If you’re like me, expressing praise to the Lord outside of church activities and music is way out of your comfort zone and impossible to do “at all times” (Ps. 34:1). So, we make up excuses like, “They wouldn’t understand” or “It would be awkward.” However, with each excuse, we redirect our focus from God and the praise due Him and onto ourselves. On the other hand, when our focus is on the Lord, we stop caring about ourselves and become ready and eager to serve and praise God. To praise the Lord unceasingly, it is vital that we have a correct understanding of why and how to praise the Lord.
Why we should praise
There are two reasons that should cause us to praise God. First, we ought to praise God because He has commanded us to. Psalm 150 commands us thirteen times to praise the Lord. Second, we ought to praise God because, according to Psalm 145:3, He is “highly to be praised.” He is so great that praise is the natural response. Psalm 145 goes on to show us that He is worthy of praise because of what He has done (vv. 4-6) and because of who He is (vv.7-9). Therefore, we praise the Lord in obedience to Him and wonder of Him.
How we should praise
To praise the Lord is to declare His greatness. We can do this in three areas: our minds, actions, and words. First, we can praise God with our minds by remembering God’s character and works. “Bless the Lord, O my soul, and forget none of His benefits” (Psalm 103:2). When we remember God’s benefits, we declare His greatness by making Him the priority of our thoughts. Second, we can praise God with our actions by imitating Christ. How do we “make known” to others God’s character and actions unless we exemplify it to them? When we imitate Christ, we declare God’s greatness by making Him the priority of our actions. Third, we can praise God with our words. In Psalm 145 the psalmist says how worthy God is of praise and then goes on to declare the character and works of God. We too should be filled with awe and wonder at who Christ is and want to tell others about Him. However, verbal praise can be daunting, often because we don’t have the correct mindset toward it. If we realized that the point of verbal praise is to encourage others, we would be more willing to stop putting ourselves first and begin to focus on what other people need. We don’t always need to say “praise the Lord” to praise God with our words. When we tell others of God’s character and works, we declare God’s greatness by making him the priority of our words. Praising unceasingly doesn’t mean we are not to talk about anything but Christ, but with these three areas in which to praise the Lord we can live a life that always praises the Lord.
Live it out!
It’s easier to say we will praise the Lord than to do it. Here are a few ways in which we can practically live out the command to “praise the Lord”:
Give thanks. 1 Thessalonians 5:18 says, “In everything give thanks.” Make a list of things you can praise God for and pick one each day to thank Him for. Tell others what you are praising and thanking God for. (Psalm 145 is full of things to praise God for)
Sing. Psalm 100:2 says, “Serve the Lord with gladness; come before Him with joyful singing.” Listen to godly music and consciously think about what the words are saying.
Meditate. Psalm 145:7 says, “They shall eagerly utter the memory of Your abundant goodness and will shout joyfully of Your righteousness.” Think about how God is or has worked in your life and look for how God showed His character to you in those circumstances.
Be on guard. Proverbs 4:23 says, “Watch over your heart, for from it flow the springs of life.” What we let our minds think and dwell on is what will be in our hearts and will come out. If our minds are set on Christ and the things of Christ, then the things of Christ, including His praise, will come out.
Pray. 1 Thessalonians 5:17 says, “Pray without ceasing.” Ask the Lord for help and depend on Him for strength.
This list is not the only way that we can praise the Lord. As you begin to start giving thanks and praise to God, you will see things around you to praise Him for!
The results of praise
When we praise the Lord, several things will happen. First, as we do it more often, praise will become more natural. God’s praise will continually be on our lips (Psalm 34:1). Second, praise can result in witnessing opportunities. If we praise the Lord to unbelievers, take the thing you praised the Lord for and relate it to the character of God as seen in the Gospel. Third, praise can also result in greater sanctification. As we praise God for His character, we realize that we don’t measure up to His standards, and we begin to imitate Him more. Finally, our praise of God should cause others to praise Him. This really is the ultimate reason for praise because all praise should result in all glory being given to God. One day “Every tongue will confess that Jesus Christ is Lord,” but what a privilege it is to be able to praise Him now!
“O magnify the Lord with me, and let us exalt His name together.”
Psalm 34:3