Scriptural Teachings for Contemporary Evangelical Settings
Scripture conveys there is a clear distinction between the terms (a) restoration, which often involves lament, (b) thanksgiving, (c) praise, and (d) worship (see Psa. 95:6-7; Psa. 100:2-7; et al.). Deeply interconnected themes in the Scriptures, lament of one's sinfulness before God elicits a Spirit response of restoration through Christ, which brings believers into a right relationship with God, enabling us to experience joy and hope along with the ability to worship Him in spirit and truth. Worship, therefore, is the human response to God's restorative work in us. Recognizing this restorative work moves us to express gratitude, thanksgiving, praise, reverence, and commitment to His will.
Part 3/4 (below) discusses praise, the purpose of our existence, and an extraordinary gift of God made for His glory, and bred through our humility before Him.
Praise
"I will praise the Name of God with a song" (Psa. 69:30).
The etymology of the Hebrew (OT) words for praise are:
- bāraḵ [H1288; verb]: bless, salute, blessing, praise, kneel down, make to kneel, congratulate and, by implication, to bless God (as an act of adoration).
- hillûl [H1974; noun]: rejoicing praise, a celebration of thanksgiving for harvest.
- hālal [H1984; verb]: to be boastful, make a show, and thus to be (clamorously) foolish; to rave; to celebrate; commend; glory; give light; make one renowned, shine.
- zāmar [H2167; verb]: to sing, sing praise, make music, or play a musical instrument.
- yāḏâ [H3034; verb]: to give thanks, laud, praise, confess (the Name of God); especially, to revere or worship (with extended hands); intensively, to remain (by wringing the hands), make confession, give thanksgiving.
- mahălāl [H4110; noun]: praise, boast; testing the praise to determine its worth.
- šāḇaḥ [H7623; verb]: to laud, praise, commend, congratulate; to boast. Properly, it means to address, commend, glory, praise, triumph in a loud tone.
- šᵊḇaḥ [H7624; verb]: to laud, praise, adulate, adore.
- tᵊhillâ [H8416; noun]: praise, song or hymn of praise, adoration, thanksgiving paid to God, act of general or public praise, praise-song (as title), praise (demanded by qualities or deeds or attributes of God--such as renown, fame, and glory--toward the object of praise (figuratively). The etymology is supported by the term Psalms, which in Hebrew means "praise songs."
- tôḏâ [H8426; noun]: confession, praise, thanksgiving; in songs of liturgical worship, hymn of praise, with choir or procession or line or company.
Interestingly, the OT notes those appointed as ministers before the ark of the Lord were assigned "to invoke, to thank, and to praise the Lord, the God of Israel" (1 Ch. 16:4) using "the instruments that I have made for praise" (1 Ch. 23:5). And, "it was the duty of the trumpeters and singers to make themselves heard in unison...in praise to the Lord" (2 Ch. 5:13).
Now, you were formed for God, that you might declare His praise (Isa. 43:21). Your ability to shout and sing songs of praise to God are a gift of God for His glory (Psa. 40:3; Psa. 42:4; Isa. 61:11).
"He is your praise. He is your God, who has done for you these great and terrifying things that your eyes have seen" (Deut. 10:21).
So, by definition, praise is celebrating God's greatness through song. It is praise which is the mandated means by which we must enter the courts of God (Psa. 100:4). Both restoration with God, and thanksgiving for our salvation are prerequisites before we should sing or make a melody of praise to the Lord (Psa. 147:7), and find glory in His praise (1 Ch. 16:35). Scripture is concise about what we are to praise:
- His glorious Name through song for all of our days (Psa. 7:17; 66:2; 145:2; Isa. 42:12).
- to bless His Name (Psa. 110:4).
- His holiness (Psa. 99:3).
- His faithfulness (Psa. 71:22; 117:2).
- His goodness (Psa. 106:1).
- His deeds in songs of joy (2 Sa. 22:50; Psa. 107:22).
- His power and strength (Psa. 21:13).
- that I am fearfully and wonderfully made (Psa. 139:14; 148:5).
- His works, which are wonderful (Psa. 139:14; Isa. 25:1; Dan. 4:37).
- His mighty deeds (Psa. 150:2).
- His ways, which are just (Dan. 4:37).
- the glory we have and will receive from Him, which includes:
food, clothing, housing, relief from affliction, protection from harm, our breath, our lives, our
home, our children, our righteousness before men, our ability to be upright, our serve Him
(see Psa. 22:26; 30:9, 12; 33:1; 113:9).
