Stay focused

Psalm 146: 1&2

Praise the LORD.  Praise the LORD, O my soul.  I will praise the LORD all my life; I will sing praise to my God as long as I live.  NIV

I’ve been working my way through the listings of the word “trust” in my NIV concordance.  The last “trust” in the Book of Psalms is in Psalm 146.  When I read this beautiful Psalm this morning, I was struck by the multiple reassurances and reminders contained in it.

Here is the first:

Praise God!  Keep your focus on Him!

This is a sure remedy for worry.

I love the first part of verse 2: Praise the LORD, O my soul. I love that it echoes Psalm 103:1 – “Praise the LORD, O my soul.  All my inmost being praise his holy name.” NIV

And, I love how The Message paraphrases these two verses: “Hallelujah!  O my soul, praise God!  All my life long I’ll praise God, singing songs to my God as long as I live.” MSG

If all that is within me stays focused on praising God … there won’t be any part of me that will be free to wander off and spend time worrying.

That’s what I’ll think about today.