When Andrew, my four-year-old was belting out lyrics to a praise song in the car the other day, he turned to me and said, "Mama, Jesus loves when I sing to Him." The lyrics to his song were not completely correct, his tone and pitch were far from perfect, but none of that mattered. God loves when we praise Him.
Praise the Lord. In Psalm 135, "praise" is used 11 times. Praise is by definition the offering of grateful homage in word or song, as an act of worship. Psalm 135 tells us who needs to praise: servants of the Lord and you who minister in the house of the Lord. It tells us how we should praise: by singing. And most importantly it tells us why we need to praise: for the Lord is good, because He has chosen Israel, for He is great, greater than all other gods, for He has created all things, because of what He has done, because of who He is... honestly the list goes on and on.
How often do we not take the time to give Him praise He deserves? We instead do as the psalmist instructs us NOT to do and praise worthless things that are not worthy of praise and cannot see or do anything for us. How silly would it be if my son started praising the pot for his dinner rather than the mother who made it or the father who provided it?
So I encourage you today: take the time to praise Him. Pick one of the things in this psalm or come up with one of your own reasons to praise Him. Turn up the worship music in your car, roll down your windows and belt out praises to the One who is great. It doesn't matter what key you are singing in or if you have all the right words. Remember: Jesus loves it when you sing to Him.
-- Jamie Rungaitis