Taken from Classic Sermons on Worship compiled by Warren W. Wiersbe Andrew A. Bonar "Praise" pgs 151 -160
TRY PRAISE
Scripture: Psalms 147:1
Praise ye the Lord: for it is good to sing praises unto our God; for it is pleasant; and praise is comely.
Praise --> to shine; hence to make a show, to boast; to rave; to celebrate
(Zodhiates)
I. Praise Is --> I want to look at three words of this prayer. 1. Good 2. Pleasant 3. Comely
Psalms 147:1
1 Praise ye the LORD: for it is good to sing praises unto our God; for it is pleasant; and praise is comely.
A. Good
1. Praise is "good"; There is something in it tending to build up the soul in sanctification.
2. Prayer may have a great deal of selfishness in it, but praise is unselfish.
3. I do not know a better remedy for discontentment than praise, true praise.
(Andrew A. Bonar pg 156)
Psalms 54:6
6 I will freely sacrifice unto thee: I will praise thy name, O LORD; for it is good.
Psalms 147:1
1 Praise ye the LORD: for it is good to sing praises unto our God; for it is pleasant; and praise is comely.
B. Pleasant
1. Define Pleasant in Hebrew:
05273 na¡¦iym (naw-eem¡¦) AV ¡V pleasant 8, pleasure 2, sweet 2, sweet thing 1; 13
1) pleasant, delightful, sweet, lovely, agreeable
1a) delightful
1b) lovely, beautiful (physical)
2) singing, sweetly sounding, musical
2. It is pleasant to yourselves to praise, but "praise is pleasant," means more than that.
It means it is pleasant to God; it is something that God is pleased with.
Ps 135:3 Praise the LORD; for the LORD is good: sing praises unto his name; for it is pleasant.
3. Praise can follow prayer. I Chron 7:1- 3 Solomon dedicates the 1st Tabernacle „³Magnificent
1 Now when Solomon had made an end of praying, the fire came down from heaven, and consumed the burnt offering and the sacrifices; and the glory of the LORD filled the house. 2 And the priests could not enter into the house of the LORD, because the glory of the LORD had filled the LORD'S house. 3 And when all the children of Israel saw how the fire came down, and the glory of the LORD upon the house, they bowed themselves with their faces to the ground upon the pavement, and worshipped, and praised the LORD, saying, For he is good; for his mercy endureth for ever.
The cloud of glory came down and filled the Temple as they uttered the burst of praise.
Praise followed the prayer. God inhabits the praise of His people.
The disciples asked Jesus, ¡§teach us to pray¡¨. Here is the beginning of the Lord¡¦s Prayer.
Our Father which art in Heaven, Hallowed be thy name. I want to stop right there.
Hallowed = honor as holy; consecrate; greatly revered or respected „³ So, worthy of praise.
If you can¡¦t think of terms how to praise Him, type in Litany of Praise on the Google web-browser.
Here we see praise at the beginning of the Lord¡¦s prayer. When praying we should all stop here for a moment and praise Him. This will help you as you continue to approach God in your prayer.
4. Praise follows prayer in prison->Paul and Silas "prayed and sang praises" Acts 16:22-25
22 And the multitude rose up together against them: and the magistrates rent off their clothes, and commanded to beat them. 23 And when they had laid many stripes upon them, they cast them into prison, charging the jailor to keep them safely: 24 Who, having received such a charge, thrust them into the inner prison, and made their feet fast in the stocks. 25 And at midnight Paul and Silas prayed, and sang praises unto God: and the prisoners heard them. They must have been pretty loud.
Praise is "pleasant" to the Lord, as well as pleasing to us.
Psalms 147:1
1 Praise ye the LORD: for it is good to sing praises unto our God; for it is pleasant; and praise is comely.
C. Comely
1. Define Comely in Hebrew:
05000 na¡¦veh (naw-veh¡¦)
AV ¡V comely 6, seemly 2, becometh 1; 9
1) comely, beautiful, seemly
2. Dictionary Definition of Comely
(1.) Pleasing in person; handsome; graceful (2.) Suitable; becoming
Amplified Version of Psalms 147:1
Praise the Lord! For it is good to sing praises to our God, for He is gracious and lovely; praise is becoming and appropriate.
II. PRAISE
A. Praise Begins
1. With Salvation
You can see how praise really begins when you see a sinner give his or her heart to God.
When God takes the sinner out of the miry clay, and when He sets his feet upon the Rock. It is then he begins to sing a new song. (A. B.)
2. When there is an offering (Sacrifice). II Chron 29:27- 28
Hezekiah had taken the throne as king and his first business was to organize the priests and get the tabernacle operating as God had dictated. He is in the process of offering lambs and bullocks to God on the altar.
27 And Hezekiah commanded to offer the burnt offering upon the altar. And when the burnt offering began, the song of the LORD began also with the trumpets, and with the instruments ordained by David king of Israel. 28 And all the congregation worshipped, and the singers sang, and the trumpeters sounded: and all this continued until the burnt offering was finished. 29 And when they had made an end of offering, the king and all that were present with him bowed themselves, and worshipped.
