Let us praise the Lord Almighty and Glorious
Psalm 149: Let the godly ones exult in glory; Let them sing for joy on their beds. 6 Let the high praises of God be in their throats, And a two-edged sword in their hands,
At times one has to wonder if we have lost sight of who God is. After all, where is the fear of the Lord in the churches, where is the desire to walk in holiness? Have we lost sought of who He really is? Or have we as believers become so complacent in our attitude towards Him?
Consider how in the Amplified Bible there are 175 references to praise the Lord in Psalms alone, and 164 in the New King James. The word “praise” is an expression of one's respect, admiration and gratitude towards a deity. David as the king of Israel would constantly praise the Lord, meaning his entire life was devoted to respecting and admiring the Lord. Do we still have this attitude towards God, where praise is constant, and never fades or diminishes?
And if we praise Him, what do we praise Him for? For being a provider, a deliverer, a healer, a comforter or an exhorter? All good reasons, but shouldn’t we praise Him simply because He is I AM – the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob? Shouldn’t we praise Him for He Is Holy? David wrote in “Psalm 103: Bless and affectionately praise the Lord, O my soul, and all that is [deep] within me, bless His holy name”. Yes, we must praise Him with our soul, thus our mind, will and emotions, which sums up the greatest commandment of Matthew 22:37 And Jesus replied to him, “‘You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind.”
So when we praise the Lord, it is about worshipping the Almighty, it is about loving Him with our entire being, for truly unto Him comes all the praise and worship. Do we truly love the Lord with our entire being? Do we truly adore Him to the point our entire life is an expression of praise? Do we still truly praise Him simply for who He is? Is praise part of our constant spiritual state and part of our spiritual walk with God? Do we praise Him for He is God – holy, pure, and true? Can we say that we lead a life where our soul yearns to praise and worship Him?
It says in Psalm 150: Praise the Lord! Praise God in His sanctuary; Praise Him in His mighty firmament! 2 Praise Him for His mighty acts; Praise Him according to His excellent greatness! 3 Praise Him with the sound of the trumpet; Praise Him with the lute and harp! 4 Praise Him with the timbrel and dance; Praise Him with stringed instruments and flutes! 5 Praise Him with loud cymbals; Praise Him with clashing cymbals! 6 Let everything that has breath praise the Lord.
Indeed, praise the Lord oh my soul!
1 Chronicles 23 (AMP) records the following: When David reached old age, he made his son Solomon king over Israel. 2 And he assembled together all the leaders of Israel with the priests and Levites. 3 The Levites thirty years old and upward were counted, and their number man by man was 38,000. 4 Of these 24,000 were to oversee and inspect the work of the house of the Lord and 6,000 were to be administrators and judges, 5 and 4,000 were gatekeepers, and 4,000 [musicians] were to praise the Lord with the instruments which David made for giving praise.
So at the Temple of the Lord, 4000 were set apart just to praise the Lord! This is all that they were commanded to do – praise the Lord all the time. This is the level of honour, respect, love and worship that the Almighty Great I AM deserves. Indeed, our God deserves all the praise.
We read of a beautiful song of praise in Isaiah 25: O Lord, You are my God; I will exalt You, I will praise and give thanks to Your name; For You have done miraculous things, Plans formed long, long ago, [fulfilled] with perfect faithfulness. 2 For You have made a city into a heap [of trash], A fortified city into a ruin; A palace of [a]foreigners is no longer a city, It will never be rebuilt. 4 For You have been a stronghold for the helpless, A stronghold for the poor in his distress, A shelter from the storm, a shade from the heat; For the breath of tyrants Is like a rainstorm against a wall. 5 Like heat in a dry land, You will subdue the noise of foreigners [rejoicing over their enemies]; Like heat in the shadow of a cloud, the song of the tyrants is silenced. 6 On this mountain [Zion] the Lord of hosts will prepare a lavish banquet for all peoples [to welcome His reign on earth], A banquet of aged wines—choice pieces [flavored] with marrow, Of refined, aged wines. 7 And on this mountain He will destroy the covering that is [cast] over all peoples, And the veil [of death] that is woven and spread over all the nations. 8 He will swallow up death [and abolish it] for all time. And the Lord God will wipe away tears from all faces, and He will take away the disgrace of His people from all the earth; For the Lord has spoken. 9 It will be said in that day, “Indeed, this is our God for whom we have waited that He would save us. This is the Lord for whom we have waited; Let us shout for joy and rejoice in His salvation.”
Our God is mighty, powerful, everlasting, faithful, true and full of love! So praise Him for He is the creator of all. He is our Salvation, our Hope and our strength. Psalm 33 (KJV) says the following: Rejoice in the Lord, O ye righteous: for praise is comely for the upright. 2 Praise the Lord with harp: sing unto him with the psaltery and an instrument of ten strings. 3 Sing unto him a new song; play skilfully with a loud noise. 4 For the word of the Lord is right; and all his works are done in truth.
Consider more Scripture from Psalms on praising the Lord:
Psalm 7:17 I will praise the Lord according to His righteousness, And will sing praise to the name of the Lord Most High.
