Praise is Our Key
Our praise toward God is the means by which we express our joy to the Lord.
When the children of Moab, and the children of Ammon came against
Jehoshaphat to battle, he inquired of the Lord (II Chronicles 20:12) “O our God,
will You not judge them? For we have no might against this great company that
comes against us; neither know we what to do: but our eyes are upon You”. And
the Spirit of the Lord Yahweh came in the midst of the congregation. And he said,
hearken you, all Judah, and you inhabitants of Jerusalem, and you king
Jehoshaphat, thus says the Lord Yahweh to you. Be not afraid nor dismayed by
reason of this great multitude; for the battle is not yours, but God’s. Tomorrow go
you down against them; behold, they come up by the cliff of Ziz, and you shall find
them at the end of the brook, before the wilderness of Jeruel. You shall not need
to fight in this battle, set yourselves, stand you still, and see the salvation of the
Lord Yahweh with you O Judah and Jerusalem; fear not, nor be dismayed;
tomorrow go out against them; for the Lord Yahweh will be with you. And
Jehoshaphat bowed his head with his face to the ground; and all Judah and the
inhabitants of Jerusalem fell before the Lord Yahweh, worshipping the Lord
Yahweh” (verses 14-18); and in verses 21-22 it says “and when he had consulted
with the people, he appointed singers to the Lord Yahweh, and that should praise
the beauty of holiness, as they went out before the army, and to say, Praise the
Lord Yahweh; for His mercy endures forever. And when they began to sing and
to praise, the Lord Yahweh set ambushments against the children of Ammon,
Moab, and mount Seir, which were come against Judah, and they were smitten”.
They were three days in gathering of the spoil, for it was so much.
Praise is an act of worship by which we recognize and extol. Worship is an
attitude of your heart. An attitude of honor, respect, love, praise, excitement (II
Chronicles 5:13-14), after Solomon had finished the Temple and all Israel was
overjoyed, it says “it came to pass, as the trumpeters and singers were as one, to
make one sound to be heard in praising and thanking the Lord Yahweh; and
when they lifted up their voice with the trumpets and cymbals and instruments of
music, and praised the Lord Yahweh, saying, for He is good; for His mercy endure
forever; that then the house was filled with a cloud, even the house of the Lord
Yahweh. So that the priests could not stand to minister by reason of the cloud;
for the glory of the Lord Yahweh had filled the house of God”. We worship God
and bless His name by our acts, our deeds.
We worship God when we are obedient to His word, when we do what the Bible
says. God wants more than lip service, remember He says “these people worship
Me with their lips but their heart is far from Me”. We should be ready to worship
God and to praise God among all people at any time.
We are to praise God both for who He is, and for what He does (Psalms 150:1-6),
says “Praise you the Lord Yahweh, Praise God in His sanctuary; praise Him in the
firmaments of His power. Praise Him for His mighty acts; praise Him according to
His excellent greatness. Praise Him with the sound of the trumpet; praise Him with
the lyre and harp. Praise Him with the timbrel and dance; praise Him with stringed
instruments and organs. Praise Him upon the loud cymbals; praise Him upon the
high sounding cymbals. Let every thing that has breath praise the Lord Yahweh,
praise you the Lord Yahweh”. And in Psalms 28:2,7 it says “hear the voice of my
supplications, when I cy to You, when I lift up my hands toward Your holy
sanctuary. The Lord Yahweh is my strength and my shield, my heart trusted in
Him, and I am helped; therefore my heart greatly rejoices; and with my song will I
praise Him”.
We have to remember that God inhabits the praises of His people (Psalms 100)
“make a joyful noise to the Lord Yahweh all you lands. Serve the Lord Yahweh
with gladness, come before His presence with singing. Know you that the Lord
Yahweh, He is God; it is He that has made us, and not we ourselves; we are His
people, and the sheep of His pasture. Enter into His gates with thanksgiving and
into His courts with praise; be thankful to Him, and bless His name. For the Lord
Yahweh is good; His mercy is everlasting and His truth endures to all generations”.
Praising God for who He is, is called adoration. Adoration is the act of worship, of
paying honor, reverence, and obedience to God. The greatest desire of God is
that we love Him with our whole being (Matthew 22:37-38) “Jesus said to him, you
shall love the Lord your God, with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all
your mind. This is the first and great commandment”. Our love should be
expressed, as His has been expressed, in both deeds and words. God is love
and He has demonstrated His love in the gift of His Son (John 3:16). When love
for God fills our lives, we will express our love in prayer to the One who is
ultimately responsible for all that we are.
Praising Him for what He does is known as thanksgiving. Thanksgiving is the
aspect of praise that gives thanks to God for what He does for us. Ideally,
thanksgiving should spring from a grateful heart; but it is required of all believers
regardless of their initial attitude (I Thessalonians 5:16-18) “rejoice evermore.
