The following devotion is a repost of a September 2020 post that I believe is very timely for our country, especially with so many negative things going on. I challenge you to start praising God in all situations and watch how God will bring joy to your soul – even when your heart is heavy.
It may seem counterintuitive but when you are feeling down in the dumps the best and quickest way to get out of the doldrums is to get excited about the Lord and begin to praise Him.
One of the greatest secrets I have ever learned in my Christian walk is found in (Psalm 150:2): “Praise Him for His mighty acts; Praise Him according to His excellent greatness!” The key is that we don’t praise God based on how we feel, but based on who He is. This marvelous verse says to praise God according to His excellent greatness. When we meditate on this, we realize His greatness is indeed awesome and praiseworthy – all the time. So, praise doesn’t depend on feelings alone but on how we view God. And if we view God based on His character, power, and holiness we should always be ready to praise Him.
(Romans 8:28) says: “And we know that all things work together for good to those who love God, to those who are the called according to His purpose.”
It is so important that we understand this, because when we do, we will realize even difficult situations will be cause for praise since God is going to work it out for good.
Another special verse on why we should praise God at all times is (Isaiah 61:3): “To console those who mourn in Zion, to give them beauty for ashes, the oil of joy for mourning, the garment of praise for the spirit of heaviness; that they may be called trees of righteousness, the planting of the Lord, that He may be glorified.” When you are feeling down, or as this verse says, have a spirit of heaviness, put on the garment of praise. In other words, envelop yourself in praise to God. I guarantee you when you do this God will begin the process of lifting your spirit and countenance as you take your attention off yourself and place it on God.
But some may say that if you don’t feel like praising God and do it, aren’t you being a hypocrite? To this I say no way. We do things we don’t feel like doing all the time. We take care of a sick child and stay up all night sometimes nursing them back to health. We come in on a Saturday to our job when our boss tells us he needs us there. In both of these cases, as well as many others, we certainly don’t feel like doing these activities but we do them because it is the right thing to do. And this goes for praising God when we don’t feel like it. When we do praise God, I believe God gives us an extra blessing, when we do it and don’t feel like doing it, because God sees our heart and is pleased. Remember, anyone can praise God when things are going well. It takes character and real love for God when we praise Him when we don’t feel like it.
And remember this – the reason we praise God is because He is worthy of our praises not because of how we feel. I believe having this attitude will help us to deal with our down days so much better when we focus our attention on God and not on ourselves. So, let’s praise God at all times and watch how He changes our hearts and lives for the better!