MEANING AND INSTANCES OF PRAISE

Praise is the joyful recounting of all that God has done for you. Christian often speak of praising God, and the Bible commands all living things to praise him always. Praise is closely intertwined with Thanksgiving as we offer back to God appreciation for his mercy and mighty works on our behalf. It is merely the truthful acknowledgedment of the righteous acts of another. Since God has done many wonderful things in our life, He is worthy of your praise. The book of Psalm is a collection of songs which is filled with praises to our maker (God), Among these book of Psalms which you can use to praise God are Psalm 9:2 and Psalm 18:3, Praise must also be given to God both for who God is and His faithfulness and his great power(Psalm 21:13), The word praise was use in Psalm 150 for thirteen times in six verses. Jesus also accepted praise as God, in the New Testament, there are examples of praise given to Jesus, this can be found in the book of Matthew 8:2, Matthew 21:16 and Matthew 28:17. Jesus accepted praise as God. Most of the early church often shared in times of praise, For example, the first church in Jerusalem included a focus on worshiping God. The church leaders at Antioch prayed, worship, and fasted during the time Paul and Barnabas were called into missionary work (Act 13:1-5). Many of the letter written by Paul were extended section of praise to the Lord. One Hebrew word for " praise " is yadah, which means "praise, give thanks, or confess". The often translated as " praise " in the Bible is Samar, zamar means " sing praise, all these two words, yadah and zamar contain the idea of giving thanks and honour to the one who is worthy of our praise, our Creator and our protector. Praising God is also a command from God. There are many instance in the Bible where the command to praise God are to numerous to mention. Angels and the heavenly hosts are commanded to praise the the lord this can be found in the book of Psalm 89:5, Psalm 103:20, Psalm 148:2. All the inhabitants of the world are instructed to always give thanks and praise the Lord. We can praise God with our singing, with our shouting, with our dancing steps and musical instruments. But, there are those times when God did not come through the way we thought He would. When it seem God is very far away, praise is the last thing to bubble up from our hearts. When we can not feel His goodness, and circumstances scream that He has forgotten us, all what you need in those time is praise. Even when life is not going as we think you should always praise God. God is still good and can be trusted. When we choose to praise God in spite of the storms we are passing through, He is honoured, and our faith grow deeper in Him.