- His righteousness (Psa. 35:28).
- His righteous rules and statutes (Psa. 119:108, 164, 171, 175).
- His salvation, which brings us Hope (Psa. 42:11; 106:47).
- His reign forever (Psa. 146:10).
- to extol (e.g., exalt, raise high, uplift, set on high) Him (Psa. 107:32; 117:1; 148:13).
- that He is our exceeding joy (Psa. 43:4).
- that His Name should be remembered in all generations, so that the nations will praise Him forever
and ever (Psa. 45:17; 79:13).
- that His praise reaches to the ends of the earth (Psa. 48:10).
- His Word (Psa. 56:4, 10).
- the ability to believe His Word (Psa. 106:12).
- the ability to trust in Him (Psa. 56:4).
- His steadfast love toward you, which is better than life (Psa. 63:3; 106:1; 117:2).
- your Hope in Him (Psa. 71:6, 8, 14; 89:5).
- His wisdom and might, making known to us what we ask of Him (Dan. 2:23).
- the honor He has bestowed upon all His godly ones (Psa. 149:9).
- Him, for your ability to cling to Him, "so that [you] might be for Me a people, a Name, a praise, and
a glory" (Jer. 13:11).
- Him, for "all the good and all the prosperity I provide for [them]" (Jer. 33:9).
OT teachings on praise describes an activity fitting, pleasant, and due the Lord (Psa. 65:1; 135:3; 147:1). Singing His Name is the constant action of the angels (e.g., hosts; Psa. 148:2), as well as those who dwell in the house of the Lord (Psa. 84:4). Scripturally, the very opening of our lips should bring forth praise (Psa. 51:15) as "the heaven and earth praise Him, the seas and everything that moves in them" (Psa. 69:34; 148:3). Praise is the activity of those who fear the Lord (Psa. 22:23; 112:1), and those who truly seek Him with their hearts (Psa. 22:26). Praise must be done with joyful lips (Psa. 63:5)--even in times of trial and affliction (Psa. 66:17), shame, poverty and neediness (Psa. 74:21; Jer. 20:13), and wrath (Psa. 76:10), knowing, in time, "[He] will deal with all your oppressors, and save the lawn, and gather the outcast, and will change their shame into praise and renown in all the earth" (Zep. 3:19). Praise should take place individually, as the vehicle by which you enter the courts of our Lord, corporately (Psa. 22:22, 25; 35:18; 107:32; 109:30; 111:1; 149:1), expressed according to His excellent greatness (Psa. 150:2), as a weapon of warfare against the Enemy (2 Chr. 20; Jos. 6; 1 Sa. 16; et al.), and as a means of evangelism (Psa. 22:22, 25).
And, we His people are tested by our praise in the same manner "a crucible is for silver, and the furnace is for gold" (Pro. 27:21).
Now, the etymology of the Greek (NT) words for praise are:
- ainesis [G133; noun]: praise, a thank offering.
- aineō [G134; verb]: to praise, extol, sing praises in honor to God; to promise or vow.
- ainos [G136; noun]: praise, laudatory discourse.
- aretē [G703; noun]: a virtuous course of thought, feeling, and action' that extols any excellence of a person (in body or mind); an eminent endowment, property, or quality; a virtuous course a moral goodness (e.g., purity).
- doxa [G1391; noun]: opinion, judgment, view concerning one, resulting in praise, honor, and glory; the splendor, brightness, magnificence, excellence, preeminence, dignity, grace, and majesty of a thing belonging to God; the kingly majesty which belongs to Him as supreme ruler, absolute perfection of the deity; a thing belonging to Christ; the kingly majesty of the Messiah; the absolutely perfect inward or personal excellency of Christ; the majesty; of the angels; a most glorious condition, most exalted state: of that condition with God the Father in heaven to which Christ was raised after He had achieved His work on earth; and, the glorious condition of blessedness into which is appointed and promised that true Christians shall enter after their Savior's return fro heaven.
- epaineō [G1867; verb]: to approve, to praise.
- epainos [G1868; noun]: approbation, commendation, praise, laudation, a commendable thing. The idea here is praise toward the person to whom praise is given.
- eulogeō [G2127; verb]: approbation, commendation, praise, laudation, a commendable thing. The idea here is praise toward the person to whom praise is given.
- hymneō [G5214; verb]: to sing the praise of, sing hymns to; by implication, to celebrate God the Father and Jesus Christ His Son.
