Listen carefully: praising God is not optional. It is not something you can take or leave based on how you feel this morning. Praise is God's most righteous due, and every Christian—every single recipient of his grace—is bound to praise him from day to day.

True, we have no official prayer book requiring praise at certain hours. There is no commandment that says, "Thou shalt sing hymns at 9 a.m. and give thanks at noon." But the law written on your heart teaches you it is right to praise God. And that unwritten mandate comes to you with as much force as if it had been recorded on tables of stone or handed down from the top of thundering Sinai.

Yes, it is the Christian's duty to praise God. Not merely a pleasant spiritual exercise when the mood strikes—it is the absolute obligation of your life.

Think not, you who are always mourning, that you are guiltless in this respect! Don't imagine you can discharge your duty to God without songs of praise. You are bound by the bonds of his love to bless his name as long as you live. His praise should continually be in your mouth. Why? Because you are blessed in order that you may bless him. "This people have I formed for myself; they shall show forth my praise." If you do not praise God, you are not bringing forth the fruit which he, as the Divine Husbandman, has a right to expect at your hands.

So do not let your harp hang upon the willows! Take it down and strive, with a grateful heart, to bring forth its loudest music. Arise and chant his praise! With every morning's dawn, lift up your notes of thanksgiving, and let every setting sun be followed with your song. Girdle the earth with your praises; surround it with an atmosphere of melody, and God himself will hearken from heaven and accept your music.

"E'en so I love thee, and will love, And in thy praise will sing, Because thou art my loving God, And my redeeming King."