PRAISE

Psalm 57:9,10—I will praise You, O Lord, among the nations; I will sing of You among the peoples. For great is Your love, reaching to the heavens; Your faithfulness reaches to the skies.

She became his wife through the deceit of her father. It was poetic justice because the man she was marrying had himself deceived his own father. But he did not fancy her and insisted on marrying her sister as well. Sound scandalous? Such is the story of Leah, the wife of Jacob, the grandson of Abraham.

In Genesis 29:31, we discover that the Lord saw Leah was not loved by Jacob. So He was compassionate to her and blessed her with children. She bore Jacob three sons—Reuben, Simeon, and Levi before conceiving her fourth son. When he was born she said, “This time I will praise the Lord.” She gave him the name Judah, which sounds like the Hebrew word for praise. Later she would have two more sons and a daughter.

Does God delight in being praised? Is it just coincidence that King David and later the Messiah, Jesus, were descended from the line of Judah, the son born to a grateful mother?

I read that in Africa there is a fruit called the “taste berry”. This fruit supposedly effects a person's taste buds so that everything eaten after the berry is sweet and pleasant. Before you sit down and enjoy a Christmas meal or open gifts, why not commit to first offer up praise to the awesome Father in heaven Who made us and gave us the unceasing gift of life through His majestic Son! Be like the taste berry and fill God’s senses with the indescribably delicious flavor of gratitude—no matter what your circumstances. The same Lord Who looked down and blessed an obscure woman named Leah, might just do a mighty work in your life—all because you cared enough to praise Him. Something to think about . . . in reveration.

Inspiration

Praise is the honey of life which a devout heart extracts from every bloom of providence and grace.—Charles H. Spurgeon