Praise to the Lord Psalm 100
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Praise to the Lord Psalm 100
Introduction: According to the Holman Illustrated Bible Dictionary
PRAISE is one of humanity’s many responses to God’s revelation of Himself. The Bible recognizes that men and women may also be the objects of praise, either from other people (Proverbs 27:21; 31:30) or from God Himself (Romans 2:29), and that angels and the natural world are likewise capable of praising God (Psalm 148). Nevertheless, human praise of God is one of Scripture’s major themes.
“Praise” comes from a Latin word meaning “value” or “price.” Thus, to give praise to God is to proclaim His merit or worth. Many terms are used to express this in the Bible, including “glory,” “blessing,” “thanksgiving,” and “hallelujah,” the last named being a transliteration of the Hebrew for “Praise the Lord.” The Hebrew title of the book of Psalms (“Praises”) comes from the same root as “hallelujah” and Psalms 113–118 have been specially designated the “Hallel” (“praise”) psalms.
The modes of praise are many, including the offering of sacrifices (Leviticus 7:13), physical movement (2 Samuel 6:14), silence and meditation (Psalm 77:11–12), testimony (Psalm 66:16), prayer (Philippians 4:6), and a holy life (1 Peter 1:3–9). However, praise is almost invariably linked to music, both instrumental (Psalm 150:3–5) and, especially, vocal. Biblical songs of praise range from personal, more or less spontaneous outbursts of thanksgiving for some redemptive act of God (Exodus 15: Judges 5; 1 Samuel 2; Luke 1:46–55, 67–79) to formal psalms and hymns adapted for corporate worship in the temple (2 Chronicles 29:30) and church (Colossians 3:16).
While the Bible contains frequent injunctions for people to praise God, there are also occasional warnings about the quality of this praise. Praise is to originate in the heart and not become mere outward show (Matthew 15:8). Corporate praise is to be carried on in an orderly manner (1 Corinthians 14:40). Praise is also firmly linked to an individual’s everyday life (Amos 5:21–24).
So let’s take a look at:
A Psalm for Thanksgiving.
1 Shout joyfully to the Lord, all the earth.
2 Serve the Lord with gladness; Come before Him with joyful singing.
3 Know that the Lord Himself is God; It is He who has made us, and not we ourselves; We are His people and the sheep of His pasture.
4 Enter His gates with thanksgiving And His courts with praise. Give thanks to Him, bless His name.
5 For the Lord is good; His lovingkindness is everlasting And His faithfulness to all generations.
Transitional Sentence: So, Praising God is the activity of God’s creatures in honoring Him because of His acts and His very nature.
Now that you know what Praise is let’s take a deeper look at it.
a. Let’s start with a look at when and where to Praise God. In Psalm 119:164 the Psalmist says that he will praise God seven times a day. If you count day as being 6:00 in the morning to 6:00 in the evening then you would need to take a break for a certain period of time and praise Him every two hours or so. That would be a good plan - Muslims generally pray 5 times a day. They have to do the same thing, take a break, spread out the carpet and bow to the holy place.
That’s one way to do it. Another is to gather together for a corporate worship service on Sunday mornings to praise Him as a congregation. Or you can just praise God whenever you feel like it. In the morning, at noon or even late in the night the way the Psalmist for Psalm 119:62 said.
62 At midnight I shall rise to give thanks to You Because of Your righteous ordinances.
b. So another good question is why do we Praise God?
The best reason is for the great things He has done. Another reason is simply because of who He is. Those are the reasons why He should be praised, but why do you praise Him?
I do because I love Him. What about you?
Your Praise should well up from the depths of your soul. It should be a part of you that can’t be held back. Jesus told His disciples: Matthew 15:8
8 ‘This people honors Me with their lips, But their heart is far away from Me.
Their worship wasn’t from the heart. It was a show. They did the things they were supposed to do but they didn’t do them from the heart. They didn’t do them because of their love for God but because they were suppose to.
What about you? Is your praise just a show or does it come from deep inside you?
Now let’s look at some other reasons why we should praise God. These are possible benefits from praising God.
1. Improved mental health - reduced feelings of isolation, anxiety and fear.
2. Reduced stress - Research from Vanderbilt University found that people who attend worship services have less stress.
3. Increased longevity - reduced risk of mortality.
4. Improved brain activity -
5. Spiritual healing -
6. Improved productivity - According to Psalm 17:5-6 the earth yields its produce in the presence of praise.
7. Researchers have found that when we worship and praise God, there is an increase in BPNF, which is a neurotransmitter that helps us grow healthy brain cells.
