Praise

Psalm 33:1 (HCSB)

¹ Rejoice in the Lord, you righteous ones; praise from the upright is beautiful.

Strong’s Hebrew lexicon defines praise as hä·lal'

1) to shine, (fig. of God's favor), to flash forth light

2) to praise, boast, be boastful, to boast, make a boast, boastful ones, boasters

3) to praise, to be praised, be made praiseworthy, be commended, be worthy of praise, to make     

     a fool of, make into a fool to act madly, act like a madman

Noah Webster’s 1828 dictionary defines praise this way:

To extol in words or song; to magnify; to glorify on account of perfections or excellent works.

To express gratitude for personal favors. To do honor to; to display the excellence of.

Praise looks good on you!  It really does!  It brings beauty to your presence.  It brings gladness to even the most sorrowful heart.  When we open our mouths and begin to extol the Lord and praise Him out of thankfulness for what He has done on the cross, and gratefulness for the forgiveness that we have received, we open up an opportunity for God to ‘shine’ or ‘flash forth His light’ upon us.  This allows His beauty (or glory) show forth from our faces and our very attitudes.  Praise can truly take hold of us.

Psalm 16:7-9 (ESV)

⁷ I bless the Lord who gives me counsel;

    in the night also my heart instructs me.

⁸ I have set the Lord always before me;

    because he is at my right hand, I shall not be shaken.

⁹ Therefore my heart is glad, and my whole being rejoices;

    my flesh also dwells secure.

Praise transforms us, We are changed!  It causes us to refocus and to connect with our Heavenly King in a very personal way.  Our thoughts and our ambitions are exposed under the ‘shining’ of God’s glory that He may show us their true value.  Our selfish attitudes are also exposed and we are shown our true self.  Praise is where 'the poured out life' begins to take shape.  Praise is one of the deepest, most passionate expressions of Love which comes from our heart to our King.  If we think that praise comes from our own desire, that is where we would be wrong, praise is a desire that God stirs deep within our hearts to exalt and honor Him.  God gives us the desire to praise Him.

Psalm 100:1-5 (ESV)

¹  Make a joyful noise to the Lord, all the earth!

²     Serve the Lord with gladness!

    Come into his presence with singing!

³ Know that the Lord, he is God!

    It is he who made us, and we are his;

    we are his people, and the sheep of his pasture.

⁴ Enter his gates with thanksgiving,

    and his courts with praise!

    Give thanks to him; bless his name!

⁵ For the Lord is good;

    his steadfast love endures forever,

    and his faithfulness to all generations.

Praise transports us, we enter into the very near presence of our King by our obedient response to praise Him.  Close proximity to His presence is what God desires for the man or woman of God, that we would know His thoughts, His desires, and His actions.  And that we would be captivated by His ‘shining’ (or glory) because nothing else can compare to His true beauty.

Psalm 34:1-10 (ESV)

¹ I will bless the Lord at all times;

    his praise shall continually be in my mouth.

² My soul makes its boast in the Lord;

    let the humble hear and be glad.

³ Oh, magnify the Lord with me,

    and let us exalt his name together!

⁴ I sought the Lord, and he answered me

    and delivered me from all my fears.

⁵ Those who look to him are radiant,

    and their faces shall never be ashamed.

⁶ This poor man cried, and the Lord heard him

    and saved him out of all his troubles.

⁷ The angel of the Lord encamps

    around those who fear him, and delivers them.

⁸ Oh, taste and see that the Lord is good!

    Blessed is the man who takes refuge in him!

⁹ Oh, fear the Lord, you his saints,

    for those who fear him have no lack!

¹⁰ The young lions suffer want and hunger;

    but those who seek the Lord lack no good thing.

Praise empowers us to become the men and women of God that we were intended to be.  Praise is becoming a God boaster!  "Glory belongs to God, whose power is at work in us. By this power he can do infinitely more than we can ask or imagine". Eph. 3:20 GWT.  Being connected to Him in praise beckons us to take our place by His side in full confidence, we do the things that He does, and speak the things that He desires for us to speak. His affections are turned toward us that we might be as He is.  By His side we can receive His burden for others who are lost and need His mercy. The greatest weapon we have been given is our ability to praise Him. We are called warriors, praise is warfare fought on a spiritual front, and we are warriors of praise.

Psalm 23 (GWT)

¹ The Lord is my shepherd.

    I am never in need.

²         He makes me lie down in green pastures.

        He leads me beside peaceful waters.

³         He renews my soul.

        He guides me along the paths of righteousness

            for the sake of his name.

⁴ Even though I walk through the dark valley of death,

    because you are with me, I fear no harm.

        Your rod and your staff give me courage.

⁵ You prepare a banquet for me while my enemies watch.

