Chapter 26

Children Who Praise God

HAVE you ever stopped to think why you have a mouth? How do you use it?⁠—

It is certainly true that we need the mouth for eating. But the mouth isn’t only for eating. Most of us eat just a few times a day. But isn’t it true that you use your mouth much more for talking?⁠— Your lips, your tongue, the teeth, the roof of your mouth, and much more, all play a part every time you talk.

Just think what it would be like if you could not talk. How sad it would be if you could never tell anyone else what you were thinking! Aren’t you glad that Jehovah gave us a mouth?⁠— And since he gave us our mouth, don’t you agree that it ought to be used in a way that will honor him?⁠—

That is the way King David felt. He was a servant of God. And he said: “The praise of Jehovah my mouth will speak.” Do you agree that this is a good thing to do with our mouths?⁠— Then, let’s repeat together what he said: “The praise of Jehovah my mouth will speak.”​—Psalm 145:21.

There was a young Israelite girl who used her mouth in that way. When she was living, the nation of Syria and the nation of Israel were enemies. One day the Syrians fought against Israel and took that young girl captive. She was sent to the house of the army chief, who was called Naaman. There she came to be the servant of Naaman’s wife.

Now, Naaman had the sickness called leprosy. None of the doctors had been able to help him. But the young girl from Israel had great faith in Jehovah. She knew that he could do wonderful things. And she believed that one of God’s special servants, a prophet, could help Naaman. Of course, Naaman and his wife did not believe in Jehovah. They had another religion. Should the young girl tell them what she knew? Maybe they wouldn’t even want to hear it. What would you have done?⁠—

She knew that she should talk. It would be the kind thing to do. And it would show her love for God. So she said: ‘If only Naaman could go to Jehovah’s prophet in Israel. In that case he could be healed from his leprosy.’

Naaman wanted very much to be healed. So he listened to the girl. He went to Jehovah’s prophet. When he did what the prophet told him to do, he was healed. This caused Naaman to become a worshiper of the true God. How glad he must have been that the young girl from Israel had not been afraid to praise Jehovah!​—2 Kings 5:1-15.

Would you like to help someone to learn about Jehovah as that young girl did?⁠— Who is there that you could help?⁠—

Of course, at first they might not think that they need help. But you could talk to them about the good things that Jehovah does. And they might listen. Wouldn’t it be wonderful if they came to love Jehovah as you do?⁠— Things like that happen when you use your mouth to praise Jehovah.

The Bible also tells about a young man named Timothy. His father was not a believer in Jehovah. But his mother was, and so was his grandmother. Timothy listened to them. And from the time he was very small he knew the Bible. We need to know the Bible in order to praise Jehovah. It is the Bible that tells us about him.

As Timothy grew up, he became a fine young man. One day Paul, an apostle of Jesus Christ, visited the town where Timothy lived. He noticed how much Timothy wanted to serve Jehovah. So he invited this young man to come with him to serve God in an even bigger way. They traveled together to other places. Everywhere they told people about the kingdom of God and about Jesus.​—Acts 16:1-5.

Timothy learned much about how to praise God from the apostle Paul. He saw Paul give talks to large groups of people. He saw how Paul went to people’s homes to teach them too. But Timothy did not just watch. He shared in the work. As Paul said, ‘Timothy is doing the work of Jehovah, even as I am.’​—1 Corinthians 16:10.

Not everyone liked it when Timothy talked about God. But he did not quit. He did not say he wanted to go home. He was glad that he could use his mouth to speak the praise of Jehovah.

Now, some people may say that this is something that is only for older folks to do. But do you believe that?⁠— The Great Teacher knew that wasn’t so. One day when some people tried to get young boys to quit praising God, Jesus said: ‘Did you never read in the Scriptures, “Out of the mouths of little children will come forth praise”?’​—Matthew 21:16.

All of us can praise Jehovah if we really want to. It isn’t hard. God gave us a mouth with which to speak. We don’t have to know everything about the Bible before we start. We can just tell others what we have already learned. Would you like to do that?⁠—

(Other scriptures that encourage young folks to serve God are Psalm 148:12, 13; Ecclesiastes 12:1; 1 Timothy 4:12.)