Praise Him

Praise Him
For the cosmos
And the picture that it paints
Of an artist so brilliant
He can scarcely be defined

Praise Him
For the first time
That you paused to notice
The open sky and wondered
What kind of imagination
Could inspire
Such beautiful thing
From scratch

Praise Him
For the scratch,
For dust
Held in the hands
Of a master craftsman
Unashamed to share
His likeness with those
He knew would break
His heart and test His patience,
And try His love

Praise Him
For the borrowed breath
That you breathe and
Faculties that function
So as to remind you that
You are not your own,
For a love
That finds its way to you
In every season
Letting you know that
You are not alone

Praise Him
For the miracles
That your eyes have seen
That you were too hard-hearted
To believe
Too nearsighted to perceive
And too self-sufficient
To receive,
And still somehow,
He met all of your needs

Praise Him
For broken hearts and
Bruised knees,
From mountains brought low,
In valleys raised for joy
Given in the deep of night.

Praise Him
For the night and weeping
That always expires,
And lasts only as long as
He allows
Come on

Praise Him
For all that He allows,
All that He permits,
All that He prevents,
And all that He provides,
For blessings often overlooked
Because they're disguised

Praise Him
For Jesus,
Who brought the radiance of the sun
And the tyranny
Of an unrelenting dark knight.
And before you were even awake to the world
Tou gloried in His light,
Warmed by the generosity of His love,
Carried from death to life
On the wings of faith.
Remember your name,
Utter in a prayer,
And your heart awakened
To its need for a Savior

Praise Him
For the Savior
Who showed up at just the right time
To show humanity
That God would never turn his back
On the world that he made

Praise Him
For the way that He came,
Matchless power
Contained in the frame of a child,
Born in a city as obscure as they come. The giver of life
Filling up his very own lungs
To show that
He's not ashamed of us
He is well-acquainted with us
And is committed,
No matter what the cost,
To saving us

Praise Him
For saving us
In the cross
That provided the means It's the door
Through which we enter the shade,
Under which we rest
His righteousness and not our own
His grace and His grace alone
Calling us out and bringing us in, Conquering death and
Absolving our sin.
Let me say it again
Praise Him
For the season that you're in
Because it bears
The mark of His hold on you
And when life gets a hold of you
Tempting you to forget,
Lift your eyes,
Lift your hands,
Lift your hearts, and
Praise Him.
Lift your eyes,
Lift your hands,
Lift your hearts, and
Praise Him.
Lift your eyes,
We lift our hands