Continual Praise is a Measure of Faith

“For you have been my hope, Sovereign Lord, my confidence since my youth. From birth I have relied on you; you brought me forth from my mother’s womb. I will ever praise you.” Psalm 71:5-6 NIV

In an article published by Runner’s World last month, the writer shared a “A strong case for continuing to run as you get older” saying “ For a variety of reasons, VO₂ max naturally decreases as you get older. Fortunately, athletes are more likely to minimize this decline through consistent and purposeful training.” Why does VO2 max matter? Of all the available health and fitness metrics, VO₂ max is one of the most important. “VO₂ max is the amount of oxygen that you can breathe in, transport to the muscle, and utilize during maximal exertion and aerobic exercise,” says Todd Buckingham, Ph.D., exercise physiologist and visiting professor at Grand Valley State University in Michigan. He explains that, besides being an indicator of overall fitness, it’s also a “gold standard” measurement of an athlete’s ability to perform well in an endurance event; essentially, the higher your VO₂ max, the greater your potential. “Once your VO₂ max gets to a certain level, other things like lactate threshold and exercise efficiency come into play. But VO₂ max is the first step in determining performance,” Buckingham says. Not surprisingly, researchers found that higher rates of cardiorespiratory fitness, as determined by VO₂ max, were associated with longer lives.

And, you know, while VO2 max is a measurement of a person’s physical potential or capacity to continually improve and perform well, constant and endless praise is a measurement of our spiritual potential. Why? Because, as you and I get older, the trials of life, the worries of each day, and the hardships of the aging process begin to stack up. And as they do, our faith can decrease. But choosing to praise God through it all shows a continued trust in the Lord to provide for our needs and to fight our battles. This is what the psalmist was alluding to when he said, “For you have been my hope, Sovereign Lord, my confidence since my youth. From birth I have relied on you; you brought me forth from my mother’s womb. I will ever praise you.” This declaration was the psalmist’s way of saying that God had shown Himself faithful from the beginning of his life, so he would appeal to and trust in God’s continued care until the end of his life. And because of the confidence the psalmist had in the Lord, he would praise Him until the end of days. 

So, knowing that the greater your faith the greater your potential to bring Him glory, choose to trust in the Lord each and every day my friend. And choose to offer up a sacrifice of praise to the One who has promised to walk with us from the womb to the tomb and then usher us into heaven where the praise will never end. 

Heavenly Father, thank You for being the God who can be trusted from beginning to end. Help us to inspire the lost to seek You by the way we praise You no matter the circumstances we are faced with. Help us to fully trust You at every stage of our lives Lord that we might reach our full potential and meet the “gold standard” of spiritual fitness. It’s in your precious name we pray Jesus. Amen. 

Happy Running!