    You anoint my head with oil.

    My cup overflows.

⁶ Certainly, goodness and mercy will stay close to me all the days of my life,

    and I will remain in the Lord’s house for days without end.

Praise is a resting place.  Rest for our soul.  We no longer have to come to God by our outward observance of works in an attempt to please Him.  Jesus declared on the cross that ‘It was finished’, His work was completed.  God was satisfied with Jesus and His work, we can rest in His completed work and receive it as our own.  God is pleased with us because of Jesus.  Praise is our one and only true response. Our thankfulness to Jesus for His work is our starting place, our gratefulness to Jesus for us receiving His work as our own is our resting place.

Song of Solomon 2:3-4 (ESV)

³ As an apple tree among the trees of the forest,

    so is my beloved among the young men.

With great delight I sat in his shadow,

    and his fruit was sweet to my taste.

⁴ He brought me to the banqueting house,

    and his banner over me was love.

Praise is a lover’s cry.  Praise is what is expressed to the one we desire who has done excellent work on our behalf.  One who desire’s us enough to lay down His life for us, He is commended for His virtue and His grace by doing something we could never do.  He loves us with an unending love.

Psalm 146:1-2 (ESV)

¹ Praise the Lord!

Praise the Lord, O my soul!

² I will praise the Lord as long as I live;

    I will sing praises to my God while I have my being.

Praise is a way of life.  We are called to be men and women of praise.  We can take confidence in the fact that " ...we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose."  Romans 8:28 ESV

Psalm 90:16-17 (ESV)

¹⁶ Let your work be shown to your servants,

    and your glorious power to their children.

¹⁷ Let the (beauty) of the Lord our God be upon us,

    and establish the work of our hands upon us;

    yes, establish the work of our hands!

Praise is beautiful.  The world looks at us as foolish and crazy for attempting to praise an invisible God.  The world cannot see the beauty of a life given for the love of God, the assumption is that we are somewhat looney.  But, that is the beauty of praise, it is totally opposite of how the world system operates.  It is truly the wisdom of God.

Psalm 71-12:20 (ESV)

¹² O God, be not far from me;

    O my God, make haste to help me!

¹³ May my accusers be put to shame and consumed;

    with scorn and disgrace may they be covered

    who seek my hurt.

¹⁴ But I will hope continually

    and will praise you yet more and more.

¹⁵ My mouth will tell of your righteous acts,

    of your deeds of salvation all the day,

    for their number is past my knowledge.

¹⁶ With the mighty deeds of the Lord God I will come;

    I will remind them of your righteousness, yours alone.

¹⁷ O God, from my youth you have taught me,

    and I still proclaim your wondrous deeds.

¹⁸ So even to old age and gray hairs,

    O God, do not forsake me,

until I proclaim your might to another generation,

    your power to all those to come.

¹⁹ Your righteousness, O God,

    reaches the high heavens.

You who have done great things,

    O God, who is like you?

²⁰ You who have made me see many troubles and calamities

    will revive me again;

from the depths of the earth

    you will bring me up again.

Nothing about our lives is by chance or fate, it is by divine order.  God knows the depths of our hearts and our capacity to receive the desire to praise Him even in our most difficult situations.  God knows we need to praise Him even when we don’t feel like it.  Praise in difficult times is a sacrifice, like an offering poured out to God.  His desire is that we would in turn be drawn near to His presence.  These are the hardest times to praise Him, but the most crucial times.  God is faithful to meet us no matter where we are or what state we are in, if we are willing to turn to Him and give Him the opportunity to meet us.  Praise is a doorway we can enter which takes us into God’s very near presence, there we can reunite with Him and be restored in relationship with our King.  He calls for us by name.

By the way, praise looks really good on you!

 Click the red & white arrow ↓ below to listen to the song

Let Everything That Has Breath

Written by:  Matt Redman

Chorus

Let ev’rything that,   ev’rything that

Ev’rything that has breath praise the Lord

Let ev’rything that,   ev’rything that

Ev’rything that has breath praise the Lord

Verse 1

Praise You in the morning

Praise You in the evening

Praise You when I'm young and when I'm old

Praise You when I’m laughing

Praise You when I’m grieving

Praise You ev’ry season of the soul

Pre-Chorus

If we could see how much You’re worth

Your power, Your might, Your endless love

Then surely we would never cease to praise

(REPEAT CHORUS)

Verse 2

Praise You in the heavens

Joining with the angels

Praising You forever and a day

Praise You on the earth now

Joining with creation

Calling all the nations to Your praise

(REPEAT PRE-CHORUS & CHORUS)

 Guitar Tabs Click Here

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The music above is copyrighted by the respective artists, and is demonstrated here for educational purposes only.