Praising God not limited to singing

Psalm 150:6 Let everything that has breath praise the LORD.
Praise and worship of God must be the hallmark of a Christian’s life. If you have any object of worship that you praise more than God you are knowingly or unknowingly involved in idolatry. An idol is anything that takes the place of God in your heart. Your spouse, child, parent, work or money or self are potential idols of worship. However, God must be the ultimate object of praise and worship as the Creator of all things and the possessor of heaven and earth.

There is a bit of confusion among believers concerning the praising and worshipping of God. Most associate the words praise and worship with singing. This is a limited view of praise and worship of God because the Bible says, “Let everything that has breath praise the LORD.’ Not everything that has breath can sing, but everyone who has breath can praise God in one way or another. Praise has little to do with singing but it has everything to do with giving value, honour and glory.

Any study of praise should begin in the Psalms where we are continually told to praise and worship. Nearly all of the Psalms have the word ‘praise’. In fact a later Hebrew name for the book of Psalms is tehillim which means ‘praises’. This shows how important praise was in Hebrew worship and should be in our worship. Praise is derived from a Latin word meaning ‘value’ or ‘price’. In the Old Testament the common Hebrew words used for praise are halal and zamar. Halal means making a noise associated with gesture and bodily movements, while zamar is associated with musical instruments.

One writer said that among God’s people, praise arises spontaneously from a basic mood of joy and is usually expressed through song, dance and musical instruments. To give praise to God is to honour and thank him, to rejoice in his works and accept his gifts, to acknowledge his ‘value’ and authority over all creation. Praise is therefore a mark of God’s people and the lack of it a mark of the ungodly because no one who knows God can fail to praise him.

In the Psalms, the poet rediscovers his reasons for praising God. For instance, in Psalm 9, he begins by praising God for protection and deliverance from the enemy. He recognizes God’s righteous rule and justice and his graciousness to those who trust in him. In the Psalms the poet realizes the futility of life without God. The ungodly do not acknowledge God as the source of life and they curse instead of praise. The godly man’s life is punctuated with praise even in situations where evil abounds and God seems silent. He is confident that the one he trusts, the author of life is in control, therefore evil cannot triumph because God is the final judge.

Have a check up on your life of praise and worship. How frequently do you praise God? It is not about being able to sing but making much of God by speaking about his goodness. David said that he would extol God at all times and His praise would continually be on his lips. The words ‘at all times’ and ‘continually’ suggest that praise is a full-time occupation. Remember, as praises go up to the Creator His blessings come down. So count your blessings; if you have little then increase them by increasing your praise of God.

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