Pray without ceasing. In every thing give thanks; for this is the will of God in
Christ Jesus concerning you”. We should be grateful to God for all things (Psalms
34:1-4,7-9) “I will bless the Lord Yahweh at all times; His praise shall continually,
be in my mouth. My soul shall make her boast in the Lord Yahweh, the humble
shall hear thereof and be glad. O magnify the Lord Yahweh with me, and let us
exalt His name together. I sought the Lord Yahweh, and He heard me, and
delivered me from all my fears. The angel of the Lord encamps round about them
that reverence Him and delivers them. O taste and see that the Lord Yahweh is
good; blessed is the man that trusts in Him. O reverence the Lord Yahweh you
His saints; for there is no want to them that reverence Him”.
Paul tells us how we can keep His praise in our heart (Colossians 3:14-17), which
says “above all these things put on charity, which is the bond of perfectness. And
let the peace of God rule in your hearts, to the which also you are called in one
body, and be you thankful. Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly in all wisdom;
teaching and admonishing one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs,
singing with grace in your hearts to the Lord. And whatsoever you do in word or
deed, do all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God and the Father
by Him”.
We praise and thank God for His word of salvation and sanctification.
We also give thanks to God in anticipation of His answering our prayer
(Philippians 4:6-7), “be careful for nothing, but in every thing by prayer and
supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. and the
peace of God, which passes all understanding, shall keep your hears and minds
through Christ Jesus”. And in I John 5:14-15, it says “and this is the confidence
that we have in Him, that, if we ask any thing according to His will, He hears us.
And if we know that He hears us whatsoever we ask, we know that we have the
petitions that we desired of Him”. Knowing that His answers will always be in
accord with His perfect will for our lives (Romans 8:28-29).
Praise of God may be in a song or prayer, and can be done individually or
collectively. When Paul and Silas was thrown into prison for commanding the evil
spirit to come out of the damsel, they began to praise God and He delivered them
(Acts 16:25-26) it says “and at midnight, Paul and Silas prayed, and sang praises
to God and the prisoners heard them. And suddenly there was a great
earthquake, so that the foundations of the prison were shaken and immediately all
the doors were opened, and every one’s bands were loosed”.
We as godly people should echo David’s words “For You are my hope, O Lord
God, You are my trust from my youth. By You have I been holden up from the
womb; You are He that took me out of my mother’s bowels; my praise shall be
continually of You. I am as a wonder to many; but You are my strong refuge. Let
my mouth be filled with Your praise and with Your honor all the day. I will hope
continually, and will yet praise You more and more” (Psalms 71:5-8,14). We know
that as David praised God, he was built up and was able to defeat the giant
Goliath. He rehearsed what God had done for him in the past and got boldness
to trust God to do it again.
Study by: Harriet Bond
Date: September 8, 2009
Our praise toward God is the means by which we express our joy to the Lord.
When the children of Moab, and the children of Ammon came against
Jehoshaphat to battle, he inquired of the Lord (II Chronicles 20:12) “O our God,
will You not judge them? For we have no might against this great company that
comes against us; neither know we what to do: but our eyes are upon You”. And
the Spirit of the Lord Yahweh came in the midst of the congregation. And he said,
hearken you, all Judah, and you inhabitants of Jerusalem, and you king
Jehoshaphat, thus says the Lord Yahweh to you. Be not afraid nor dismayed by
reason of this great multitude; for the battle is not yours, but God’s. Tomorrow go
you down against them; behold, they come up by the cliff of Ziz, and you shall find
them at the end of the brook, before the wilderness of Jeruel. You shall not need
to fight in this battle, set yourselves, stand you still, and see the salvation of the
Lord Yahweh with you O Judah and Jerusalem; fear not, nor be dismayed;
tomorrow go out against them; for the Lord Yahweh will be with you. And
Jehoshaphat bowed his head with his face to the ground; and all Judah and the
inhabitants of Jerusalem fell before the Lord Yahweh, worshipping the Lord
Yahweh” (verses 14-18); and in verses 21-22 it says “and when he had consulted
with the people, he appointed singers to the Lord Yahweh, and that should praise
the beauty of holiness, as they went out before the army, and to say, Praise the
Lord Yahweh; for His mercy endures forever. And when they began to sing and
to praise, the Lord Yahweh set ambushments against the children of Ammon,
Moab, and mount Seir, which were come against Judah, and they were smitten”.
They were three days in gathering of the spoil, for it was so much.
Praise is an act of worship by which we recognize and extol. Worship is an
attitude of your heart. An attitude of honor, respect, love, praise, excitement (II
Chronicles 5:13-14), after Solomon had finished the Temple and all Israel was
overjoyed, it says “it came to pass, as the trumpeters and singers were as one, to
make one sound to be heard in praising and thanking the Lord Yahweh; and
when they lifted up their voice with the trumpets and cymbals and instruments of
music, and praised the Lord Yahweh, saying, for He is good; for His mercy endure
forever; that then the house was filled with a cloud, even the house of the Lord
Yahweh. So that the priests could not stand to minister by reason of the cloud;
for the glory of the Lord Yahweh had filled the house of God”. We worship God
and bless His name by our acts, our deeds.
We worship God when we are obedient to His word, when we do what the Bible
says. God wants more than lip service, remember He says “these people worship
Me with their lips but their heart is far from Me”. We should be ready to worship
God and to praise God among all people at any time.
