Praise the Lord!

https://odb.org/MY/2023/04/13/tears-of-praise

One of the beauty of the Psalms is that if we choose any one, chances are the Psalmists were praising God. This is because, in general, Psalms are praises for God.

The other thing is that we are taught to praise the Lord regardless of what we are going through. Life, as we all know, has both valley and mountain top experiences. So praising God in times of joy and rejoicing comes naturally, but to do the same during sorrow and sadness, that requires some getting used to and faith. Thus, the phrase, tears of praise. We are crying, and yet we are praising God. Comes across as being somewhat pretentious and fake, but the reality is we praise the Lord because we know God knows best.

For example, if a loved one who is in the Lord passes away, as much as we miss him, we are assured he is in the good hands of Jesus Christ, our Lord, at a much better place as they say in funerals. If he was not in the faith, we believe God has given all the chances to him to accept Jesus, and he needs to face the consequences of his decision. We still praise God because we trust in His eternal justice system.

Other instances are something bad or an accident that has happened, but we praise God as it could have been worse, much worse. Or if there was a setback, we praise the Lord knowing that He will work things out for the good of those who love Him and who are called according to His purpose (Romans 8:28).

If we read Psalm 30:5, we will see that His anger is only for a moment, but His favour lasts a lifetime. Weeping may stay for the night, but rejoicing comes in the morning. Meaning to say, there will be a rainbow at the end of every tunnel of life we are going through, although some are longer and more endless than others.

So long as we are in the Lord, there will be rejoicing. Thus, we praise the Lord regardless of the present for the future can only be good no matter how gloomy the present may appear to be in our eyes. He is our Lord and Saviour. Why would He save us for a lifetime of suffering, misery, and sadness only? Surely goodness and mercy will follow us the rest of our days as we dwell in the house of the LORD forever? We will have eternal glory and reward, but here on this earth, while living in the centre of His will and serving in His Kingdom of Grace, we will have the favour of God and that can only mean peace, love, joy, compassion and the goodness of God. His favour lasts a lifetime! Amen!