Psalm 92:1-3 (NIV), “It is good to praise the LORD and make music to your name, O Most High, [2] proclaiming your love in the morning and your faithfulness at night, [3] to the music of the ten-stringed lyre and the melody of the harp.”
Why is it good to praise the Lord? We cannot answer the question unless we understand what praise is, that is, the essence of praise. Hence, the psalmist adds: “proclaiming your love in the morning and your faithfulness at night.”
Simply put, praising the Lord is proclaiming his love and his faithfulness, praise is proclamation! And, proclaiming is announcing officially or publicly. Here the psalmist is telling us that it is good to bring to public places/arena or making the public aware of the love of the Lord, the Most High, and his faithfulness. Praise must not be confined to the four walls of our churches/temples or the privacy of our homes!
Similarly, Psalm 89:1-2 (NIV), “I will sing of the LORD’s great love forever; with my mouth I will make your faithfulness known through all generations. [2] I will declare that your love stands firm forever, that you have established your faithfulness in heaven itself.”
Obviously, praising the Lord is not the same as making music to his name. Can’t you sing with your mouth without making music (using ten-stringed lyre and the harp)? Hence, the psalmist writes (Ps 92:1), “It is good to praise the LORD and make music to your name, O Most High,”.
The psalmist’s adding music to praising the Lord evokes the picture of celebration, celebrating the Lord’s love and faithfulness -yes, the love and faithfulness of the Lord are to be celebrated daily publicly! We’re not talking abstract here as praise is about what God has done for us corporately and individually in history and daily.
The reality of the love of God and his faithfulness to each one of those who call on his name are such that we have to proclaim or make his works known to the world! Through our praising the Lord the world is confronted with the fact that He (God) is not just a figment of our imagination….God is real and very much involved in our daily living.
God has ordained praise as a means to making his works known to every living souls through all generations. Evidently, praising the Lord and making music to his name is meant to be uplifting and anyone in the habit of doing it will concur with the psalmist that it is good to praise the Lord.
However, as proclamation of the works of God (what God has done), praise creates public awareness of the love and faithfulness of the Lord so that all the generations can understand that no one has to face the challenges of life alone (on his/her) own.
The psalmist deliberately links God’s love to the morning and his faithfulness to the night. True, king David said to the Lord (Ps 63:6), “on my bed I remember you; I think of you through the watches of the night.” However, the psalmist wants us to remember every morning that waking up is a gift from God, not to be taken for granted -Remember the chorus “this is the day that the Lord has made…”?
Every night at home after work or any other commitments we need to remember that it is thanks to God’s protection and provision on account of his faithfulness. Imagine what your life could be like if the Lord was to deny you both his love and faithfulness! How could you not praise Him!!!
In praising the Lord we actually want to inspire anyone who can hear the sound of our voice to consider calling on his name even in times of trials so that they can know (experience) His love and faithfulness (Word/covenants/promises).
Why is it good to praise the Lord and make music to his name?
When was the last time you praised the Lord? Please don’t tell me it was last Sunday at church….
May God help us all!
