Praise

	"Praise the Lord!" Psalm 148 counsels.  "Praise the Lord from the heavens; praise Him in the heights!  Praise Him, all His angels; Praise Him, all His hosts!  Praise Him, sun and moon; Praise Him, all stars of light!  Praise Him, highest heavens, and the waters that are above the heavens!  Let them praise the name of the Lord, for He commanded and they were created.  He has also established them forever and ever; He has made a decree which will not pass away.  Praise the Lord from the earth, sea monsters and all deeps; fire and hail, snow and clouds; stormy wind, fulfilling His word; mountains and all hills; fruit trees and all cedars; beasts and all cattle; creeping things and winged fowl; kings of the earth and all peoples; princes and all judges of the earth; both young men and virgins; old men and children.  Let them praise the name of the Lord, for His name alone is exalted; His glory is above earth and heaven. And He has lifted up a horn for His people, praise for all His godly ones; {even} for the sons of Israel, a people near to Him. Praise the Lord!" 
	Is it very difficult to recognize the point of this Psalm? Our word for this study is "praise."
	This word is not uncommon in the Old Testament.
	"And when you enter the land and plant all kinds of trees for food, then you shall count their fruit as forbidden," the Israelites are instructed in Leviticus 19:23-24.  "Three years it shall be forbidden to you; {it} shall not be eaten.  But in the fourth year all its fruit shall be holy, an offering of praise to the Lord."
	The word which is used here refers to thanksgiving.  Even without knowing any Hebrew, it is not hard for us to understand this connotation from the passage itself.  So, praising God sometimes means offering thanksgiving for His blessings.
	"Now consider this, you who forget God," Psalm 50:22-23 urges, "lest I tear {you} in pieces, and there be none to deliver.  He who offers a sacrifice of thanksgiving honors Me; and to him who orders {his} way {aright} I shall show the salvation of God." 
	Praise sometimes carries the idea of confessing God's majesty.
	"I will give thanks to Thee, O Lord, among the peoples;" David expresses in Psalm 108:3-5, "and I will sing praises to Thee among the nations.  For Thy lovingkindness is great above the heavens; and Thy truth {reaches} to the skies.  Be exalted, O God, above the heavens, and Thy glory above all the earth."
	In the Old Testament, praise involves thanksgiving for God's blessings and it relates to confession of His majesty.  Since God's people are often motivated to express their praises in song, it is no surprise that this word occurs frequently in the Psalms.
	"I will give thanks to the Lord according to His righteousness, and will sing praise to the name of the Lord Most High," David exclaims in Psalm 7:17.  "I will be glad and exult in Thee; I will sing praise to Thy name, O Most High."
	"The Lord also will be a stronghold for the oppressed," the Psalmist adds in verses 9-11, "a stronghold in times of trouble,  and those who know Thy name will put their trust in Thee; for Thou, O Lord, hast not forsaken those who seek Thee. Sing praises to the Lord, who dwells in Zion; declare among the peoples His deeds."
	The Israelites of the Old Testament praise God through thanksgiving for His blessings and confession of His majesty.  They joyfully praise God through their songs.
	"Praise the Lord!"  David encourages in Psalm 147:1. "For it is good to sing praises to our God; for it is pleasant {and} praise is becoming."
	"Shout joyfully to the Lord, all the earth," the 100th Psalm invites. "Serve the Lord with gladness; come before Him with joyful singing.  Know that the Lord Himself is God; it is He who has made us, and not we ourselves; {we are} His people and the sheep of His pasture.  Enter His gates with thanksgiving, {and} His courts with praise. Give thanks to Him; bless His name.  For the Lord is good; His lovingkindness is everlasting, and His faithfulness to all generations."

	The Israelites of the Old Testament praise God through thanksgiving for His blessings and confession of His majesty.  They joyfully praise God through their songs.  As we might expect, Christians continue to praise God in New Testament times.
	"And as He was now approaching, near the descent of the Mount of Olives," we read of Jesus in Luke 19:37-38, "the whole multitude of the disciples began to praise God joyfully with a loud voice for all the miracles which they had seen, saying, 'Blessed is the King who comes in the name of the Lord; peace in heaven and glory in the highest!'"
	"And with a leap," Acts 3:8-9 says of a lame man who has just been given back his strength, "he stood upright and {began} to walk; and he entered the temple with them, walking and leaping and praising God.  And all the people saw him walking and praising God."
	We continue to praise God for His blessings.  Along with this, we also continue to praise God for His majesty.
	"And it came about that while He was blessing them," Luke 24:51-53 records, "He parted from them.  And they returned to Jerusalem with great joy, and were continually in the temple, praising God."
	We still praise God in thankfulness for His blessings and in recognition of His majesty.  And still, today, we praise God through song.
	"But about midnight Paul and Silas were praying and singing hymns of praise to God," we find in Acts 16:25, "and the prisoners were listening to them."  
	Why are God's people so eager to praise Him?
	"And immediately he regained his sight," Luke 18:43 records, "and {began} following Him, glorifying God; and when all the people saw it, they gave praise to God."
	These people praise God for giving sight to a blind man.  The day of miracles is past, but God still gives sight to the blind today.  He gives sight to the spiritually blind.  And, after all, which is worse: physical blindness or spiritual blindness?
	"And even if our gospel is veiled," Paul observes in   2 Corinthians 4:3-4, "it is veiled to those who are perishing, in whose case the god of this world has blinded the minds of the unbelieving, that they might not see the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God."
	God gives sight to the spiritually blind, and we should praise Him for this.  But it is not enough to simply see the light.  We must also obey what we see.  So we should praise God for allowing us to take the steps which provide us salvation and an inheritance with Him.
	"He predestined us to adoption as sons through Jesus Christ to Himself," Paul notes in Ephesians 1:5-6, "according to the kind intention of His will, to the praise of the glory of His grace, which He freely bestowed on us in the Beloved."
	"To the end that we who were the first to hope in Christ should be to the praise of His glory," the thought continues in verses 12-14.  "In Him, you also, after listening to the message of truth, the gospel of your salvation-- having also believed, you were sealed in Him with the Holy Spirit of promise, who is given as a pledge of our inheritance, with a view to the redemption of {God's own} possession, to the praise of His glory."
	We praise God for giving sight to the spiritually blind.  We praise God for providing the opportunity to obey the Gospel and obtain an inheritance in heaven.  And we praise God for allowing us to proclaim His majesty to others. 
	"But you are a chosen race," we find in 1 Peter 2:9-10, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for {God's} own possession, that you may proclaim the excellencies of Him who has called you out of darkness into His marvelous light; for you once were not a people, but now you are the people of God; you had not received mercy, but now you have received mercy."
	There can be no question.  God is worthy of praise.  And we should be eager for opportunities to express this praise through our words as well as through our actions.
	"You will be enriched in everything for all liberality," Paul states in 2 Corinthians 9:11-15, "which through us is producing thanksgiving to God.  For the ministry of this service is not only fully supplying the needs of the saints, but is also overflowing through many thanksgivings to God.  Because of the proof given by this ministry they will glorify God for {your} obedience to your confession of the gospel of Christ, and for the liberality of your contribution to them and to all, while they also, by prayer on your behalf, yearn for you because of the surpassing grace of God in you.  Thanks be to God for His indescribable gift!"
	Indeed!  We glorify God for His majesty.  And we praise Him with thanksgiving for the truth which sets us free.

Unless otherwise noted, "Scripture taken from the NEW AMERICAN STANDARD BIBLE(R), (C) Copyright 1960, 1962, 1963, 1968, 1971, 1972, 1973, 1975, 1977 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission." (www.lockman.org)