Psalm 9:1 A Psalm of David. ] I will praise You, O Lord, with my whole heart; I will tell of all Your marvelous works.
Psalm 9:2 I will be glad and rejoice in You; I will sing praise to Your name, O Most High. 11 Sing praises to the Lord, who dwells in Zion! Declare His deeds among the people.
Psalm 42:11 Why are you cast down, O my soul? And why are you disquieted within me? Hope in God; For I shall yet praise Him, The help of my countenance and my God.
Psalm 43:4 Then I will go to the altar of God, To God my exceeding joy; And on the harp I will praise You, O God, my God.
Psalm 75:9 But I will declare forever, I will sing praises to the God of Jacob.
Take a moment and ponder the levels of praise that the Lord should receive when we study Revelations, and thus consider what a mighty and holy God we serve:
Chapter 4: 5 From the throne came flashes of lightning and [rumbling] sounds and peals of thunder. Seven lamps of fire were burning in front of the throne, which are the seven Spirits of God; 6 and in front of the throne there was something like a sea or large expanse of glass, like [the clearest] crystal. In the center and around the throne were four living creatures who were full of eyes in front and behind [seeing everything and knowing everything that is around them]. 7 The first living creature was like a lion, the second creature like a calf (ox), the third creature had the face of a man, and the fourth creature was like a flying eagle. 8 And the four living creatures, each one of them having six wings, are full of eyes all over and within [underneath their wings]; and day and night they never stop saying, “Holy, holy, holy [is the] Lord God, the Almighty [the Omnipotent, the Ruler of all], who was and who is and who is to come [the unchanging, eternal God].” 9 Whenever the living creatures give glory and honor and thanksgiving to Him who sits on the throne, to Him who lives forever and ever, 10 the twenty-four elders fall down before Him who sits on the throne, and they worship Him who lives forever and ever; and they throw down their crowns before the throne, saying, 11 “Worthy are You, our Lord and God, to receive the glory and the honor and the power; for You created all things, and because of Your will they exist, and were created and brought into being.”
Chapter 5: 6 And there between the throne (with the four living creatures) and among the elders I saw a Lamb (Christ) standing, [bearing scars and wounds] as though it had been slain, with seven horns (complete power) and with seven eyes (complete knowledge), which are [c]the seven Spirits of God who have been sent [on duty] into all the earth. 7 And He came and [d]took the scroll from the right hand of Him who sat on the throne. 8 And when He had taken the scroll, the four living creatures and the twenty-four elders fell down before the Lamb (Christ), each one holding a harp and golden bowls full of fragrant incense, which are the prayers of the saints (God’s people). 9 And they sang a new song [of glorious redemption], saying, “Worthy and deserving are You to take the scroll and to break its seals; for You were slain (sacrificed), and with Your blood You purchased people for God from every tribe and language and people and nation. 10 “You have made them to be a kingdom [of royal subjects] and priests to our God; and they will reign on the earth.” 11 Then I looked, and I heard the voice of many angels around the throne and [the voice] of the living creatures and the elders; and they numbered myriads of myriads, and thousands of thousands (innumerable), 12 saying in a loud voice, “Worthy and deserving is the Lamb that was sacrificed to receive power and riches and wisdom and might and honor and glory and blessing.” 13 And I heard every created thing that is in heaven or on earth or under the earth [in Hades, the realm of the dead] or on the sea, and everything that is in them, saying [together], To Him who sits on the throne, and to the Lamb (Christ), be blessing and honor and glory and dominion forever and ever.” 14 And the four living creatures kept saying, “Amen.” And the elders fell down and worshiped [Him who lives forever and ever].
Chapter 7: 9 After these things I looked, and this is what I saw: a vast multitude which no one could count, [gathered] from every nation and from all the tribes and peoples and languages [of the earth], standing before the throne and before the Lamb (Christ), dressed in white robes, with [d]palm branches in their hands; 10 and in a loud voice they cried out, saying, “Salvation [belongs] to our God who is seated on the throne, and to the Lamb [our salvation is the Trinity’s to give, and to God the Trinity we owe our deliverance].” 11 And all the angels were standing around the throne and around the [twenty-four] elders and the four living creatures; and they fell to their faces before the throne and worshiped God, 12 saying, “Amen! Blessing and glory and majesty and wisdom and thanksgiving and honor and power and might belong to our God forever and ever. Amen.”
May this be the state of our spiritual being, where our very existence seeks to love Him, worship Him, praise Him, exalt Him because glory and majesty and wisdom and thanksgiving and honor and power and might belong to our God forever and ever. For even this cry of Revelations 7 verse 12 should be our cry according to the Lord’s Prayer of Matthew 6 where is says “for Yours is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever.”
We serve an Almighty God.
He is Holy. Faithful. True. All-powerful. Nothing can move Him. Nothing can defeat Him. Nothing can destroy His Kingdom. He is. He was. He will forever be. He is the Salvation, the Hope and the Glory.
HE is I AM.
So praise Him!
