Praise is bestowing compliments “on a person for his personal virtues or worthy actions …”, as Noah Webster explained it. Psalms is the praise book of the Bible with the word “praise” mentioned 132 times.
It is very important to God, and should be to us, to praise God for all the wonderful things He has done in our lives. He never tires of our praising Him. We are to praise Him, as we are reminded in Psalms, because:
- He is righteous.
“And my tongue shall speak of thy righteousness and of thy praise all the day long.” Psa. 35:28 Also: 7:17, 48:10. - He deserves it!
“I will be glad and rejoice in thee: I will sing praise to thy name, O thou most High.” Psa. 9:2 Also: Psa. 69:34, 71:8, 98:4, 107:32, 135:3. - He is powerful and mighty!
“Be thou exalted, LORD, in thine own strength: so will we sing and praise thy power.” Psa. 21:13 Also: Psa.22:23, 28:7, 150:2. - All of His creation praises Him, and so should we.
“Praise ye him, sun and moon: praise him, all ye stars of light.” Psa. 148:3 Also: 146:10, 148:2. - Of His working in our lives and in this world.
“I will praise thee, O LORD, with my whole heart; I will shew forth all thy marvellous works.” Psa. 9:1 Also: Psa. 52:9, 107:15, 21, 31, 118:21, 139:14, 145:10. - I trust Him, and everything He says in His Word.
“In God I will praise his word, in God I have put my trust; I will not fear what flesh can do unto me.” Psa. 56:4 Also: Psa. 56:10, 63:5. - He has given us joy!
“And he hath put a new song in my mouth, even praise unto our God: many shall see it, and fear, and shall trust in the LORD.” Psa. 40:3 Also: Psa. 42:11, Psa. 43:4,5. - We are not ashamed of Him and are proud to tell others that we have a relationship with Him.
“I will declare thy name unto my brethren: in the midst of the congregation will I praise thee.” Psa. 22:22 Also: Psa. 44:8. - We want others to know of Him, and experience His love and help in their lives!
“I will make thy name to be remembered in all generations: therefore shall the people praise thee for ever and ever.” Psa. 45:17 Also: Psa. 57:9, 66:8, 67:3,5, 74:21, 86:12, 108:3, 109:30, 113:9, 117:1. - We are grateful for His love and help.
“Enter into his gates with thanksgiving, and into his courts with praise: be thankful unto him, and bless his name.” Psa. 100:4 Also: Psa. 30:12, 69:30, 79:13, 106:1, 107:8.
Praising God is a way to show that we are grateful to Him for all He has done. We all have so much to praise Him for. God is so good to us; certainly better than we deserve.
“Praise has different effects, according to the mind it meets with; it makes a wise man modest, but a fool more arrogant.” — Feltham
When a Christian has a daily prayer life, we typically start with thanking and worshiping Him. I have found that I must work to keep that fresh. It isn’t that I am ungrateful, but that it becomes habit and mechanical.
I don’t have the 100% solution to that, but I find that generally, it helps if I am also praising and thanking for circumstances in others lives as well as my own. When I look at how the Lord has helped a family in my church, despite the dad having cancer, it gives me joy. I could name many circumstances.
Like you Bro Brinkworth, I believe that the coined term “Thanksliving ” should apply to our lives daily. Praising Him brings this and brings joy into our lives.