What does the Bible have to say about how we should praise and worship God? In this message we explore the book of Psalms to find out the answer to that question.
The Spiritual Discipline Of Praise
Psalm 150:1-6
We come this morning to a wonderful topic! You might look at this morning’s sermon as a breath of fresh air, after last week’s topic. Last week we talked about fasting. This morning we are going to talk about praise. Praise is just another path up that majestic mountain. Fasting is like a very steep, rigorous path that is difficult although rewarding. Praise is like a gentle path full of wonderful sights and sounds that is exhilarating and rewarding!
We are going to spend most of our time this morning in the Psalms, and there are many psalms which emphasize the fact that joy accompanies praise. Let’s read a few just to whet our appetite:
Psalms 27:6 And now my head will be lifted up above my enemies around me, And I will offer in His tent sacrifices with shouts of joy; I will sing, yes, I will sing praises to the LORD.
Psalms 43:4 Then I will go to the altar of God, To God my exceeding joy; And upon the lyre I shall praise You, O God, my God.
Psalms 63:5 My soul is satisfied as with marrow and fatness, And my mouth offers praises with joyful lips.
This link between praising God and our joy brings up an interesting question. Why does God command us to praise Him over and over? Is it because God is this Egotist with a gigantic head, who is so insecure that He constantly needs us little humans to praise Him to bolster His ego? No! C. S. Lewis struggled with this concept. He couldn’t understand why God would command people to praise Him. Finally, it dawned on him.
Lewis writes, “the most obvious fact about praise – whether of God or anything – strangely escaped me. I thought of it in terms of compliment, approval, or the giving of honour. I had never noticed that all enjoyment spontaneously overflows into praise unless . . . shyness or the fear of boring others is deliberately brought in to check it. The world rings with praise – lovers praising their mistresses, readers their favourite poet, walkers praising the countryside, players praising their favourite game – praise of weather, wines, dishes, actors, motors, horses, colleges, countries, historical personages, children, flowers, mountains, rare stamps, rare beetles, even sometimes politicians or scholars. . . I had not noticed either that just as men spontaneously praise whatever they value, so they spontaneously urge us to join them in praising it: ‘Isn’t she lovely? Wasn’t it glorious? Don’t you think that magnificent?’ The Psalmists in telling everyone to praise God are doing what all men do when they speak of what they care about. My whole, more general, difficulty about the praise of God depended on my absurdly denying to us, as regards the supremely Valuable, what we delight to do, what indeed we can’t help doing, about everything else we value. I think we delight to praise what we enjoy because the praise not merely expresses but completes the enjoyment; it is its appointed consummation.”
So, if Lewis is right, and I think he is, God commands us to praise Him because He loves us. God’s love for us is found not in Him making much of us, but in Him enabling us to enjoy making much of Him forever (to quote John Piper).
So, this morning let’s look closely at the Spiritual Discipline of Praise. If you want to see God in His glory, and enjoy Him forever, one of the disciplines you need to cultivate is the discipline of praise. This morning let’s ask some questions about praise.
1. Who Should Praise God?
Ps. 67:3 “Let the peoples praise You, O God; Let all the peoples praise You.”
Psalms 117:1 “Praise the LORD, all nations; Laud Him, all peoples!”
Ps.150:6 “Let everything that has breath praise the Lord.”
The answer to our question, “who should praise God?” is EVERYONE! Everyone and everything in the universe should praise God. Even unsaved people should praise God. In fact, God Himself complains in Romans 1 that the heathen, although they knew God, didn’t honor Him as God or give thanks. Instead they bowed down to idols instead of to the living God (Romans 1:18-23)! I don’t care who you are – every person on the face of the globe ought to praise God. If they have life and breath, that’s reason enough to praise God. Especially if they live in a land where they can hear the gospel preached, they should praise the Lord! If they haven’t died and slipped into hell, they should praise God that there is still a possibility that they may be saved and rescued from His wrath.
