Praise Devotionals- 18

David praised the LORD in the presence of the whole assembly, saying, "Praise be to you, O LORD, God of our father Israel, from everlasting to everlasting. Yours, O LORD, is the greatness and the power and the glory and the majesty and the splendor, for everything in heaven and earth is yours. Yours, O LORD, is the kingdom; you are exalted as head over all. Wealth and honor come from you; you are the ruler of all things. In your hands are strength and power to exalt and give strength to all. Now, our God, we give you thanks, and praise your glorious name. (1 Chronicles 29:10-13)

One of the great assets in the life of David was his zeal to praise the Lord and glorify him whenever the opportunity arose. Not that one needs an opportunity to praise God. He is worthy to be praised at all times and in all seasons. Not climatic seasons, but seasons of joy, seasons of grief, some good seasons when praise comes spontaneously while some bad seasons when we may not even feel like praising him because of adverse circumstances in our life.

One of the phrases we read here is “everlasting to everlasting” i.e. David acknowledges the eternal nature of God. In the few verses of praise above David acknowledges his God to be omnipotent, omniscient and omnipresent. Yes, our Lord is all in all, yet he loves his creation and has mercy and compassion on them. David also acknowledges God as the great giver here..the giver of wealth, honor, strength and exaltation.

David was never ashamed to glorify God publicly. In fact his zeal for worshipping and glorifying God brought some adverse comments from his own wife. All to her loss, because she remained childless all her life. We read in the 2nd book of Samuel;
“David, wearing a linen ephod, danced before the LORD with all his might, while he and the entire house of Israel brought up the ark of the LORD with shouts and the sound of trumpets. As the ark of the LORD was entering the City of David, Michal daughter of Saul watched from a window. And when she saw King David leaping and dancing before the LORD, she despised him in her heart. (2 Samuel 6:14-16)

When David returned home to bless his household, Michal daughter of Saul came out to meet him and said, "How the king of Israel has distinguished himself today, disrobing in the sight of the slave girls of his servants as any vulgar fellow would!" David said to Michal, "It was before the LORD, who chose me rather than your father or anyone from his house when he appointed me ruler over the LORD's people Israel - I will celebrate before the LORD. I will become even more undignified than this, and I will be humiliated in my own eyes. But by these slave girls you spoke of, I will be held in honor." And Michal daughter of Saul had no children to the day of her death. (2 Samuel 6:20-23)

Notable here is David’s decision despite the insult: “I will celebrate before the LORD.”

Some people may make a hue and cry when you set out to worship the Lord in spirit and in truth. Most of the objections come from close family and friends. Let your decision be firm and always be bold enough to say like David said, “I will celebrate before the LORD.”