While I live, will I praise the LORD!

How About You?

I wasn't looking to learn about praising God. I was reading a book called Tale of Three Kings. I'd call it a historical fiction account of Saul, David, and Absalom. The three kings. The book was suppose to help me understand authority and submission. Instead it helped me understand praising God.

Why did David responded to both Saul and Absalom so well?

David was presented as a man who had an exceptional understanding of the sovereignty of God. David understood his role and he understood God's role in the events of his life. I asked God to make me a man like David. God revealed to me that David was a man who praised God.

The act of praising God reinforced in David's heart who God was. Understanding who God was allowed David to act correctly.

So I tried it.

At the time I had memorized these twelve verses.

God’s Power: Jeremiah 32:17 God’s Knowledge: Romans 11:33

God’s Presence: Jeremiah 23:24 God’s Grace: 2 Corinthians 9:8

God’s Glory: 1 Chronicles 29:11-13 God’s Faithfulness: 2 Thessalonians 3:3

God is Spirit: John 4:24 God’s Holiness: 1 Peter 1:15,16

God’s Greatness: Psalm 145:3 God’s Love: 1 John 4:10

God’s Mercy: Psalm 86:15 God’s Sovereignty: Romans 8:28 As I walked to work, I reviewed each verse. I used them to praise God. It looked like this:

“God's Power”

“Jeremiah 32:17”

“Ah Lord God! behold, thou hast made the heaven and the earth by thy great power and stretched out arm, and there is nothing too hard for thee:” (KJV)

“Jeremiah 32:17”

“God's Power”

[my prayer] “LORD, I praise you that you are all powerful. I praise you that nothing is too hard for you. I acknowledge that you have made the heaven and the earth.” (KJV)

“God's Knowledge”

“Romans 11:33”

“O the depth of the riches both of the wisdom and knowledge of God! how unsearchable are his judgments, and his ways past finding out!”

“Romans 11:33”

“God's Knowledge”

[my prayer] “LORD, I praise you that you know everything. I agree that your ways can not be fully understood. I praise you that the reasons for your decisions are beyond understanding.”

And so on through all 12 verses. Its simple. Praise can be mixed with thankfulness and with supplication or confession. But to develop the praise muscle and get the most out of it, I need to practice it by itself. Its like a body builder doing an exercise to isolate the bicep or the hamstring. A concentrated effort to make that muscle group grow.

Since then, I have memorized over 100 verses to help me praise God.

PSALMS

Look at Psalm 29. Since today is the 29th, I will use Psalm 29. At least it is the 29th while I am writing this. ;-)

Psalm 29

v. 1 “Ascribe to the LORD, O mighty ones, ascribe to the LORD glory and strength.”

[my prayer] “LORD, I praise you for your glory. I praise you for your strength. Your glory is greater than the glory of anyone else. Your strength is greater than the strength of any one else.”

v. 2 “. . . worship the LORD in the splendor of his holiness.”

[my prayer] “LORD, I praise you that you are holy. I acknowledge that you are separate from sin, from evil, from ugly and from bad. I praise you that you are separated to be with all that is good, pure, lovely and true.”

v. 4 “the voice of the LORD is powerful;”

[my prayer] “I praise you LORD that you are powerful.”

v. 4 “the voice of the LORD is majestic.”

[my prayer] “I praise you LORD that you are majestic.”

Are you getting the idea? As I practiced praising God, I realized that some of the words didn't mean much to me. I didn't really know what they meant.

Holy?

Majestic?

Glory?

Grace?

Sovereignty?

I had heard most of them before. I had a vague idea what they meant from hearing others use them. I thought I probably ought to know what they meant, since every one else seemed to. But I didn't. I found it hard to tell God who He was when I didn't really understand. So I started looking up the words.

I used Websters. I used the American Heritage dictionary. I used Vine's Dictionary of the Bible. I used Strong's Concordance. Today I might use the Internet, if I could find a reliable source I could trust.

For instance, I looked up holiness. Then I created a 3 x 5 card with ways to praise God for His holiness.

Holy

-- You are holy

-- You are completely separate from acts and behaviors against the laws of God

-- You are separate from wrong

-- You are separate from bad

-- You are separate for good

-- You are separate for right

-- There is no law above You

On the back of the card I wrote out some verses to help me.

1 Peter 1:15,16 – But as He which hath called you is holy, so be ye holy in all manner of conversation; because it is written, Be ye holy; for I am holy.

Isaiah 6:3 – And one cried unto another, and said Holy, holy, holy, is the LORD of hosts: the whole earth is full of his glory.

Revelation 15:4 – Who shall not fear thee, O LORD, and glorify thy name? for thou only art holy: for all nations shall come and worship before thee; for thy judgments are made manifest.

Over the years, I have also read several books on who God is to help me praise Him better.

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