Oh my brothers and sisters, if you are a Christian you have great reason to praise God. God convicted you of your sin. He showed you where your sins were taking you – to everlasting punishment in the lake of fire. He also showed you the beauty and glory of Jesus Christ. He called you by His grace. He justified you. He adopted you. He indwelt you with the Holy Spirit. He regenerated you. He put you “in Christ.” He gave you spiritual gifts. He anointed you with the Spirit. He is sanctifying you, and He will glorify you. The answer to the question, “who should praise God?” is YOU!
2. When Should We Praise God?
Ps.34:1-2 “I will bless the Lord at all times; His praise shall continually be in my mouth.”
Eph.5:20 “always giving thanks for all things in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ to God, even the Father”
Psalms 113:3 From the rising of the sun to its setting the name of the LORD is to be praised.
The Bible teaches us that it is always appropriate to praise the Lord. Whether you are singing to the Lord in your own private devotions, or in church on Sunday morning, or walking down the aisle in the grocery store, or driving in your car, or working, or going for a walk. We should fill our lives with the praise of God. Not only does the Bible teach us that we should meditate on the Word day and night, and pray without ceasing, but we should praise God all through the day at all times. I remember when I was a very young Christian, I lived in a condo with 3 other brothers affectionately called “The Brother’s Home.” I was always struck by the way one of the guys that lived with us would be praising God all the time. As he was walking home he would be singing to the Lord, or just saying out Lord, “Thank You Lord! You’re so good!” It wasn’t done for display, for often I heard him when he didn’t even know I was around. May God make us into praising people in season and out of season!
3. Where Should We Praise God?
Psalms 149:1 “Praise the LORD! Sing to the LORD a new song, And His praise in the congregation of the godly ones.”
Hebrews 2:12 “I will proclaim Your name to My brethren, in the midst of the congregation I will sing Your praises.”
The Bible is clear. We should give praise to God in the midst of God’s people, in the gathered church, in the assembly of the upright, in the congregation of the saints. But is that only where we should praise God? If the psalmist was going to praise the Lord at all times, and His praise was to continually be in his mouth, then he was committed to praising the Lord anywhere and everywhere. If he was walking alone, eating dinner with his family, at work, or at church on Sunday morning it didn’t matter. This spiritual discipline is a discipline we want to engage in both in our private devotions with the Lord, and when we meet publicly as a church body.
A.W. Tozer said, “If you will not worship God 7 days a week, you do not worship Him on one day a week.” Let’s not fool ourselves. Worship is not a once-a-week event. We can’t expect worship to flow from our lips on the Lord’s Day if we keep it dammed in our hearts throughout the week. The waters of worship should never stop flowing from our heart, for God is always God and always worthy of worship.
I want to challenge you to begin singing to the Lord in your own private worship. Find a quiet, secluded place, and get the lyrics to some praise songs that you enjoy, and just sing them to the Lord. Just bow down on your knees, and lift your hands and just sing for His ears alone.
So where should we worship God? Everywhere? When should we praise God? All the time? Who should praise God? Everyone!
4. Why Should We Praise God?
Let’s look and see the reasons we should praise God in the psalms.
- For His Faithfulness: Ps.30:9 “What profit is there in my blood, if I go down to the pit? Will the dust praise You? Will it declare Your faithfulness?
- For His Lovingkindness: Psalms 101:1 “I will sing of lovingkindness and justice, To You, O LORD, I will sing praises.”
- For His Justice – Ps. 101:1 “I will sing of lovingkindness and justice, To You, O LORD, I will sing praises.”
- For His Goodness – Psalms 106:1 “Praise the LORD ! Oh give thanks to the LORD, for He is good; For His lovingkindness is everlasting.”
- For His Mighty Deeds – Psalms 106:2 “Who can speak of the mighty deeds of the LORD, Or can show forth all His praise?”
- For His Truth – Psalms 117:2 “For His lovingkindness is great toward us, And the truth of the LORD is everlasting. Praise the LORD !”
- For His Lovely Name – Psalms 135:3 “Praise the LORD, for the LORD is good; Sing praises to His name, for it is lovely.”
- For His Excellent Greatness – Psalms 150:2 “Praise Him for His mighty deeds; Praise Him according to His excellent greatness.”