- psallō [G5567] which means: to pluck, to cause to vibrate, to touch or strike a chord, the twang of strings on a musical instrument, to play a musical instrument, to sing to the music of a musical instrument, and to sing a hymn that celebrates the praises of God in song. Here, Paul conveys a NT teaching of praise as singing and making melody to the Lord with all your heart in Eph. 5:19 and Col. 3:16.
"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).
NT teachings on praise open with a keen understanding of the Author of praise:
- "...have you never read, 'Out of the mouth of infants and nursing babies You [God the Father] have prepared praise'?" (Mat. 21:16) ... "filled with the fruit of righteousness that comes through Jesus Christ, to the glory and praise of God" (Phl. 1:11).
That's right! Our acceptance of the death and resurrection of Christ as a propitiations for our sins imputes an inward work of the Holy Spirit, by the direction of God the Father, which ensures God is the Source of our praise (Rom. 2:29).
And, knowing He is the Author of our praise, the following should exist in our hearts and lips toward Him, for all who believe and experienced circumcision by way of the Spirit (Rom. 2:29):
- praise to glorify God (Luk. 18:43).
- praise for His mercy through Jesus Christ (Luk. 18:43; Rom. 15:9).
- rejoice and praise toward God with a loud voice for all the mighty works you have seen, through Christ (Luk. 19:37).
- praise for the inward circumcision of our heart, by the Spirit of Christ (Rom. 2:29).
- the knowledge that praise is not from man, but from God alone (Rom. 2:29).
- praise to extol Him (Rom. 15:11).
- "the praise of His glorious grace, with which He has blessed us in the Beloved" (Eph. 1:6).
- for the ability to praise with our spirit, sing with our mind, and sing with our lips (1 Co. 14:15).
- for our hope "in Christ, which is the praise of His glory" (Eph. 1:12).
- that the Spirit of Christ is "the guarantee of our inheritance until we acquire possession of it, to the praise of His glory" (Eph. 1:14).
- that we are "filled with the fruit of righteousness that comes through Jesus Christ, to the glory and praise of God" (Phil. 1:11).
- for personal and spiritual healing (Luk. 17:18; 18:43).
- for the ability to "tell of your Name to my brothers; in the midst of the congregation I [am able to] sing your praise" (Heb. 2:12).
- that praise is "the fruit of our lips that [we] acknowledge His Name" (Heb. 13:15).
- that "the genuineness of hour faith--more precious than gold that perishes though it is tested by fire--[is] found to result in praise and glory and honor at the revelation of Jesus Christ" (1Pe. 1:7).
- that we, His servants--all who fear Him, great and small-- are able to praise our God (Rev. 19:5).
The etymology of the Hebrew (OT) words for praise are:
- bāraḵ [H1288; verb]: bless, salute, blessing, praise, kneel down, make to kneel, congratulate and, by implication, to bless God (as an act of adoration).
- hillûl [H1974; noun]: rejoicing praise, a celebration of thanksgiving for harvest.
- hālal [H1984; verb]: to be boastful, make a show, and thus to be (clamorously) foolish; to rave; to celebrate; commend; glory; give light; make one renowned, shine.
- zāmar [H2167; verb]: to sing, sing praise, make music, or play a musical instrument.
- yāḏâ [H3034; verb]: to give thanks, laud, praise, confess (the Name of God); especially, to revere or worship (with extended hands); intensively, to remain (by wringing the hands), make confession, give thanksgiving.
- mahălāl [H4110; noun]: praise, boast; testing the praise to determine its worth.
- šāḇaḥ [H7623; verb]: to laud, praise, commend, congratulate; to boast. Properly, it means to address, commend, glory, praise, triumph in a loud tone.
- šᵊḇaḥ [H7624; verb]: to laud, praise, adulate, adore.
- tᵊhillâ [H8416; noun]: praise, song or hymn of praise, adoration, thanksgiving paid to God, act of general or public praise, praise-song (as title), praise (demanded by qualities or deeds or attributes of God--such as renown, fame, and glory--toward the object of praise (figuratively). The etymology is supported by the term Psalms, which in Hebrew means "praise songs."
- tôḏâ [H8426; noun]: confession, praise, thanksgiving; in songs of liturgical worship, hymn of praise, with choir or procession or line or company.
