In Psalm 34:11, David’s declaration and our instruction is to “bless the Lord at all times: his praise shall continually be in my mouth.”

How quickly our minds shift or provide fleeting thoughts which draw our attention away from our initial focus. Time is moving so fast, as we try to keep up with the ever-changing times that sometimes it’s as if we forget what happened just the day before. Often, I return to work after a long weekend and when asked what I did over the weekend, I must pause to respond, with effort. I return to work and my focus instantly jumps to the tasks in front of me and what expectations I need to fulfill. 

During a time when everything is moving so fast, we continually seek after the next thing, in fear that we will miss something. We seek after the next task, the next meal, the next trip, while losing sight of the here and now. Yet gratitude for the present moment will slow us down and return our hearts to joy and contentment. Perhaps this declaration from David is bringing us back to the here and now. “His praise will always be in my mouth;” in every moment, in every season and circumstance, let me not forget to praise. In the suffering and in the celebration, let my praise be consistent, no matter what the situation. Whether we’re on the mountaintop or in the deepest valley, there is a hill connecting the two. Maybe we’re currently in the valley experiencing death and destruction, but there is a path that leads us out of the valley toward restoration and rejuvenation. Whatever my location on the path, I will continually bless the Lord with my lips and my confession.

Always and at all times. Reading this declaration from David, it felt as though he was talking to himself that at all times is not sufficient, he repeated and added ‘always’. As a believer, always may feel like enough, why does David repeat himself? We offer our daily service with commitment to prayer and study, we attend weekly church services, and we carry the anthem that no matter what, I will bless the Name of the Lord. So why does it feel like David is repeating himself? I needed the reminder this past week, that at all times feels a little different than always. I have committed my life to servitude to the Lord and will always declare His sovereignty. But sometimes in the moment, during very dark times, receiving heartbreaking news, our lives become flipped upside down by loss and violation, there is a different praise that arises, a deep praise that declares at all times“his praise will continually be in my mouth.” How counterintuitive this seems to such a self-centered world. But how much peace and freedom there is linked to a life of surrender to our Heavenly Father. We capture the moment when we remain in praise and lift up the Name of the Lord.

“Faith is when you praise God in the storm, you trust Him in the valley and you follow Him in the dark,” author unknown. 

“When thou passest through the waters, I will be with thee; and through the rivers, they shall not overflow thee:” He continues in the same sentence “when thou walkest through the fire, thou shalt not be burned; neither shall the flame kindle upon thee,” Isaiah 43:2.

“The Lord is my strength and my shield; my heart trusted in him, and I am helped: therefore my heart greatly rejoiceth; and with my song will I praise him,” Psalm 28:7.

Your Sister in Christ,
Patricia

Patricia Velasquez, PTA, BS, CWCA, CLT