I Will!

We don’t always feel like reaching for nutritious vegetables.  Sometimes it takes a lot of effort to get off the couch and go to the gym.  We purposefully turn off the screen so that we can climb into bed and get the sleep that our bodies need.  And when we do, when the self-discipline is more powerful than the self-indulgence, when we act in spite of our feelings, we are so much better for it!  We are healthier and stronger and better able to face the daily challenges and responsibilities that lie before us.

If this is true for our physical well-being, how much more is it true for our spiritual well-being.  We may not always feel like praising and worshipping and singing for joy. So often we get into the habit of coming before the Lord with our needs and our requests and petitions – which we absolutely should! – that it is takes an effort, a purpose in our hearts, to enter His gates with thanksgiving and His courts with praise.  To give thanks to Him and bless His name.  (Psalms 100:4)

But what if praising and worshipping and singing for joy isn’t about how we feel, but about what we choose? When we read the book of Psalms, we notice over and over again that David says, I will!!

I will give thanks to the Lord with my whole heart.  (Psalms 9:1-2)

I will offer shouts of joy.  I will sing and make melody to the Lord.  (Psalms 27:6)

I will bless the Lord at all times.  His praise shall continually be in my mouth.  (Psalms 34:1)

So will I ever sing praises to Your name. (Psalms 61:8)

My lips will praise you. I will bless you.  I will lift up my hands.  I will sing for joy.  (Psalms 63:3-7)

I will praise the name of God with a song.  I will magnify Him with thanksgiving.  (Psalms 69:30)

I will give thanks to You, O Lord my God, with my whole heart.  I will glorify Your name forever.  (Psalms 86:12)

I will sing and make melody with all my being! (Psalms 108:1)

I will extol you, my God and King, and bless Your name forever and ever. (Psalm 145:1)

Every day I will bless you and praise your name forever and ever.  (Psalms 145:2)

I will praise the Lord as long as I live.  I will sing praises to my God while I have my being.  (Psalms 146:2)

It’s not like David had an easy, carefree, Hakuna Matata life.  He fought fierce battles and had many enemies.  His own beloved son wanted to kill him!  Many times in fact, he lamented that he was in a pit or trapped in a net.  Or that his feet were stumbling.  Or that his pillow was wet with tears.  

So how can he say, when he is feeling battered and worn and weary, that he will praise every day? Forever and ever?  At all times?  It doesn't make sense!  It seems impossible!  When David says, I will sing and praise and bless and extol and lift up my hands and praise, he is not necessarily saying that he feels like doing those things.  Not at all!  What he is saying is that in spite of the storms of destruction (Psalms 57:1); in the midst of those afflictions and overwhelming circumstances; in the face of hardship and pain and suffering; in defiance of his feelings . . . he will choose to praise and worship and sing for joy. 

How can we be more like David?  What does it mean to follow after God’s own heart?  Can we practice entering into God’s presence with praise?  Let’s purpose in our hearts, intentionally and with resolve, to worship and to give thanks and to sing for joy.  To lift up our hands and shout, even!   

And when we do, when the self-discipline is more powerful than the self-indulgence, when we act in spite of our feelings, our spirits will be so much better for it!  Our hearts will be healthier and stronger and better able to face the daily challenges and responsibilities that lie before us.

Let’s say, along with David, I will sing!  I will praise!  I will give thanks!  I will!!