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Key Bible Verse: Let every created thing give praise to the LORD, for he issued his command, and they came into being (Psalm 148:5). Bonus Reading: Psalm 148:1-14

We praise each other by saying something to one degree or another complimentary, with the implication that if someone's generous deed turned out to be self-serving, a different response altogether would have been called for.

The way Psalm 148 describes it, praising God is about as measured as a volcanic eruption. There's no implication that under any conceivable circumstances it could be anything other than what it is. The whole of creation is in on the act—the sun and moon, the sea, fire and snow, Holstein cows and white-throated sparrows, old men in walkers and infants. Their praise isn't chiefly a matter of saying anything, because most of creation doesn't deal in words. Instead, the snow whirls, the fire roars, the Holstein bellows, the old man watches the moon rise. Their praise isn't something that at their most complimentary they say, but something that at their truest they are.

We learn to praise God not by paying compliments, but by paying attention. Watch how the trees exult when the wind is in them. Mark the utter stillness of the great blue heron in the swamp. Listen to the rain. Learn how to say "Hallelujah" from the ones who say it right.

—Frederick Buechner in Beyond Words

My Response: I sensed God's creation praising Him when …

Thought to Apply: Worship is the overflow of the heart that asks nothing of God.—CARL ARMERDING (pastor)

Adapted from Beyond Words (NavPress, 2003) by permission.

Prayer for the Week

You are entitled to praise from all Your creatures, O God.
Free me up and energize me to do my part.

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