OUR DUTY OF PRAISE


A. "PRAISE YE THE LORD, PRAISE THE LORD O MY SOUL. WHILE I LIVE WILL I PRAISE THE LORD; I WILL SING PRAISES UNTO MY GOD WHILE I HAVE ANY BEING" - PSALMS 146:1-2
  1. The observing reader of the Psalms will be impressed:
    1. The continuous note of praise that runs through most of the fifty chapters
    2. Praise to God reaches its climax in the last six chapters
  2. Whatever some of the shortcomings David may have had in his life:
    1. He had a special sense of appreciation and heart-felt gratitude to God for the many benefits God bestowed upon him
    2. That is one great reason why Inspiration recorded his poems of adoration and praise to God
B. THE ELEMENTS TRUE AND MEANINGFUL PRAISE
  1. Negatively:
    1. True and meaningful praise is not an outburst of human emotion caused by natural excitement - Acts 19:28-29; 21:27-31
    2. It is not the outgrowth of a realization of attainment - human objectives, worthy as they may be - Judges 5:1-24
  2. Positively:
    1. Praise and gratitude spring from a realization of God's tender mercies to us that are new everyday - Ps. 89:1; 106:7; 69:13
    2. They are the recognize and appreciate God's love which is numerous in all His works - Ps. 114:1-15; Ps. 111:1-9
    3. True and meaningful praise to God is an expression of our affection and adoration for God
  3. Praise to God becomes a secret duty:
    1. To all beneficiaries of God's undeserved mercies. It is difficult to visualize a beneficiary of God's blessings not to have a heart filled with praise - 2 Tim. 3:2; Luke 6:35
    2. Gratitude is a mark of character and manliness. Those who lack this virtue miss a great blessing; Examples: the ingratitude of the nine lepers that had been cleansed - Luke 17:12-18; the man with the one talent - Matt. 25:24-25; the ungrateful servant - Matt. 18:23-25
C. INCENTIVES FOR PRAISE AND ADORATION TO GOD IN WORD AND LIFE
  1. Praising God with our lips is proper but not necessarily a mark of heartfelt appreciation:
    1. "Wherefore the Lord said, for as much as this people draw near me with their mouth, and with their lips do honor Me, but have removed their heart far from Me." - Is. 29:13
    2. Such praise is flattery and is an abomination unto the Lord - Ps. 5:9; 78:36; Ps. 12:2-3
  2. The praise that is acceptable unto God:
    1. Is that of the heart, for what comes out of the heart is indicative of the attitude of a person
    2. "Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind" - Matt. 22:37
    3. "Keep thine heart with all diligence, for out of it are the issues of life" - Prov. 4:23
    4. Systematic praise - not only occasionally is acceptable unto God - Ps. 71:14; 22:23
    5. "Seven times a day do I praise thee because of Thy righteous judgments" Ps. 119:164
  3. I fear, dear friends, that the spirit of spontaneous praise is lacking among God's people:
    1. We take too many things for granted and as a matter of normal happenings
    2. If we would pause at least three times a day and consider the multitude of God's mercies, praise and gratitude would flow freely out of thankful hearts
  4. There are numerous ways in which we can offer praise unto the Lord:
    1. "In Psalms and hymns and spiritual songs singing and making melody in your hearts unto the Lord" - Eph. 5:19
    2. Praise the Lord in a consistent and dedicated life - Matt. 5:16
    3. Praise him with our gifts - I Chron. 29:9-22; Friends of mine, the Psalmist closed His many poems with a call to all creation to praise the Lord - shall we close the last chapter of our life with loud praises to God


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