David's Praise

2Sa 22:50  Therefore I will give thanks unto thee, O LORD, among the heathen, and I will sing praises unto thy name.

Take time to read this entire chapter and you'll understand why this verse begins with "therefore." David gives specific incidents that confirm God's interest in his life. How should he respond? With pride that he earned such attention? Surely we've seen people who think their actions have earned God's benevolent attention - are they as eager to give the same explanation for His disciplinary attention? David did. 

God is, all the time, whether we acknowledge Him or not. He does not require our presence, our praise, our admittance of His grace or discipline. The praise we give Him does not change what He is, but does change us. 

It is a good change, too. When we praise God, we focus on Him. It's not the same as giving thanks, where we focus on what we receive. Instead, we see His ability, His interest, His omnipotence. 

Then, we can give thanks for His grace and mercy in our lives, which we can neither earn nor deserve. Praise God for His infinite mercy, available to whosoever believes. 

Deserved Praise

Rev 19:5  And a voice came out of the throne, saying, Praise our God, all ye his servants, and ye that fear him, both small and great.

After vanquishing all, just before the marriage supper of the Lamb, those before His throb fall down to worship and a voice comes from the throne saying, Praise our God. 

For me the praise is not for what He has done. What He's done for me instills thanksgiving. That's not why I praise. 

Praise is for His attributes, His capabilities - His omniscience and omnipotence. He is capable of creation and destruction. He is filled with judgment - perfect adjudication - as well as mercy and grace. 

There is none like Him, though men define many that are supposed to be - or deny any exist, especially One who cares about His creation. He inspired Moses to write:

Exo 8:10b    And he said, Be it according to thy word: that thou mayest know that there isnone like unto the LORD our God.

We praise because He deserves it. 

The Result of Silence

Psa 148:1  Praise ye the LORD. Praise ye the LORD from the heavens: praise him in the heights.

The next verses tell use who - and what - should be praising the Lord. Then, we get to "Why?"

Psa 148:13  Let them praise the name of the LORD: for his name alone is excellent; his glory is above the earth and heaven.

Consider this - all of His creation is capable of giving Him praise. Jesus gave us an example when He was told to quiet the multitudes praising Him:

Luk 19:40  And he answered and said unto them, I tell you that, if these should hold their peace, the stones would immediately cry out.

Do not stay silent. 

Praise Out of Mouths of Babes

Mat 21:16  And said unto him, Hearest thou what these say? And Jesus saith unto them, Yea; have ye never read, Out of the mouth of babes and sucklings thou hast perfected praise?

Take time to read the previous verses to understand the context - adults were misusing God's house and children were singing praises for God's work. Jesus gives us meaning through God's inspiration of Psalm 8:6. 

How do we lift our voices in praise?  To God? Or people around us? Both, really. Praise is to Him and for Him, but let others hear to learn and join in. 

Praise ye the Lord for His excellent greatness. 

Praise? Deserved

Deu 10:12  And now, Israel, what doth the LORD thy God require of thee, but to fear the LORD thy God, to walk in all his ways, and to love him, and to serve the LORD thy God with all thy heart and with all thy soul,

Here's where Micah learned how to write his chapter six verse eight - walk with the Lord. Here the Children of Israel were given a second chance, second commandments to replace the ones Moses broke into pieces when he saw their sinful worship of a golden calf. After all that turning away from God, forgiveness was available. For all that, this:

Deu 10:21  He is thy praise, and he is thy God, that hath done for thee these great and terrible things, which thine eyes have seen.

Great things, terrible things - for these, He is praised. 

Still without Internet - my apologies for the font, color and lack of depth. Whatever these limitations may be, He is to be praised and I will continue to do so. Praise ye the LORD!

It's the Lord's Day

Psa 109:30  I will greatly praise the LORD with my mouth; yea, I will praise him among the multitude.

This will be a short blog since it is created on my cell phone - once again we've lost internet connectivity. 

Today we will praise Him with a small multitude - we attend a country church. Our county is not highly populated (yet.) we do gather together, as the hymn sings, to ask the Lord's blessings and to sing praises for His being. 

Join in, please, wherever you are and let us praise the Lord. 

Praise Ye The Lord

"Praise is not thanking God for the blessings. It is honoring God for who he is, what he is, and why he is. We are not to praise just when the sun is shining and all is right with the world but also when hell is knocking on our door and we can't move for fear of being consumed. Praise isn't about you and your blessings. It is about God and his sovereignty and holiness." Rendered Praise

Rendered Praise is written by a dear friend of mine. I thoroughly enjoy her conversations with our Lord, and this one with a ten-day challenge moved me to return to blogging. I don’t know if it was “hell” knocking on our door this summer, but we’ve had to face a number of physical, emotional and spiritual mountains that needed moved. Prayers of our friends and family provided comfort when we thought there was none. And that’s all about God’s sovereignty.

Nothing we’ve faced comes close to what Jesus faced – temptations, distrust, betrayal, rejection and death. God is capable of providing what we need during it all:

There hath no temptation taken you but such as is common to man: but God is faithful, who will not suffer you to be tempted above that ye are able; but will with the temptation also make a way to escape, that ye may be able to bear it. (1 Corinthians 10:13)

I know what we’ve been through –  I have no idea at all what you’ve been through, nor do I know how it affects your relationship with God. I also know quite a bit about what King David went through, and still he sang:

A Psalm of David. I will praise thee with my whole heart: before the gods will I sing praise unto thee. (Psalms 138:1)

Psalms 111, 112 and 113 each begin: Praise ye the LORD. Just in the Psalms, “praise” is found in 132 verses. Psalms 150 describes how to praise, and who should:

Praise ye the LORD. Praise God in his sanctuary: praise him in the firmament 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 psaltery 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 hath breath praise the LORD. Praise ye the LORD. (Psalms 150:1-6)

I can see time problems with my keeping the ten day commitment – if I don’t, that’s my failure, not His. It’s my job to praise Him for what He is, not for what He’s done for me. Those before His throne know this:

Thou art worthy, O Lord, to receive glory and honour and power: for thou hast created all things, and for thy pleasure they are and were created. (Revelation 4:11)