EXALT HIS NAME TOGETHER!



I was meditating on Psalm 34:1-3 this morning and it stopped me in my tracks…

I will extol the LORD at all times;

His praise will always be on my lips.

My soul will boast in the LORD;

Let the afflicted hear and rejoice.

Glorify the LORD with me;

Let us exalt his name together.

We have some folks at New Hope who are going through some very difficult times.  I was praying for them this morning as I thought about Psalm 34.  How hard it is to extol the Lord at all times!  What about when you are enduring a lot of physical pain?  What about when you are watching people you love suffer?  What about if you are the caregiver for someone who is suffering?

So I went and did a pastoral visit this afternoon.  We have a dear lady in hospice at home and I went to see her.  Here’s how our conversation went…

“So how are you doing today?”

“I have good days and bad days,” she responded.

I asked her, “Is the Lord still taking care of you every day?”

She nodded.  “Oh yes!  He is still making me more and more like Jesus!”

“So even in your hard times you are still growing closer to the Lord?”

Again she nodded.  “I’m suffering but Jesus suffered too.  He suffered for me so I could have life!”

“Ah,” I wisely replied.  “So you are able to keep thanking him and praising him even through this very trying time?”

She nodded.

The Lord is worthy of our praise.  What he has done for us coaxes adoration and worship from our hearts even when we are going through the hardest of times.  But here’s what struck me.  Am I the kind of person who has an infectious praise life?  Do the suffering hear my praise and rejoice with me?  When I am meeting with people do I draw them into glorifying the Lord together with me?  Do we end up exalting his name together?

That’s the kind of person I want to be.  The Lord laid that on my heart this morning so at breakfast tomorrow I will try to get my friend to exalt his name together with me so God will rejoice in us!