I will bless the Lord at all times: his praise shall continually be in my mouth. - Psalm 34:1

This short and simple verse is actually quite a mouthful. Look at what the psalmist is saying: "I will bless the Lord at all times." All times. Not just in the good times. Not just when I feel like it. Not just when it's convenient. But all the time.  The word bless in this passage means to praise, worship, honor or magnify. Now I ask you, is this something that you do all the time? If you're anything like me, the answer is no. But the verse doesn't stop there.

"His praise shall continually be in my mouth." On the surface, it appears that this phrase is simply repeating the opening phrase with different wording, and in a sense, that is exactly what is taking place. But it goes beyond that as well. If praise is continually in our mouths, then that means there is no room in our mouths for anything else, including griping, complaining, demeaning others or the like. We simply cannot praise and fuss at the same time. We have to either do one or the other, and I'm sad to say that there are a lot more complaints that come out of my mouth then there is praise.

I came across this passage last week in my Bible reading, and then one of the ladies in our Sunday School class brought it up again Sunday morning. Ever since then, I haven't been able to escape its convicting message. I need to follow the psalmist's example. I need to bless the Lord at all times. I want His praise to continually be in my mouth. I'm tired of whining and complaining when things don't go my way. The fact of the matter is that God is always good, no matter what circumstances we may be facing. He is always worthy of our praise and worship. It shouldn't matter how we feel or what kind of day we are having because, no matter what, God is faithful.

I don't know what you're facing today, but I encourage you to join me in this endeavor to praise more and grumble less. My prayer is that each of us will get to the point where we can honestly say that we  bless the Lord at all times and that His praise is continually in our mouths, no matter what. Will you join me?
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