Praise the Lord! How good it is to sing praises to our God; for he is gracious, and a song of praise is fitting. The Lord builds up Jerusalem; he gathers the outcasts of Israel. He heals the broken-hearted, and binds up their wounds. He determines the number of the stars; he gives to all of them their names. Great is our Lord, and abundant in power; his understanding is beyond measure. (Psalm 147: 1-5)

All of the psalms assigned for this morning begin with Praise the Lord!

Here the Hebrew word for praise (there are at least eleven) means to shine or flash forth light.

Some understand the soul to be a sliver of fire or a source of light given to each of us. In this way our individual souls are connected to, yet separated from, the universal light of God.

In praising God we rejoin our light with its origins. Our flash of light is embraced within the everflowing light of God.

In praise our inner self - our essential self - returns home.

Above is River Light by David Hibbard.