Praise

Psalm 46:10  Be still, and know that I am God: I will be exalted among the heathen, I will be exalted in the earth.

Psalm 150 Praise ye the Lord. Praise God in his sanctuary: praise him in the firmament of his power.

² Praise him for his mighty acts: praise him according to his excellent greatness.

³ Praise him with the sound of the trumpet: praise him with the psaltery and harp.

⁴ Praise him with the timbrel and dance: praise him with stringed instruments and organs.

⁵ Praise him upon the loud cymbals: praise him upon the high sounding cymbals.

⁶ Let every thing that hath breath praise the Lord. Praise ye the Lord.

One of the great things about being a Christian is being close to God.  He understands our needs, He understands who we are, He cares for us.  He knows that there are times that we need to just be with Him, to quietly reflect, to have Him hold us and comfort us.  He knows that the world can seem overpowering at times and we need a safe refuge away from it.  He provides that for us, He is not expecting anything, just giving us His Love.

Other times we are so filled with the Joy of God and the sense of the presence He gives us that we cannot help but rejoice and praise Him.  A quiet prayer is just not enough!  We need to release all the energy within us and shout how much we love Him, how precious He is to us.  Praise just wells up from the bottom of our heart and our spirit cannot begin to contain that Joy that is overflowing.

I was raised in a church that was very staid and proper.  The sanctuary was used for two things only, church services and quiet worship.  The choir sang the older hymns, quiet and dignified. We were urged to be quiet, respectful, non-disruptive.  There is nothing wrong with that, as far as it goes, but what was lacking, for me, was the understanding that praise is a major part of being a Christian.  I never truly felt the Joy that should have been a part of my experience with God, and, more importantly, I was never introduced to Him as my personal Savior.  While I was taught who He is, I never made the connection as to how He related to me in my life. 

When you walked into the sanctuary there was a feeling of calm, a feeling that God was there – but I didn’t feel a personal association with God or His Son, they were just ‘there.’  Now, part of that was my fault, I wasn’t a ‘regular’ every Sundayperson, but there was no encouragement to release our feelings. I never saw an exuberant church goer, and I never saw someone so burdened with sin that they cried in their asking of forgiveness.  I never saw the jubilation of sins forgiven and praising our God who deserves to be praised. 

I went from there to a Pentecostal Church.  In many ways it was just the opposite – Praise was and is a major part of the service and it can get loud!  People unabashedly bow down and ask forgiveness and cry as they receive it.  Yet, there are quiet moments of worship, thanking God in a quiet manner, letting Him know we realize who He is and the place He has in our lives. 

I realize that not everyone is comfortable in publicly displaying their emotions towards God, and that is okay, of course.  But it is also okay to open our hearts up and let our spirits well out into a glorious praise of Him, in fact He encourages that, as many verses in His Word shows.  Both are extremely important in my own personal walk with Christ.

There is a difference between public praise and praying to God from the heart and just doing it to ‘show’ others our dedication; God isn’t fooled by the latter.  I have seen both and it doesn’t take long to see the difference.  The first brings peace and genuine joy while the second brings confusion and sometimes disgust – the one thing it doesn’t bring is corporate unity.

Mark 12:38-40   And he said unto them in his doctrine, Beware of the scribes, which love to go in long clothing, and love salutations in the marketplaces,

³⁹ And the chief seats in the synagogues, and the uppermost rooms at feasts:

⁴⁰ Which devour widows' houses, and for a pretence make long prayers: these shall receive greater damnation.

I appreciate the fact that God honors our personalities, if we are reserved and quiet, He understands; if we are exuberant and enthusiastic, He understands.  He meets us where we are, He knows what we need and when we turn to Him, He provides it.

The most important thing is communication with Him, thanking Him, praising Him (quietly or with gusto,) worship of Him and trusting in what He desires to do in our life.  When we give God His due, we find ourselves melting into Him and wanting to be even more effective in our service to Him.  Praise the Lord!!

From the ColumbiaRiverGorgeous