How to Praise God, Part 1

September, 2003

by: John Richard

There are many attributes that separate the Christian community. One of them is the style of our praise of God. Some lift up their hands, some say “Amen,” some clap, some move to the music, while others don't go beyond singing in their praise of God. (Note: praise of God is not limited to singing, but can be done by singing and accompanied by instrument). Is anyone right in his or her style? Is one style better than another style? Well in order to evaluate anything, one must see how it measures up to the Word of God. One particular passage, which answers the question “how you are to praise the Lord,” is Psalm 103:1-5. It is my desire that you read this article, adhering to the manner David proposes so that you may properly praise the Lord.

There are four constituents of a proper pattern of praise. If you are to praise God properly, you will praise God personally, humbly, comprehensively and passionately. In Psalm 103, David is talking to himself, trying to get his own soul to bless the Lord. He praises God personally. If you look at Psalm 103, you see that David desires his own soul to praise God, as He says, “Bless the Lord, oh my soul.” He then goes after everything that is within him. He then goes after his own soul again and his own memory in verse 2. His praise to the Lord was personal. David was desirous to praise the Lord himself. At this point in the Psalm, he is only concerned with making sure that his whole being is blessing the Lord. He was personally praising God. However, when he was personally praising God, he was also humble. Humility is the second key to praising God properly. The word “bless” means to praise God with humble adoration. It carries the idea of praising God on bent knees. Praise to the Lord can't be given with pride assimilated with it. For example, our praise would not be humble if we thanked God for making us the masterpiece of His creation. We really wouldn't be humble if we thanked God for making us look so good that everybody stares at us when we walk into a room. That is not contrite praise of the Lord. Do you praise the Lord in humility?

Beyond praising God personally and humbly, David also praised God comprehensively. In Psalm 103, we see David talking to himself, initially trying to get his soul to praise the Lord. However, he doesn't stop there, for he goes after all that is within him and his memory. David wanted to give the Lord whole–hearted praise, not half–hearted praise. David was committed to praising God comprehensively, so much so that we see that passionate praise is the final constituent of proper praise. In Psalm 103, there are two ways that we see that he was passionate. One is with his choice of words. The word bless is a command. He commanded his own soul to praise the Lord. He wanted so bad to honor the Lord that he commanded his own soul. Furthermore, beyond commanding his own soul, he commanded his soul twice. The second way that we see his passion is in his repetitive desire to praise God. I don't know if he was sleeping when he initially gave the command to his soul, or what, but we know that he was so passionate to praise the Lord that he went after his soul twice. He was passionate in his praise of the Lord.

David praised the Lord personally, humbly, comprehensively, and passionately. Does this describe how you praise the Lord? Praising God is important and it must be done according to this manner if you are to honor the Lord. Whether or not you lift your hands is not as integral as making sure that your praise is done in this manner in spirit and truth. May you praise the Lord in all that you do.