Real Praise

DEVOTION

PSALMS

REAL PRAISE

111:1

Praise the LORD.

I will extol the LORD with all my heart in the council of the upright and in the assembly. 2 Great are the works of the LORD; they are pondered by all who delight in them. 3 Glorious and majestic are his deeds, and his righteousness endures forever. 4 He has caused his wonders to be remembered; the LORD is gracious and compassionate. 5 He provides food for those who fear him; he remembers his covenant forever. 6 He has shown his people the power of his works, giving them the lands of other nations. 7 The works of his hands are faithful and just; all his precepts are trustworthy. 8 They are steadfast for ever and ever, done in faithfulness and uprightness. 9 He provided redemption for his people; he ordained his covenant forever — holy and awesome is his name. 10 The fear of the LORD is the beginning of wisdom; all who follow his precepts have good understanding. To him belongs eternal praise.

NIV

What else can we say that would strengthen our resolve to praise him? This first verse has a far greater meaning then this translation puts it. In the original Hebrew it goes like this: Praise ye the Lord, I will praise the Lord with my whole heart in the assembly of the righteous and in the congregation. Then to make it even better the first praise ye is the Hebrew would Halal, which is the base word of hallelujah which in Hebrew means Praise Yahweh. The second praise in, I will praise the Lord, is yadah which means use the hands, to throw or especially to revere and worship (with extended hands). This implies with the whole heart, completely, fully, without reservation. The Hebrew word translated whole heart is only used in the singular. That comes back to the divided heart issue. We will lift our hands to the Lord with a singular heart, thinking of nothing else other than fully praising him in the assembly of the righteous. That should mean in church. It sure seems many of us miss that mark by a fair amount. It would seem many believers just sit on their hands in worship. Does that sound judgmental? We judge ourselves. Maybe, but it is the truth, in fact, in many cases there is not even a smile on their faces. Stoic seems more a description then worship. We cannot buy into this more traditional view, this reserved form of worship, we must extol the Lord, praise him, lift our hands, if not both maybe just one anyway and praise him with our whole heart. Just considering how great his works are and to ponder in them should bring us to a whole-hearted praise. To meditate on his glorious and majestic deeds should move us to lift our hands. The fact his righteousness endures forever along with him being gracious and compassionate should motivate our hearts to singleness of purpose. He has provided for us because we revere him. Now on the other hand, if we are not provided for by the Lord, perhaps we do not revere him. Oops, that would be wrong, not to fear, not to revere him. If we remembered the works of his hands are faithful and just, we would stand in awe of him, praising him with a whole heart and lifted hands. Everything about him is trustworthy and steadfast forever and ever. Everything he does is done in faithfulness and uprightness, which should give us more than enough to be moved from a stoic pose, with almost a muttering of our lips in praise. What would we look like when we stand in the assembly of the righteous on the last day in the presence of our God? Will we mutter words to a song then? Would we sit on our hands then? If we think we should be any different on that day, then why shouldn’t we be that way now? He has redeemed us, he has ordained his covenant forever. The beginning of all wisdom is to fear, to revere, the Lord. If we do this, we have understanding of who he is and what he has done and will do. So let us praise the Lord, now and forever!