Seven times a day I praise You

How much praise of God is “enough?”

Will we praise morning, noon, and night?  Will we praise in between each of those time slots of worship?

The psalmist contemplates the worthiness of God to be praised — His ordinances are righteous — and concludes, “seven times a day I praise you” (119:164).

He is not suggesting that His worship is regulated by the time of day.  It is better to understand seven as the number of perfection.  His worship is perfect and complete.  He is saying that all day, throughout the day, whenever he experiences a godly, prayerful impulse, he expresses his praise and gratitude to the Lord.  No arbitrary and compulsory schedule is enough for him to give adequate praise to God.  He will praise God all day long.

This also then serves as a pattern for the praise of all godly men, as Charles Bridges, commenting on this verse writes,

…love to God is the spirit of praise.  The neglect therefore of this service is robbing God, no less than ourselves.  Not that he needs it, but that he deserves and desires it. Not that it brings any merit to us, but that it strengthens our dependence, and elevates our love.  If then we feel it to be “good (Ps. 42:1), comely (Ps. 33:1), and pleasant” (Ps. 135:3; 147:1), it will be as needless to define its frequency, as to prescribe the limit of our service to a beloved friend, to whom our obligations were daily increasing. The casuistry of love would answer all the entangling scruples of a bondage system. We should aim at living in praise (Ps 34:1; 71:8, 14; Lk. 24:53), as the element of our souls, the atmosphere of our enjoyment, our reward more than our duty — that which identifies our interest with heaven, and forms our meetness for it.