“I give thanks to YHVH with all my heart. I will tell about all your wonderful deeds. I will be glad and exult in you. I will sing praise to your name, ‘Elyon. When my enemies turn back, they stumble and perish before you.”
Psalm 9:1-3
If we are to make home happy, where is our happiness, our joy to come from?! Only from our Lord and Saviour! We can have happiness for a while by our own efforts, but it is when we need it most, when everything is going wrong, that we realize our tiny amount of “self-imposed happiness” is not adequate.
Recently our family has been learning a lot about praise. How exciting it is! Praise, to me, used to be something “nice” that you did that made the Father happy. Something you were “supposed” to do. But oh my, oh my! It is so much more than that! Praise doesn’t just make God ”happy”, praise makes His heart leap for joy!
“My dove, hiding in holes in the rock, in the secret recesses of the cliff, let me see your face and hear your voice; for your voice is sweet, and your face is lovely.”
Song of Solomon 2:14
When we praise the Father, we are enthroning Him. We are not only giving Him His rightful place, but we are also making room for Him to “come sit down” by us. We are saying, ”You are big enough to take care of me! You are in control!”
“YHVH your God is right there with you, as a mighty savior. He will rejoice over you and be glad, he will be silent in his love, he will shout over you with joy.”
Zephaniah 3:17
“…You are holy, enthroned on the praises of Isra’el.”
Psalm 22:3
When we praise Him, we are opening ourselves up to Him and His power. When you are praising, you soon confess and repent of sin in your life. Then your sin is out of the way and your self is out of the way, and He can move mightily! We saw this happen recently firsthand with a friend who was making some wrong decisions. Instead of being in despair (“when will she change? will she ever change?”) Mommy chose to praise God for His promises for her, and for His power, etc. Our friend has since repented and come back to the place the Father wants her to be! Through the prayers and praises of many, God was able to move mightily!
And after saying all of that about praise, I must confess…I have been a grump recently. My sisters have many 4H projects to finish in only about 2 weeks, and you can imagine that that puts extra work on those of us no longer in 4H (I must say here, though, that I won’t complain about my sisters’ last minute projects too much, because I did the exact same thing when I was in 4H!).
I was doing something that wasn’t “my job” the other day, and feeling sorry for myself, when God reminded me again to praise Him. I was having a terrible time. Everything was going wrong, and I had to do things I didn’t want to do, and couldn’t do things that I wanted to do. Generally, I was having a pity-party. Finally I asked Him to help me, because I wanted to praise Him, but I was having a very hard time getting started. Of course that is a prayer you can count on being answered, and He did answer very quickly!
“YHVH ELOHIM, you have begun to reveal your greatness to your servant, and your strong hand – for what other god is there in heaven or on earth that can do the works and mighty deeds that you do?”
Deuteronomy 3:24
How many things there are to praise Him for, once He opens our eyes to see it! I was complaining because I had to do extra work that wasn’t my own. Instead I began to praise Him that I was healthy enough to even able to do it. I can stand, I can walk without thinking about it. I can work without difficulty. Instead of complaining that I have no help, I should praise Him that I don’t NEED help. By that of course I don’t mean that I can’t use the help sometimes, what I am talking about is physically needing help.
Praise God that I am ALIVE!
Praise Him that I have so many wonderful siblings that create the work I do!
Praise Him that He has given me eternal salvation! When you really think about that, it doesn’t matter if you are sick and weak and lonely and overworked and the dishes piled and you stepped on your brothers metal truck! You have eternal life! Amazing!
“Come, let’s sing to YHVH! Let’s shout for joy to the Rock of our salvation! Let’s come into his presence with thanksgiving; let’s shout for joy to him with songs of praise. For YHVH is a great God, a great king greater than all gods. He holds the depths of the earth in his hands; the mountain peaks too belong to him. The sea is his – he made it -and his hands shaped the dry land. Come, let’s bow down and worship; let’s kneel before YHVH who made us. For he is our God, and we are the people in his pasture, the sheep in his care. If only today you would listen to his voice…”
Psalm 95:1-7
A little booklet that I have found very helpful to praise (especially since many times I don’t know how to start!) is called, “Let’s Praise the Lord”. World Missionary Press gives them away, and it is just a tiny, pocket-sized booklet full of praises from Scripture.
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This was such a wonderful post, Jessica, and gives a lot to think about. We don’t truly understand the meaning of praise and worship in the Scriptures. We have to peel back the layers that have been covering the truth all these centuries.
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AMEIN to this article!! Precisely the pick-me-up I needed during my own day of “miserable me” pity-parties! How amazing is the life that our Father has given us, and we should praise him for it for all we are worth!
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This is just what I needed, I have been angry,ungreatfull,and feeling sorry for myslef alot today. Thank you so much!
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