Praise the Lord

When you need to remember — that You're still my Shepherd.

You can want to praise God honestly while also being aware that your story includes failures you are not proud of. You do not want to fake-praise from a sanitized version of yourself. You want to bless Him with the version of you that knows what He has had to forgive. There is also a hope in your heart that He saves people for His own name's sake — even when their merit account is empty. You need that to be true today.

This one opens with the call: "Praise the Lord! O give thanks to the Lord, for He is good; for His mercy endures forever." Then a line you should not skip: "Who can utter the mighty acts of the Lord? Who can proclaim all His praise?" Whatever praise you offer is going to fall short — and praise is still right. Then comes a personal cry that feels almost out of place after that opening: "Remember me, O Lord, with the favor You have for Your people; O visit me with Your salvation, that I may see the good of Your chosen ones, that I may rejoice in the gladness of Your nation, that I may glory with Your inheritance." He wants in on what He has promised His people. He is not assuming. Then comes the painful corporate honesty: "We have sinned with our fathers; we have committed iniquity, we have done wickedly. Our fathers did not understand Your wonders in Egypt; they did not remember the multitude of Your mercies, but rebelled by the sea — the Red Sea." Failure named at the highest stakes — at the very moment of rescue. The line that anchors the whole passage: "Nevertheless He saved them for His name's sake, that He might make His mighty power known." Mercy is an expression of His name. He rebuked the Red Sea, led them through, drowned the enemies, "then they believed His words; they sang His praise." Mercy preceded their belief.

• Right now, praise Him honestly out loud — naming both one specific mercy you have received and one place where you know you have not deserved it. • Write this down: "What part of my story do I keep editing out when I praise — and what would change if I let Him have the unedited version?" • Repeat this line when you wonder if mercy was a fluke: "Nevertheless He saved them for His name's sake."

Stop. Breathe. Let "for His name's sake" answer the part of you that keeps trying to earn mercy. Then tell Him what you want to praise Him for, unedited — out loud if you can.

Lord, I praise You — for You are good, and Your mercy endures forever. Who can utter Your mighty acts? Whatever I bring You is going to fall short of what You deserve. Remember me with the favor You have for Your people; visit me with Your salvation. I have sinned — sometimes the way my fathers sinned — and I do not want to hide it under a cleaner version of praise. Save me for Your name's sake, that You might make Your mighty power known through one more story. You're still my Shepherd.

Mercy at the Red Sea was for His name's sake — that is still how it comes.