Food for the Soul

by Pastor Debra Bronkema | September 4, 2024 | connect.faith, Everyday Spirituality: The Blog

Food for the Soul

Psalm 146:1

Hallelujah! Praise the Lord, O my soul!

I will praise the Lord as long as I live;

I will sing praises to my God while I have my being.

Food for the Soul

The public and private nature of this verse interests me.  Hallelujah feels like a word we shout from the rooftops on Easter morning. But the second half – Praise the Lord, O my soul - feels much more personal and internal. It recognizes that praise of the Lord comes from our core. And reading the rest of the verse feels like it’s talking about someone who is praising God not just in the moments of good news, but on all the days – no matter what.

That’s a hard thing to do – to praise God on the days in which I am also grieving, or in pain, or angry with the way life is going. Maybe my definition of praise is causing the problem.  Could it be that praising the Lord all the time, from the soul, includes being real about the days in which I don’t feel like saying hallelujah? Even in those days, is there still some good, some light breaking into whatever feels like night, something to praise?

Looking beyond this present moment, and breathing in reasons for praise could give us the soul food we need to find our way through the challenges of this day.  

Prayer: Praise the Lord, O my soul! Help me breathe in the Spirit of the Lord and fill me up to meet this day.

Reflection Questions:

1) Is there anything that makes it hard for you to think about the idea of praise?

2) Try breathing in the Spirit – slowing down to notice the love of God filling up your soul.

3) What praise can you imagine offering to God today?