"How is it that when we praise another human, we can do it without even using the word praise (we praise them for the things they've accomplished and how great they are for such acts)? Yet when "praising" God, we don't usually have much content, but we use the word praise a lot?"
Not sure if that made any sense to you, let me explain a little more. I'm sure you have heard people flippantly say something like "Praise the Lord!" in conversation or in a worship service. Or another example, one of the last worship albums I bought has a song on it that has a chorus that keeps repeating "Give Him praise!" over and over again, and then says, "like this...Oh! OH!....Oh!Oh!" in unison with a cool guitar and bass lick. These are great exclamations to make, but without some content they don't carry any weight and in my opinion don't really accomplish praise. If we can praise our favorite sports star, or movie or musician correctly, which are finite and miniscule in comparison to our God and the things He has done, shouldn't we give Him right praise?
Let me use Psalm 104 as an example. This psalm begins, "Praise the Lord, O my soul." After that phrase, we get a wonderful poetic expression of who God has revealed Himself to be and what He has done. Verse 5, "He set the earth on its foundations, it can never be moved," verse 13, "He waters the mountains from his upper chambers, the earth is satisfied by the fruit of His work," verse 29-30, "when you You hide your face they are terrified...When You send Your spirit they are created." A particular verse of praise is verse 24, "How many are Your works, O Lord! In wisdom you made them all; the earth is full of Your creatures."
This is the language of praise that the psalms teach us. We cry that the Lord is worthy of praise, and then we actually praise Him. Praise Him for His mighty works, for His holiness, for His faithfulness and preservation of creation (even after the fall of Adam), praise Him for His saving deeds and His mercy (psalm 103 has some great passages on that subject).
Oh, and one other comment. Our other favorite expression, "Hallelujah," is the hebrew for praise the Lord, so that too should be used in the way we just explored. I find that I use that word after God has been praised, sort as a closing exclamation.
I've had the privilege with some of my study time to practice this praise, and once you get familiar with some of these psalms or other passages of scripture that are helpful for praise, its a wonderful thing to put into practice in private times of prayer or worship (though I also think that in the right moment, this free form praise can be expressed in a corporate worship setting as well). We can always use the language of the psalms as a guideline, but also consider making observations in your own experience that you can turn back to praise as well. For example, "Praise You God, your hands painted the beautiful colors of this evening sky. I am in awe of your power and creativity." "God, you promised to have compassion on those who fear You, and to bring us into eternal life through Christ. I am struggling to see anything good in this life right now, but I praise you that You are faithful to keep Your promises. Praise you for the hope of redemption, praise the name of Jesus, the name above every name, the only name that has the power to save and make me a citizen of heaven. How I long to be there." I gave that example as a reminder that praise is not just about when everything is going great or when we feel like praising God. He's always worthy of praise. Thankfully, David showed us that God hears our joyful shouts as well as our deepest, darkest cries of complaint and despair (see Psalm 88).
So now when someone says, "Praise the Lord," you can tell them, "go right ahead." If they they look at you confused, you can take that opportunity to talk with them about how the bible teaches us to praise and that there's a lot more to it than just saying or singing the word praise.
1 comment:
Great Post. I have been learning to Praise God in my recent storms. I have been living surrendered and try to praise Him as I read His word, Raise my daughter and deal with the complexity of life. Great reminder. God bless!
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