Psalm 138:1-3 – “I will praise You with my whole heart; before the gods I will sing praises to You. 2 I will worship toward Your holy temple, and praise Your name for Your lovingkindness and Your truth; for You have magnified Your word above all Your name. 3 In the day when I cried out, You answered me, and made me bold with strength in my soul.”  NKJV

 

I have long believed that Praise is a practice that is invaluable for the Church and for the individual believer.  I recognize that Praise is like many other things in life, everybody responds differently and engages in the practice differently.  Praise can be effected by singing Scripture Choruses and it can also be achieved by simply lifting our voices to God and expressing our love, respect, and appreciation.  One Chorus that I dearly love is “We Worship and Adore You.” 

 

“We worship and adore you, bowing before you, Songs of Praise singing, 

              Hallelujahs ringing, Hallelujah, Hallelujah, Hallelujah! Amen.

              We worship and adore You, bowing down before you, Songs of Praise singing,

              Hallelujahs ringing, Hallelujah, Hallelujah, Hallelujah! Amen.

              Hallelujah, Hallelujah, Hallelujah!  Amen.”

             Praise is both a natural and normal part of life and is experienced and practiced beyond Church.  Some seem to think that the only place that praise is abnormal or needing restriction is in religious gatherings.  How can that be?  If you think about the advertisements, we are bombarded with we find that Manufacturers praise their products.  If you are around doting parents long you realize that parents praise their children.  Men will praise their automobiles and women will praise hairdressers, wardrobes, etc.  Children praise, sportswriters and coaches praise, politicians praise, and preachers praise.  Life is filled with praise and it is normal, natural, and proper praise is healthy.

It is ingrained in our nature to ‘spontaneously’ give praise to whatever we deem of value.  Therefore, if God is among those things we value, it is normal to release our inner being in Praise to Him.  Please understand, God does not need our praise, but we need to offer it.  We need to hear it from our lips because in Praise there is a ‘release’ that is incredibly powerful and liberating.

If you have gone to a sporting event, you have observed and possibly participated in the virtual insanity and eruption of praise and expression as your team scores or prevents the other team from scoring.  The team did not need the praise in order to score, they scored BEFORE the crowd began praising.  It was the spectators who were benefitted by the clapping, yelling, standing, waving their hands, hats, and banners, and going berserk.

Have you ever noticed that it is often the humblest and yet most balanced and open minded that Praise the most and those who are cranky, cynical malcontented and angry Praise the least?  Praise could be viewed as “Inner Health made Audible.”  There is a genuine tragedy in religious circles that teaches people to ‘repress’ praise.  I held a revival years ago, and a crowd of young people came forward for salvation.  Some of them began to get excited when the experienced Salvation and the burden of sin being lifted.  They began to become demonstrative and the pastor went to them and said, “We leave the shouting at the football game, this is church.”  WHAT?  Are we supposed to get more excited and demonstrative over a football game than over God?  Praise cries for release.!

The word Hallelujah broken down is ‘Hallel’ – praise.  “Oou’ – Our.  ‘Jah’ – God.  Thus, the word means Praise our God!  Praise, in my understanding and belief, is an expression of INNER HEALTH, but it wasn’t inner health alone that caused the crowd to praise at the ball game.  There was an ‘external stimulus’ that invoked it.  The response of the crowd was in direct proportion to the stimuli.  That is why the more we talk about Jesus, focus on Him, His person and work the easier it is to engage in the activity of Praise!

Praise for many, if not most, does not just flow naturally and spontaneously.  It is something that many have to press into. WHY?  Most people who come to church do so from an Outer Court condition.  The temporal is so large in our lives, thinking, and living it requires an act of the will to move beyond it into Praise unto God.  When we determine that we are going to Praise God we are virtually telling the flesh, “Come to attention, we are going to Praise God.”  We have to bridge the gap between the heavenly and earthly realms and this is accomplished through Praise.  Praise affects the thinking and according to the Bible brings pleasure to the heart of God.  Psalm 149:4,” For the Lord takes pleasure in His people.”  Psalm 104:1, “Bless the Lord, O my soul…”  Bless Who?  Revelation 4:11, “Thou art worthy, O Lord to receive glory, and honor, and power: For thou hast created all things, AND for Thy pleasure they are and were created.”  Ephesians 1:12 tell us that we are to be the Praise of His Glory!

God derives pleasure, gratification, and enjoyment in our Praises.  Imagine that!  You and I can engage in an activity that brings genuine pleasure to God.  Hallelujah!  I want to say more about Praise, it’s purpose and power but will wait for the next devotional.  God, bless you richly is my desire and prayer!