09/30/2019
How do you praise God, and how often? Do you sing to Him, or play music for Him on an instrument? Do you recite poetry aloud that lifts Him up? Do you write joyous verse for Him? Do you shout out loud the greatness of His blessings and glory? However we go about doing so, our heart that loves Him can’t survive without praising Him. Our voices, and our very being must lift Him up! Though we may be unhappy, our joy must erupt from us.
“Let everything that has breath praise the Lord! Praise the Lord!”
Psalms 150:6 ESV
We sing, play music, recite verse, and shout God’s praises because He is great, and we adore Him. We lift Him up because His strength carries us, and His might wins the day. When we cease to praise His name, then we are lost, so we are warned not to be silent in our praise. The psalmist sings of losing our desire to praise when we have been captured by our enemies...
“By the waters of Babylon, there we sat down and wept, when we remembered Zion. On the willows there we hung up our lyres. For there our captors required of us songs, and our tormentors, mirth, saying, "Sing us one of the songs of Zion!" How shall we sing the Lord 's song in a foreign land?”
Psalms 137:1-4 ESV
And then, this Psalm goes on to sing of the repercussions of losing our ability to praise...
“If I forget you, O Jerusalem, let my right hand forget its skill! Let my tongue stick to the roof of my mouth, if I do not remember you, if I do not set Jerusalem above my highest joy!”
Psalms 137:5-6 ESV
When we are sad, unhappy, are suffering, or in some way have lost heart, then singing, making music, or writing and reciting praise to God seems so hard to do, but if we fix our minds on Him, we will slowly begin to chant to ourselves, then sing, play music to Him, or lovingly praise Him in prayer and word... it lifts not only His Holy Name, but our own spirits as our hope, and His joy, wells up to fill us in that dark moment. The Holy Spirit begins to pray for us, then to praise God for us... first in moans, then sorrowful melody, and finally uplifting song and poetic praise. In these moments we have been given music such as the old Negro Spirituals, which were sung in the midst of slavery, and that despite the great sorrow of that moment rang forth in praise, or the dirges that we sing to mourn our dead, but which bring us hope and praise. Our hope is in the Lord, and our praise reminds us when we are in the depths of despair that He is with us, and will not abandon us. He will lift us up once again because He is great, and in this He is greatly to be praised!
“Bless the Lord, O my soul, and all that is within me, bless his holy name! Bless the Lord, O my soul, and forget not all his benefits, who forgives all your iniquity, who heals all your diseases, who redeems your life from the pit, who crowns you with steadfast love and mercy, who satisfies you with good so that your youth is renewed like the eagle's.”
Psalms 103:1-5 ESV
Praise is not always happy, but it rises up from the God given joy we have deep in our souls. Praise is often about hope, rather than the moment’s victory. We praise the Lord as we seek to reassure ourselves that He is coming, and that He will rescue us from our great travail. No, not all praise is happy, but all praise reminds us of the hope and joy we have in God, and Jesus Christ.
“With my mouth I will give great thanks to the Lord; I will praise him in the midst of the throng. For he stands at the right hand of the needy one, to save him from those who condemn his soul to death.”
Psalms 109:30-31 ESV
Somehow we have convinced ourselves that the only valid praise is happy praise, but the praise we offer in the midst of sorrow, defeat, fading hope, mourning, despair, and all of those difficult times are perhaps the most fruitful because those upwellings of praise lift our spirits, and focus us on God’s mercy, goodness, and grace. Praising God in the storm reassures us of His power and brings us hope. It reminds us that our joy is not dependent on our own happiness, but on God’s faithful provision, and dwells with Him in us.
“Why are you cast down, O my soul, and why are you in turmoil within me? Hope in God; for I shall again praise him, my salvation and my God.”
Psalms 42:11 ESV
Prayer:
Father, thank you for all your many blessings, but thank you most for the joy you have placed in my heart that allows me to praise you in the midst of every storm. Thank you for the praise that springs from my lips, my instruments, and my pen, in all circumstances, and in every prayer I lift up. You are mighty indeed, and you are faithful, especially in the moments of my greatest suffering when I find hope in praising you. I lift up your name in praise when I am happy, and celebrate your good blessings that abound in my life’s song. I shout out my praise for all to hear so that they might know how wonderful you are, and great is your mercy. I play the harmony that I find with you to demonstrate the music in our relationship. Praised be your name, for greatly are you to be praised. Holy, Holy, Holy, are you my God for the joy you bring me, and the praise I find on my lips. Merciful are you in my times of suffering when I lean on the hope I have in you. Joyous are the songs that spring forth from the happiness I feel in your presence. All glory is yours Father, because in the grace that flows through Jesus Christ, your work in me reveals the fullness of your mercy, and completes my continuous praise.
“Praise the Lord! Praise God in his sanctuary; praise him in his mighty heavens! Praise him for his mighty deeds; praise him according to his excellent greatness! Praise him with trumpet sound; praise him with lute and harp! Praise him with tambourine and dance; praise him with strings and pipe! Praise him with sounding cymbals; praise him with loud clashing cymbals! Let everything that has breath praise the Lord! Praise the Lord!”
Psalms 150:1-6 ESV
Rich Forbes