PRAISE THAT PLEASES GOD

“Rejoice in the Lord, O you righteous! For praise from the upright is beautiful” – Psalm 33:1

It is not sufficient to just engage in Praise! The real deal is to offer PRAISE THAT PLEASES GOD: “Rejoice in the Lord, O you righteous! For praise from the upright is beautiful” (Psa.33:1). Praise from the upright is beautiful, befitting, right, and pleasing to God. King David prayed to God three times a day, but praised God seven times: “Seven times a day I praise You, Because of Your righteous judgments” (Psa.119:164). This portrays the vital place of Praise in the Believer’s life!

God wants all of you – your heart, soul, mind, and strength. God is not interested in half-hearted commitment, partial obedience or leftovers of your resources of time and treasures. He desires and demands your full devotion. There is a right and wrong way to praise: “Therefore, since we are receiving a kingdom that cannot be shaken, let us be thankful, and so worship God acceptably with reverence and awe” (Heb. 12:28). Here are some qualities to the praise that pleases God:

The Lord delights in continual sacrifice of praise flowing with thanks from the heart: “Therefore by Him let us continually offer the sacrifice of praise to God, that is, the fruit of our lips, giving thanks to His name” (Heb.13:15). Authentic Praise is a sacrifice that God is pleased with always. He who confesses His name is worthy to praise Him. Paul admonished: “speaking to one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody in your heart to the Lord" (Eph.5:19).

The Lord delights in Holy Praise. He asks for praise from persons with clean hands and pure heart: “Who may ascend into the hill of the Lord? Or who may stand in His holy place? He who has clean hands and a pure heart, who has not lifted up his soul to an idol, nor sworn deceitfully” (Psa.24:3-4). God asks that praises be done with singing from a holy heart: “but as He who called you is holy, you also be holy in all your conduct” (1Pet.1:15). Praise is perfected in those who live in holiness. Although God created music to enable humans praise Him, not all the pieces of music in the world offer Him praise. God abhors emotional ‘praise’ for mere performance or entertainment.

The Lord is pleased with Authentic Praise, not “acting” or fake Praise: “Though you offer Me burnt offerings and your grain offerings, I will not accept them, nor will I regard your fattened peace offerings. Take away from Me the noise of your songs, for I will not hear the melody of your stringed instruments” (Amo. 5:22-23). God shows no pleasure in “the noise of songs” that is not sourced from a sincere heart. Authentic praise is not just a matter of saying the right words; we must mean what we say. God looks past our words to see the attitude of our hearts: “Man looks at the outward appearance, but the Lord looks at the heart” (1Sam.16:17).

God is pleased when our praise and worship of Him is intelligent – based on the truth of Scripture, not sentimental opinions about God: “God is Spirit, and those who worship Him must worship in spirit and truth” (Jh.12:24). To “worship in truth” means to praise and worship Him as He is truly revealed in the Bible. God is pleased when our praise or worship is thoughtful. God is not pleased with thoughtless singing of hymns, confessions of clichés, or careless exclamations of “Praise the Lord,” because we can’t think of anything else to say at the moment. If worship is mindless, it’s meaningless.

There are many positive activities we engage in on earth that will not transcend to heaven. As great as evangelism and mission are, for example, we will not evangelise anyone in heaven, share the gospel or hand out a tract. In heaven, there will be no reason to pray for needs to be met. One activity we will continue with in heaven is the practice of Praise. We will exalt and glorify God forever. Therefore, praise in this life is like a form of “practice” for eternity.