Praise Belongs: Reasons to Praise the LordSample

Day 2 - Praise For God’s Provision

As we talked about yesterday, praising God is sometimes really difficult work. There are days where praise flows out easily from our lips and then days where our arms feel far too heavy to raise above our heads. And yet, we are still called to praise the Lord because He is deserving. If you are struggling with the belief that God is good and righteous - that’s okay! There are plenty of other reasons to praise Him. Today we want to explore praising God for the way He has cared for us before.

In the first verse of the song “Praise Belongs” by CXMMXNS, they sing, “He delivered us with an outstretched arm, His endless love has overcome.” The Lord is a deliverer and cares deeply for us in times of trouble and difficulty.

In Psalm 13, David writes from a place of deep pain. The opening lines are David confessing frustration with a lack of the Lord’s presence, “How long, Lord? Will you forget me forever? How long will you hide your face from me?” (v. 1). Perhaps you may even feel the weight of this Psalm currently. You feel like the Lord isn’t present or that He is a God of forgetfulness. It’s okay to feel these feelings - but we encourage you to express them like David does!! He is honest with the Lord, fighting for vulnerability - even if it feels counter-cultural.

Similarly to Psalm 7, it is thought that this Psalm was written during David’s time hiding in the wilderness from King Saul. He would have been weary, exhausted, frustrated (after all - he did everything “right”) and burdened. But, in the midst of this suffering - Psalm 13 does not end here.

After David laments, he turns to praise. Despite everything he was going through, he ends chapter 13 with this, “But I trust…” (v. 5). BUT I TRUST!! What a declaration of faith, outside of circumstances. David may not have seen God’s goodness or His plan, but he chooses to trust anyway.

Verse 5 continues, “But I trust in your unfailing love; my heart rejoices in your salvation. I will sing the LORD’s praise, for he has been good to me,” (v. 5-6). While it may be hard to praise God for our present circumstances, especially if they look a lot like David’s did, we can, however, praise Him for what He’s done before. In the past, the Lord has been faithful. Not only has He saved us from death itself - but He has lavished us with good gifts since then.

Can you think of one way the Lord has shown up for you in the last 10 years? Here are some examples:

• Has the Lord blessed you financially?
• Has He healed a sick family member?
• Did He provide you with a new job after you lost the last?
• Did He give you children?
• Were you able to purchase a car?
• Do you have a roof over your head?
• Did you pass that test?
• Did you find community in that new church? Did you have a mentor there?
• Maybe you met your best friend?
• Did you find a prom date?
• Could you retire?
• Did you get to spend a weekend in the mountains? How about the beach?
• Did Jesus save you?

This is just a short list of things that you may have prayed for that the Lord has perhaps blessed you with in the last decade! It can be easy to look at this list and point out things that we don’t have - yet, we want to encourage you to dive deeper to meditate on the things that you DO have. Our God is so faithful, and he provided us with so many reasons to praise Him in the past.

Take a moment to turn on “Praise Belongs” and meditate on the ways the Lord has previously shown up for you. We are declaring that He will surely do it again!