Breathing the Breath - The Conclusion of the Psalter

I was recently singing "Breathing the Breath", by Matt Redman, at the top of my lungs while cutting grass. It was nearing the end of a day of working in the yard and I was overflowing with praise and worship. I had been listening to music and sermons on my ipod for several hours and, WOW, all of a sudden it just flooded over me - "We are breathing the breath that You gave us to Breathe, we are breathing..." - of course, I was out of breath at the time, but it was still an amazing time of worship.



We are called to worship God for who He is in His sanctuary, what he has revealed in His mighty heavens, what He has done through His acts of power, and simply because of His surpassing greatness. I can't help but emphasize the personal pronouns referring to the LORD in the opening two verses of Psalm 150. Try it. Every time you say "his" add a little pause and consider exactly what you are saying.

1 Praise the LORD.
Praise God in his sanctuary;
praise him in his mighty heavens.

2 Praise him for his acts of power;
praise him for his surpassing greatness.

3 Praise him with the sounding of the trumpet,
praise him with the harp and lyre,

4 praise him with tambourine and dancing,
praise him with the strings and flute,

5 praise him with the clash of cymbals,
praise him with resounding cymbals.

6 Let everything that has breath praise the LORD.
Praise the LORD.

Psalm 150

The conclusion of the entire psalter is quite fitting; "Let everything that has breath praise the LORD." It is important to point out that this Psalm is strictly emphasizing those with breath in their lungs - as opposed to other living but non-breathing organisms.

Today, as an act of worship, let nothing hinder your praise. Come before the Lord with genuine expressions of gratitude remembering that even the breath in our lungs - with which we can choose to praise God or not - is in fact a gift from God.