We take a one-lesson excursion from our look into prayer into praising God (which also involves prayer). Last week, a question was asked about what it means to praise God. I answered, but I do not think I answered the question fully. So, here we go!
Praising God Begins with God Being Present for Us
We find many “covenants” in Scripture. For our lesson we will consider two: The Covenant God established with Israel at Mt. Sinai, which lasted until Jesus fulfilled it and established His New Covenant (Exodus 24:3-8, Luke 22:16-20). Within both Covenants, we find praise for God taking place.
1 Kings 8:6, 10-11:
The priests brought the Ark of the Lord’s Covenant to the place prepared for it, in the inner sanctuary of the Temple, the Most Holy Place… When the priests withdrew from the Holy Place, the cloud [anan, later shekinah, for “dwelling place”] filled the Lord’s Temple. The priests could not stand to minister because of the cloud, for the glory of the Lord filled his Temple.
2 Chronicles 5:11b-14:
When the priests came out of the Holy Place, the Levitical singers dressed in fine linen and carrying cymbals, harps, and lyres were standing east of the altar, and with them were 120 priests blowing trumpets…. The trumpeters and singers joined together to praise and thank the Lord with one voice. Accompanied by trumpets, cymbals, and other instruments, the singers raised their voices in praise to the Lord and sang: “He is good; His faithful love endures forever.”
- Why was the priestly choir praising God?
Praise celebrated and announced God’s presence among His people in the Temple.
- How is God present among us in the New Covenant? What then results because of that?
- “He is good” describes what about God?
- “His faithful love endures forever” describes what about God?
Praise is a response of faith centering on who God is (He is good) and what He does (His love endures forever.) Praise is not our intention of praising God: “I just want to praise you, God.”
Praise for God is Part of being His People
When it comes to the Kingdom of God, there are only two groups: Those who belong to Christ Jesus and those who do not. Even in the Old Covenant, belonging to God’s people was not just a matter of ethnic descent. To be a Jew was a matter of faith in the promised Messiah, not bloodlines. From the start, God’s purpose was to bless all the nations through the Descendant of Abraham, Jesus (Genesis 12:2-3). Faith in the Messiah as the Savior was, and is, always presupposed in the designation of “true Israel.”
Romans 2:28-29:
A person is not a Jew because of his appearance, nor is circumcision merely outward and physical. No, a person is a Jew inwardly, and circumcision is of the heart—by the Spirit, not the letter [trying to be righteous in the New Covenant by following the Old-Covenant Law]. That person’s praise is not from people but from God.
- Who is the source of our praise?
- If our source of praise is from God [and it is], then what should shape our praise for God?
Psalm 51:5: O Lord, open my lips, and my mouth will declare your praise.
Sirach 15:9: A hymn of praise is not proper on the lips of a sinner, for it has not been sent from the Lord.
Galatians 3:26-29:
In Christ Jesus you, are all sons of God through faith, for all of you who were baptized into Christ have clothed yourselves with Christ. A person is no longer a Jew or a Greek, a slave or a free person, a male or a female. And if you are Christ’s, then you are Abraham’s offspring, and heirs according to promise.
Our praise to God transcends culture, for in matters of salvation, “a person is no longer a Jew or a Greek.” Our praise for God originates from Him and, thus, is shaped by His culture, not ours. Our culture simply becomes the vehicle through which we praise God—but it does not shape its content, structure, or form.
If our culture becomes the driver, instead of a means [language, etc.] through which our praise takes place, worship then takes on an idolatrous nature. (For some examples, see Exodus 32, Leviticus 10:1-3, Numbers 16:1-35, and 1 Corinthians 10:1-11.)
The “Progression” of Praise during Worship of God
Psalm 100:4: Enter his gates with thanksgiving, and his courts with praise! Give thanks to him; bless his name!
