10/4/07 - Life Journal - Let Everything that Has Breath Praise the Lord

Praise the LORD!
Praise God in His sanctuary;
Praise Him in His mighty expanse.
Praise Him for His mighty deeds;
Praise Him according to His excellent greatness.
Praise Him with trumpet sound;
Praise Him with harp and lyre.
Praise Him with timbrel and dancing;
Praise Him with stringed instruments and (I)pipe.
Praise Him with loud cymbals;
Praise Him with resounding cymbals.
Let everything that has breath praise the LORD.
Praise the LORD!

Psalm 150

Dude, that is what I'm talking about! Talk about going out with a bang! Psalm 150 is the final chapter in the book and wraps it all up in 6 verses. Praise Him at church, but also in the mighty expanse of His creation! 24/7 365 Days a Year. Praise Him for His works you've seen, read about and are yet to see.

Do I live like this, in a state of constant praise, well........ not really. How many times have I sung these lyrics:

Blessed be your name
When the sun's shining down on me
When the world's all as it should be
Blessed be your name

Blessed be your name
On the road marked with suffering
Though there's pain in the offering
Blessed be your name

Do I even listen to what I'm saying? I can probably count on ..er.. zero fingers the amount of times I've thanked Him in times of sorrow OR "Praised Him in the Storm".

Another thing, has anyone that has labeled contemporary worship at heretical or blasphemous ever read this verse? This is a party and there is no organ in sight (I'm not downplaying the organ or hymns at all, I've recently been seeking hymns to put to "my" style of music because of the outstanding lyrics) but there are some serious noisemakers in this book! Trumpets, Stringed Instruments and the always evil percussion section -- TIMBRELS AND CYMBALS -- not just loud cymbals but "resounding cymbals"! Timbrels are a wood hoop with a parchment stretched across (can you say drum) or with two parchments and bells (woo-hoo, the tambourine). Don't forget the dancing. Is this a RAVE? Well yeah, a "worship rave" (thanks for the term goes to the guys of Rock n Roll Worship Circus).

Praise Him like you mean it. Praise Him because He's awesome. Praise Him in thanks. Praise Him with the dance. Sound the trumpets. Bust out the lyre. Kick in the rythmn section. Now Sing your hearts out.

Sorry, I gotta go pop in some Hillsong and get my worship on!

Lord, let me worship like no one is watching but you, let me be "undignified", You made my awkward dancin, bad karaoke singin, rockin drummin self. You know when I'm giving you my all. That toe tapping, finger drummin, lip-synchin can't cut it with you.


I thought I'd kick in the lyrics to "Let Everything...." by Matt Redman today only at no extra charge:

Let everything that, everything that,
Everything that has breath praise the Lord.
Let everything that, everything that,
Everything that has breath praise the Lord.

Praise You in the morning,
Praise You in the evening,
Praise You when I'm young and when I'm old.
Praise You when I'm laughing,
Praise You when I'm grieving,
Praise You every season of the soul.
If we could see how much You're worth,
Your power, Your might, Your endless love,
Then surely we would never cease to praise.

Let everything that, everything that,
Everything that has breath praise the Lord.
Let everything that, everything that,
Everything that has breath praise the Lord.

Praise You in the heavens, joining with the angels,
Praising You forever and a day.
Praise You on the earth now, joining with creation,
Calling all the nations to Your praise.
If they could see how much You're worth,
Your power, your might, your endless love,
Then surely they would never cease to praise