Years ago, a popular Gospel song had these words: “Let’s just praise the Lord, praise the Lord, let’s just lift our hearts toward heaven and praise the Lord!”

The psalmist put it this way: “I will bless the LORD at all times: his praise shall continually be in my mouth” (Psalm 34:1).

Praise is a choice! “I will….”

We can choose to offer praise to God or we can choose to complain, mumble, and grumble about our situation in life. When Paul and Silas were beaten and put into prison in Acts 16, the Bible says that at midnight they prayed and sang praises to God and “the prisoners heard them.” Why do you suppose they all stuck around after the earthquake when they had the opportunity to escape? Probably because they had never heard anybody praise God in a situation like that! They realized that these two men had something they didn’t have, but wanted.

Sometimes, when we feel that God has been unjust or unkind to us, we want to withdraw our praise. But if we will stop to think about it, we’ll realize that He has blessed us even in our trials. Job is a perfect example of that. He knew that God had a plan for his life, that God was good, and that He never makes a mistake or treats His children unjustly. He said that God “knoweth the way that I take. When he hath tried me, I shall come forth like gold.”

Do we bless the Lord “at all times,” or only when things are going our way? Is His praise continually on our lips, or only occasionally?

God is constantly blessing us. If we were to take inventory of His blessings, we would quickly lose count. Therefore, let’s just praise the Lord!

“By him therefore let us offer the sacrifice of praise to God continually, that is, the fruit of our lips giving thanks unto his name” (Hebrews 13:15).