Let all That has Breath Praise the Lord

Praise him with the clash of cymbals, praise him with resounding cymbals.  Let everything that has breath praise the Lord.  Praise the Lord.  -Psalm 150: 5, 6

Here again is the call to praise the Lord using all sorts of instruments.  If you can make a joyful noise then by all means do so.  But notice also the call for everyone to praise the Lord.  Let everything that has breath praise the Lord.  As long as we have breath in our bodies we are expected to praise the Lord.  So the only excuse I would have for not praising the Lord is if I am not breathing – which means that I will have crossed over and I can praise the Lord in person – up close and personal.  Here we see that it is a given that we will praise the Lord.  God gives us spiritual power to do just that – to lift up and exalt His name in any and all circumstances.

Another consideration with this verse is that we are to praise the Lord in the company and fellowship of other believers.  Let everything that has breath praise the Lord.  When we are together in worship we are to lift up our voices in praise to God.  If we can go to a sporting event and cheer for our team then surely we can exalt the Lord together.  Lifting up our voices to God is not done out of obligation, but from glad and thankful hearts.   

A story is told of John Wesley and how that when he was a young man he was, sad to say, a little snobbish and sarcastic.  When he was a student at Oxford University he met a porter who was an extremely poor man, but always kept a vibrant and positive attitude.  Wesley noted that the man only had one coat and was so impoverished that the small home he lived in did not even have a bed.  And yet the man was always happy and giving praise to God.  One day Wesley asked the man, rather sarcastically, “And what else do you thank God for?”  The man replied, “I thank Him that He has given me my life and being, a heart to love Him, and above all a constant desire to serve Him!"  Those who knew John Wesley said that this encounter was the beginning of a new outlook in the preacher’s life, and that from then on he strove to be more thankful to God and more humble.  He stayed with that conviction, because many years later, in 1791, as he lay on his deathbed at the age of 88, he began to sing, “I’ll Praise my Maker While I’ve Breath.”  There is an attitude of praise that keeps on thanking God and seeking to be like Christ no matter what the circumstances of our lives.

Praising God keeps us humble when we might otherwise have grown arrogant.  Praising the Lord keeps us thankful when we might otherwise have grown bitter.  Lifting up our voices in praise to God keeps love in our hearts when we might have begun to grow hateful.  Praising the Lord keeps us looking up and trusting the Lord when we might have thought about giving up.  Praising the Lord will empower us on those dark and gloomy days when our spirits are downcast. 

God commanded us to praise Him for a definite purpose – that He would be glorified and we would reap a blessed benefit.  Praise the Lord.  Let everything that has breath praise the Lord. That includes you and me.  Praise the Lord!