We are to praise God both for who He is, and for what He does (Psalms 150:1-6),
says “Praise you the Lord Yahweh, Praise God in His sanctuary; praise Him in the
firmaments of His power. Praise Him for His mighty acts; praise Him according to
His excellent greatness. Praise Him with the sound of the trumpet; praise Him with
the lyre and harp. Praise Him with the timbrel and dance; praise Him with stringed
instruments and organs. Praise Him upon the loud cymbals; praise Him upon the
high sounding cymbals. Let every thing that has breath praise the Lord Yahweh,
praise you the Lord Yahweh”. And in Psalms 28:2,7 it says “hear the voice of my
supplications, when I cy to You, when I lift up my hands toward Your holy
sanctuary. The Lord Yahweh is my strength and my shield, my heart trusted in
Him, and I am helped; therefore my heart greatly rejoices; and with my song will I
praise Him”.
We have to remember that God inhabits the praises of His people (Psalms 100)
“make a joyful noise to the Lord Yahweh all you lands. Serve the Lord Yahweh
with gladness, come before His presence with singing. Know you that the Lord
Yahweh, He is God; it is He that has made us, and not we ourselves; we are His
people, and the sheep of His pasture. Enter into His gates with thanksgiving and
into His courts with praise; be thankful to Him, and bless His name. For the Lord
Yahweh is good; His mercy is everlasting and His truth endures to all generations”.
Praising God for who He is, is called adoration. Adoration is the act of worship, of
paying honor, reverence, and obedience to God. The greatest desire of God is
that we love Him with our whole being (Matthew 22:37-38) “Jesus said to him, you
shall love the Lord your God, with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all
your mind. This is the first and great commandment”. Our love should be
expressed, as His has been expressed, in both deeds and words. God is love
and He has demonstrated His love in the gift of His Son (John 3:16). When love
for God fills our lives, we will express our love in prayer to the One who is
ultimately responsible for all that we are.
Praising Him for what He does is known as thanksgiving. Thanksgiving is the
aspect of praise that gives thanks to God for what He does for us. Ideally,
thanksgiving should spring from a grateful heart; but it is required of all believers
regardless of their initial attitude (I Thessalonians 5:16-18) “rejoice evermore.
Pray without ceasing. In every thing give thanks; for this is the will of God in
Christ Jesus concerning you”. We should be grateful to God for all things (Psalms
34:1-4,7-9) “I will bless the Lord Yahweh at all times; His praise shall continually,
be in my mouth. My soul shall make her boast in the Lord Yahweh, the humble
shall hear thereof and be glad. O magnify the Lord Yahweh with me, and let us
exalt His name together. I sought the Lord Yahweh, and He heard me, and
delivered me from all my fears. The angel of the Lord encamps round about them
that reverence Him and delivers them. O taste and see that the Lord Yahweh is
good; blessed is the man that trusts in Him. O reverence the Lord Yahweh you
His saints; for there is no want to them that reverence Him”.
Paul tells us how we can keep His praise in our heart (Colossians 3:14-17), which
says “above all these things put on charity, which is the bond of perfectness. And
let the peace of God rule in your hearts, to the which also you are called in one
body, and be you thankful. Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly in all wisdom;
teaching and admonishing one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs,
singing with grace in your hearts to the Lord. And whatsoever you do in word or
deed, do all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God and the Father
by Him”.
We praise and thank God for His word of salvation and sanctification.
We also give thanks to God in anticipation of His answering our prayer
(Philippians 4:6-7), “be careful for nothing, but in every thing by prayer and
supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. and the
peace of God, which passes all understanding, shall keep your hears and minds
through Christ Jesus”. And in I John 5:14-15, it says “and this is the confidence
that we have in Him, that, if we ask any thing according to His will, He hears us.
And if we know that He hears us whatsoever we ask, we know that we have the
petitions that we desired of Him”. Knowing that His answers will always be in
accord with His perfect will for our lives (Romans 8:28-29).
Praise of God may be in a song or prayer, and can be done individually or
collectively. When Paul and Silas was thrown into prison for commanding the evil
spirit to come out of the damsel, they began to praise God and He delivered them
(Acts 16:25-26) it says “and at midnight, Paul and Silas prayed, and sang praises
to God and the prisoners heard them. And suddenly there was a great
earthquake, so that the foundations of the prison were shaken and immediately all
the doors were opened, and every one’s bands were loosed”.
We as godly people should echo David’s words “For You are my hope, O Lord
God, You are my trust from my youth. By You have I been holden up from the
womb; You are He that took me out of my mother’s bowels; my praise shall be
continually of You. I am as a wonder to many; but You are my strong refuge. Let
my mouth be filled with Your praise and with Your honor all the day. I will hope
continually, and will yet praise You more and more” (Psalms 71:5-8,14). We know
that as David praised God, he was built up and was able to defeat the giant
Goliath. He rehearsed what God had done for him in the past and got boldness
to trust God to do it again.
Study by: Harriet Bond
Date: September 8, 2009