- For His Glory – Ps.96:3 “Tell of His glory among the nations, His wonderful deeds among all the peoples.
- For His Creation – Ps.96:5 “ For all the gods of the peoples are idols, But the LORD made the heavens.”
- For His Splendor – Ps. 96:5“Splendor and majesty are before Him, Strength and beauty are in His sanctuary.”
- For His Majesty – Ps.96:5 “Splendor and majesty are before Him, Strength and beauty are in His sanctuary.”
- For His Strength – Ps.96:5 “Splendor and majesty are before Him, Strength and beauty are in His sanctuary.”
- For His Beauty – Ps.96:5 “Splendor and majesty are before Him, Strength and beauty are in His sanctuary.”
And you know what? We could go on and on, listing all of the perfections of God. God should be praised for every aspect of His being, for all of his attributes. He should be praised for His wrath as much as for His love, for His justice as much as for His mercy, for His righteousness as much as for His kindness.
The place where all of God’s attributes shine most gloriously is at the cross of Jesus Christ. There you see His wrath, justice, holiness, truth and righteousness as God punishes His own Son in our place. But there also you see His love, grace, mercy, and kindness to allow a substitute to take our place that we be not damned forever. There you see His majesty, strength, beauty, humility, goodness, and faithfulness. Every perfection of God shines resplendently in the cross of Jesus Christ. That’s why we sing so many songs about the cross of Jesus here at The Bridge. That’s where our praises should rise the highest.
5. How Should We Praise God?
Since everyone should praise God everywhere, all the time, for all of His perfections, how do we do it?
1. By Declaring:
Ps. 51:15 “O Lord, open my lips, that my mouth may declare Your praise.” Part of our praise of God takes place when you and I simply declare His excellencies.
1 Pet. 2:9 “But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for God’s own possession, so that you may proclaim the excellencies of Him who has called you out of darkness into His marvelous light.”
I want to encourage you during our praise singing at the beginning of the service, to lift up your voice and declare God’s excellencies. Don’t be afraid or bashful about declaring how great God is during a lull in between songs. You can do this very naturally in our times of corporate prayer. As your express your prayer, just lift up your voice and declare His greatness.
2. By Singing: There are literally dozens of passages in the Psalms where we are told to praise God in song.
Ps.46:6-7 “Sing praises to God, sing praises; Sing praises to our King, sing praises. For God is the King of all the earth; Sing praises with a skillful psalm.”
Ps. 9:2 “I will be glad and exult in You; I will sing praise to Your name, O Most High.”
Never despise the first half hour of our gathering on Sunday mornings. I know some believers purposely come in late right about the time the singing is going to end. Why? Because they feel they don’t get anything from the singing. They look at it is sort of a warm-up for the sermon. The worship of God is not the means to an end. It is not a warm up for anything. The worship of God is the end. There is nothing greater that we can ever do with our lives than just sit at His feet and praise and worship Him. For all eternity we will be singing God’s praises, and guess what? We’re never going to get bored! More and more of the infinite glory of our God will be revealed to us so that our praises will forever delight us!
3. By Shouting:
Psalm 98:4 “Shout joyfully to the LORD, all the earth; Break forth and sing for joy and sing praises.”
Ps. 32:11 “Be glad in the LORD and rejoice, you righteous ones; and shout for joy, all you who are upright in heart.”
Let me ask you something. Have you ever shouted your praise to God? We shouldn’t relegate shouting just to the Pentecostal churches! This is a Biblical form of praise! Don’t be embarrassed to lift your voice in a shout of joy to the Lord! He is worthy of it! I’m not talking about wild-eyed fanatacism where you do weird things to draw attention to yourself. I’m talking about expressing your love and excitement for the Lord by lifting up your voice in a shout.
4. By Lifting Your Hands:
Nehemiah 8:6 “Then Ezra blessed the LORD the great God. And all the people answered, “Amen, Amen!” while lifting up their hands; then they bowed low and worshiped the LORD with their faces to the ground.”
