GodSprings - March 17, 2016

Am I Praiseful or Praiseless?

Let everything that has breath praise the Lord. Praise the Lord. Psalm 150:6 (NIV)

One morning R.C. Chapman, a devout Christian, was asked how he was feeling. “I'm burdened this morning!” was his reply. But his happy countenance contradicted his words. So the questioner exclaimed in surprise, “Are you really burdened, Mr. Chapman?” “Yes, but it's a wonderful burden--it's an overabundance of blessings for which I cannot find enough time or words to express my gratitude!”.”

As an old saying goes, “when the praises go up, the blessings come down.” I believe that is because something profoundly powerful and remarkably transforming takes place when we praise. When we fully appreciate the place that praise is to have in the lives of God’s people, our daily lives will radically impact and forever change. Praise is not simply something we do when we feel like praising; praise is something we were created for. How is our praise life? Are we praiseful or praiseless?

As we come to the end of the Psalms, God does not want us to miss the priority of praise. Each of the last five psalms (146-150) begins and ends with the Hebrew word, “Hallelujah!”. Praise is the theme of each of these psalms.

What is praise? Praise is an act of our wills and an expression of our worship. Praise recognizes God for who He is and what He has done. Praise flows out of awe and reverence for our Maker. Praise gives glory to God and opens us up to a deeper communion with Him. Praise takes our attention off ourselves and our problems and focuses instead on the nature and character of God.

The only qualification for praising God is that we breathe. The most striking feature of this psalm is the fact that in six short verses we are commanded to praise God no less than 13 times!

The fact that God can command us to praise Him means that praise is not just a feeling based upon our mood or circumstances. Praise is in part a feeling, but it is not at its heart a feeling. Praise is a matter of obedience to our great God. It stems from deliberately focusing on Him. It is the result of being willfully God-centered in our thinking. If we are breathing, praising God is not an option; it is our responsibility.