In the Habit of Praising

As human beings we have so many habits.  Most of the habits are not good.  We are in the habit of cussing, when we are mad.  We are in the habit of shopping, when we are depressed.  We are in the habit of going to church, when it is Easter, but not the rest of the year.  We are in the habit of reading a good book before bed, but not the habit of reading the Bible.  We are in the habit of sharing the latest juicy bit of information about someone to our friends, but not about sharing about Jesus.  We are in the habit of worrying, complaining and stressing about our trials and tribulations, but not in the habit of praising God for all the many things He does for us.  The habit of praising God is one great habit that David had.  When everything was looking so dismal in his life, he turned to God.  Even when he was on the run in the wilderness from King Saul, David took time to realize that no matter what was going on, God still was his almighty God.  Read these words he wrote in Psalm 63 verses 3 through 5 -

“3 Because Your lovingkindness is better than life, My lips shall praise You. 4 Thus I will bless You while I live; I will lift up my hands in Your name. 5 My soul shall be satisfied as with marrow and fatness, And my mouth shall praise You with joyful lips.”

His life wasn’t very good at this point and yet he praised God.  He said he was satisfied with whatever God allowed.  He even praised God “joyfully”.  He didn’t let the threat of death, lack of a home, or wilderness location control his view of God.  He understood that God still loved him and would take care of things His way.

It is a hard concept to grasp, but when God allows the bad times to come in to our lives it is for our best.  This concept should be an encouragement to us. We should therefore praise God even for those bad times and circumstances.  Are you in the habit of praising God?

In the Habit of Being Thirsty

When I am hot and thirsty, somehow over the years I have programmed myself to think that a nice glass of soda with ice will satisfy me.  My thirst will be quenched.  Unfortunately, the result isn’t always as good as I hoped.  The soda helps, but doesn’t really do the trick.  My habit of reaching for a soda is not really wise, when I am thirsty.  When I was young I should have trained myself to drink water, even if I didn’t prefer its taste in the beginning over soda.  Drinking water regularly may have been difficult, but it would have been better for me in the end.  My body would have been a whole lot healthier.

It is the same with our spiritual life.  Most humans have a tendency to reach for items that bring us pleasure.  We enjoy our hobbies and our friends, more than we enjoy spending time with God.  We enjoy a good adventure movie more than we enjoy reading our Bibles.  We enjoy our accomplishments in our careers more than our accomplishments in our work for the Lord.  In the end those choices will not be the best for us.  They are temporary pleasures that make us spiritually unhealthy.

David was running from King Saul and had ended up in the wilderness.  A place that was very dry and desolate.  While he was there he took the opportunity to pen Psalm 63.  His life was difficult and he had no clue how it would all end.  Yet, in this Psalm we see David’s wise heart.  He declared to us his habit of being thirsty for the Lord:

“1 God, You are my God; I eagerly seek You. I thirst for You; my body faints for You in a land that is dry, desolate, and without water. 2 So I gaze on You in the sanctuary to see Your strength and Your glory.”

What do you thirst for in this life?  Are you in the habit of wisely thirsting for the Lord?  Are you pleased by just seeing His strength and glory as you spend time looking at Him through His Word or His Spirit’s eyes?  You are in a dry, spiritually desolate place in this world.  This alone should cause you to thirst after the Lord.