and flute.

Praise him with resounding cymbals;
praise him with clashing cymbals.

Let everything that breathes praise the Lord.
Hallelujah!"





At the end of a long day, when going through a hard time, when struggling with something.... often praising God is the last thing on our minds.

Yet, it's often those times when we should praise God most.

The world is evil and we don't understand why people commit unspeakable crimes.
The world is chaos and we're just trying to hang on for dear life.
The world is broken and we just want to feel whole.
The world can be ugly and we want to search for beauty.

How can we praise God when we see how the world is? By looking at who He is.

God is good and He remains so, always.
God is constant and He is faithful.
God is pure, holy, and perfect.
God is beautiful and majestic.

I love the book of Habakkuk and it holds some powerful truths. The book is a series of prayers from Habakkuk to God on behalf of his people, and God's response to those prayers. The book opens up with Habakkuk asking God questions. The Chaldeans - a cruel nation in those days - were headed towards Habakkuk's country, Judah. Habakkuk couldn't understand why in the world God, who is holy and good, would allow that to happen.

We often ask God questions. We don't understand. It's okay to ask questions.

But I think my favorite part of the book of Habakkuk is the ending.

Habakkuk 3:17-19,

"Though the fig tree does not bud
and there is no fruit on the vines,
though the olive crop fails
and the fields produce no food,
though the flocks disappear from the pen
and there are no herds in the stalls,
yet I will celebrate in the Lord;
I will rejoice in the God of my salvation!
The Lord my Lord is my strength;
he makes my feet like those of a deer
and enables me to walk on mountain heights!"

The book begins with questions and it ends with Habakkuk praising God. He's not praising God because he got all the answers, or because everything started going right. No, he praised God despite the fact that everything in his world was chaotic, to say the least.


No matter what we're going through, we can choose to praise God. After all, He deserves our praise no matter what.

Let's strive to praise God, even though we may not always feel like it.


1 Chronicles 29:13, "Now therefore, our God, we give you thanks and praise your glorious name."