As I wake up to morning—
to the last bat ping,
first bird song,
paling of the sky—
let my heart wake up to you,
open wide to take in light,
listening for the welcome
in your voice and then
breaking into praise!
Is praise the first impulse that sunrise and a new morning brings to you? I often find my mind preoccupied with remembering 1) what day this is and 2)what is on my to-do list. But joy comes when I turn my heart to praise the One who made this day. Yesterday may have been full of challenges. But if I remind myself that God got me through that (maybe I even saw him intervene in a particular way as a result of my prayers), then when I lift my heart to thank him for that relief and forthis dawn I feel my apathy and apprehension dissove.
I sing in the choir at GraceWay Bible Church, and a song that we came back to this past Sunday is one based on Psalm 34. During practice and during the service it brought calm to my swirling concerns—I could sweep them away and focus on all God means to me and has done for me. This Sunday praise is now leading me to contemplate what “praise” actually includes depending on the context and the Hebrew word used in the original text.
In Psalm 34, where it says “I will bless the Lord” the Hebrew phrase is (ʾaḇārēḵ YHWH)[1]:
I will bless the LORD at all times; his praise shall continually be in my mouth. (Ps. 34:1 ESV)
I will praise the LORD at all times; my mouth will continually praise him. (Ps. 34:1 NET)
Many English versions translate this as “bless.” You can see in the New English Translation above it is “I will praise the LORD”! I always wondered how I, a human, can possibly “bless” Yahweh, the Sovereign Lord. I know that he has blessed me! So I’ve looked up the background to this phrase.
It turns out that the first praise word in that psalm, ḇārēḵ, means “knee” when it is a noun. When I looked up its meaning as a verb, I found that depending on the context it can mean “to kneel down,” a position of worship, or as in Psalm 34.1, to praise him, to thank him for what he has done. The way this Psalm begins shows that this sense of gratitude definitely is included:
Written by David, when he pretended to be insane before Abimelech, causing the king to send him away. (Psalm 34.1 NET)[1]
David was humbly vowing to not forget to thank God in reverence for saving his life: he would never stop praising him, but would do it “at all times,” meaning all the time, always. Even when times continue to be hard, we are to be thankful for God’s presence , what we have seen him do in the past and his promises. We are urged to do this in the New Testament too:
. . .give thanks in all circumstances; for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus (1 Thess. 5:18 NIV)
David underlined that he would be singing a praise song constantly (it would be “on his mouth/lips”). The second word in the sentence evoking praise is תְּהִלָּה a “song of praise”. That word is used in the introduction to Psalm 145:
Song of Praise. Of David. I will extol you, my God and King, and bless your name forever and ever. (Ps. 145:1 ESV)
Here it introduces the musical term for the psalm, then the word “bless/praise” comes after the part that emphasizes giving honor to the Sovereign God, extolling him.
So what does all this communicate to us? I am struck by the example of reverently thanking God for who he is and what he has done, and letting my heart sing! So here is a way to put it into practice;
Following David’s example, when you rise in the morning and notice the blessing of a new day, you can thank him for all that you can bring to mind: creation, health, or what he has done in your life to bring you to this point. Bow your body or your heart to him and launch a moment of praise. Recognize the self-control that he gave you in a tense situation, or the access to medical care that you had when you really needed it—whatever you have experienced. Then think of a praise song if you can! Here is one that hails from my youth:
“This is the day, this is the day that the LORD has made, that the LORD has made,
I will rejoice and be glad in it, and be glad in it . . .” (cf.Psalm 118.24)
When I leave the house for my morning walk, if I look at the lacy silhouette of tree leaves against the sky (whether it is gray with clouds or pearly clear blue) and notice the birds or flowers, then I can add thanks to him for his creativity. When my phone rings and the voice on the other end is my daughter who lives far away, I rejoice that we have this modern-day connection, a gift from God. There are so many reasons to “bless” Yahweh, to acknowledge his ongoing involvement in our lives and to sing to him! Let’s do it! Let’s sing that well-known song that was my younger sister’s theme as she wrestled with leukemia and then joined her Lord, “Ten Thousand Reasons”:[2]
Chorus Bless the Lord, O my soul, O my soul, worship His holy Name. Sing like never before, O my soul. I’ll worship Your holy Name.
Verse 1 The sun comes up, it’s a new day dawning; It’s time to sing Your song again. Whatever may pass and whatever lies before me, Let me be singing when the evening comes. (Chorus )
Verse 2 You’re rich in love and You’re slow to anger, Your Name is great and Your heart is kind; For all Your goodness I will keep on singing, Ten thousand reasons for my heart to find. (Chorus)
Verse 3 And on that day when my strength is failing, The end draws near and my time has come; Still my soul sings Your praise unending, Ten thousand years and then forevermore.
Chorus Bless the Lord, O my soul, O my soul, worship His holy Name. Sing like never before, O my soul. I’ll worship Your holy Name. Bless the Lord, O my soul, O my soul, worship His holy Name. Sing like never before, O my soul. I’ll worship Your holy Name.
[1] Biblical Studies Press, The NET Bible First Edition; Bible. English. NET Bible.; The NET Bible (Biblical Studies Press, 2005), Ps 34:title.
[2] Matt Redman and Jonas Myrin
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