Psalm 34:1 I am blessing The Lord at all times

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

I will praise the Eternal through every moment and every situation. Whenever I speak I will always praise Him. (Psalms 34:1 the VOICE).

Observations:

David write this psalm while pretending to be insane in order to protect himself from the Philistines (1 Samuel 20:10-15). Can you imagine hiding out in an enemy's camp in order to avoid an even greater one? David can't openly praise God, so he pens this psalm. He starts it out with I will bless the Lord at all times. Even though David can't openly bless the Lord, his heart and thoughts can be turned to Him.

I imagine by turning his thoughts to blessing God, David is comforted. He says in verse 18 and 19 that God is close to the righteous even and especially when they are in trouble. David reminds himself of who God is and God's promises. This blesses the Lord and comforts David.

Application:

As a worship leader, blessing The Lord is something that I think I do pretty well. At least I thought I did until I met Nathan. I met Nathan at a church in Colorado. He was in the front row singing at the top of his lungs. His arms were up in the air and very often in the middle of songs he would just shout and root for God. I've only seen this extreme behavior at sporting events. After the service I had an opportunity to talk to Nathan, he was born struggling for oxygen and because of that received some brain damage. But don't feel sorry for Nathan, he is more in love with Jesus Christ than anyone I've ever met. The day I met him was his birthday. He cried tears of joy as he told me how God had saved him and blesses him all the time. His eyes looked up to heaven with tears streaming down his face and he said "I know God loves me so much! And He loves you too Hope so much!". Everything about Nathan blessed The Lord. There was no complaint in him, no worries about tomorrow or what others thought of him, he loves The Lord and spends every second blessing Him. Still thinking about this divine encounter gets me choked up. Oh to be like Nathan!!

Prayer:

Thank You Father for introducing me to Nathan, I hope to have his genuineness and complete devotion to blessing You some day soon. Only You can change me Lord, and I ask that You do. Take this heart and make it into one that blesses You at all times.