quiet time notes

I will bless the Lord at all times;
I will means a choice, a determination to... At all times - no matter what situation, place, time of day... always. "Happy is he whose fingers are wedded to his harp. He who praises God for mercies shall never want a mercy for which to praise. To bless the Lord is never unseasonable" - Charles Spurgeon

His praise shall continually be in my mouth.
I won't just think about Him and keep Him in my heart - I will SPEAK praise. If I were always to praise God, just think about what would happen (or not happen)... no slander, no rebellion against God, nothing like that... because I would be in continual praise. I would be joyful - my countenance would exude joy!

My soul will make its boast in the Lord;
"What scope there is for holy boasting in Jehovah! His person, attributes, covenant, promises, works, and a thousand things besides, as all incomperable, unparalleled, matchless; we may cry them up as we please, but we shall never be convicted of vain and empty speech in so doing. Truly he who writes these words of comment has nothing of his own to boast of, but much to lament over, and yet none shall stop him of his boast in God so long as he lives" - Spurgeon
I think that last part is just so neat. Not only does he focus on how amazing and far beyond deserving our Lord is, he includes himself in the picture. He has nothing to boast of, only things to lament and regret, YET no one can keep him from boasting in God for the rest of his life.

The humble will hear it and rejoice.
"We ought to talk of the Lord's goodness on purpose so that others may be confirmed in their trust of a faithful God"
Wow. I don't think I ever thought about that. I'm very selfish in my ways. I never thought that my speaking of the goodness of God would perhaps be used in the lives of others to confirm their trust. How humbling is that? I speak of God's goodness so that you may see that He's good. I've learned from other people, lots of people. I love hearing other's thoughts and opinions and such but it never even entered my mind that because of the things I say, someone might see God in a fresh light. That's power right there. It's scary but it sounds amazing. I want to be like that!

~Psalm 34:1-2~

I love this Psalm. For weeks, I've been eyeing it, but this morning I decided to do a little more research. I intended to go in small portions, to do the first three verses... but it was so good that I stopped where I was, to chew on it for a little while (I was experimenting with a new word there, but "meditate" really does sound so much better... otherwise I sound like a cow). Mr. Vince gave me Charles Spurgeon's 3 volume "Treasury of David" which is massive and contains so much insight, so I picked the first one up and read a little bit of what it had to say about these verses I've been pondering. So good, and aren't those neat quotes?

I have some things I'm making my application from these verses:
1. Bless God by praising Him
2. Speak of His praise, don't just keep it inside
3. Forget yourself and focus on Him, channel all your pride through Him
4. Don't forget other people; let them see what He's doing so that they might rejoice also (and so they might spread that joy to others).