Interestingly, the OT notes those appointed as ministers before the ark of the Lord were assigned "to invoke, to thank, and to praise the Lord, the God of Israel" (1 Ch. 16:4) using "the instruments that I have made for praise" (1 Ch. 23:5). And, "it was the duty of the trumpeters and singers to make themselves heard in unison...in praise to the Lord" (2 Ch. 5:13).
Now, you were formed for God, that you might declare His praise (Isa. 43:21). Your ability to shout and sing songs of praise to God are a gift of God for His glory (Psa. 40:3; Psa. 42:4; Isa. 61:11).
"He is your praise. He is your God, who has done for you these great and terrifying things that your eyes have seen" (Deut. 10:21).
So, by definition, praise is celebrating God's greatness through song. It is praise which is the mandated means by which we must enter the courts of God (Psa. 100:4). Both restoration with God, and thanksgiving for our salvation are prerequisites before we should sing or make a melody of praise to the Lord (Psa. 147:7), and find glory in His praise (1 Ch. 16:35). Scripture is concise about what we are to praise:
- His glorious Name through song for all of our days (Psa. 7:17; 66:2; 145:2; Isa. 42:12).
- to bless His Name (Psa. 110:4).
- His holiness (Psa. 99:3).
- His faithfulness (Psa. 71:22; 117:2).
- His goodness (Psa. 106:1).
- His deeds in songs of joy (2 Sa. 22:50; Psa. 107:22).
- His power and strength (Psa. 21:13).
- that I am fearfully and wonderfully made (Psa. 139:14; 148:5).
- His works, which are wonderful (Psa. 139:14; Isa. 25:1; Dan. 4:37).
- His mighty deeds (Psa. 150:2).
- His ways, which are just (Dan. 4:37).
- the glory we have and will receive from Him, which includes:
food, clothing, housing, relief from affliction, protection from harm, our breath, our lives, our
home, our children, our righteousness before men, our ability to be upright, our serve Him
(see Psa. 22:26; 30:9, 12; 33:1; 113:9).
- His righteousness (Psa. 35:28).
- His righteous rules and statutes (Psa. 119:108, 164, 171, 175).
- His salvation, which brings us Hope (Psa. 42:11; 106:47).
- His reign forever (Psa. 146:10).
- to extol (e.g., exalt, raise high, uplift, set on high) Him (Psa. 107:32; 117:1; 148:13).
- that He is our exceeding joy (Psa. 43:4).
- that His Name should be remembered in all generations, so that the nations will praise Him forever
and ever (Psa. 45:17; 79:13).
- that His praise reaches to the ends of the earth (Psa. 48:10).
- His Word (Psa. 56:4, 10).
- the ability to believe His Word (Psa. 106:12).
- the ability to trust in Him (Psa. 56:4).
- His steadfast love toward you, which is better than life (Psa. 63:3; 106:1; 117:2).
- your Hope in Him (Psa. 71:6, 8, 14; 89:5).
- His wisdom and might, making known to us what we ask of Him (Dan. 2:23).
- the honor He has bestowed upon all His godly ones (Psa. 149:9).
- Him, for your ability to cling to Him, "so that [you] might be for Me a people, a Name, a praise, and
a glory" (Jer. 13:11).
- Him, for "all the good and all the prosperity I provide for [them]" (Jer. 33:9).
OT teachings on praise describes an activity fitting, pleasant, and due the Lord (Psa. 65:1; 135:3; 147:1). Singing His Name is the constant action of the angels (e.g., hosts; Psa. 148:2), as well as those who dwell in the house of the Lord (Psa. 84:4). Scripturally, the very opening of our lips should bring forth praise (Psa. 51:15) as "the heaven and earth praise Him, the seas and everything that moves in them" (Psa. 69:34; 148:3). Praise is the activity of those who fear the Lord (Psa. 22:23; 112:1), and those who truly seek Him with their hearts (Psa. 22:26). Praise must be done with joyful lips (Psa. 63:5)--even in times of trial and affliction (Psa. 66:17), shame, poverty and neediness (Psa. 74:21; Jer. 20:13), and wrath (Psa. 76:10), knowing, in time, "[He] will deal with all your oppressors, and save the lawn, and gather the outcast, and will change their shame into praise and renown in all the earth" (Zep. 3:19). Praise should take place individually, as the vehicle by which you enter the courts of our Lord, corporately (Psa. 22:22, 25; 35:18; 107:32; 109:30; 111:1; 149:1), expressed according to His excellent greatness (Psa. 150:2), as a weapon of warfare against the Enemy (2 Chr. 20; Jos. 6; 1 Sa. 16; et al.), and as a means of evangelism (Psa. 22:22, 25).
