"I will bless the Lord at all times. His praise shall continually be in my mouth." Psalm 34:1
Do you ever get the feeling that some things in the Bible, particularly the ways of the patriarchs and the prophets, were just way beyond the practical application of everyday people? Take the first verse of Psalm 34 for instance.
"I will bless the Lord at all times. His praise shall continually be in my mouth." David wrote these words inspired by the Holy Spirit. But not everything he did and said dripped with the anointing of heaven. So what could he have meant by “at all times” and “continually?”
If we think of blessing the Lord and praising Him continually with what we say as perfectly speaking scripture at the times, no matter what the circumstance, questions or occasions then it would be virtually impossible. How would you order a meal in a restaurant?
Instead of saying, “I’ll have the surf and turf with a side salad and clam chowder. You would say, “…prepare a table before me…the good of the land…fish of the sea…, cattle…and…creeping things...” And you would have to say dot-dot-dot for the words that don’t apply to the moment.
Or, how would you tell the plumber the sink is stopped up, or tell your children to stop fighting with one another, or a host of other routine communications? Is the intent of this passage that we become scripture reciting automatons?
I don’t think so. But there is definitely a call to have the Word of God and the praises of God as the central focus of all our communication. Jesus, who perfectly pleased the Father, is our model for how to bless the Lord at all times.
Consider this. He was in constant communication with the Father and only spoke what He was given to speak by God.
Then Jesus said to them,
“When you lift up the Son of Man, then you will know that I am He, and that I do nothing of Myself; but as My Father taught Me, I speak these things. John 8:28
He lived to please the Father. He was on a mission to do the will of God and to accomplish God’s purpose for His life. His reason for being was not to please himself, but, simply and exclusively to please God.
And so He did. He blessed the LORD at all times because His every thought, word, and action were done with the intent of showing the world the will of God, the nature and character of God, the heart of God and the manner of God’s dealing with mankind.
“If you have seen me, you have seen the Father.” When Peter confessed that Jesus was (is) the Son of God, He was perfectly in tune with the Spirit of God and He spoke a profound word of truth. He praised and worshiped God in one simple sentence.
“When Jesus came into the region of Caesarea Philippi, He asked His disciples, saying, “Who do men say that I, the Son of Man, am?” So they said, “Some say John the Baptist, some Elijah, and others Jeremiah or one of the prophets.” He said to them, “But who do you say that I am?” Simon Peter answered and said, “You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.” Jesus answered and said to him, “Blessed are you, Simon Bar-jonah, for flesh and blood has not revealed this to you, but My Father who is in heaven…” Matthew 16:13-19
What God revealed to Peter in that moment, Peter spoke, and in so doing He praised and worshiped God. “You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.”
In another place Philip asked Jesus to reveal the Father to them.
“Philip said to Him, “Lord, show us the Father, and it is sufficient for us.” Jesus said to him, “Have I been with you so long, and yet you have not known Me, Philip? He who has seen Me has seen the Father; so how can you say, ‘Show us the Father’? John 14:8-9
So, here are two foundational truths of our faith in God.
Jesus said, “He who has seen me has seen the Father.” And Peter confesses. “You are the Christ (Anointed One) the Son of the Living God.”
On these alone hang all our hope. Jesus is the Son of God, the perfect image of God, and God has raised Him from the dead. It is God, the Holy Spirit who has revealed Him to us.
As His disciples we are called to be like Him in every thought, word and deed. So that ultimately there is no distinction between Him and us. Jesus prayed the Father for this very thing in John 17:11-23.
And that is the work the Holy Spirit, working in us, to make us indistinguishable in character and heart with Jesus and with God the Father.
More tomorrow…