Psalm 71:8
Let my mouth be filled with thy praise and with thy honour all the day.

So, then we are not to reserve our praises to specific times, but to always be praising the Lord.  It’s not just on Sunday at church or in the morning during our devotions or when we give thanks at a meal.  It’s not just at those times when something extraordinary happens and our hearts burst with praise, but it is in the everyday things of life that are there all the time and still worth praising God for.  It’s not just when we’re happy or just when we’re sad, but we can praise Him no matter how we feel or what we’re dealing with.  It’s not just in those quiet moments by ourselves, but when we’re out among other people.

Certainly that means we can find things to praise God for all day long.  If we’re looking, we’ll see those special things He does for us.  If we pay attention, we’ll recognize His hand at work, His voice speaking, His blessings falling upon us.  If we keep our ears tuned and our eyes seeking and our minds aware, we can’t help but notice His presence around us all the time.  And if we’re praising Him, then we’re thinking about Him, and when we think about Him all day long, that makes a difference in how we approach things and how we respond and the choices we make.

So, have we made praise a habit in our lives?  Do we take time out for it?  Do we respond to God as He is working and moving in and around us each day?  Do we allow ourselves to express those things to Him, seeking to bring Him honor and to glorify Him in everything we do?  Because if it’s a daily habit, it will become a lifelong habit.  And when we cultivate an attitude of praise in our hearts, it instills in us a constant awareness of God.  And when we’re in tune with Him, we’ll recognize more and more how He is at work.  And when we see Him everywhere we go, we’ll remember to do those things that please Him.

Let’s set the tone for each day by singing our Lord’s praises, acknowledging who He is and what He does for us.  And then let us go about our days with the knowledge that God is at work, that He is with us, that He loves us, and let us take time to praise Him for those things throughout the day.  Let us live our lives with a God-ward focus that allows us to see clearly what is most important, what can encourage us, what can be a help to us as we face hard things out in the world each day.  But most of all, may a sharpened awareness of God fill our hearts with such joy that we won’t be able to keep ourselves from singing His praises all day long.