Praise God's Name in Song

November 18, 2022 

Psalm 69:30 - I will praise God’s name in song and magnify Him with thanksgiving.

David began Psalm 69 with complaining about his great distress and the trouble he has had and begs God to help him. He pours out his heart to God and asks God to ease his burden. He confesses that he’s been foolish and that his sins have been serious and that he can’t hide those sins from God.  

But he then concludes this Psalm with joy and praise. He wrote that he will Magnify Him with thanksgiving.  The word magnify can have a couple of different meanings. It can mean that you want to make something small appear bigger than it is, like with a microscope or magnifying glass. Or it can mean to make something that may seem small and insignificant appear to be as great as it really is, like when you use a telescope to see faraway objects or planets.

We have two kinds of magnifying, the microscope and the telescope. One makes small things look bigger, and the other makes a big thing look as big as it really is. 

So when David is saying “magnify Him with thanksgiving”, he doesn’t mean I will make a small God look bigger than He really is. He means, “I will make a big God look as big as He really is!” 

Christians are not called to be microscopes. We don’t need to magnify God and make Him seem bigger because there is nothing bigger or more superior than God. As Christians, we need to be telescopes. We need to be thinking, feeling and acting in a way that makes God look as great as He really is. That’s what it means to magnify God. 

So how do we magnify Him best? Our scripture tells us we will praise His name in song and magnify Him with thanksgiving. Even though I love music and enjoy praising God with song, I am not a gifted musician. We can’t all make a joyful noise unto the Lord!  But we can decide that in spite of everything going on in our lives, we will praise the name of the Lord. When we lift our voices and take time out of our busy schedules to spend time alone with God in prayer and journaling, we show Him that we love Him and that we are thankful for everything He does for us.  And that does please the Lord.