Praise the LORD!
Praise God in his sanctuary;
praise him in his mighty heavens!
Praise him for his mighty deeds;
praise him according to his excellent greatness! Psalm 150:1-2 (ESV)

We praise God for who He is and what He has done. He is pure and holy. There is none like Him. He created the world, including you and me. We are God’s workmanship, His poem, and He prepared good works for us to accomplish. He equipped us to achieve works that would honor Him, Ephesians 2:10.    

God deserves praise.

Our husbands also deserve praise. 

When people ask you about your husband, what do you tell them? 

Do you complain about his faults? He’s not the man I thought he was. He’s a workaholic. He doesn’t take the trash out. He doesn’t help me with the housework. He doesn’t help me with the kids. He doesn’t …

Or do you boast about your husband’s good characteristics and works? My husband treats me like a princess. He is kind. He holds my hand when we go for a walk. He opens the door for me. He helps me clean the house. He washes dishes after dinner. By the way, I’m boasting about Keith, here.

I like chocolate. I’ll admit it. I’m a chocoholic. I love See’s Candy dark chocolate with nuts. Keith keeps me supplied. He likes milk chocolate with no nuts, so when he goes to See’s Candy, he has the server hand-pick my chocolates and place them in a box, and he chooses a prepackaged box of milk chocolates for himself. Consequently, we always have two boxes in the pantry. They look alike, but they have very different chocolates in them. One day, I offered a neighbor a chocolate. I got the boxes down and chose the chocolates she wanted. She noticed “PPP” on one of the boxes and asked me what it meant. I hesitated. 

“It means pretty precious princess.” 

How can I complain about a guy who calls me his pretty precious princess? He deserves some praise, doesn’t he?

Joseph – An Unsung Hero

Matthew and Luke tell us about an unsung hero, Joseph, the husband of Mary and earthly step-father of Jesus. You know the story, but let’s look at it from Joseph’s perspective. He is engaged to Mary. This engagement is much stronger than engagements today. To break this engagement, the couple had to divorce. 

Mary tells Joseph that although she is a virgin and has had no sexual relationships with a man, she is pregnant, conceived by the Holy Spirit. 

Joseph doesn’t want to put Mary to shame and considers quietly divorcing her. An angel appears to him in a dream and tells Joseph that Mary’s story is true and that he should take Mary as his wife. He obeys the angel and takes Mary as his wife but has no sexual relations with her until after Jesus is born.

Joseph is a law-abiding man. When Caesar Augustus decrees that everyone should go to the town where they were born to register for a census, Joseph takes pregnant Mary to Bethlehem, about 80 miles from Nazareth. While they are in Bethlehem, Mary gives birth to Jesus. No family around to help. Perhaps someone from Bethlehem helps. But Joseph is there for her. 

Joseph is devout and obeys the law. When Jesus is eight days old, Joseph and Mary have Him circumcised and name Him “Jesus,” as the law requires. When the days of Mary’s purification are completed according to Leviticus 12:2-4, 33 days after the birth of a male, Joseph and Mary take Jesus to Jerusalem to be presented to the Lord. They offer a sacrifice of two turtledoves, the offering of the poor. 

Joseph protects Mary and Jesus from harm. An angel tells him in a dream that they need to flee to Egypt because Herod is searching for Jesus to kill him. He flees with Mary and Jesus to Egypt and stays there until Herod dies, Matthew 2:13-15. After Herod dies, an angel appears to Joseph again in a dream and tells him to take his family back to Israel. Joseph obeys and sets up shop in Nazareth as a carpenter, Matthew 2:19-23. There, Joseph teaches Jesus a trade, carpentry, Mark 6:3. 

I can imagine how Mary thanked God for Joseph. Although he was poor, he was rich in service and love. I imagine that he has many crowns that he will cast at the feet of the Lord.

Can you hear Mary praising Joseph?

“Joseph, I thank you and praise God that He prepared you for me. You obeyed the angel’s commands. You believed that I was a virgin when everyone else accused me of being unfaithful to you. You obeyed the law, even when it was inconvenient. You protected us. You provided for us. You were devout and obeyed the law of God. You taught our boys a trade, so that they could make a living. I praise God for you!”

How To Prompt A Habit of Praise

Has your husband helped you through a challenging experience, turning your disappointment to joy? Acknowledge that help today with a praise, detailing how he helped you. 

Has your husband given you the gift of time, joy, or pleasure? Respond by giving him the same gift. He may wonder what you are up to at first, but as you continue to give him praise, he may begin praising you with a great big grin.

Bless God and your husband today. You will smile; God will smile, and your husband will smile. That praise is studded with the jewels of memories, love, laughter, joy, pride, boasting, smiles, texting, clapping, singing, celebrating, rejoicing, and much more. All of this praise focused upon your husband.

Pondering the past prompts praise.

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Begin with pondering the past.

• Remember what your husband has done for you and your family.
• Make a list of the praiseworthy deeds that he has done.
• Think of your husband’s relationship with God and the characteristics that he displays. Make another list.
• What are your husband’s values? Write them down.
• What are his professional accomplishments? List them.
• How does he help others? Record his service.
• Describe his physical features in complimentary terms. What attracted you to him? Tell him.
• What do you enjoy doing with him? Let him know.
• Review your lists and thank God for your husband.
• Write your husband a love note telling him how praiseworthy he is. Don’t wait. Write that note today.

Are you smiling? There are many other lists that you could make, but this is a start. The important thing is to focus on our husbands with a positive perspective. After all, that’s what we want him to do when he thinks of us – right?

“Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is commendable, if there is any excellence, if there is anything worthy of praise, think about these things.” Philippians 4:8 (ESV)

Lord of heaven and earth, thank You for our husbands. Prompt us to ponder the praiseworthiness of our husbands and cause us to praise them, tell them how important they are to us, and how much we love them. We do have tough times in our marriages, but there are glimpses of You even in those moments. Help us to think about the true, honorable, just, pure, lovely, commendable, excellent and praiseworthy in our husbands. Give us the courage to take the first step in praising them. In Jesus’ name we pray, amen.

Wives, Proclaim Your Praise

Please return and let us know how your husband responded in the Comments Section.