Why Praise God?

It might just make you sick if you take a closer look at what people honor today and I am sure none of you believes that you should be in awe of a human (regardless of his/her position), since that person is just human as well and behind the good façade there are often hidden less orthodox reasons. As we have seen that happening too many times, in politics, business and so on, we might have a repulsive attitude towards praise.

It is understandable, but when we talk about God and not about people, perspectives change. God, respectively His Son Jesus Christ, bring back the human being to the dignity and self-esteem we were created to have in the first place. God is not a dictator saying "because I created you, you’d better praise Me", that’s why we should keep in mind that when it comes to giving glory to God, He is nothing like humans in regard of selfish reasons; He indeed wants the best for us. That’s why through what He does, He determines us to recognize the love and respect He has for our being, plus He opens our eyes to see the numerous blessings He pours in our lives daily.

Let’s take a closer look at what it is exactly that we are to be praising.

"I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made; your works are wonderful, I know that full well." Psalms 139:14

We should be praising God HIMSELF "I will praise You…". How many times have we just thanked God and praised Him for who and what He is? It is something to think about, it is something that should not be messed with or made fun of. God is worthy to be praised!

"Yours, O LORD, is the greatness and the power and the glory and the majesty and the splendor, for everything in heaven and earth is yours. Yours, O LORD, is the kingdom; you are exalted as head over all. Wealth and honor come from you; you are the ruler of all things. In your hands are strength and power to exalt and give strength to all. Now, our God, we give you thanks, and praise your glorious name." 1 Chr. 29:11-13

One other thing we need to be praising is the Lord’s name…the verses above are just one example out of many that can be found in the Bible about how people did not just praise the Lord but they brought praise and honor to His name…it is something that was revered by the ancient Jewish scholars; there were certain names of God that they would not dare to utter and others that they would have to completely cleanse themselves before daring to write it down. That alone should give us an idea about the names of God…it is not something to play around with or take in vain, it is something that deserves and should to be praised with the highest respect and love.

"Be exalted, O LORD, in your strength; we will sing and praise your might." Psalms 21:13

The power of God is such that the imagination of man cannot even begin to comprehend…we cannot even begin to understand the power of the Lord, the majesty of the Most High! As we can see in the Bible verse above this is also something that we need to remember to praise.

"I will bow down toward your holy temple and will praise your name for your love and your faithfulness, for you have exalted above all things your name and your word. When I called, you answered me; you made me bold and stouthearted." Psalms 138:2, 3

"I will exalt you, my God the King; I will praise your name for ever and ever. Every day I will praise you and extol your name for ever and ever. Great is the LORD and most worthy of praise; his greatness no one can fathom. One generation will commend your works to another; they will tell of your mighty acts. They will speak of the glorious splendor of your majesty, and I will meditate on your wonderful works." Psalms 145:1-5

Here are some other things that need to receive our thanksgiving and praise: God’s mercy towards us and His mighty and wondrous works. Just take a moment and try to remember all the times that God has done something for you in your lifetime, how many times has God answered those prayers…how many times has God forgiven you for the different sins that you had committed? How many times has He worked wonders in your life? I tell you in my life it has been more times that I can count!

God loves us and He takes care of his children…maybe it was time we started to take a little bit of time and actually praise Him the way that we should. Maybe it was time that we started giving a little bit back out of all that we have received.