I Still Have a Reason to Praise God

God’s goodness remains a reason for praise even when the year has brought disappointments, sickness, grief, and prayers that have not been answered as expected. Unanswered prayers can crowd out the memory of answered ones. Loss can draw so much attention that what remains goes uncelebrated. Yet praise does not depend on everything being perfect. God has been faithful through doors opening and doors closing.

Psalm 34 rises out of dangerous territory. David, who once stood before Goliath, is now running for his life and pretending to be out of his mind just to survive. Yet David does not begin with his enemies or everything that went wrong. He begins with praise. His resolve to bless the Lord at all times makes praise a decision, not an emotion. Believers cannot control every diagnosis, disappointment, or closed door, but they can choose their response. Grief and trust can stand together. Praise in trouble is not denial; it is faith that knows both the difficulty being faced and the God being trusted.

David’s praise also rests on memory. He sought the Lord, and the Lord heard and delivered him. Remembering God’s help with bills, difficult situations, needed opportunities, and strength for another step challenges the assumption that God is absent now. A history with God gives present trouble a different frame.

David then turns personal praise into an invitation to exalt the Lord together. Testimony can strengthen someone carrying an unspoken burden or wondering whether God still hears. God’s presence is not limited to one place, and anxious efforts to fix everything do not make him present. He is already there. The invitation to taste and see calls believers to experience his goodness and take refuge in him, even before circumstances change.

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Key Takeaways

• 1. Praise Is a Decision, Not Emotion. David begins with praise while his dangerous circumstances are still part of the story. His resolve does not require pretending that disappointment or grief has disappeared. Believers can acknowledge what hurts and still declare that God is good, because praise rests on who God is rather than on how the day feels. [49:16]
• 2. Memory Challenges the Feeling of Absence. Forgetting past help can make present trouble feel like evidence that God has gone missing. David remembers seeking the Lord and being heard, bringing his history with God into his present fear. Remembered provision, opened doors, and strength for another step give believers reasons to trust without pretending the current difficulty is small. [54:02]
• 3. Personal Praise Can Strengthen Another Believer. David’s declaration becomes an invitation to magnify the Lord together. Someone nearby may carry a burden that has never been spoken aloud or wonder whether prayer still matters. A testimony of God’s faithfulness can give that person a reason to keep trusting when private courage is wearing thin. [55:53]
• 4. God Is Already Present There. Concern for a sick loved one can bring an urgent desire to rush in and set everything right. Yet God’s care does not depend on a family member arriving first, and his presence is not confined to one city. Remembering that God is already there makes room for praise in the middle of uncertainty, without claiming that the sickness has already ended. [58:55]

Youtube Chapters

• [00:00] - Welcome
• [41:15] - Still a Reason to Thank God
• [42:33] - Psalm 34: Praise, Deliverance, and Refuge
• [44:26] - Gratitude After a Difficult Year
• [46:52] - David in Dangerous Territory
• [48:56] - Praise Is a Decision
• [51:49] - Remembering What God Has Done
• [55:24] - Praise That Encourages Someone Else
• [56:44] - Trusting God With a Hospitalized Grandmother
• [59:21] - Taste and See That the Lord Is Good

Bible Reading

Psalm 34:1-8
“I will bless the LORD at all times; his praise shall continually be in my mouth. My soul makes its boast in the LORD; let the humble hear and be glad. Oh, magnify the LORD with me, and let us exalt his name together! I sought the LORD, and he answered me and delivered me from all my fears. Those who look to him are radiant, and their faces shall never be ashamed. This poor man cried, and the LORD heard him and saved him out of all his troubles. The angel of the LORD encamps around those who fear him, and delivers them. Oh, taste and see that the LORD is good! Blessed is the man who takes refuge in him!” [42:33]

Habakkuk 3:17-18
“Though the fig tree should not blossom, nor fruit be on the vines, the produce of the olive fail and the fields yield no food, the flock be cut off from the fold and there be no herd in the stalls, yet I will rejoice in the LORD; I will take joy in the God of my salvation.” [51:11]

1 Samuel 21:10-15
“And David rose and fled that day from Saul and went to Achish the king of Gath. And the servants of Achish said to him, “Is not this David the king of the land? Did they not sing to one another of him in dances, ‘Saul has struck down his thousands, and David his ten thousands’?” And David took these words to heart and was much afraid of Achish the king of Gath. So he changed his behavior before them and pretended to be insane in their hands and made marks on the doors of the gate and let his spittle run down his beard. Then Achish said to his servants, “Behold, you see the man is mad. Why then have you brought him to me? Do I lack madmen, that you have brought this fellow to behave as a madman in my presence? Shall this fellow come into my house?” [47:51]

Observation questions

1. In 1 Samuel 21:10–15, what does David do because he fears for his life? How does that situation contrast with the way he begins Psalm 34? [48:07]
2. In Psalm 34:1–4, how does David move from a personal decision to praise, to an invitation to others, to remembering God’s help? [55:55]
3. What examples of easily forgotten help—such as provision, opportunities, and strength—illustrate David’s remembering God’s response in Psalm 34:4? [53:43]
4. In Habakkuk 3:17–18, what circumstances remain difficult even as Habakkuk chooses to rejoice in God?

Interpretation questions

1. Why does David’s decision to praise in Psalm 34:1 mean more when considered alongside his fear in 1 Samuel 21:10–15? What does this suggest about the relationship between faith and fear? [49:18]
2. How does Habakkuk 3:17–18 show the difference between trusting God during hardship and pretending that nothing is wrong? [51:26]
3. How can remembering God’s past help, as David does in Psalm 34:4, challenge a believer’s sense that God is absent without promising that the present problem will end the same way? [54:13]
4. In Psalm 34:2–3, why might hearing another person praise God encourage someone whose own prayers still seem unanswered? What makes that encouragement different from pressure to appear happy? [56:06]

Application questions

1. What disappointment or unanswered prayer has been taking up most of your attention lately? Without minimizing that hurt, what evidence of God’s goodness can you also name? [45:59]
2. Praise does not require pretending that everything is alright. When has it been hard for you to be honest about grief or disappointment while still trusting God? What might honest praise sound like for you this week? [50:18]
3. Can you recall a specific time when God provided for you, opened an opportunity, or gave you strength for another step? What simple way of remembering that experience might help when fear returns? [54:13]
4. Has someone else’s account of God’s faithfulness helped you through a difficult season? Who might be encouraged by something God has carried you through, and how could you share it while leaving room to hear their struggle? [56:12]
5. Where do you currently feel responsible for fixing everything, perhaps with a sick loved one or a family concern? How might trusting that God is already present help you care faithfully without trying to control the outcome? [59:02]
6. Psalm 34:8 invites believers to experience God’s goodness and take refuge in him. What might taking refuge in God look like in one unresolved situation this week, even if the circumstances do not change? [59:15]