Image via Wikipedia

Praise comes naturally when you count your blessings

They shall be fresh and flourishing. —Psalm 92:14

In Psalm 92, the poet begins with a commendation of praise: “It is good to give thanks to the Lord.” Good for what? Good for you and me. It does our soul a world of good to turn from anxious thoughts and fill our days with prayerful praise; good to greet each morning with songs of thanksgiving, for such praise makes us glad. It lifts us out of gloom and replaces our sadness with cheerful songs at the “works of [His] hands” (v.4). And what is that work? The work He is doing in us!

Here’s one of my most cherished metaphors: “The righteous shall flourish like a palm tree, he shall grow like a cedar in Lebanon. Those who are planted in the house of…