Prayer Verse

Our prayer verse this week is Psalm 71:8

My mouth is filled with your praise,
declaring your splendor all day long. [NIV]

My mouth is filled with your praise,
and with your glory all the day. [ESV]

I notice in this psalm of praise that the psalmist's response to God's splendor and glory is praise, but maybe most notably it is verbal praise -- that is, he is speaking what he is thinking and what is in his heart. It is praise of God rendered out loud to others. It is one thing to think the praise within our hearts, but it is another to verbalize and speak this to others.

We might think why does it matter if I speak it? After all, God knows my heart and He can discern my thoughts. Yes, but it gives God more honor for you to speak it. Say that you are married and you think to your self 'I love my spouse' and they should be able to see it, so it's not really necessary that I speak it. If you are married you know that would never work! Your spouse wants to hear it from your lips. God wants to hear your praise.

But I think there is also something faith increasing about speaking our praise. As I look through Scripture (and particularly this morning the Psalms) it is interesting how often the praise is verbally expressed. For example:

From the lips of children and infants
you have ordained praise
because of your enemies,
to silence the foe and the avenger. Psalm 8:2

I said to the LORD, "You are my Lord;
apart from you I have no good thing." Psalm 16:2

I will extol the LORD at all times;
his praise will always be on my lips. Psalm 34:1

And then one reference from the New Testament about speaking our faith:

But what does it say? "The word is near you; it is in your mouth and in your heart," that is, the word of faith we are proclaiming: That if you confess with your mouth, "Jesus is Lord," and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. For it is with your heart that you believe and are justified, and it is with your mouth that you confess and are saved. Romans 10:8-10

So today: My mouth is filled with your praise,
declaring your splendor all day long.