The other day I was reading Psalms 34 and I was struck by how amazing the opening lines were.
I quote, “I will bless the Lord at all times, his praise shall continually be in my mouth!"
I thought about the concept of no matter what's happening in your life, that God is still worthy of your praise.
In heaven around Gods throne, praise is continually going on towards him. There's never a moment where they stop and say, ok that's enough.
They have the clear understanding in heaven, that we are created to serve and worship God. But down here on earth, surrounded as we are with life that's far removed from heaven, we can still offer to God our praise and bless his name.
David said in this Psalm, 'his praise shall continually be in my mouth'
The word continually, literally means to do something without end. A flow of praise from our lives that ascends to God, on a continual basis, as we offer it through his Spirit.
It also talks about doing this at 'ALL TIMES'
In other words, no matter how your days going, no matter how your feeling about life or yourself, all of that's irrelevant and we're just going to praise him anyway!!
I don't care how I feel, that's not stopping me from praising him with everything that's within me.
We can all get lackadaisical in our approach to God. If Serving him or praising him or prayer to him or love for him becomes dependant on wether or not we feel like it or can be bothered or if we're desperate enough we want him now now then I feel that we are missing something so important when we live that way.
It's imperative to be serving God from a willing heart, a grateful heart, a heart of worship and love aimed in his direction.
'They that worship the father must worship him in Spirit and in truth for the father seeketh such to worship him. God is a Spirit and they that worship him must do it in Spirit and in truth!'
Not out of a false religious pious observance of ritual we go through once a week on a Sunday, but an expression through his Spirit within us of our devotion to God and out gratefulness for all he's done for us!
King David knew the meaning of being grateful and living with a kind of permanent praise tent pitched in his heart wherever he wandered, wether he was being chased silly by Saul in the wilderness or just finishing up killing a giant.
His heart was towards, in love and forever searching for this amazing person of God who he dearly longed to know!
You and I could learn lessons from this guy and perhaps alter our speed dial from lukewarm to on fire for God now!