And, we His people are tested by our praise in the same manner "a crucible is for silver, and the furnace is for gold" (Pro. 27:21).
Now, the etymology of the Greek (NT) words for praise are:
- ainesis [G133; noun]: praise, a thank offering.
- aineō [G134; verb]: to praise, extol, sing praises in honor to God; to promise or vow.
- ainos [G136; noun]: praise, laudatory discourse.
- aretē [G703; noun]: a virtuous course of thought, feeling, and action' that extols any excellence of a person (in body or mind); an eminent endowment, property, or quality; a virtuous course a moral goodness (e.g., purity).
- doxa [G1391; noun]: opinion, judgment, view concerning one, resulting in praise, honor, and glory; the splendor, brightness, magnificence, excellence, preeminence, dignity, grace, and majesty of a thing belonging to God; the kingly majesty which belongs to Him as supreme ruler, absolute perfection of the deity; a thing belonging to Christ; the kingly majesty of the Messiah; the absolutely perfect inward or personal excellency of Christ; the majesty; of the angels; a most glorious condition, most exalted state: of that condition with God the Father in heaven to which Christ was raised after He had achieved His work on earth; and, the glorious condition of blessedness into which is appointed and promised that true Christians shall enter after their Savior's return fro heaven.
- epaineō [G1867; verb]: to approve, to praise.
- epainos [G1868; noun]: approbation, commendation, praise, laudation, a commendable thing. The idea here is praise toward the person to whom praise is given.
- eulogeō [G2127; verb]: approbation, commendation, praise, laudation, a commendable thing. The idea here is praise toward the person to whom praise is given.
- hymneō [G5214; verb]: to sing the praise of, sing hymns to; by implication, to celebrate God the Father and Jesus Christ His Son.
- psallō [G5567] which means: to pluck, to cause to vibrate, to touch or strike a chord, the twang of strings on a musical instrument, to play a musical instrument, to sing to the music of a musical instrument, and to sing a hymn that celebrates the praises of God in song. Here, Paul conveys a NT teaching of praise as singing and making melody to the Lord with all your heart in Eph. 5:19 and Col. 3:16.
"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).
NT teachings on praise open with a keen understanding of the Author of praise:
- "...have you never read, 'Out of the mouth of infants and nursing babies You [God the Father] have prepared praise'?" (Mat. 21:16) ... "filled with the fruit of righteousness that comes through Jesus Christ, to the glory and praise of God" (Phl. 1:11).
That's right! Our acceptance of the death and resurrection of Christ as a propitiations for our sins imputes an inward work of the Holy Spirit, by the direction of God the Father, which ensures God is the Source of our praise (Rom. 2:29).
And, knowing He is the Author of our praise, the following should exist in our hearts and lips toward Him, for all who believe and experienced circumcision by way of the Spirit (Rom. 2:29):
- praise to glorify God (Luk. 18:43).
- praise for His mercy through Jesus Christ (Luk. 18:43; Rom. 15:9).
- rejoice and praise toward God with a loud voice for all the mighty works you have seen, through Christ (Luk. 19:37).
- praise for the inward circumcision of our heart, by the Spirit of Christ (Rom. 2:29).
- the knowledge that praise is not from man, but from God alone (Rom. 2:29).
- praise to extol Him (Rom. 15:11).
- "the praise of His glorious grace, with which He has blessed us in the Beloved" (Eph. 1:6).
- for the ability to praise with our spirit, sing with our mind, and sing with our lips (1 Co. 14:15).
- for our hope "in Christ, which is the praise of His glory" (Eph. 1:12).
- that the Spirit of Christ is "the guarantee of our inheritance until we acquire possession of it, to the praise of His glory" (Eph. 1:14).
- that we are "filled with the fruit of righteousness that comes through Jesus Christ, to the glory and praise of God" (Phil. 1:11).
- for personal and spiritual healing (Luk. 17:18; 18:43).
- for the ability to "tell of your Name to my brothers; in the midst of the congregation I [am able to] sing your praise" (Heb. 2:12).
- that praise is "the fruit of our lips that [we] acknowledge His Name" (Heb. 13:15).
- that "the genuineness of hour faith--more precious than gold that perishes though it is tested by fire--[is] found to result in praise and glory and honor at the revelation of Jesus Christ" (1Pe. 1:7).
- that we, His servants--all who fear Him, great and small-- are able to praise our God (Rev. 19:5).
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