"And my tongue shall speak of thy righteousness and of thy praise all the day long" (Psalm 35:28).

This particularly long day today happens to be the date of the summer solstice, when the daylight hours here in the United States and Canada are longer than for any other day of the year, making it traditionally the first day of summer. Thus it seems fitting that, for a devotional quarterly entitled Days of Praise, today should be dedicated to praising our wonderful God of righteousness, grace, and love all the day long.

All of us do have our real problems and difficulties, but our blessings are always greater, and we can surely devote one long day just to praise and thanksgiving. Note a few other verses with this comprehensive and challenging phrase.

Psalm 44:8 "In God we boast all the day long, and praise thy name for ever. Selah."

Psalm 71:24. "My tongue also shall talk of thy righteousness all the day long: for they are confounded, for they are brought unto shame, that seek my hurt."

Proverbs 23:17. "Let not thine heart envy sinners: but be thou in the fear of the LORD all the day long."

Actually, this expression "all the day long" was the translators' felicitous way of rendering just two words ("all day") in the original. The word for "all" (Hebrew, kol) in fact does imply "the whole," and the word for "day" (yom) commonly implies "sunset to sunset."

Therefore, the exhortation of David is appropriate--perhaps today especially. "Bless the LORD, O my soul, and forget not all His benefits" (Psalm 103:2) And do so, all the day long! After all, He has promised to show "the exceeding riches of His grace in His kindness toward us through Christ Jesus" all eternity long (Ephesians 2:7). HMM