Aug. 8, 2007
Praise and Honor to Him!
|
This is my comment to Dandelion Seeds "Praise Him..." post on August 7th. May you be free in your worship because of her post and this comment. Although praise and worship are a personal thing between the individual and God, there are many passages in the Bible concerning praise and worship that can shed some light on the subject. Psalm 63:1-5 says: O GOD, You are my God, earnestly will I seek You; my inner self thirsts for You, my flesh longs and is faint for You, in a dry and weary land where no water is. So I have looked upon You in the sanctuary to see Your power and Your glory. Because Your loving-kindness is better than life, my lips shall praise You. So will I bless You while I live; I will lift up my hands in Your name. My whole being shall be satisfied as with marrow and fatness; and my mouth shall praise You with joyful lips. (Amplified) This seemingly indicates that David believed that the raising of the hands was appropriate in this instance of praise. Psalm 66:1-4 says: MAKE A joyful noise unto God, all the earth; Sing forth the honor and glory of His name; make His praise glorious! Say to God, How awesome and fearfully glorious are Your works! Through the greatness of Your power shall Your enemies submit themselves to You [with feigned and reluctant obedience]. All the earth shall bow down to You and sing [praises] to You; they shall praise Your name in song. Selah [pause, and calmly think of that]! (Amplified) David indicates in this passage that at times it is appropriate to worship on your knees. Some select verses from Psalm 68 (which is long so I will only pick a few) tell us: 3But let the righteous be glad; let them rejoice before God: yea, let them exceedingly rejoice. 4Sing unto God, sing praises to his name: extol him that rideth upon the heavens by his name JAH, and rejoice before him. (KJV) 24They have seen thy goings, O God; even the goings of my God, my King, in the sanctuary. 25The singers went before, the players on instruments followed after; among them were the damsels playing with timbrels. 26Bless ye God in the congregations, even the Lord, from the fountain of Israel. David suggests here that we are to be exceedingly joyful, (which indicates emotion), but also orderly. Psalm 92:1-3 says: IT IS A GOOD THING TO GIVE THANKS UNTO THE LORD, AND TO SING PRAISES UNTO THY NAME, O MOST HIGH: To shew forth thy lovingkindness in the morning, and thy faithfulness every night, Upon an instrument of ten strings, and upon the psaltery; upon the harp with a solemn sound. (KJV) Here we are told that the harp has a solemn sound. Psalm 95: 1-6 - O come, let us sing unto the LORD: let us make a joyful noise to the rock of our salvation. Let us come before his presence with thanksgiving, and make a joyful noise unto him with psalms. For the LORD is a great God, and a great King above all gods. In his hand are the deep places of the earth: the strength of the hills is his also. The sea is his, and he made it: and his hands formed the dry land. O come, let us worship and bow down: let us kneel before the LORD our maker. This Psalm indicates that there is a time for a joyful noise and a time to worship and bow down. Lastly Psalm 134 says: Behold, bless ye the LORD, all ye servants of the LORD, which by night stand in the house of the LORD. Lift up your hands in the sanctuary, and bless the LORD. The LORD that made heaven and earth bless thee out of Zion. This commands us to stand in the sanctuary and lift our hands to bless the Lord. As I said, praise and worship are very personal and individual. There is a time for corporate praise. How you praise and worship is up to you. There are times that God commands us to "lift our hands". Ultimately, we should never be ashamed to honor God with our praise. We should never let our fear of what others might think, hinder our obedience to Him if He prompts us to praise in a way that is not the same as everyone around us. We should be orderly and respectful in our praise and worship, but at the same time we should also be free from the hindrances of the world. May each of us praise Him in whatever way He prompts us, so that His name is lifted high and exalted above every name. Whether this is by standing quietly and soberly, lifting your hands, bowing your knee or falling prostrate before Him, the ultimate goal is to exalt Him! |
Comments
Aug. 11, 2007 - Untitled Comment
|
|
|
|
|
Posted by