Psalms 28:2 “Hear the voice of my supplications when I cry to You for help, When I lift up my hands toward Your holy sanctuary.”
Psalms 63:4 “So I will bless You as long as I live; I will lift up my hands in Your name.”
Psalms 141:2 “May my prayer be counted as incense before You; The lifting up of my hands as the evening offering.”
So, what do we learn about lifting our hands in these passages? Well, we learn that in Scripture one might lift his hands to voice his agreement and unity with others in prayer. Further, one might lift his hands to express his absolute dependence on God for help. Or it might be to bless and praise God. Finally, it might be as a sign that you are surrendering your life to God as a sacrifice, perhaps like the man who lifts up his hands when the armed robber yells, “this is a stick up!” This is just one more Biblical form of praise. If you have never praised God by lifting up your hands toward Him, I encourage you to use this bodily expression as a means to draw near to Him.
5. Clapping:
Psalms 47:1 “O clap your hands, all peoples; Shout to God with the voice of joy.”
All the universe ought to give God a standing ovation! What are we communicating when we clap for someone? We are saying, “Wow! Good job. That was awesome!” We are honoring and praising the individual for his accomplishments. Well, that is what we are doing when we clap for the Lord. I’m not talking so much about clapping in time with one of the praise songs that we sing, although that is fine. Rather, I’m talking about being so excited about God and what He has accomplished that we just begin to clap for Him. Have you ever done that? If you want to clap for the Lord and what He has done, never be embarrassed to do so. Some of you are thinking, “But Brian, that sounds like one of those wild charismatic churches!” No, that’s just Bible. If we truly want to conform our praise of God to Scripture, then we will do so with shouts, with lifting our hands, and with clapping.
6. Kneeling:
Psalms 95:6 “Come, let us worship and bow down, Let us kneel before the LORD our Maker.”
I encourage you, in private or in our public worship gatherings, to praise God in a kneeling position. When you kneel, what are you signifying? You are signifying that you are submitted to the Lord. When a general has conquered his enemies, often he will make the enemy general or king kneel before him as a sign of submission to his rule and reign. When you kneel before the Lord we are saying that He is Lord, and we are His willing servants. When we praise the Lord in song, if you want to signify that God is your King and you are His willing servant, just get on your knees before Him. This can be a wonderful posture when you come before the Lord in your private devotions and open up your Bible on your knees because in effect, you are saying that everything you read, you will receive as a humble servant.
7. Standing:
Psalm 135:1-2 “Praise the LORD ! Praise the name of the LORD; Praise Him, O servants of the LORD, you who stand in the house of the LORD, In the courts of the house of our God!”
Psalms 33:8 “Let all the earth fear the LORD; Let all the inhabitants of the world stand in awe of Him.”
Do you know what I think of when I think of standing before the Lord? I think of being at a wedding, and then hearing the prelude to the wedding march, and then all of the congregation standing to their feet to behold the bride walking down the aisle with her father. It’s a public show of respect for the bride. Likewise, I think it’s a good practice for us to stand when the Scriptures are read publicly, and when we begin to praise and worship God. Also, it will free you up to respond to the Lord, not just with your mind, but also with your body.
8. Dancing:
Psalms 149:3 “Let them praise His name with dancing; Let them sing praises to Him with timbrel and lyre.”
Psalms 150:4 “Praise Him with timbrel and dancing; Praise Him with stringed instruments and pipe.”
I can already hear some of you. “OK Brian, now you’ve really gone too far! Are you really saying that we should praise God with dancing? Really?” Yes, absolutely! Of course, you must not do it to draw attention to yourself. You might try dancing before the Lord at home in your private devotions first.
Notice 2 Samuel 6:12-16 , “Now it was told King David, saying, “The LORD has blessed the house of Obed-edom and all that belongs to him, on account of the ark of God.” David went and brought up the ark of God from the house of Obed-edom into the city of David with gladness. And so it was, that when the bearers of the ark of the LORD had gone six paces, he sacrificed an ox and a fatling. And David was dancing before the LORD with all his might, and David was wearing a linen ephod. So David and all the house of Israel were bringing up the ark of the LORD with shouting and the sound of the trumpet. Then it happened as the ark of the LORD came into the city of David that Michal the daughter of Saul looked out of the window and saw King David leaping and dancing before the LORD; and she despised him in her heart.”