So you can Praise Him whenever and wherever you want simply because you love Him and want to express that love in words and song. But,
c. Who should praise Him? Well anyone who believes in Him and calls upon His name as Lord and Savior should have praise in their hearts for the things He has done. But is that all? Shouldn’t everyone or everything praise God? According to Psalm 150:6 everything should.
6 Let everything that has breath praise the Lord. Praise the Lord!
How does that work? Have you ever listened to the birds singing in the early morning or as the sun sets in the evening? What are they saying? What about all the other animals? Is this praise?
I used to go s.c.u.b.a. diving a lot. If you think it is silent under the water I can tell you it isn’t. It always made me wonder if the creatures were talking to each other or sing praise to God.
Ultimately, people praising Him now or not doesn’t matter. Because, they will, in the end. Isaiah 45:23 says:
23 “I have sworn by Myself, The word has gone forth from My mouth in righteousness And will not turn back, That to Me every knee will bow, every tongue will swear allegiance.
So, let everything that has breathe praise the Lord.
2. So what are the Words of Praise? There are five words that translate into our English word of praise plus one bonus word that is like it.
The first is:
a. Ranan - (Hebrew) this word is found in verse three of our passage.
rānan - to cry out in joy or praise.
This verb indicates crying aloud in joyful praise or “singing for joy” as in Psalm 95:1: “Come let us sing for joy (rānan) to Yahweh!” and Psalm 89:12b, which states: “Tabor and Hermon shout joyfully (rānan) over your name.”
b. Halal - (Hebrew)
hālal - to praise. Describes the act of praising God through prayer, instruments, and singing both corporately and individually.
This verb usually refers to the act of praising but can also mean “to shine” or “to boast” as in, Psalm 49:6. It can be used of praising humans, Genesis 12:15 or 2 Samuel 14:25 but in the OT it is mostly used for praising God. The Scriptures attest to singers praising (hālal) God 2 Chronicles 5:13 and musicians offering praise (hālal) to God with lyres 1 Chronicles 25:3; harps Psalm 71:22; and the trumpet, lute, tambourine, dance, strings, pipe, and cymbals Psalm 150:3–5. The Scriptures offer exhortations to praise God, such as Psalm 107:32: “Let them exalt him in the congregation of the people, and praise (hālal) him in the assembly of the elders”. People also declare that they will praise God, as in Psalm 146:2: “I will praise (hālal) Yahweh while I live; I will sing praises (zāmar) to my God while I am still alive”. Reasons for praising God are often given, including: God’s righteous rules Psalm 119:164, God’s goodness Psalm 135:3, the exalted nature of his name and his majesty Psalm 148:13, and his mighty deeds and excellent greatness Psalm 150:2. Even nonhuman and nonbiological entities are exhorted to express praise to God, including the angels, all God’s hosts, the sun, moon, stars, highest heavens, waters, sea creatures, and the deep Psalm 48:2–4.
The Psalms often use the expression (hallû-yāh, “Praise Yah”), which combines hālal with (yāh), the shortened form of God’s name (yhwh, “Yahweh”; as in Psalm 146:1 “Praise the Lord! Praise the Lord, O my soul!” This expression does not occur in the OT outside the Psalms.
b. Tahilla - (Hebrew) this word is found in verse four of our passage.
tĕhillâ - praise, thanksgiving.
This noun is related to the verb hālal, “to praise”. It usually refers to praise offered to God. Sometimes a worshiper declares an intent to praise God, as in Psalm 71:14: “I will hope continually and increase your praise (tĕhillâ)” (see also Psalm 51:15; 106:47; Isaiah 42:12; 43:21). In other instances, the word is used in an exhortation to praise the Lord as in, Psalm 66:8: “Bless our God, O peoples, and cause sound of his praise (tĕhillâ) to be heard”. In several instances, the Scriptures attest to a process by which God enables worshipers to become “a praise (tĕhillâ).” For example, in Isaiah 61:11 Yahweh “will make righteousness sprout, and praise (tĕhillâ) before the nations”, and in Zephaniah 3:19, he empowers the people such that their shame is turned into praise (tĕhillâ). Ultimate praise is suitably directed only to God, not to idols Isaiah 42:8.
