Men should praise the Lord, and they ought to praise Him often. They should praise Him in scriptural manners and for scriptural reasons. Yet, no matter how lofty the praise may be that man offers to the Lord, it still falls short of declaring the greatness of God. In Nehemiah 9:5, the Levites admonished the people to “stand up and bless the LORD,” while at the same time expressing that the name of God far surpassed all their praises. Some might suggest that the failures of men’s praise should altogether exclude the praise, but the Levites emphasized that men still ought to offer their praise. Though the praise of men can never reach to the height of God’s worth, God still chose to inhabit the praises of His people (Psalm 22:3).
God's children are supposed to be easily recognizable through their love one for another (John 13:35). Today's passage teaches Christians to be both kind and forgiving. In the midst of these two exemplary qualities, the Lord desires His children to show forth a tender heart. This means that our hearts ought to be easily moved when other believers are experiencing either joy or distress in their lives (Romans 12:15). Unfortunately, instead of exemplifying a tender heart, far too many believers are becoming more like the world by displaying a divisive spirit and by devouring one another (Galatians 5:15). Believers who are hard-hearted toward others are generally hard-hearted toward the Lord as well (1 John 3:17).
