Psalm 145:2 "Every day I will bless the Lord. I will praise His name forever and ever"

The first 2 verses of this Psalm reminds me the things I must do to continuously keep God fresh in my mind:

1. To extol/exalt the Lord (verse 1)

2. To bless the Lord (verse 1 and 2)

3. To praise His name (verse 2)

Psalm 145:2 seems to be a repeat of Psalm 145:1. Indeed repetition is good for the soul! Our soul in its tendency to indulge the flesh has to be constantly reminded of the need to exalt the Lord, to bless the Lord and to praise Him.

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Again the 2 things I need to do to keep God in the center of my life is to:

1. Every day I will bless the Lord

2. I will praise His name forever and ever

To bless the Lord every day

The meaning of "bless" is "barak" in Hebrew. It does not only involve verbal praise but also involve certain actions i.e. kneeling, saluting or to cause to kneel. 

Thus to bless God is not just to speak His praises but also involve an action such as kneeling.

Testimony

I just want to share a testimony of how God healed me of the arthritis of my right knee. When I pushed past 52 I was afflicted with arthritis. Waking up in the morning and getting down from bed brought great pains to my knee joint. Walking up the staircase became unbearable. Kneeling was worse....I would struggle to get on my feet and the pain was really too much. Forget about the squatting toilets....if I get down I would not be able to get up unless with great effort!

I tried everything from buying a very expensive pair of sandals costing up to RM600 to taking gamat or sea cucumber and apple cider. I was recommended powdered glucosamine to take every morning. I also took Krill oil in vitamin form as I heard that it was very nutritious. I used a plaster to alleviate the knee pain but it made my skin very itchy. In short I tried everything....

Finally I gave up and agreed to take the injection recommended by the specialist. He diagnosed me as having arthritis and said that this condition was common for women my age. X-rays also showed a jutting bone that was scraping the knee surfaces thus causing the pain. He suggested to snip off the bone via an operation and to inject "jelly" into the joints.

I prayed, my husband prayed, my children prayed, my close sisters in the church prayed for me. There was no improvement. However 2 weeks before the operation I actually realized one morning that the pain had reduced by up to 90%! I had increased the dosage of the Krill oil and also applied a new type of cream for my knees. 

Last Wed, I knelt before God in worship during prayer meeting. No problem in getting up at all. Praise the Lord!

Thus when I read this scripture on "Every day I will 'barak' the Lord" I am touched. God has enabled me to 'barak' Him which includes kneeling before Him in worship.

Every day

Every day means a normal day, a working day, evening and morning. That means God desires us to bless Him during our waking hours.

Come to think of it, how could I possibly bless the Lord when I am sleeping? Doesn't take a genius to answer the question! Only a waking man can bless the Lord, not a sleeping man!

I will praise His name forever and ever

Praise

The meaning of praise is to "halal" which is to boast of God. Thus to proclaim and declare "God you are good, you are gracious and compassionate. You are loving and kind. You are full of tender mercies and lovingkindness" is to halal the Lord which is to praise the Lord.

To praise His name is to acknowledge His reputation, His fame and His glory.

Forever and ever

"Forever" is "owlam" which means perpetual, everlasting or eternity.

"Ever" is "ad" meaning continuing, perpetuity, eternity.

God wants us to praise His name even after death. He wants us to continue praising Him in heaven. That's why we need to practice extravagant praise of God when we are alive because for all eternity we will be PRAISING HIM FOREVER AND EVER!

Today A and I shared the gospel with Mei and we told her that believing in Jesus will assure her of eternal life, a life of peace and of being with God forever and ever. What better life can there be....she said she was not ready but she was open to the salvation message.....