02/12/2020
Praising God is something we can’t do often enough. It is different from giving thanks, which acknowledges Him for providing, healing, or in general, doing specific things for us. “Holy Praise” serves to extol the character, and virtue, of God. We are acknowledging His divinity, loving nature, goodness, kindness, mercy, grace, and every virtue we have come to know as being who He is. Our first words should be to thank God each morning for our new day, but our very next breath should be filled with words of “Holy Praise!” By virtue of our praise we are telling God that He is great... and we are small. This is our sacrifice of self as we acknowledge Him as our Lord.
“Yet you are holy, enthroned on the praises of Israel.”
Psalms 22:3 ESV
“Through him then let us continually offer up a sacrifice of praise to God, that is, the fruit of lips that acknowledge his name.”
Hebrews 13:15 ESV
When we ask one of our young children to do something for us, and they do it, we thank them for it. Sometimes we pick them up in our arms and ask them for a simple hug, and when they wrap their arms around our neck and squeeze us tight, with a grunt, we hold them close and say “Thank you for my hug...”, but then we follow it immediately with praise “you are such a wonderful hugger, and I love you so much!” Does this sound familiar? Praising God, and Jesus Christ for being who they are is much like this; it should be immediate, frequent, heartfelt, loving, and given without the need for prompting.
“Not to us, O Lord, not to us, but to your name give glory, for the sake of your steadfast love and your faithfulness!”
Psalms 115:1 ESV
However, not all things that receive praise are like Jesus Christ, and God. Sometimes we offer common praise to things, or people, for less significant attributes... “That team is the greatest football team of all time!”, or we pick a character trait from among many bad ones as we look for a reason to praise someone... “They may be rough around the edges, but their brilliant intellect is amazing!” Praise is often given to lesser things, or without much thought to undeserving people and events to soften criticism. So how do we praise God?
“Ascribe to the Lord, O heavenly beings, ascribe to the Lord glory and strength. Ascribe to the Lord the glory due his name; worship the Lord in the splendor of holiness.”
Psalms 29:1-2 ESV
We praise God from the depths of our soul, and it is never superficial. There is no “but” in our praise of God... only the word “and”. God’s grace is not qualified because it is always boundless, and so is His love, and every character trait that makes up who He is. When we praise Jesus as a loving savior do we ever say “but, he....” and qualify it in some way? Jesus abides in us, and we in Him just as our praise should abide in our worship, and our worship in our praise. Our praise of God, and Jesus is “Holy Praise!” We offer “Holy praise” to them... not the trite earthly praise that is so commonly heaped on earthly things.
So I ask that we each consider our first words every morning. Are we rising with thanksgiving on our lips, and then in the very next breath offering God “Holy Praise?” If we hug the neck of our Father each morning, then He will hold us tight through the day, and after expressing His thanks for our embrace He will tell us He loves us, and praise us in some wonderful and holy way...
“and behold, a voice from heaven said, "This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased."”
Matthew 3:17 ESV
Are you ready to praise God in the same way we pray... all the day long? “Through him then let us continually offer up a sacrifice of praise to God”.
Prayer:
Father, thank you for this day and all your many blessings in it! You are a wonderful Lord, and your grace is the warm oil that soothes my soul in the midst of a sinful world. Your loving kindness embraces me, and knows no end to the comfort it gives me. I fear nothing in this day because you are strong, mighty, and forever faithful, and at my side. Your patience is amazing, even though I am but a sinner, undeserving of your mercy and forgiveness. I find that your love is perfect, and from it you saw fit to send your Son Jesus to redeem me. Holy, Holy, Holy, are you my God who is worthy of my praise in all that you are. Hear my prayers and every contrition, cry for forgiveness, and need I express within them, but especially hear my love for you, and the praise I offer in sacrifice to you... my God. All glory is yours Holy Father, and it is made perfect by your boundless grace which flows through Jesus... bringing hope to me in the midst of this fallen world, and prompting my thanks and ”Holy Praise” forevermore.
“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