The Praise of God

Praise will always be a part of adoration. Adoration, when it has entered God’s presence and has fellowshipped with Him, will always lead to the praise of His name. Let praise be a part of the incense we bring before God in our quiet time.

When the children of Israel, at their birth as the people of God at the Red Sea, had been delivered from the power of Egypt, their joy of redemption burst forth in the song of Moses, filled with praise: “Who is like unto thee, O LORD, among the gods? who is like thee, glorious in holiness, fearful in praises, doing wonders?” (Exodus 15:11).

In the Psalms, we see what a large place praise ought to have in the spiritual life. There are more than sixty psalms of praise, becoming more frequent as the book draws to its close. (See Psalm 95–101, 103–107, 111–118, 134–138, 144–150.) The last five are Hallelujah psalms, with the words “Praise ye the LORD” at the beginning and the end. The very last psalm repeats, “Praise him,” twice in every verse, and it ends with, “Let every thing that hath breath praise the LORD” (Psalm 150:6).

Take time to study this until your heart and life are entirely a continual song of praise: “I will bless the LORD at all times: his praise shall continually be in my mouth” (Psalm 34:1); “Every day will I bless thee” (Psalm 145:2); “I will sing praises unto my God while I have any being” (Psalm 146:2).

With the coming of Christ into the world, there was a new outburst of praise in the song of the angels, the song of Mary, the song of Zechariah, and the song of Simeon. And then, in “the song of Moses…and the song of the Lamb” (Revelation 15:3), we find the praise of God filling creation: “Great and marvellous are thy works, Lord God Almighty…Who shall not fear thee, O Lord, and glorify thy name? for thou only art holy” (vv. 3–4). This song of praise ends with the fourfold “Alleluia” (Revelation 19:1, 3–4, 6). “For the Lord God omnipotent reigneth” (v. 6).

O child of God, let the inner chamber and your quiet time with God always lead your heart to unceasing praise!