Continuous Praise
1. I will bless the LORD at all times: His praise shall continually be in my mouth.
2. My soul shall make her boast in the LORD: the humble shall hear thereof and be glad.
Psalm 34:1-2
In order to fully embrace the meaning of continuous praise from King David’s perspective, we must know something about his character, his challenge, and his choice. First, it was David’s character to love God more than anything else. He had gained a reputation, with God as his witness; David was a man after God’s own heart. What does that say about his character? It speaks volumes that David loved God and sought above everything else to please God. Was he a sinless man? Absolutely not; he had faults just like you and me. But he never allowed his faults to interfere with his praise. From a character perspective, he sought to offer continuous praise.
Secondly, David was a man that faced tremendous challenges. These were not merely minor life issues as we all face from time to time. David faced those life threatening challenges. King Saul was hunting David as if he were an animal. David sought to find refuge wherever he could, and many times did not know what would happen on tomorrow. By the way, you know you are facing a major challenge when your problem sets the agenda as to how you will spend your day. David discovered this wonderful truth that God was with him through every challenge and crisis. God had made an unbreakable and irrevocable covenant with David. From a challenge perspective, David sought to give God continuous praise because he knew that God would never forsake him.
Then thirdly, David was a man determined to give God praise. He notes in many of his psalms that others had made their choice to serve idols, or trust in riches, or other things. David praised God by choice. It was his choice to dance with all his might. It was his choice to pour out refreshing water to the Lord rather than drink it to quench his thirst. No one was forcing David to praise God. He sought to praise the Lord because God had been good to him. David gave praise because God’s mercy never failed. It was David’s choice. Based on that choice David was consumed with continuous praise.
Continuous praise is a defense system for your spirit. It is the type of praise that does not check the weather conditions or amount of support. Continuous praise is given in season and out of season. Continuous praise can only be expressed by those who are sold out to the Lord. It does not work for those who are less than fully committed.
The Praise Invitation
The Church has yet to discover the tremendous benefit of continuous praise. For many, praise has been limited to ceremonial exercises or selected religious expressions; praise is much more. Praise is more than the songs we sing and the response of people clapping. Praise is our awesome opportunity to boast about God and His goodness. Praise becomes confusing to the enemy because the Devil tries to convince us of what God had not done for us; Praise is acknowledgement that God has done everything and more. Praise says God is all we need. The lack of praise is a sure sign that sin is lurking to lead us in the wrong direction. Eve started listening to the wrong person; looking in the wrong direction; and liking the wrong things. The same will happen to us unless we focus our attention on God through continuous praise.
For that reason, we need to heed David’s praise invitation. David literally asks us to come and join him in praise in Psalm 34:3, O magnify the LORD with me, and let us exalt His Name together. For the sake of continuous praise and the discovery of its true meaning, let’s take David up on that invitation. Let’s visit with him to discover what this continuous praise is all about.
Continuous praise is first, our gift to God. Verse 1, I will bless the Lord at all times. Praise is more than our statements made about God. True praise comes from the heart that overflows with gratitude to God. This kind of praise places a value on God’s goodness and says that above all powers and dominions; God is the only one who will get this. No one and no other thing will get this praise. It is for God and God only. We often think of God giving gifts to us and that is certainly true down to the very breath that fills our lungs. With that breath we turn right around and bless the Lord for His goodness. Praise is the only gift we can give to our Loving Heavenly Father. So give the Lord what He deserves; continuous praise.
Not only is continuous praise our gift to God, it is also our announcement of God. Praise is our announcement of God, because we get to brag about the great things that He has done. Verse 2a, My soul shall make her boast in the LORD is a statement to someone about God. Again, notice that this is continuous praise. So, when I make my boast to someone, I am really boasting about God to anyone who will listen. It is much like the story of the old beggar who made his way through the streets of a certain city. Because he was a beggar no one paid him much attention and often talked bad about him. One person stopped and listened and heard the old beggar say, “I’m just a nobody – trying to tell everybody – about the Somebody who can save anybody.” Despite the fact that the beggar did not have the earthly things, he still had a treasure. God was his treasure and he boasted about God. That is continuous praise.
Here is the part that we need for our spiritual defense system. Praise is the expression of our encouragement from God. The toxicity of this world will wear you down and wear you out. You will become weary as if you were working the fields on a hot summer day. It is praise that gives us encouragement. Verse 2b, the humble shall hear thereof, and be glad. It is important for us to know who are the humble and secondly, how the humble are made glad. Some would argue that the humble are those who maintain self-control. While that may be true of self-made people, it is not true of God’s people. God makes us humble through discipline and His control over our spirit. We develop a humble heart before God because we want to hear from Him. When the world is making noise, we are humbly listening to a quiet and still voice from God. When we hear it – we know it. When we know it – we rejoice in God; because we know that God will grant the petitions of our heart. Gladness is not something we get from obtaining things. We hear from God. I heard the voice of Jesus say, “come unto Me and rest.” Our gladness is tied into the hearing of God’s Word.
Now that we have taken David up on the invitation to continuous praise, let’s apply that praise to the toxic things of our world. Each time you enter a toxic situation or circumstance you need to remember: Continuous praise.
Engaging Your Praise
How do you engage your praise in a toxic world? The answer: you engage it on purpose. Don’t do praise as a last resort. Don’t do praise to impress the other Church members. Don’t do praise to show you are spiritual. Do praise because it is the right and only thing we can ever give to God. It is our gift to Him only if we give it right. So bring it strong and with an humble heart.
The toxic things of this world can destroy us emotionally, physically, and spiritually. When you offer your continuous praise to God, it actually becomes the prescription for all of life’s circumstances. David understood that praise could not just be an occasional thing if he was to be a man after God’s heart. In one Psalm, David said, I will rise up early and seek God. He discovered that was not enough, so he wrote another psalm, “three times a day I will seek the Lord.” God kept blessing his life and he discovered that was not enough so he wrote another psalm, “Seven times a day will I praise and give thanks to the Lord.” Still he recognized that was not enough so he wrote in Psalm 34:1, I will bless the LORD at all time, His praise shall continually be in my mouth. When praise is in your heart it lifts your head above your enemy. It looks to God and draws its strength from God. If you have noticed toxic things make you want to exhale and cough to get it out. But great things make you want to inhale in order to get it into your life. God inspires us. Praise is for all time.
David was not a selfish person. He understood the needs of others. He was not like some Church folk who only want to see themselves with blessing. David recognized that God’s mercy overflowed every day and so he invited others to join with him. Praise is for all people. Verse 6, this poor man cried, and the LORD heard him, and saved him out of all his troubles. What’s happening in that verse? David is actually praising God when other people get blessed. How can you do that? First, you get to see others enjoy the mercy and goodness of God. Secondly, you realize it won’t be long before it is your turn again. All time praise gladly recognizes God’s blessings are for all people.
Praise reminds us of all God’s blessing. There should never be a question in our mind about where our help comes from. It was not good luck, good charm, or good conditions that brought blessings your way. It was God. Verse 7-8, the Angel of the LORD encamps round about them that fear Him and delivers them … O taste and see that the LORD is good; blessed is the man that trusts in Him. Why do we praise God? Because God is good. But not only is God good, God has sent His Angel to camp out with us. Not only has God sent His Angel to camp out with us, God has also sent deliverance. Then David invites us to taste and see.
Lastly, praise works at all times. Verse 4, I sought the LORD and He heard me and delivered me from all my fears. There will never be a time when God does not hear us. There will never be a situation where He cannot deliver us. If God does that all the time; then I will give Him praise all the time. That’s continuous praise.