Who (And What) Should Praise God?

Psalm 150 is a Psalm of praise. The entire chapter bursts forth with praises to God. To me it is impossible to passively read this Psalm as my entire being is caught up in directing praises to Him. William McDonald, in The Believers’ Bible Commentary goes so far as to state “It is a sin to be unenthusiastic in rehearsing the excellencies of our Creator and Redeemer.” I can remember being in one particular church service and the congregation was standing, singing a hymn. I don’t recall what hymn they were singing but I was struck with the ho-hum lack of passion that I saw as I looked around the sanctuary. I wanted to jump up and inject some enthusiasm into their feeble attempt at praising God.

McDonald’s commentary on this chapter invokes an interesting approach. He was an American theologian who was very prolific in his writings. In his approach to this chapter, he invokes a portion of Aristotle’s framework of the five W’s – who, what, where, when, and why. 

Who? This is succinctly answered in the opening line of the Psalm “Praise the Lord!” We are to praise God. We’re all familiar with the word “praise” but what does it mean in this case? It can be defined as an acknowledgement of God’s greatness. Praise is essential in worship. Although there are many forms of worship, praise is at the center and can be manifested in many ways – singing, offering, prayer, communion, and teaching or preaching.

Someone may praise us for what we have done. For example, a person who does a particularly good job on a project may be praised by his co-workers for what he has accomplished. It’s ok to accept these praises, while quietly deflecting the praise to God, who enabled you to accomplish the task.

A second aspect to “Who” is who should be praising God. The final verse in this chapter gives us this. “Everything that has breath shall praise the Lord. Praise the Lord!” That includes human beings and animals of all types. Even though plants and rocks don’t breathe in the same manner we do, they do have a process similar to breathing. Time lapse photos from outer space indicate that the earth “breathes.” Every person, every created thing should be praising God. 

Where?  The remainder of the first verse answers this question. “Praise God in His sanctuary; Praise Him in His mighty expanse.” What is God’s sanctuary? There are many ways to answer this question, that’s a story for another day. Simply put, sanctuary is a sacred or holy place. God is both sacred and holy, so a sanctuary can be described as anywhere you find God. In the Berean Standard Bible, the word “expanse” is used to describe the firmament or the sky that God created to separate the waters. Bottom line, we are to praise God anywhere.

What? More appropriately, we should “For what should we praise God? This is answered in verse 2 “Praise Him for His mighty deeds; Praise Him according to His excellent greatness.” How mighty are His deeds? Stop and reflect on everything God has done in your life and among your friends and family. His deeds are not only mighty, they are expansive. He created the earth and allows us to dwell in the midst of His creation. 

The verse continues, exhorting us to praise Him according to His exceeding greatness. Our praise should reflect our best, an attempt to be as great as God Himself. He deserves our highest not a lukewarm attempt.  

When? Although this is not specifically addressed in the Psalm, we can refer to verse one that tells us to praise Him in His mighty expanse. There is no place or time when worship is not appropriate. We should be in a constant state of praise. 

Why? My English teachers from long ago would scold me for this answer, but we should praise Him “because.” Thankfulness and praise are often linked but we praise God because of who He is and praise Him for His greatness.  We thank Him for what He has done for us. Scriptures repeatedly affirm that God alone is deserving of all honor, glory, and adoration due to His holiness, sovereignty, and love.

How? How is frequently added to Socrates’ five W’s. How are we to praise God? Verses of this chapter give us the answer. “Praise Him with trumpet sound; Praise Him with harp and lyre. Praise Him with tambourine and dancing; Praise Him with stringed instruments and flute. Praise Him with loud cymbals; Praise Him with resounding cymbals.” The psalmist includes an orchestra of every kind of instrument. Each brings a different aspect to our praise. The trumpet announcing the coming of the King of the Universe. The lute with its pastoral tones, The gentle notes of the harp. The timbrel, or tambourine accompanying dance. The stringed instruments bring every note and chord in the world of music to honor the King. The wind instruments bring their varied sounds in praise. And the percussion instruments that we bring loud clashing sounds, drawing attention to our Lord. And, of course, we lift our voices in praise.

Praising God is one of the best things we can do on earth. But our praises here are our practice for the praises we will be singing to God when we get to Heaven.  For a foretaste of Heavenly praise, read Revelation 4 and 5. 

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All scripture unless otherwise indicated is from the New American Standard Bible.

Photo credit to Sdecesare and Arnie Bragg  on Pixabay.