Uncontainable

Deborah Bate July 19, 2026 2 0

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Psalm 71: 15-24 (NIV-UK)

15 My mouth will tell of your righteous deeds,
    of your saving acts all day long –
    though I know not how to relate them all.
16 I will come and proclaim your mighty acts, Sovereign Lord;
    I will proclaim your righteous deeds, yours alone.
17 Since my youth, God, you have taught me,
    and to this day I declare your marvellous deeds.
18 Even when I am old and grey,
    do not forsake me, my God,
till I declare your power to the next generation,
    your mighty acts to all who are to come.

19 Your righteousness, God, reaches to the heavens,
    you who have done great things.
    Who is like you, God?
20 Though you have made me see troubles,
    many and bitter,
    you will restore my life again;
from the depths of the earth
    you will again bring me up.
21 You will increase my honour
    and comfort me once more.

22 I will praise you with the harp
    for your faithfulness, my God;
I will sing praise to you with the lyre,
    Holy One of Israel.
23 My lips will shout for joy
    when I sing praise to you –
    I whom you have delivered.
24 My tongue will tell of your righteous acts
    all day long,
for those who wanted to harm me
    have been put to shame and confusion.

Ever been so impressed by something or someone, so full of wonder, excitement and awe, that you just have to tell another about it? Sing or shout about it even? When I read the Psalms, it seems to me that the writers often felt that way about God… they simply just had to praise Him! When I read today’s passage from Psalm 71, where the writer (thought by many to have been King David) exhorts himself to praise God with the songs, shouts and with the harp, I am reminded of so many of the other Psalms. Take Psalm 103, one of my personal favourites, for example.

“Praise the Lord, my soul; all my inmost being, praise his holy name”.

And why?

David continues by listing God’s “benefits”…

“Who forgives all your sins and heals all your diseases, who redeems your life from the pit and crowns you with love and compassion, who satisfies your desires with good things…”

It seems to me that David knew that there was something good in declaring, singing and shouting about the goodness of God. Time and time again through the Psalms he declares “I will praise” or directly instructs himself, “Praise the Lord”. It’s as if he has identified an innate need of the human soul, to connect with its creator, and one way of doing it is by expressing God through music, song and declaration.

It might feel easy to praise God when something good has happened and we “feel” blessed. At other times we might not feel much like giving Him praise. In today’s reading, we read that David had seen “troubles, many and bitter”, but that he still chose to praise God and trusted that God would restore his life again.

Whatever you are facing today, why not make the choice right now to praise God through it? In my experience, it’s good when we do.

Pray with me

Jesus, thank you that you are always good. Teach me to praise you today. Fill me up in my soul with thoughts of your goodness and let it bubble out. Whether I shout or whisper, speak or sing, (in tune or out of tune)! Simply because You are so, so worthy of all praise. Teach us to sing songs from our hearts only to You. Amen