Developing our walk with Him - praise

Another habit that we need to develop in our walk with Him is shown to us by the psalmist in Psalm 71: praise.

I will ever praise you..... My mouth is filled with your praise,

    declaring your splendor all day long..... As for me, I will always have hope;
    I will praise you more and more.....I will praise you with the harp
    for your faithfulness, my God;
I will sing praise to you with the lyre,
    Holy One of Israel.
23 My lips will shout for joy
    when I sing praise to you—
    I whom you have delivered.
24 My tongue will tell of your righteous acts
    all day long,
for those who wanted to harm me
    have been put to shame and confusion. (vs. 6b, 8, 14, 22-24)

I guess for most of us, praise is not a natural habit. We look around us and many times our human eyes see what's wrong in our world. We may even give voice to our thoughts. We might be guilty of grumbling and complaining. 
But God desires that we be people of praise. When good times are rolling, and when difficult times come. From those verses up there, we can see that the psalmist had developed that habit. A habit of praising God.

When we are trying to develop our close walk with Him, we should focus on praising Him. But how to praise when trials are all we see? 

Learn to trust Him. We learn to trust Him when we know Him; we will learn to praise Him as our trust in His faithfulness grows. Have you ever known someone who just didn't give you "vibes" that made him or her seem trustworthy? There was just something there that made your instincts stand up and take notice. You're not exactly going to sing that person's praises when someone inquires about them, right?

If (in spite of all of His blessings, and the many times He has proven His loving care) we doubt God's goodness or faithfulness, then we can't say that we trust Him. If we begin to question when He allows a trial or a bump in the road, then we don't trust Him. And if we are not trusting Him, we cannot honestly and sincerely praise Him.

If we notice that we are complaining, and if we have trouble developing a habit of praise, we need to buckle down and use two strategies. The first one is to concentrate on getting to know God and His ways. This psalm mentions God's righteousness in five different places - why? Because the psalmist was facing unjust treatment at the hands of unrighteous, mortal men. He wanted to remind himself of the righteousness of the God he was trusting. God is good and faithful, even when He allows troubles and distresses into our lives. And He can be relied upon to save us.

My mouth will tell of your righteous deeds,
    of your saving acts all day long—
    though I know not how to relate them all. (v. 15)

Next, review the things that God has already done for you. Remember the line from the old hymn, "Count your blessings, name them one by one...."?  That's not just a wonderful song; it's an important concept! It's common for us to forget His many benefits on our behalf -- all undeserved -- and then we fail to praise Him.

give thanks in all circumstances; for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus. (I Thessalonians 5:18)

Let's try to make it a habit to trust and praise Him aloud every day.