Journeying to the Promised Land, the Jews encounter many challenges. In the wilderness of Shur, they find no water. At Marah, the water is bitter. In the Desert of Sin, they find no food. (See Exodus 15:22-24; 16:1-3.)

In all these situations, God’s people murmur and complain. How quickly they forget the misery of their bondage in Egypt! How soon they lose the sense of joy they felt when God delivered them from their enemies!

As it was for those ancient people, it is easy for us to resort to complaining when things don’t turn out well for us. But in today’s scripture we see that the psalmist makes a commitment to praise the Lord, to sing praises to God, throughout life, no matter the circumstances, And we can learn to do the same.

God wants us to offer praise both when we see God’s victory and before we see it, when we are still in the midst of our trials.

God was pleased when King Jehoshaphat and his people praised God for answering them. (See 2 Chronicles 20.) In fact, when they began to praise God, God ambushed their enemies which resulted in these enemies turning on one another and finishing off themselves. In Acts, we see Paul and Silas who—after being beaten and thrown into the jail, their bodies aching and their feet fastened in stocks—“were praying and singing hymns to God, and prisoners were listening to them” (Acts 16:25). And while they were praying and singing hymns, the foundations of the prison shook, the doors were opened, and all of the prisoners’ chains fell off. Furthermore, this miraculous occurrence led the jailer and all of his household to become believers.

We all face times when things are going the wrong way for us. When we do, let us embrace the “new” but old wisdom of praising God in every circumstance.