Read:Psalm 146

Praise the Lord! This Psalm begins and ends with these words: praise the Lord! Do you always feel like praising the Lord? Do you feel like praising him when your friends are being nasty to you or when your grandparent is sick and dying? Do you feel like praising the Lord when the party you were looking forward to has just been cancelled?

How can the psalmist tell us to praise the Lord all the time, with our whole being?

Let’s just think about Jesus (who would have sung this psalm) for a moment.. He did indeed praise the Lord always! Never once did he stop praising the Lord. Even when he suffered hunger, was mocked, was in pain, was sad or hurting, he praised the Lord. Oh yes, the Lord Jesus experienced all these sad and difficult moments, and yet he was able to praise the Lord all the time. What we are not able to do, he did perfectly.

Yet the Holy Spirit tells us in the psalm that we are to praise the Lord always. We can do this when we praise him for who he is and not for what he gives us. God is your Father because of Jesus Christ. Because of Jesus’ perfect obedience, including his perfect praise, you are allowed to be God’s child.

Verse 5 tells us that we are happy, or blessed, if we have this God as our helper. He is the one who created the heavens and the earth. He is the one who feeds the hungry or opens the eyes of the blind. He is the one who forgives your sins. It’s because of who God is that you can praise him. Then you can praise him also when you are sad or hurting, when you are upset or lonely. You can praise him because he is always with you. He never sleeps or goes on holidays. No, he cares for you always. He is always your God and Father. Praise the Lord. Hallelujah!

Reflection with your child:

Why can you praise God, even when you are hurting or sad?

Source: Sermon by Rev. R. Vermeulen