Forever and Ever and Every Day

“I will extol you, my God and King,
    and bless your name forever and ever.
Every day I will bless you
    and praise your name forever and ever.
Great is the Lord, and greatly to be praised,
    and his greatness is unsearchable.

One generation shall commend your works to another,
    and shall declare your mighty acts.
On the glorious splendor of your majesty,
    and on your wondrous works, I will meditate.
They shall speak of the might of your awesome deeds,
    and I will declare your greatness.
They shall pour forth the fame of your abundant goodness
    and shall sing aloud of your righteousness.

The Lord is gracious and merciful,
    slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love.
The Lord is good to all,
    and his mercy over all he has made.

All your works shall give thanks to you, O Lord,
    and all your saints shall bless you!
They shall speak of the glory of your kingdom
    and tell of your power,
to make known to the children of man your mighty deeds,
    and the glorious splendor of your kingdom.
Your kingdom is an everlasting kingdom,
    and your dominion endures throughout all generations…

My mouth will speak the praise of the Lord,
    and let all flesh bless his holy name forever and ever.” Psalm 145:1-13,21

David’s sense of God’s magnificent greatness lifted his will to extol His name. The infinite King was worthy of ongoing praise, forever and ever and every day. The measure of His mighty acts and splendor of His glory filled David’s meditations and spilled forth in unceasing declaration. His fame and righteousness, active and unchanging, elicited commendation then and through generations. If His kingdom and dominion endure, so would His praise.

Are we so taken with the Lord? Every day presents a myriad of things to ponder, choices to make, interactions to manage, activities to render. Where does the Lord fit in? How can we pause to ponder? The gracious Lord is active, interested, abounding in love and involved in every aspect of our lives, yet we often disregard His invisible work out of preference for what we can see and feel.

In the flurry of busy, where do we see His splendor? In challenges and strife, where do we see His goodness? In ugliness or dark despair, where can we trace His mercy? If we would commit to regularly blessing His name, and considering His works in the midst of ours, His evident eternal power and kindness would begin to pluck our heart strings to gratitude and wonder. It takes practice to make a habit of praise, and that habit can be contagious to people after us.

What is it we want to pass on? Is it gripes about the way things are, or were? Is it earthly wisdom and expertise that may benefit only for a while? Or is it a lifetime attitude of amazement at the Almighty, a mindset of praise in all things now and forever?

“O worship the King all-glorious above,
O gratefully sing his power and his love:
our shield and defender, the Ancient of Days,
pavilioned in splendor and girded with praise.

Frail children of dust, and feeble as frail,
in you do we trust, nor find you to fail.
Your mercies, how tender, how firm to the end,
our Maker, Defender, Redeemer, and Friend!” ~Robert Grant (1833)

Worthy God, may I praise You now and forever.