Extolling God

Psalm 145

I’m pretty sure that if I were to ask you, “Do you pray?” without hesitation, every Christian would quickly say, “Of course I do.” But suppose I added another question to the mix and asked, “Do you pray every day?” I’d be willing to bet that each of you would respond in the affirmative and maybe even add, “Yes, I pray every day, and many times during the day. I cannot live without prayer.”

But now, what if I changed my question to, “Do you bless God every day?” “Is praise, or blessing God as certain and constant a practice with you as prayer?” I would bet at this point your response might not be so forthcoming. You might need to stop and think about it for a moment or two, and I fear that in many cases, when the reply did come, it might be more along the lines of, “I’m afraid I might be negligent in praising God.”

If that is the case, then have we not been wrong? Should we omit praise any more than we omit prayer? Should not our praise come daily and as many times in the day as our prayer does? Friends, to fail in praise and blessing God is as unjustifiable as to fail in prayer, but we find that praise is not as certain or as common in family prayer as other forms of worship. There are many who simply cannot praise God in song because they can’t carry a tune in a bucket, but I believe that without regard to the good or negative effects of our vocal chords, we should all give good effort to lifting our voices in praise. I completely agree with Matthew Henry when he said, “They that pray in the family do well; they that pray and read the Scriptures do better; but they that pray, read, and sing do best of all.”

There is a completeness in that kind of worship, whether it be with family or by ourselves. Personally, or in private, we should endeavor to be filled with God’s praise and with His honor all day long. There is simply nothing else that so lifts my spirit and brings joy to my heart than when praise is as easily on my lips as prayer is. No matter how I feel, as I begin to speak out loud or sing about my God’s greatness and how wonderful He is to me, it’s like He breathes His joy and His presence into my heart. I would say that if a person is not feeling or experiencing the blessing of God and the joy of His salvation, then it’s probably due to the fact that they simply are not blessing God as they should. They are not extolling the Lord God.

Psa 145:1-21 A Psalm of Praise, of David. I will extol You, my God, O King, And I will bless Your name forever and ever. [2] Every day I will bless You, and I will praise Your name forever and ever. [3] Great is the LORD, and highly to be praised, and His greatness is unsearchable. [4] One generation shall praise Your works to another and shall declare Your mighty acts. [5] On the glorious splendor of Your majesty and on Your wonderful works, I will meditate. [6] Men shall speak of the power of Your awesome acts, and I will tell of Your greatness. [7] They shall eagerly utter the memory of Your abundant goodness and will shout joyfully of Your righteousness. [8] The LORD is gracious and merciful; Slow to anger and great in lovingkindness. [9] The LORD is good to all, and His mercies are over all His works. [10] All Your works shall give thanks to You, O LORD, and Your godly ones shall bless You. [11] They shall speak of the glory of Your kingdom and talk of Your power; [12] To make known to the sons of men Your mighty acts and the glory of the majesty of Your kingdom. [13] Your kingdom is an everlasting kingdom, and Your dominion endures throughout all generations. [14] The LORD sustains all who fallaAnd raises up all who are bowed down. [15] The eyes of all look to You, and You give them their food in due time. [16] You open Your hand and satisfy the desire of every living thing. [17] The LORD is righteous in all His ways and kind in all His deeds. [18] The LORD is near to all who call upon Him, to all who call upon Him in truth. [19] He will fulfill the desire of those who fear Him; He will also hear their cry and will save them. [20] The LORD keeps all who love Him, but all the wicked He will destroy. [21] My mouth will speak the praise of the LORD, and all flesh will bless His holy name forever and ever.

You know, when we praise God, something supernatural often happens in our circumstances, but always in our hearts. Walls come tumbling down, enemies are defeated or sidetracked elsewhere, problems are resolved or made much smaller and less serious, darkness turns to light, demons flee, and healing occurs. When we bless God, when we extol our God, depression, fear, and anxiety is cast out, and our souls are rejuvenated as we magnify and glorify God. Praising God has the power to lift discouraged feelings and revive spiritually dull sensations. Engaging in daily praise alongside prayer can bring joy to one's heart and rejuvenate the soul. By extolling God and acknowledging His greatness, one can experience a transformation in their circumstances and inner peace.

Beloved, we should never allow the absence of praise feelings keep us from praise! Whether we’re feeling it or not, we should let our hearts reach out to these statements of praise like we read in this psalm, that seem for the moment to be out of our reach and make them our own. Praise statements like, Psalm 145:1-3 I will extol You, my God, O King, and I will bless Your name forever and ever. [2] Every day I will bless You, and I will praise Your name forever and ever. [3] Great is the LORD, and highly to be praised, and His greatness is unsearchable.

To extol is to lift up, to exalt, to glorify, and that’s the vow that Psalm 145 begins with, that David will lift up, exalt, and glorify God every day, and that he will keep it up forever! And that, folks, is the ultimate purpose of our lives. According to the Westminster Shorter Catechism, the chief end of man is to glorify God, and to enjoy him forever. In other words, we are to extol our Lord and God all our lives. That is man’s ultimate purpose and will bring us abundant blessing.

Friends, when your ultimate purpose is to bless God, to exalt Him, then no matter what happens to you, severe trial or abundant blessing, your mission in life is glorifying God. If your ultimate goal in life is to have perfect circumstances, financial security, perfect safety, perfect marriage, perfect kids, perfect career, then things will happen that will attack and ruin those goals. Goals focused on this world will constantly disappoint, but when your goal is to magnify God, you can do that no matter what happens. Life becomes simpler and clear when your life goals line up with the Word of God. Psalm 89:15 (NASB95)

15 How blessed are the people who know the joyful sound!

O Lord, they walk in the light of Your countenance.