"Praise our God, for he is good"

This should be reason enough in our lives as believers for us to praise Him. We should not need blessings, signs, proof, or any other representation of God other than his goodness for us to have reason for our praise. Although it is right and good to glorify the Father for these things, it is absolutely wrong for us to wait for those reasons to praise him. His sheer goodness is reason enough to praise him for an eternity, over and over, without ceasing, because he is simply good. It is not that His goodness encompasses who God is in all respects, thus giving us reason all the more for praise, but He is good, one of the simplest of God's infinite characteristics that should be enough to elicit the most passionate of our praises. When we break down our reasons for praise, the most basic reason for praise should be that He is good. I feel that all too often we get caught up in being blessed, praising God for that (which in essence is not bad), and waiting for the next blessing as an opportunity for praise and adoration. This cycle reminds me of how a dog is trained: dog performs desired function, dog is "praised"/rewarded for the function, and eventually the dog is trained to do what the owner desires. This system of praise works when training a dog, but when applied to worshipping the creator is demeaning, belittling, downright inappropriate and worthless. God desires worshippers who praise him out of love and desire, not out of obligation and a desire for an end result. God will not be trained to give desired results as a reaction to praise. He is not a "vending machine" of blessings where you put in what you are required in hopes that your "candy bar" of blessing will fall out. Our truest and purest praise comes out not when we have just been blessed or a certain prayer has been answered, but when we realize that the goodness of God far outweighs any and all other reasons for praise. When we praise God in the midst of blessings because he is good, we begin to forget about how he gives us things, focusing less on his hands and what is in them, and we focus on who God is, and seeking his face. I have recently seen this taking place in  my life as God has continually affirmed a call on my life with sign after sign, none of which were asked for or sought out, but were given anyway. In the midst of all that, the focus wasn't placed on the cool things God was doing, but on the goodness of our Wonderful Savior. Praise our God, for he is GOOD!