Are You Praising God?

Are you praising God?

Really? Are you praising God and thanking Him for what He has done for you?

Psalms 67 is a psalm of praise and thanksgiving to God! Let's examine it and find out more! :)

"God be merciful unto us, and bless us; and cause his face to shine upon us; That thy way may be known upon earth, thy saving health among all nations. Let the people praise thee, O God; let all the people praise thee. O let the nations be glad and sing for joy: for thou shalt judge the people righteously, and govern the nations upon earth. Let the people praise thee, O God; let all the people praise thee. Then shall the earth yield her increase; and God, even our own God, shall bless us. God shall bless us; and all the ends of the earth shall fear him."

A simple and profound psalm indeed! "Praise" is mentioned 4 times in this chapter! This means praise is pretty important for us to do!

I heard this story once of two angels who each had a basket. One angel was assigned to carry all the prayer requests and needs of God's people to heaven so God could answer them. The other angel was assigned to carry all the thanksgiving and praises to heaven. The first angel was very busy! Back and forth, back and forth all throughout the day, he filled and emptied his basket. The other angel had very few things in his basket and it filled up so slowly. Finally at the end of the day, his basket was full and he flew back to heaven, having made only one trip there.

So sad, right? Yes, there's nothing wrong with praying for our needs and asking God to bless and help us, but we must remember that praise is just as important as praying for our needs. In fact, it is almost more important! Because it shows God how grateful we are for what He has done for us.

In Heavenly Places, page 94 comments on this chapter from Psalms and says this, "As Christians we ought to praise God more than we do. We ought to bring more of the brightness of His love into our lives. As by faith we look to Jesus His joy and peace are reflected from the countenances. How earnestly we should seek so to relate ourselves to God that our faces may reflect the sunshine of His love! When our own souls are vivified by the Holy Spirit, we shall exert an uplifting influence upon others who know not the joy of Christ's presence."

Do we really praise God enough? Obviously not! We need to make it a habit to praise God more than we do!

"The Lord is not pleased to have His people a band of mourners. He wants them to repent of their sins, that they may enjoy the liberty of the sons of God. Then they will be filled with the praises of God, and will be a blessing to others."

When we complain and always plead with God for our troubles, it's like we are in a funeral procession - a band of mourners! Nothing to be happy about, nothing to smile about! Oh, no!!! We don't want to be thought of as that for being a Christian!

But suppose I find myself having more grumbling or prayer requests going up to God than praise! What can I do?

Isaiah 61:1-3 offers an answer, "to appoint unto them that mourn in Zion, to give unto them beauty for ashes, the oil of joy for mourning, the garments of praise for the spirit of heaviness; that they might be called trees of righteousness, the planting of the Lord, that He might be glorified."

We need God to replace our spirit of heaviness to garments of praise! :) When He does this, we will be happy and full of praise for what God has done for us!

"'That he,' Christ Jesus, 'might be glorified.' O that this might be the purpose of our lives! Then we should have regard even to the expression of our countenance, to our words, and even to the tone of our voice when we speak."

People need to know that we are a happy, cheerful people! We wouldn't want to turn someone away from Christianity because of our gloomy, miserable faces! People watch our faces and what we look like! Oh, may we be good witnesses for Jesus!

"The melody of praise is the atmosphere of heaven; and when heaven comes in touch with the earth, there is music and song-- 'thanksgiving, and the voice of melody' (Isa. 51:3). . . . Let there be singing in the home, of songs that are sweet and pure, and there will be fewer words of censure and more of cheerfulness and hope and joy."

Sometimes we find our homes filled with censure and angry words.... This is not how it should be! If only we would sing more in our homes, there would be less complaining and anger and selfishness!

"As our Redeemer leads us to the threshold of the Infinite, flushed with the glory of God, we may catch the themes of praise and thanksgiving from the heavenly choir round about the throne; and as the echo of the angel's song is awakened in our earthly homes, hearts will be drawn closer to the heavenly singers. Heaven's communion begins on earth. We learn here its keynote."

In heaven, all is praise and adoration of God! If we don't learn how to praise and thank God here on this earth, we won't even make it to heaven to praise God there! If we are always complaining and grumbling here on this earth, we would surely find something to complain about up there. And that's not what God wants!

Let's ask God to help us to praise and thank Him all day long! :)

"Let the people praise thee, O God; let all the people praise thee."