Read: Psalm 150

Let everything that breathes praise the Lord! Praise the Lord! Psalm 150:6 

The final verse of the final psalm in the Bible is an encouragement for all creation to praise God. In fact, the entire psalm is a call to praise. If you read through the psalms, you quickly realize that they are filled with every human emotion imaginable: gratitude, anger, joy, anguish, faith, doubt, hope, and despair. There are songs of thanksgiving for God’s presence alongside heartbreaking cries of lament in response to God’s absence. These ancient hymns are as emotionally varied and convulsive as the experience of the Hebrew people. And yet the final note of the final verse of the final hymn is a call to praise.

No matter how difficult and demanding life is, it is a gift from God. No matter how chaotic and uncertain creation is, it is a gift from God. Whether viewing the world from an emotional mountaintop or from the deepest and darkest valley, the experience of seeing and witnessing and participating in the unfolding of life is a gift from God worthy of our praise. If we were to utter only one sentence in our entire lives, it would be best if it were that of the final psalm: “Praise the Lord!” 

How do you offer God praise?

Lord, thank You. Thank You. You have given us everything—You have given us the world. The only appropriate response is to praise You and thank You. And I will praise You until my very last breath. I want the last sentence of my life to be an acknowledgment of my gratitude. In Jesus’ name, I pray. AMEN.