Praise has great purposes

The psalmist says, “Praise the name of the Lord; praise Him, O you servants of the Lord! You who stand in the house of the Lord, in the courts of the house of our God” (Psalm 135:1-2).

Yesterday someone praised me. It was for a suggestion I’d given her years ago. She acted on it and it changed her life. Of course I didn’t remember doing it, but my delight was more for her than for me. She made the decision, she ran with it, and she was happy and grateful about it.

The Bible, particularly the psalms, call God’s servants to praise Him. As John Piper explains in his wonderful book, The Pleasures of God, praise is fitting because God alone is worthy of it. Piper also points out that God knows that. He has an incredible delight in His own sense of who He is, but not like our sinful version. We exalt in ourselves because our egos need it; God exalts in Himself because He has absolutely no needs.

For now, I’ll leave a far better explanation of this concept to Piper. What I am thinking about this morning is how praise benefits those who offer it. My friend who praised me brought the thing full circle. I could see her delight in having opportunity to tell me how the words I gave her moved her to action. As I watched her relaxed smile, I thought of God, and realized that when we praise Him for the things He has done for us, He is pleased for us also. He sees what praise does in our lives as we bring back to Him the ‘rest of the story’ making whatever it is come full circle.

Besides that delight of ‘icing the cake,’ praise offered to God slows me down. My heart cannot be occupied with the concerns of my life or my to-do list while I am focused on the glory of God. Praise reminds me that He is in control, and that He loves me, gave Himself for me, and will work all things together for my good—making me more like Jesus Christ.

Praise restores my eternal perspective. I remember why I am here, the priorities I should have and where I am going. Praise puts my too-busy life in perspective. Everything that looms large starts to shrink. I begin to see what needs attention and what can be deleted.

Praise also makes a day of rest apply to more than my body. As I reflect on the wonders of God, my mind relaxes too. All negative emotions fade and His joy bubbles up, filling me with a gratitude and delight that only God can give.

Yes, God rightfully delights in praise, but His delight is never selfish. He sees what it does for His children and His heart is made glad, simply because praising Him makes our heart glad and gives body, mind, soul and emotions a rest.

All that being said, praise is too often tagged to the music part of a Sunday service. I’ve heard people say, “The praise was good” or “I liked the worship today” totally in reference to the singing. Maybe because I’m a person who loves words and working with words, or maybe because my singing voice is not that great, I hope that Christians recognize that praise doesn’t have to be just music. We can praise God in words without whole notes, sharps and flats. We can praise Him without words in the silence. We can praise Him with our lives, our actions. But however we do it, God is blessed by our praise, and because of His amazing grace, we are too!