Praise the LORD. Praise God in his sanctuary; praise him in his mighty heavens. 2 Praise him for his acts of power; praise him for his surpassing greatness. 3 Praise him with the sounding of the trumpet, praise him with the harp and lyre, 4 praise him with tambourine and dancing, praise him with the strings and flute, 5 praise him with the clash of cymbals, praise him with resounding cymbals. 6 Let everything that has breath praise the LORD. Praise the LORD.

In the religious world today we see two very different extremes in the style of services offered. This is not to say that none are between the extremes but most I have observed have fallen closer to one end or the other. There is the service that is so stoic, formal and rigid that the air could be cut with a knife. The story is told of a young man in a service of this type who was escorted out when he said aloud “praise the Lord” and was told “we don’t do that in here.” On the other end is the service that is so fraught with emotion that reason is nowhere to be found. In one of these services a very meaningful talk was given prior to communion. After the communion, the preacher got up and said “after that I probably need to just sit back down and not say anything” – to which a lady shouted “AMEN!” (That one is actually true.)

God is the one who gave us emotion and he expects us to express it. He is also the one who gave us reason and he expects us to use it. Go back and read this Psalm again. Does it not seem that the worship being offered is filled with emotion? The Psalmist had so experienced the working of God in his life and had observed the handiwork of God so often that he could not stifle his praise for God, even if he tried. On the other hand, he had so often reasoned the nature of God, the love of God, his majesty, his caring and compassion, his deliverance from harm and so many other things that he could never offer praise that was just an emotional frenzy with no real thought. Praise without thoughtful reasoning is not really praise. Praise without emotion may be thoughtful but is it really from the heart? When Jesus told the Samaritan woman that worship is to be “in spirit and in truth”, he was telling her that it must be from deep within and an expression of both thought (reason) and emotion. We need to be excited about praising God!

O God, please help me to be very thoughtful and thus reverent in every expression of praise I offer to you but help me to allow my emotions to flow and express my heart. I praise you for your love toward me in so many ways. I ask that you will be with those who are sick and hurting. I pray for your healing in their lives and use me to help them. I pray in Jesus’ name.

May God bless each of us as we praise him in all we do today.