For great is his steadfast love toward us, and the faithfulness of the Lord endures forever.
Praise the Lord! Psalm 117: 2
Psalm 117 begins and ends with a call to praise the Lord. We praise God because He is worthy of
praise. We should praise Him daily in our private devotions and in public worship. If we really
think about it, there is no inappropriate time to praise the Lord. This Psalmist beckons everyone
to praise the Lord. The Psalmist assured his readers that the Lord was not merely a local deity.
He did not belong to Israel alone. God created the whole world and all of the people of the
world. Thus, believers ought to lead all to praise God’s holy name.
Today’s Watchword offers two reasons that we ought to praise God:
- Great is His steadfast love towards us – The original Hebrew uses the word hesed, which refers
to God’s loyal, loving, and covenant-keeping love. Commentators often point out that this
specific love is mighty and prevails over human weaknesses and sins. It is “great” in the sense
that it overflows boundaries and continually reaches toward people, offering forgiveness and
continual preservation.
The word translated steadfast love is also translated mercy. It is the Lord’s mercy that allows us
to be saved. God’s mercy sent His Son into the world. Without Jesus, we would know only
judgment and wrath. Notice that the Psalm tells us that the Lord’s mercy is great toward us. Our
sins are great; therefore, His mercy is great. Without God’s mercy we would live and die in our
sins. There would be no hope of the abundant life that Jesus promised to those who believe in
Him. I can think of no better reason to praise God. - God’s faithfulness endures forever – The Hebrew word emet is translated faithfulness, but also
truth. We are called to praise God because of His truth and His faithfulness to His promises.
Matthew Henry observes that while God’s mercy is the fountain of all our comforts, His
unchanging truth is the foundation of all our hopes. No matter the circumstances or the passing
of generations, God never changes, and His promises remain reliable forever.
We praise God, not just because we know that everything that He does and says is true, but
because we can personally know God’s truth in Jesus Christ. All of God’s truth dwells in Jesus
Christ, and to know Jesus personally is to possess all of God’s truth. God’s truth is too great to
grasp intellectually, but we can have it by faith in Jesus. In a world filled with Satan’s lies, we
desperately need God’s truth. Indeed, God’s truth and His faithfulness endures forever.
Friends all, we have countless reasons to praise God. Today we are reminded that because of
God’s steadfast love and mercy, we ought to praise Him. Also, because of God’s faithfulness and
truth, He deserves our praise. This praise is not just by the songs and shouts that we make, but
even more so, by the lives we live as a testimony to God’s character. Let’s praise the Lord!
Amen.
Jermaine Gibson