A lack of purpose is among the greatest faults of our generation. All too often, people do not know why they are here; they do not know the purpose of their lives. This psalmist knows the purpose of his life, and we do well to meditate on his words.
The writer’s purpose is to give thanks to the Lord. It is good to give thanks to the Lord, to sing praises to your name, O Most High; 2 to declare your steadfast love in the morning, and your faithfulness by night, 3 to the music of the lute and the harp, to the melody of the lyre. 4 For you, O Lord, have made me glad by your work; at the works of your hands I sing for joy.
It is a grave error when Christianity becomes for any of us nothing but a set of rules to be kept so that we can reach heaven. Many of the saints, especially in Old Testament times, lived and died without knowing much of anything about life after death. They praised God because he is worthy of praise, and because praise was the purpose of their lives.His steadfast love (2) and his mighty works (4-5) should be reason enough to praise him, even if we had no prospect of life beyond the grave.
The writer’s thoughts are sometimes distracted by the success of the ungodly. The stupid man cannot know; the fool cannot understand this: 7 that though the wicked sprout like grass and all evildoers flourish, they are doomed to destruction forever; 8 but you, O Lord, are on high forever. 9 For behold, your enemies, O Lord, for behold, your enemies shall perish; all evildoers shall be scattered.
This is one of the most common obstacles to praise. We get side-tracked when we see the wicked being successful. We must remind ourselves that, in the short-term, God has always allowed this, but in the long run, although we may not see it, his way is best.
The cross looked like the greatest triumph of evil.We must always remember that when discouraged by the success of the godless.
The writer’s own experiences lead him to praise. But you have exalted my horn like that of the wild ox; you have poured over me fresh oil. 11 My eyes have seen the downfall of my enemies; my ears have heard the doom of my evil assailants.
Those of us who have lived a while probably have an experience or two that demonstrates this. We need to tell our youth of such events and teach them the biblical examples of such.
We need to face current occurrences of the triumph of evil with the confidence inspired by past examples.We need to praise God for his ability to make use of human evil for good.
The writer’s expectation is that his life will continue to bear the fruit of praise to the very end. The righteous flourish like the palm tree and grow like a cedar in Lebanon. 13 They are planted in the house of the Lord; they flourish in the courts of our God. 14 They still bear fruit in old age; they are ever full of sap and green, 15 to declare that the Lord is upright; he is my rock, and there is no unrighteousness in him.
What does the future hold for us?The generation currently entering the work force believes their prospects are worse than those of their parents.Too much of the current generation in the church seems to feel that we are past our prime, that we have little or nothing to look forward to (in this life at least).
We need to make plans to praise him as long as we live.Quartets used to sing, “I don’t know what you came to do, but I came to praise the Lord.” For however many days or years we have left, that is what we should plan to do. Even in death, we plan to praise the Lord.
We are here to glorify God (1-2). That is our purpose. We should not allow the seeming success of the wicked to distract us from our task. We should not allow our lives to become lives of selfishness.
We should examine our lives regularly asking this question, “Is my life praising the Lord as it ought?” That is the fundamental question of life. We might be rich as Croesus, but if our lives do not glorify God, we have failed.We might be poor as church mice, but if our lives do glorify God, we have fulfilled our purpose.