I will sing to the Lord as long as I live; I will sing praise to my God while I have my being. May my meditation be sweet to Him; I will be glad in the Lord. (Psalm 104:33-34)

David concludes this psalm by stating that, in recognition of all the wonderful works of God, we should sing praises to Him all the days of our life. Whether in good times or bad, His excellence and glory is present in all that He has created, therefore, we should glorify Him with music and song while we live. After we have ceased to be, it will be too late. Our troubles and our victories will fade with time but the wonderful works of God will endure and are, therefore, worthy of heartfelt adoration.

Likewise, our thoughts and words — even if not expressed in song — should honor God, hence David’s statement, “May my meditation be sweet to Him.” The Hebrew word translated as “meditation” means “musings, communications” and can even interpreted as “complaints.” The point is David wanted everything about him in the way of expression to honor God. No doubt, this is why he began and ended this composition with the words, “Bless the Lord, O my soul!”

Finally, David concluded that he would “be glad in the Lord.” The Hebrew word is also translated as “rejoice.” So, it occurs to me that these words are more of a proclamation than just a statement borne out of emotion. It is the expression of one who has decided to honor God with his entire being no matter the circumstances because God is deserving of such. No matter how difficult our life may be at times, the fact that we have been given life in the first place is reason enough to rejoice in the Lord. As His people, He has demonstrated His greatness to us and has given us the ability to demonstrate our gratitude — how can we not do it?

Sometimes it is too easy not to be glad about things going on in our life; it is just as easy not to be glad about how we have responded to those situations. But if we would but consider all the wonderful works of the Lord and see how they transcend our present circumstances perhaps we, like David, would determine to be glad in the Lord and sing praises to Him all the days of our life.

Blessings and Shalom,  

Bill