Psalm 150
Praise ye the Lord. Praise God in his sanctuary: praise him in the firmament of his power.
2 Praise him for his mighty acts: praise him according to his excellent greatness.
3 Praise him with the sound of the trumpet: praise him with the psaltery and harp.
4 Praise him with the timbrel and dance: praise him with stringed instruments and organs.
5 Praise him upon the loud cymbals: praise him upon the high sounding cymbals.
6 Let every thing that hath breath praise the Lord. Praise ye the Lord.
Why praise God? Biblically, we are commanded to praise Him. But doesn’t that set God up as a bully? Praise God or go straight to hell. Do not pass go; do not collect $200. In the Bible, God appears to have a monopoly on praise. Praise God because He is our creator, wise and powerful, merciful, tremendously good, forgiving, etc. And He is all these things and more.
Deep Relationship
But why does God appear to need our praise? Because God desires an intimate relationship with us. Praise is the prologue to a deep and multifaceted relationship with God. And we are changed through this holy relationship.
Change of Heart
Praise changes our hearts. When we praise God, we become more joyful, loving and simultaneously at peace. We sing and pray and we are infused with the divine nectar. Savor it.
Clapping for God
For those of us who are seeking to praise God in new ways, the synonyms for praise at Thesaurus.com give us some ideas. We can give God a “big hand,” “a pat on the back,” or a “standing ovation.” We can “rave” about God.
Traders giving Praise
As traders, how can we praise God? We can praise God through prayer, music and dance like Psalm 150 suggests. We can listen to Christian music or other spiritual music while trading and allow the music to touch our hearts. We can sing along—even dance along. We can pray out loud or in our minds.
God in our Hearts
Trading seems so secular. How can we have a relationship with God while trading? Besides the practices already mentioned, we can hold a reverence for God in our hearts, realizing that God is present during every part of our lives—even during the stressful, volatile market moves.