An Attitude of Praise

The first place I could find the phrase, “Praise the Lord,” in the Bible was in Genesis 29:35: “She [Leah] conceived again and bore a son and said, ‘This time I will praise the LORD.’ Therefore, she named him Judah. Then she stopped bearing” (NASB used throughout). 

Several years ago, I was talking to a well-respected preacher in the Christian church. Not only had he led one of the largest congregations in our brotherhood, but he had taught at two of our best-known Bible colleges. He asked me, “Do you know what I find hard to do in my prayer life?” Of course, I answered back, “I have no idea.” He replied, “When I pray, I find it easy to ask for forgiveness. I have no problem asking God for guidance. I find it easy to offer prayers of thanksgiving and lifting up those I know who need God to heal their bodies from sickness. The weakest point in my prayer life is praising God. I don’t know why it is but I’m weak in that area. That doesn’t mean I don’t praise Him; I just don’t feel like I’m really praising Him like I should. I have trouble using the words I really believe I should.” 

I know what he means. I must admit that, like my preacher friend, my weakest point seems to be praising our Father.  When I do speak words of praise to God, I sometimes feel like I’m just “parroting” the words of David. I want the praise that I give to come directly from my heart. I want my praise to be a personal thing. I just don’t want to repeat what others have said, no matter how great it is. I want the words to be mine. 

I did a study on praise. I did learn some things that have helped me, and I hope they will be of help to you. 

The phrase “Praise the Lord” appears thirty-nine times in the English Standard Version. The word praise, in reference to God, appears 259 times in the King James Version. The word praise appears over one hundred times in the book of Psalms. One hundred times in the Scripture we are told to “Shout joyfully to the Lord.” 

A good definition of praise is “an expression of admiration, honor, and exalting God for who He is, for what He has done, and for what He is capable of doing for us in the future.” 

Here is what some Scriptures say: 

Exodus 15:2 “The LORD is my strength and song, and He has become my salvation; This is my God, and I will praise Him; My father’s God, and I will extol Him.” 

Psalms 94:4 “Great is the Lord and greatly to be praised.” 

We should be willing, as His children, to openly praise our Father. We praise others. When our teams win, we go crazy — jumping, clapping, and shouting. We turn to others around and say, “Did you see that?”  

We praise our children. We praise our grandchildren. We praise our friends. Praise is a part of who we are; we need to learn to ensure we also focus our praise on God. 

Praise for the Past 

We should praise God because of what He has done, as Psalms 77:11 teaches: “I shall remember the deeds of the Lord, surely I will remember Your wonders of old.” 

Look what God has done in the past. He created the world, He parted the Red Sea, He fed 5,000 men with two fish and five loaves. There is not enough time, nor space, for me to mention all the great things God has done. After reflecting upon the wonderful works of God, the Psalmist says in Psalm 48:1, “Great is the LORD, and greatly to be praised.”  

When we think of what God has done in the past it promotes worship. When we look and see what He has done for others and for us, it should lead us to remember that He can still do great things today. 

Some of the best advice I have ever heard was a statement made in a sermon I heard several years ago. The preacher said, “When you can’t see what God is doing, remember what He has done in the past.” He was faithful then He will be faithful now. Praise Him for the past. 

Praise for the Present 

We should praise Him for what He is doing now. That means praising God regardless of what is going on in our lives, even in bad times. I know that is hard to do but it is something that we should do. We may be going through difficult times, but we can praise God because we know sooner or later, He will deliver us. We have many examples of this in the Old and New Testament. When the Apostles were flogged and ordered to no longer to speak in the name of Jesus, Acts 5:41 reports that they “went on their way from the presence of the Council, rejoicing that they had been considered worthy of suffering shame for His name.”  

Allow me to remind you that when Paul and Silas were in prison, they “prayed and sang praises unto God” (Acts 16:25). Similarly, James would tell us, “Consider it all joy, my brethren, when you encounter various trials, knowing that the testing of your faith produces endurance. And let endurance have its perfect result, so that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing” (James 1:2-4). 

Perhaps no other passage exhibits praise for the present as does Habakkuk 3:17-18: 

Though the fig tree should not blossom, and there be no fruit on the vines, though the yield of the of the olive should fail and the fields produce no food, though the flock should be cut off from the fold and there be no cattle in the stalls, yet I will exult in the Lord, I will rejoice in the God of my salvation. 

What is God doing in your life right now? How is He blessing you? We all have reason to praise the Lord. 

Praise for the Future 

We also need to praise Him for what He is going to do in the future. What a wonderful future He has planned for us. He has prepared a place for us with no pain, no sorrow, no weeping, and no death. We should be praising Him for that every day we live. 

We should praise Him in songs, in preaching, in prayer, and in the way we live our lives. Psalm 150:6 tells us, “Let everything that has breath praise the Lord, Praise the Lord.” 

Let’s praise Him.