Romans 15:11 (Praise for His Love and Faithfulness)

And again, “Praise the Lord, all you Gentiles, and sing praises to Him, all you people.”- Romans 15:11

October 12, 2021 Floyd Ray Gage

Paul is now quoting the shortest Psalm in the Bible, Psalm 117. This Psalm focuses in two verses on the greatest reason to give praise to God and to voice that praise in song. It tells us to sing and praise the Lord because of His love for us and His faithfulness.

One of my favorite hymns focuses on this same theme. “Great is Thy Faithfulness” talks of God’s being faithful to us morning by morning with the many mercies we see come from Him. Of course the greatest of those mercies is our Lord Jesus Christ.

It is no accident that Paul includes a quote from this Psalm in telling the Gentiles and all nations to give praise to God and follow Him. Paul in the midst of His teaching on how Christ has come for all of us tells us that in our praise of God, we should remember that His greatest act of faithfulness and love was coming in the person of Jesus Christ to redeem us from our sins.

God was faithful in the midst of our greatest rebellion. Even though all of us had and have sinned, He has had mercy and pardon as the aforementioned hymn states. This hymn also speaks of how God is faithful in all seasons of life. All of nature, the hymn says, speaks of the faithfulness and love of God.

We probably overlook every day manifold expressions of God’s faithfulness and love. It would do us all good to stop in the midst of our busy days and hectic schedules and reflect on the seasons, the cosmos, the nature around us, and the many miracles, small and great, that are happening to us each day. We also need to take time each day and reflect on what Christ means to us and all that He has done for us in His mercy and grace.

One thing we should always be grateful for and praise God for is His presence in our lives. The Holy Spirit walks with us and helps us in our daily lives. Again, the hymn says, “strength for today and bright hope for tomorrow, blessings all mine with ten thousand beside.” God is truly faithful, even when we have not been.

This means that we should praise Him with all that we are and all that we have. It doesn’t matter if you can sing well or not, belt out your praise to God. I don’t see the verse in Psalm 117 saying sing forth your praise, if you have had voice lessons or can play an instrument wonderfully. It says to sing forth His praise.

I honestly do not understand why many who call themselves believers do not avail themselves of every opportunity they have to praise God with others and on their own. I know some have health concerns that keep them from doing this, but even they can praise God in their spirit. I have sung whole songs of praise in my heart and mind and praised the Lord in the midst of many people without them even being aware of it. I don’t do this in church, but in lines at checkouts or waiting at the DMV or at other places I have done this.

If we were all honest with ourselves and others, we would all have to say that we have many reasons from the past, today, and what we know will occur in the future to praise our living God. Please don’t always keep that praise to yourself. Our praise should be a witness of our love and devotion to our Faithful God and Father and our Loving and Merciful Savior, Jesus Christ. Turn up that i-pod, open that hymnal, turn that radio on or sing acapella and praise God.