Praise Without Ceasing (1 Chronicles 23:30)

And they were to stand every morning, thanking and praising the Lord, and likewise at evening.
– 1 Chronicles 23:30

This is the description of the sons of Levi, the Levites, their duty in the house of the Lord. Let me say it again. “They were to stand every morning thanking and praising the Lord and likewise at evening”. Morning and evening, thanking and praising God. What a job, what a privilege, what an honor. And it’s not just for the Levites in the Old Testament. This is for you and me.

1 Chronicles 23:30 pictures a life marked by praise in all circumstances.

You just think about commands we have to give thanks in all circumstances as we pray continually, and we rejoice always. We are designed by God to experience life in continual thanksgiving and praise. Morning and evening. Morning and evening. And I just want to encourage you to build this rhythm into your life.

I think about a conversation I was having with a secular mental health professional, and she was talking about the practice of gratitude and what she does in the morning and the evening. She was just describing how she goes through, and she just practices gratitude by saying out loud what she is thankful for. Now, I was like, “Well, that’s a great practice, and that’s actually what the Bible tells us to do”.

Like God tells us, he has designed us to do this. But not just to give thanks like generally to nobody, but to give thanks to him who is the Author of every good gift. So I want to encourage you, build that rhythm into your life, thanking and praising God, morning and evening, and all throughout the day. God, we pray that this would mark our lives. God, if we would continually thank and praise you in all circumstances, no matter what we’re walking through in morning and evening.

1 Chronicles 23:30 reminds us to thank God in every circumstance.

God, help us to see your grace behind everything, your trustworthiness behind all circumstances that we’re walking through, to thank you for what you are doing, even when we struggle to see how you’re working. Lord, to thank you for your grace, your mercy, your help, and your promises that you’re accomplishing your purposes. God, help us to live with continual thanksgiving and praise in our hearts, our minds, and our mouths.

God, help us not to keep this thanksgiving and praise to ourselves. Help us to do this with others, just to spend time thanking and praising you together. I think about family worship times where we just sometimes go around and just praying multiple one-sentence prayers of thanksgiving and praise, and how you bless those times, how they lead to such joy in our family. God, thank you for making us for this, for life that’s found in gratitude and giving you glory.

So help us to do this alone, together. Help us to do this in ways that spread your grace, mercy, love, and the good news of all you do, and will do, and have done to people around us who don’t know you.

Prayer for the Ilavan People

And God, we pray for this around the world. God, we pray that you would draw the Ilavan people of India. There are 6.7 million of them who have little to no knowledge of you, speaking the Malayalam language. God, we pray that the gospel would spread to the Ilavan people. That they might give thanks and praise to you for your salvation. God, you deserve their thanksgiving. You deserve their praise. We pray that the Ilavan people would be reached in ways that lead to your praise and thanksgiving among them, even as we pray that thanksgiving and praise would mark our lives all day long today. In Jesus’ name we pray. Amen.