Thoughts for the Day

Praise the Lord!
Sing to the Lord a new song,
his praise in the assembly of the faithful.....

Let them praise his name with dancing,
making melody to him with tambourine and lyre.

For the Lord takes pleasure in his people;
he adorns the humble with victory.

Let the faithful exult in glory;
Let them sing for joy on their couches.

Let the high praises of God be in their throats....
Praise the Lord!

(New Revised Standard Version)

Thoughts

What's the difference between "Praise" and "Thanksgiving"? Well in day-to-day terms I guess we thank someone directly (as we do at the moment for all the NHS workers), but we tend to praise them we we speak to others about them. Obviously this is not always true!

Christians thank God in the same way - for example for things he has done; but we tend to praise God by singing or indeed by dancing. Today's reading is a psalm of praise. Many of our hymns are songs of praise, and I wondered two things:

1. How many hymns of praise could I think of?
2. Which ones did I learn as a child?

...'Give me joy in my heart, keep me praising'; 'Praise my soul the King of heaven'; Morning has broken, or ...? Well how many can you think of, or how many can you find on the internet, and what do they praise God for? See who can get the most - and email me the answers!

Oh, and what was the first hymn I remember as a child, well it was "Praise him, Praise him, all ye little children!" Incidentally I have included the picture above as it reminds me of one of the verses of one very well known hymn. Any ideas?

Heavenly Father,
we praise Your Holy Name;
we praise You that You sent your Son to save us;
we praise You for ................. (add all the things you can think of)
Amen.