Bless the Lord All The Time

”I will bless the Lord at all times; his praise shall continually be in my mouth. My soul makes its boast in the Lord; let the humble hear and be glad. Oh, magnify the Lord with me, and let us exalt his name together! I sought the Lord, and he answered me and delivered me from all my fears.” – Psalm 34:1-4 (ESV).  

One of the Psalms of David, Psalm 34, focuses on dedicating someone’s life to God and leaning on Him even during hard times. It is a psalm of renewal, written as David was coming out of a difficult situation and having to face pain later in his life. It is written from the perspective of a teacher, perhaps even of a father talking to future generations about the importance of magnifying God in all things.

The first verse declares, “I will bless the Lord at all times; his praise shall continually be in my mouth” (Psalm 34:1). Blessing God all the time can seem like an impossibility. Life is hard, yet David is telling us that he would bless the Lord at all times.  The word “all” includes the good times as well as the bad times.  All meant that David would bless the Lord in times of lack and in times of abundance. What about us? Do we bless the Lord when times are good and we’re enjoying a season of abundance? What about when we are in the valley. David said, “…His praise shall continually be in my mouth.”  David wouldn’t let his circumstances dictate his praise, rather he made up his mind to praise God even in tough times. We need to have the same mindset. 

“I get it, but I feel weighted down by the trials and tests I’m going through; it is not easy to bless the Lord all the time when I am busy putting out fires.” It is not easy, and more importantly, it takes time.  The first thing to do is to focus on Him. Our life as a believer should be focused on the Lord. This focus should start in the morning and go all day. It is still important for us to set our minds on the things above at the start of the day and continue on that trend for the entirety of it.

Reading your Bible daily will help you focus on Him. Studying the Bible to stay focused on God may seem like a no-brainer, but how often do we have trouble focusing on God without ever actually picking up our Bibles and reading it. If we want to keep our minds off of the things of the world and focus our hearts and minds on the Lord instead, then we must seek God in His word. We cannot know the truths of God, the components of His character, and the direction He gives for our lives if we don’t pick up the Bible and read it? After all, how can we focus on someone we don’t really know that well?

Finally pray: Prayer is an important part of focusing on God because it pulls us into a conversation with God. Whether we are praying to thank God, ask forgiveness for a particular sin, worship God for who He is, or bring our requests to Him, we are focusing on God when we pray. We come to Him because we know that He is in control and we acknowledge that He is the Lord of all. And we praise Him because we know He is worthy.

Discussion Questions

1. What does it mean to be a blessing or to bless someone?
2. How do we go about blessing God all day long?