Psalm Meditation 1269 ¶Proper 23 ¶October 13, 2024 ¶Psalm 147 https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=psalm+147&version=NRSVUE (NRSVUE) ¶Singing praises or simply speaking them is a good thing to do and a good habit to encourage in our lives. When we offer praise to God, we acknowledge that God is good to us, and that much of what we have comes from and is the result of the presence of God in and around us. A definition of praise that I learned several years ago is that praise is for who God is, while thanksgiving is for what God does. The psalmist does not seem to use that definition, seeing the being and doing of God as all being praiseworthy. ¶As we get into the habit of giving praise to God, we will, hopefully, find that we are seeing more and more that is praiseworthy in the people and things around us. While many of us find humor and camaraderie in insulting each other in a light hearted way, I wonder how different our lives and attitudes would be if we found and made ways to praise each other for the good things that we do well, even the attempts we make at doing quality work in our lives. Praising God and those around us makes a positive contribution to the world in which we are blessed to live. ¶As we sing or recite our hymns, songs, and psalms of praise to God we will discover that the world is a much less scary place to live. There will still be evil in all of its forms, and it will always want to overpower us with fear and hatred for everything we don’t fully understand. By tuning our hearts and lives to praise, we will see all of the positives Paul lists in Philippians 4:8, “ Finally, brothers and sisters, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is pleasing, whatever is commendable, if there is any excellence and if there is anything worthy of praise, think about these things.” ¶October 7, 2024 ¶LCM