Morning, September 30
Go To Evening Reading
“Sing forth the honour of his name, make his praise glorious.”
Psalm 66:2
It is not left to our own option whether we shall praise God or not.
Praise is God’s most righteous due, and every Christian, as the recipient of his
grace, is bound to praise God from day to day. It is true we have
no authoritative rubric for daily praise; we have no commandment prescribing
certain hours of song and thanksgiving: but the law written upon the
heart teaches us that it is right to praise God; and the unwritten
mandate comes to us with as much force as if it had been recorded
on the tables of stone, or handed to us from the top of thundering
Sinai. Yes, it is the Christian’s duty to praise God. It is not only a pleasurable exercise, but it is the
absolute obligation of his life. Think not ye who are always mourning,
that ye are guiltless in this respect, or imagine that ye can discharge
your duty to your God without songs of praise. You are bound by the
bonds of his love to bless his name so long as you live, and his praise
should continually be in your mouth, for you are blessed, in order
that you may bless him; “this people have I formed for myself, they shall show forth my praise”; and if you do not praise God, you are not bringing forth the fruit
which he, as the Divine Husbandman, has a right to expect at your
hands. Let not your harp then hang upon the willows, but take it down,
and strive, with a grateful heart, to bring forth its loudest music.
Arise and chant his praise. With every morning’s dawn, lift up your notes of thanksgiving, and let every setting
sun be followed with your song. Girdle the earth with your praises;
surround it with an atmosphere of melody, and God himself will hearken
from heaven and accept your music.
“E'en so I love thee, and will love,
And in thy praise will sing,
Because thou art my loving God,
And my redeeming King.”