Then we find the sequel to the story in 2 Samuel 6:20-23, “But when David returned to bless his household, Michal the daughter of Saul came out to meet David and said, “How the king of Israel distinguished himself today! He uncovered himself today in the eyes of his servants’ maids as one of the foolish ones shamelessly uncovers himself!” So David said to Michal, “It was before the LORD, who chose me above your father and above all his house, to appoint me ruler over the people of the LORD, over Israel; therefore I will celebrate before the LORD. “I will be more lightly esteemed than this and will be humble in my own eyes, but with the maids of whom you have spoken, with them I will be distinguished.” Michal the daughter of Saul had no child to the day of her death.”
In this story, clearly David is in the right and Michal is in the wrong. We know that from the inspired statement that Michael had no child to the day of her death. Why did the Holy Spirit inspire that that statement be written right after she confronts David with dancing before the Lord? Obviously to clue us in that God was pleased with David’s worship. Notice, also that David makes it very clear that his dancing was before the Lord, and not to impress people. So, if you want to express your praise of God in dancing, go right ahead! At the very least, loosen up and allow some bodily movement in your praise of God.
9. With Musical Instruments:
Psalms 150:1-6 “Praise the LORD! Praise God in His sanctuary; Praise Him in His mighty expanse. Praise Him for His mighty deeds; Praise Him according to His excellent greatness. Praise Him with trumpet sound; Praise Him with harp and lyre. Praise Him with timbrel and dancing; Praise Him with stringed instruments and pipe. Praise Him with loud cymbals; Praise Him with resounding cymbals. Let everything that has breath praise the LORD. Praise the LORD!”
Here we find several musical instruments mentioned: trumpet, harp, lyre, timbrel, stringed instruments and pipe. If the psalmist were writing today he would have included the guitar, banjo, fiddle, mandolin, drums, bagpipes, and synthesizer! Now, I know that the Church of Christ folks say that we shouldn’t use any musical instruments in our worship services, because we don’t have any examples of musical instruments used in worship in the New Testament. However, we do have musical instruments used in the Old Testament, and in the book of Revelation we have harps used in the worship of God in heaven. Furthermore, we have no command in the New Testament not to use musical instruments. Further, the word “psalms” in Ephesians 5:19 literally means “to pluck the string.” Therefore, I believe the evidence of Scripture leans heavily towards praising God with musical instruments. Here at The Bridge, we are praying that the Lord will send to us a godly, humble, worship leader. By worship leader, I’m not talking about a performer, but someone who is gifted to lead God’s people into His throne room, to bow at His feet and worship Him. Until the Lord sends that person Debbie and I are happy to lead out in worship when we can.
As we draw our time to a close, I want to strongly encourage and challenge you to give yourself to the spiritual discipline of praise. Become a man or woman who is a worshiper of God. Get alone often and regularly to sing to the Lord, thank Him, and declare His excellencies. Don’t settle for a mundane, ho-hum devotional life. And, when we gather together on Sundays or Wednesdays, praise God in all the Biblical forms. If you are reserved in worship, stretch yourself. Get out of your comfort zone. If you just sit and watch other people sing, then begin by join in the singing. If you just sing, experiment with raising your hands. Try clapping, shouting, and dancing, kneeling and standing.
Folks, Jesus is worth it! Jesus is glorious! Jesus has done everything for you. Without Him, you would be on a fast track to eternal hell. You have sinned enough, just during this sermon, to send you to hell forever, but Jesus has absorbed the awful wrath of almighty God. He is faithful, just, righteous, holy, merciful, gracious, kind, loving, lovely! Ps. 33:1 says, “Sing for joy in the LORD, O you righteous ones; Praise is becoming to the upright.” The word “becoming” means it fits. It looks good on. If you are upright because you are trusting in Jesus’ death on the cross for your sins, then praise is what looks good on you! Become a man or woman of praise!
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