February 28th, 2022

Raising Up Infinite Praises

Psalm 113:3 NIV

"From the rising of the sun to the place where it sets, the name of the Lord is to be praised."

      When I was a little girl, my grandparents owned a vacation home in Florida. Though we usually stayed with them at their lakefront property, my parents decided to get an adorable condo one year right by the ocean. That was the first time I had ever seen the vastness of the open sea. Try as I might, my eyes would never allow me to see where the ocean ended. Sometimes my imagination would play tricks on me, and I pictured black figures in the distance that looked like tiny people. Really, it was just large waves in the distance swelling and crashing. Fastforward twenty plus years, I am still just as fascinated with the ocean. Even now, when we vacation, you can find me on the beach just staring at the water, hoping that one day I will be able to catch a glimpse of land in the distance. Though I know I'll never be able to see where the ocean ends from my beachfront hotel, the idea of its infinite distance is overwhelmingly fascinating.

      Just like the vast openness of the ocean that occupies my wandering mind on vacation, the rising and setting of the sun is another one of God's beautiful works. No matter how hard one tries, they will never be able to catch the sun rising and setting in the same place. The distance is infinite and unknown to us mortals. So, what do these two wonders have in common? Their distances appear to be never-ending. The author of Psalms 113 expresses to us that our praises to the Lord should be just as never-ending. Just as the ocean seems to never stop, and the distance between the sunrise and sunset seem to be infinite, our praises to Jesus should be just as infinite. Because Jesus died a brutal, yet innocent death on the cross to bear our sins for us, we should have more than an infinite number of praises to lift up to him. In reality, we will never be able to repay the Lord for his gift to us. However, with our praises, we can offer him thanks all the days of our lives. 

Are you raising up infinite praises? If not, where in your life can you add time to praise the Lord for all he's done?