“Because Your lovingkindness is better than life, My lips shall praise You. Thus I will bless You while I live; I will lift up my hands in Your name. My soul shall be satisfied as with marrow and fatness, And my mouth shall praise You with joyful lips.”
Psalms 63:3-5 NKJV
Psalms 63 has a special place in my heart. I can’t read it without remembering the “One Thing” conference I attended in January 1999 at the Fort Worth Convention Center.
I was newly saved and spirit filled. My heart had moved from religion to relationship and I was just hungry for Him.
I was single at the time, living on a teacher’s modest salary while attending graduate school at Dallas Baptist University. Money was tight. I wanted to attend the conference but was unsure how I would pay. The Lord spoke to my heart to go, I paid – knowing couldn’t really afford it – and the morning of the event, a friend called to ask if I could interpret the One Thing conference last minute in lieu of a free registration. The whole event was life changing – from His miraculous provision to the people I met to His presence in worship. One of the songs we sang and was on the CD they sent home was this Psalms set to music.
I experienced His lovingkindness that weekend in a real and tangible way and it changed me forever.
In the passage above, two different Hebrew words are used for “praise”: šāḇaḥ – to praise in a public context and hālal – to celebrate, boast, or foolishly rave about. Foolishly rave about … think about the last amazing product you bought, the life changing one that you cannot live without – and how you rave about it to your friends. Or imagine the last concert you attended or nail biting game you watched (any final four fans??) and how you yelled and cheered loudly. THAT is the kind of “foolishly raving” David is referring to – the kind of praise that is exuberant and expressive.
He’s done so much MORE than that life changing product and He is so much better than that game or concert – yet, so often, our praise is reduced to a polite clap or whispered singing. Our praise of Him and all He has done is not meant to be silent! Praise is meant to be boastful and public because He is worth celebrating. May I be a raving fool for Him above all else and above all others.
Father – I know I said it at the time but I’ll say it again now – thank You for how You miraculously provided for my needs so I could attend the One Thing conference. You made a way for me and for the first time let me experience worship IN ASL. You’ve marked me forever. You are good. Your leadership in my life is perfect and You can be trusted. Amen.
Daily Reading: Psalms 17, 35, 54, 63