8 “I am the Lord, that is My name; I will not give My glory to another, Nor My praise to graven images.
d. Sabah - (Hebrew)
šābaḥ - to praise. Describes the act of giving thanks and praise.
The Hebrew verb šābaḥ means “to praise.” In Psalm 63:3 the psalmist declares: “Because your loyal love is better than life, my lips will praise (šābaḥ) you.”
e. Zamar - (Hebrew)
zāmar - to sing praise.
This verb means “to sing praise,” and occurs almost exclusively in the Psalms, as in Psalm 104:33b: “I will sing praise (zāmar) to my God while I remain alive”.
f. Barak - To Bless (Hebrew) this word is found in verse four of our passage.
BLESS—(1.) God blesses his people when he bestows on them some gift temporal or spiritual as in Genesis 1:22.
(2.) We bless God when we thank him for his mercies Psalm 103:1 .
1 Bless the Lord, O my soul, And all that is within me, bless His holy name.
(3.) A man blesses himself when he invokes God’s blessing Isaiah 65:16 or rejoices in God’s goodness to him Psalm 49:18.
(4.) One blesses another when he expresses good wishes or offers prayer to God for his welfare Genesis 24:60. Sometimes blessings were uttered under divine inspiration, as in the case of Noah, Isaac, Jacob, and Moses.
g. eulogeo - Greek (NT)
(eulogeō). vb. to praise, bless. Indicates the action of blessing God, in the sense of offering praise to God.
This verb means “to praise.” It often indicates the offering of, the wish for, or the activity of a blessing from God. However, when humans bless God, this is equivalent to offering him praise. Thus, after Jesus’ ascension, his disciples “were continually in the temple courts praising (eulogeō) God” (Luke 24:53), and during the triumphant entry, the crowds shouted to Jesus, “Hosanna to the Son of David! Blessed (eulogeō) is the one who comes in the name of the Lord! Hosanna in the highest heaven!” (Matt 21:9; see also Matt 23:39; Mark 11:9; Luke 19:38; John 12:13).
3. Who to Praise
a. So should you praise People?
In the world of business and everyday life praise and compliments are considered the same. So praise may be given to anyone who does something for you or does something well.
As to when to give praise to someone depends upon when it is earned. Don’t wait a week to tell someone they did a good job on something. Tell the person immediately. A little bit of praise can go a long way for helping people feel better about what they are doing.
As to why to give praise to someone depends upon how you feel about what they did. If you don’t like what was done then don’t praise or compliment them for it; but if you like it then say something. It doesn’t have to a big production. You don’t have to zamar or sing their praises, just tell them how you feel.
So remember you can Barak - or bless someone when you offer them good wishes or pray for them. You can also halal people, or praise them by boasting about them. Give praise for something someone has done well, or just for the fact that someone was willing to do something for you; or for whatever reason you may have.
But don’t forget to praise the One who truly deserves to be praised:
b. God. Psalm 146:2 says:
2 I will praise the Lord while I live; I will sing praises to my God while I have my being.
God is worthy of all praise for the great things that He has done. He is worthy of praise because of:
1. His Goodness, faithfulness and loving kindness
2. His Creation - He created and sustains all things
3. His Power - He has power over all things and mighty are His works in all the earth
4. His Attributes such as His omnipotence - all powerful, omniscience - all knowing, omnipresence - everywhere at the same time and eternality - He was and is and is to come.
5. Most of all He is worthy of all praise because of His redemptive work in the world. He made a way for us to be saved from sin, and to be raised to a new life with Him.
That salvation comes through faith in Christ Jesus because His is the only name under the sun by which you may be saved. So put your faith in Him and receive the grace of God which will bring reconciliation between you and God. Then you will know the true barak or blessing of God when you become His child.
Exit: There is no one way to praise God. You can declare your praise for Him, you can sing joyfully before Him or you can praise Him with a musical instrument. No matter how you choose to praise God do it from the bottom of your heart. Don’t let your praise be a hollow show to impress someone or to try and impress God. He knows the difference.
Let everything that has breathe praise the Lord!
Spontaneous praise - Let everyone have the opportunity to praise the Lord before the congregation.
“Let them exalt him in the congregation of the people, and praise him in the assembly of the elders”. Psalm 107:32
