psalm 71: praising God - 3rd week of advent tuesday 2017

Today our psalm, psalm 71 to praise the Lord and to sing to his glory.  Several things come to mind.

First, if I am sad, if I am burdened by so many concerns, by so many difficulties, if I have problems, do I have to praise the Lord?  Do I have to praise God?  Or do I bombard God with my hurts and sad tales?  No, we have to praise God, because praise is not determined by the circumstances of our lives.  Rather praise is determined by our faith that in whatever circumstances we are in, favorable or unfavorable, good or bad, our lives still belong to God and our future depends on God.  Praise is not just the celebration of those who are prosperous, praise is not just a celebration of those who experienced success.  Rather, praise is the celebration of those who believe that even amidst adversity, our lives still belong to God.  

Iban sa aton nagasunggod kay Lord – indi na ko magsimba kay wala ako kapasar, wala ginpamati-an akon pangamuyo.  But for the psalmist this should not be our attitude.  We should always come to praise the Lord in good times as well as in bad, because good or bad our lives are in God’s hands.

Second, in the second stanza the person praying the psalm reminds God, “For you are my hope, O LORD; my trust, O God, from my youth.”  Whenever we pray there should always be an act of remembering.  Here the psalmist reminds God that ever since he was young, even starting from the womb of his mother, God was always there to help him.  Halin pa sang una nga bulig mo sa akon Lord, gani subong indi ako pagtalikdi.  Recall the times when you were helped.  It is not as if God has forgotten.  Remembering the good we have experienced from the loving hand of God in the past, makes us more trusting, it makes us to be more hopeful.  So, when you pray take some time to recall the goodness of the Lord to you in the past.