We look into the Hebrew because this psalm reveals a difference the closer one gets to the presence of God in Tabernacle/Temple
“thanksgiving”: Hebrew, todah: This is thanking God, but is not limited to thanks from the person. A todah was also a “thank offering” (see Leviticus 7), which was an act of thanksgiving for deliverance from death. Thus, the person’s thanksgiving is first rooted in what God does—delivering the person from eternal death, which will take place farther into the Temple. The Thank Offering included bringing bread and wine offered in thanksgiving to the Lord.
“praise”: Hebrew, tehillah: The individual praises God but this was done collectively through “songs of praise.”
“thanks”: Hebrew, yadah: Yadah comes from the root “yad” meaning hand. Yadah then is to use the hands to throw (send) something to God, to make it known to Him. It is praise to God expressed in prayer, with the hands directing the prayer. This also includes confession of sin, for yadah used in the context of the name of God takes on the meaning of confession.
“bless”: Hebrew, barak: The idea behind barak is power. If the blessing is from God, the good from God spoken in the blessing is rooted in His power to do what He says. If it comes from the person in relation to God, it is not power originating from the person (as if we have some power to give to God). In the Temple, it is the person’s response to being in God’s presence.
- How does the “praise” evolve the closer one gets to God’s presence?
- According to the psalm, what is the pinnacle of worship?
- What is the New-Covenant equivalent of this Old-Covenant pinnacle of worship?
Psalm 13:5-6: As for me, I [David] have trusted in your faithful love [chesed]; my heart rejoices in your salvation. I will sing to the Lord, for he has dealt bountifully with me.
- David’s praise to God is not an attempt to manipulate Him but, instead, is the result of God’s grace.
1 Corinthians 1:4: I [Paul] always thank my God for you [the Christians in Corinth] because of his grace given to you in Christ Jesus.
- Here, Paul simply reflects that someone cannot praise God without speaking of who He is (He is “God”) and what He does (“His grace given to you”). And when someone speaks of who God is and what He does, he is praising God!
Excursus: Looking at the Nicene Creed
To help us get the “hang” of what praise is, we look at the Nicene Creed to see if it is more than a confession of faith. Is it also our praise for God?
- Discuss: The rubrics [liturgical instructions for the pastor] for the Liturgy direct the pastor to face the altar when confessing the Creed. Why do you think this is the case?
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Our Praise for God Lived out in our Lives
Our praise for God originates from Him. We receive Him in the Divine Service and respond back with prayer, praise, and thanksgiving. Our praise, however, does not stop there, but continues from there into all other areas of our life.
Romans 12:1: Therefore [because of what God did and does to save us], I urge you, brothers, because of God’s mercies, to offer your bodies as living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship.
- In the New Covenant, every Christian is brought into God’s Royal Priesthood (1 Peter 2:9). What then becomes the sacrifices that God’s priests make in the New Covenant?
- Discuss being a “living sacrifice”?
- Being “holy and acceptable” to God reveals what about the character of offering our bodies as a living sacrifice?
In Hebrews 13, the chapter moves from what God does for us in the New Covenant through Word and Sacrament into the Christian’s response.
Hebrews 13:7: Remember your leaders, those who spoke the Word of God to you. [Word]
Hebrews 13:10: We have an altar that those who serve in the tabernacle [Jews still following the Old Covenant] have no right to eat from…. Jesus also suffered outside the city gate to make the people holy with his own blood. [delivered to us in the Sacrament]
What does this mean?
Hebrews 13:15-16:
Therefore, through Jesus let us continually offer up a sacrifice of praise to God,
[how?]
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the fruit of our lips that confess his name. [Word]
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Do not neglect to do good and to share what you have, for such sacrifices are pleasing to God. [Deed]
The result of our Lord’s forgiveness, for those with faith in Him, is praise to Him with our lips and our lives. “Whatever you do, in word or deed, do everything in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him” (Colossians 3:17).
Praise for God is not only what we say or sing during worship but even how we live our lives.
(Note: We’ll save 1 Peter 2:9 for our lesson on Evangelism.)
