Do you ever struggle to praise God in your prayer, as I do? Do you wander when you pray? You are not alone. Praise and prayer are crucial to the Christian life. But for some people, these come naturally, but most of them struggle. They end up repeating the same words over and over and end prayer unsatisfied. It was one of my biggest spiritual challenges and struggle. I find it difficult to find words or thoughts. Praising God with scripture, specifically, psalms is your best friend.
When I read some Davidic psalms, It amazes me how the author (David) could do such a marvelous job in praising God. Did it come naturally to him? Was it easy for him because he was a king, or was it easy because he has musical and lyrical sense? Praising God must be easy for king David because he has very few things to worry about, and he has authority over everything and everyone in his kingdom and can get anything he wanted. If I concluded my thoughts with these, I would be wrong and naive.
Because there is another side to his story that scripture tells us, He didn’t have a worry-free life. He had enemies and had king saul coming after him to kill him ( ) which makes his life miserable. David fled () and hid his face from saul, the King; he acted like a madman. Life was not a bed of roses for David, I couldn’t imagine myself in his shoes, yet he praised God at the circumstance, David was not perfect, but he yet adored God.
So How did he exalt God in the middle of all the mess?
The answer is simple. HE REMEMBERED, he made an intentional habit or commitment to remember God’s benefits( Forgiveness, faithfulness, continued love, and protection). He informed himself ( my soul) of God’s mercies. Life was not going well for David, but he honored God with what he was good at.
