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Praise.
Honor, commendation, and worship.
To Whom Praise Is Offered.
The one Lord who is God over all is alone
worthy of praise. Frequently the
OT stresses that the
praise due him is not to be offered to other gods or to idols of
any kind (e.g., Is
42:8). There is a place for the commendation of men and women
for their qualities of life and their right actions (Prv
31:28–31; 1 Pt 2:14). Ultimately, however, they should seek the
praise and commendation of God (Rom 2:29), not the praise of
their fellows (Mt 6:1–6; Jn 12:43), that others may be led to
glorify God for whatever good is found in them (Mt 5:16).
Frequently the Bible speaks of praising “the name” of God (e.g.,
Ps 149:3), meaning that he is to be praised for all that he is
and has revealed himself to be. The often repeated word
“Hallelujah” is simply the Hebrew equivalent of “Praise the
Lord.”
By Whom Praise Is Offered.
God is praised perfectly by his angels in
heaven (Ps 103:20; 148:2). They caroled their praise when Jesus
was born (Lk 2:13, 14), and the Book of Revelation (e.g., 7:11,
12) speaks about their continual praise in heaven. All creation
praises God in the sense that it shows his greatness as Creator
(Ps 19:1–6). Psalm 148 lists sun, moon and stars, fire and hail,
snow, rain, wind and weather, mountains and hills, fruit trees
and cedars, wild animals, cattle, snakes and birds, as praising
God together. Heaven and earth are spoken of as involved in the
praise of God (Ps 89:5; 96:11; 98:4). The Psalter closes with
the words, “Let everything that breathes praise the Lord!” (Ps
150:6). In the OT we read of the special role of priests and
Levites (Ps 135:19, 20) and of the temple singers (2 Chr 20:21)
and of those who, like Miriam (Ex 15:20) and David (2 Sm 6:14),
led others in God’s praise. But it was the duty of all God’s
people to praise him and their praise was intended, moreover, to
lead the gentile nations to know and to praise him (Ps 67:2, 3).
The NT has this same
emphasis (Rom 15:7–12) and it stresses that God’s gifts are
given to his people to be used to his praise and glory (Eph 1:6,
12, 14). It is by a life of righteousness as well as by word of
mouth that men are to praise him (Phil 1:11). The redeemed
people of God are appointed to show forth the praises of him who
has called them “out of the darkness into his marvelous light”
(1 Pt 2:9). The last book of the NT presents the praise of God
in heaven where the four living creatures (representing all
creation) and the 24 elders (representing the people of God
under the old and new covenants) unite in worship, adoring the
mighty God who created them and the Lamb of God who redeemed
them (Rv 4, 5).
When God Is to Be Praised.
In the OT there were times of special praise,
sabbaths, new moons, and festivals. In Psalm 119:164 the
psalmist says, “seven times a day I praise thee for thy
righteous ordinances.” “From the rising of the sun to its
setting the name of the Lord is to be praised!” is the
exhortation of Psalm 113:3. Psalm 145:1 says, “I will extol
thee, my God and King, and bless thy name for ever and ever.” A
dedication to a life of praise is expressed in Psalm 146:2: “I
will praise the Lord as long as I live; I will sing praises to
my God while I have being.” In the NT, likewise, there are
special times of praise, but the whole of the Christian’s life
is intended to be devoted, in word and action, to the praise of
God.
Where Praise Is to Be Offered.
In the OT the temple (and thus “Zion” or
“Jerusalem” where the temple was located) had a special place in
the purpose of God: his people should praise him there. Psalm
102:21 pictures people declaring “in Zion the name of the Lord,
and in Jerusalem his praise.” People are to praise God publicly
before the congregation and before the leaders of the nation (Ps
107:32), but they may also do so alone. For the whole of life is
to be praise. Thus praise can come from unexpected places. Godly
men and women can “sing for joy on their couches” (Ps 149:5).
Paul and Silas can sing praises to God in a Philippian prison
(Acts 16:25).
How God Is to Be Praised.
As there is no limit to time or place, so
there is no limit to the ways in which God may be praised. He
may be praised with singing (Ps 47:7), with dancing (Ps 149:3),
or with instruments of music (Ps 144:9; 150:3–5). The Psalter
provides us with many songs of praise and others are scattered
throughout the OT. The NT speaks of “psalms and hymns and
spiritual songs” (Col 3:16; see also Eph 5:19) and examples of
Christian songs of praise are probably to be seen in Ephesians
5:14; Philippians 2:6–11; 1 Timothy 1:17; and 2 Timothy 2:11–13.
Why God Is to Be Praised.
Creation provides reason for the praise of
God (Ps 8:3), as does his preserving love and care (Ps 21:4) and
the fact that he is a prayer-answering God (Ps 116:1). His
redeeming work leads his people to worship him (Ex 15:1, 2).
Some of the psalms (e.g., 107) list many reasons why he should
be praised. With the coming of the Lord Jesus Christ there is a
fresh outburst of praise because the Messiah, the Savior, has
come to his people (Lk 2:11). All that he did by his life,
death, and resurrection calls for praise. But ultimately praise
will be made perfect when in the end God is seen to reign
victorious over all. Thus John speaks in the Book of Revelation
(19:6) of hearing “what seemed to be the voice of a great
multitude, like the sound of many waters and like the sound of
mighty thunderpeals, crying ‘Hallelujah!’ For the Lord our God
the Almighty reigns.”
Francis Foulkes
Francis
Foulkes B.D., Oxford. Warden,
St. John’s College, Auckland, New Zealand.
Elwell, W. A., &
Beitzel, B. J. 1988. Baker encyclopedia of the
Bible. Map on lining papers. Baker Book House:
Grand Rapids, Mich.
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