What a reassurance to know that when we seek Him, He will never forsake us.  We should endeavor to know Him, to trust Him, and to seek Him in all things and at all times.

A refuge.  A place of security and safety.  A haven where your adversaries can’t find you and can’t get at you.  A solid house that your troubles can’t topple.

The persecuted church is probably more aware of the need for this than those of us in comfortable and complacent congregations.  Yet, it’s the persecuted church that has the greater understanding of what it means to call the LORD our refuge, our stronghold.

Could you say that if everything fell apart around you that you would still know God as your refuge and that you could trust Him with your eternal well-being?

When is the last time you sang praises to God?  I mean really singing with all the passion you could muster…?

Are they just words on a screen or in a hymnal?  Or are they words swelling with thanksgiving, rising up from within your heart?  Rejoice in Him!  He is the Most High God.

A wholehearted praise notices everything!  The Lord has blessed us so abundantly and all the little things combine together to reflect God’s wonderful works.

The color of the sky.  The flowers.  The birds.  Butterflies. Creatures of all types.  A baby’s smile and giggle.  The tender arms of a mother and the strong arms of a father.  The twinkle in the eyes of laughter or in the stars in the sky.  The grandeur of the mountains and the peaceful ripples on a lake.

Each and every one is worth telling as among His wonderful works.

The Scripture pictured below articulates a question that is eternal in its significance.  Why does God even care what happens to us?  Why did God make humans alone in His image?  We are so small and unimpressive and yet God–the sovereign Creator of the universe–cares for us.  This is beyond humbling.  His mindfulness of our helpless estate is worthy of our praise.

Sometimes adults think they’re too smart.  We become too proud.   We think we’ve outgrown our need for God.  We call Him a crutch for weaklings and only suitable for intellectually deficient people who can’t figure out life on their own.  We say the spiritual equivalent of “Me do it!” as if we’re 2 years old all over again, throwing a tantrum.

Isn’t it ironic, that God ordains praise from the lips of babies and that’s how He chooses to silence the proud?

How do we praise Him?  We can praise His Name.

There’s a poem by Cecil F. Alexander (1848) called “All Things Bright and Beautiful” and it begins:

All things bright and beautiful,
All creatures great and small,
All things wise and wonderful:
The Lord God made them all.

Each little flower that opens,
Each little bird that sings,
He made their glowing colors,
He made their tiny wings.

I was thinking about that today because one of the joys of gardening and feeding the birds is the short window of migration when these jewels of nature wing their way through my yard.  The year round residents of goldfinches and cardinals and blue jays have been joined by migratory indigo buntings and rose-breasted grosbeaks.  It will not be long before the scarlet tanager and the Baltimore orioles and hummingbirds will be here, too.  In their colorful beauty and their cheerful song, I am certain they are praising the LORD.

Strange to think about, that the lightning and hail, snow, clouds and wind can do the LORD’s bidding.  It’s even more strange to think that they praise Him.  How do they praise Him except to obey?

I wonder what sea creatures do when they praise the LORD.  Does praise just happen in their doing what they were created to do?