"and all this continued" Can you imagine the sound? Can you imagine the excitement?
Can you imagine some saying, "I wish this would end. I can't stand loud services"?
Matthew Henry said, ¡§It is not enough for us to be where God is worshipped, if we do not ourselves worship with the heart. And we should offer up our spiritual sacrifices of praise and thanksgiving, and devote ourselves and all we have, as sacrifices, acceptable to the Father only through the Redeemer.¡¨
Psalm 42:4 4 When I remember these things, I pour out my soul in me: for I had gone with the multitude, I went with them to the house of God, with the voice of joy and praise, with a multitude that kept holyday.
07440 rinnah (rin-naw¡¦) AV ¡V cry 12, singing 9, rejoicing 3, joy 3, gladness 1, proclamation 1,
Shouting 1, sing 1, songs 1, triumph 1; 33
1) ringing cry 1a) of entreaty, supplication 1b) in proclamation, joy, praise
Psalm 63:3- 6 3 Because thy lovingkindness is better than life, my lips shall praise thee. 4 Thus will I bless thee while I live: I will lift up my hands in thy name. 5 My soul shall be satisfied as with marrow and fatness; and my mouth shall praise thee with joyful lips: 6 When I remember thee upon my bed, and meditate on thee in the night watches.
07445 r@nanah (ren-aw-naw¡¦)
AV ¡V joyful voice 1, joyful 1, triumphing 1, singing 1; 4
1) ringing cry, shout (for joy)
B. Praise is to be Continued
Praise should be offered continually --> Heb 13:15
15 By him therefore let us offer the sacrifice of praise to God continually, that is, the fruit of our lips giving thanks to his name. „³ You can judge a tree by its fruit.
1275 diapantos (dee-ap-an-tos¡¦) AV ¡V always 5, continually 2; 7
1) constantly, always, continually
C. Praise varies in some people and some places. Even angels praise God.
Isaiah 6:1 - 4 The Prophet Isaiah has a vision „³ "Holy, Holy, Holy is the LORD of hosts."
1 In the year that king Uzziah died I saw also the Lord sitting upon a throne, high and lifted up, and his train (long skirt) filled the temple. 2 Above it stood the seraphims: each one had six wings; with twain he covered his face, and with twain he covered his feet, and with twain he did fly. 3 And one cried unto another, and said, Holy, holy, holy, is the LORD of hosts: the whole earth is full of his glory. 4 And the posts of the door moved at the voice of him that cried, and the house was filled with smoke.
This teaches that you are to praise continually as the angels in God¡¦s presence praise Him.
That is, your heart is to be in the state of praise.
III. Is it right to withhold praise?
A. A good man once said, "I think some Christians are going to make Heaven a place of gratitude, and mean to keep all their gratitude until they get there, they show so little here."
1. To withhold praise is most unseemly (inappropriate).
2. It matters not what your position is as a saint of God, or your position in the world, or what your afflictions may be, or what your circumstances, praise is still fitting.
In difficult times, try praise.
B. Every Christian is expected, in all circumstances, to be able to praise continually.
1. Hab. 3:17-18
17 Although the fig tree shall not blossom, neither shall fruit be in the vines; the labour of the olive shall fail, and the fields shall yield no meat; the flock shall be cut off from the fold, and there shall be no herd in the stalls: 18 Yet I will rejoice in the LORD, I will joy in the God of my salvation.
In difficult times, try praise.
2. Notice in the Book of Psalms, as it gets near its close, prayer is "almost" forgotten.
Andrew Bonar says,
¡§The last four Psalms are just a burst of praise. The stream is spread: it is not shallower, it is deeper, but it is just joining the ocean, and it is all praise, praise to God.¡¨
3. Are you afflicted? You could not do wrong in singing praise.
4. Christ sang a hymn with His disciples as He went to the Garden of Gethsemane.
This was after the Lord¡¦s supper and prior to His arrest. Judas was betraying Him.
Mark 14:26 Possibly it was Psalm 118
26 And when they had sung an hymn, they went out into the mount of Olives.
In difficult times, try praise.
IV. When you try Praise--> Andrew Bonar says,
Tell anxious souls to try praise, notwithstanding; only point out to them this aspect of the matter--tell them to praise the Lamb; tell them to praise Him because He offered Himself as the sacrifice: tell them to fix their eye upon His blood. For, you notice, in the very act of so doing they have forgotten self. Self forgotten, it is the Lamb that is remembered. Worthy is the Lamb! (Andrew A. Bonar pg 159)
In 1791, John Wesley lay on his deathbed at the age of 88. Those who gathered around him realized how well he had learned the lesson of praising God in every circumstance. Despite Wesley's extreme weakness, he began singing the hymn, "I'll Praise My Maker While I've Breath." Our Daily Bread
Psalms 71:14 14 But I will hope continually, and will yet praise thee more and more.
In difficult times, try praise.
