WHY PRAISE GOD? — SAY IT WITH JOY

Why praise GOD? Praise expresses complete trust in our Creator. That trust conquers anxiety, for His Word tells us not to be anxious about anything, but in every situation we are to pray, worship, and give thanks to Him as we make known our requests before Him. Only then will God’s peace fill our hearts and minds in Christ Jesus (Philippians 4:6-7).

God’s Word tells us to trust the Lord with all our heart and not lean on our own understanding (Proverbs 3:5-6). “All our heart” means that we are totally surrendered to God. We have complete and total trust and confidence in His will for every life-situation and believe in His unending goodness and faithfulness.

Praise is an active, verbal response to God's character, holiness, and His mighty works. We are told to "Give thanks in all circumstances; for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus" (1 Thessalonians 5:18). And often that directive seems to be counterintuitive, especially if the situation is an unexpected or tragic event.

“All circumstances” is defined as any changing condition, trial, an unexpected situation, accident, or the death of a loved one. Unfortunately, wealth, status, pleasure, wisdom, security, health, and life—are temporary and vanish like a passing mist. Not one person will live forever nor be exempt from trials while in human flesh.

Many ask why a loving God allows bad things to happen. First, God is incapable of evil. The culpret is Satan, the god of this world and the chief spiritual influencer over this fallen, worldly system of unbelief. He is the one who blinds the minds of unbelievers (2 Corinthians 4:4).

David, who from boyhood, implicitly believed and trusted God. Eventually, he came to live in King Saul’s court. However, Saul’s irrational jealousy of David drove him to make every effort to kill David. So, David fled for his life, living as a fugitive for ten years.

During David’s time as a fugitive, he wrote songs of praise and thanksgiving to God for His love, provision, and protection. Saul died and David became king. One day David stayed home from a war, fell into temptation, and committed adultery. Then he murdered to cover his sin.

God sees all things, so He dealt harshly with David who then acknowledged his sins. David knew the faithfulness of God. But he also knew that "The tongue has the power of life and death, and those who love it will eat its fruit." (Proverbs 18:21 NIV)

There are two choices in God’s kingdom: eternal perfection with God or eternal separation. That difference is determined by the absence or presents of repentance. David repented.

Later in life we see his heart expressed in the following paraphrased portion of Psalm 145:

I will exalt You, my God the King; I will praise Your name for ever. Every day I will praise You and praise Your name forever. Great are You Lord and worthy of all praise; Your greatness cannot be fathomed (vs 1- 3). You are good to all; You have compassion on all You have made.

All Your works praise You, Lord; Your faithful people praise You (vs 9-10). You are trustworthy in all Your promises and faithful in all You do. You uphold all who fall and lift all who are bowed down (Vs 13-14). You are near to all who call on You, to all who call on You in truth. You fulfill the desires of those who fear You; You hear our cries and save us (vs 18-19). My mouth will praise the Lord (vs 21).

Death leads to either eternity with God—or if Christ is rejected—eternal separation. God knows each person intimately. He is omniscient and has full knowledge and sees and hears all things. Nothing is hidden from God.

God has complete awareness of the past, present, future, and every inner human thought and intention. He searches us and knows when we sit and when we rise; He perceives our thoughts from afar. He discerns our going out and lying down; He is familiar with all our ways. Before we speak a word, He knows it completely. He surrounds, protects, and guides us with His hand upon us (Psalm 139:2-6). This is too wonderful to comprehend.

Praise is critical in showing God our love, honor, trust, and respect. We do it through joyful singing with uplifted hands in a worship service. “Enter His gates with thanksgiving and His courts with praise; give thanks to Him and praise His name. For the Lord is good and His love endures forever” Psalm 100:4-5. Philippians 4:6-7 (NIV).

There is also that precious, intimate time when we are alone with God worshipping and praising Him. In those sweet, private moments we express gratitude for all He is, all He has done, and all that He will do for us. And in that time of communing with God, we hear His still small voice speaking within our spirit.

God encourages us not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present our requests to Him. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard our hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.

When we experience a difficult problem, we must praise and trust Him in the situation—not for the situation. That acknowledges complete trust in His purposes, which requires TRUSTING GOD even when nothing makes sense. And in those times we might ask:

"Why, my soul, are you downcast? Why so disturbed within me? Put your hope in God, for I will yet praise Him, my Savior and my God" (Psalm 42:11). "I will extol the Lord at all times; His praise will always be on my lips"(Psalm 32:1) "The Lord is good, a refuge in times of trouble. He cares for those who trust in Him" (Nahum 1:7).

My husband was diagnosed with terminal thyroid cancer in 2009 and was given less than a month to live. However, he was a man who trusted God, so he said, “No, God has a plan.”

We began praising God in the situation and telling Him that we trusted His plan for us. Through miraculous events occurring within 48 hours of our prayer, he was at MD Anderson Cancer Center in Houston, TX having life-saving surgery.

My husband lived productive years until December 24, 2020, when the dormant thyroid cancer suddenly raged throughout his body. He said he was ready to go “home to the Lord” and passed peacefully April 7, 2021. Though we miss him, we have that blessed assurance we will see him again.

It is imperative that we trust God in every aspect of our life, then He will direct our paths (Proverbs 3:5). What might appear as an unsurmountable challenge or something we don’t understand, is an opportunity to trust Him with all our heart and not lean on human flawed understanding.

Great and miraculous benefits come in praising God, even when we don’t feel like praising. Praise produces peace as we take our eyes off the problem or loss and redirect our thoughts to God’s love, power, and His will. Praise pushes aside anxiety, doubt, fear, worry, and anger, and points us to our Creator who reminds us of His past faithfulness to us.

Praising God brings a supernatural peace and calm that surpasses all understanding as the Holy Spirit comforts us. Praise releases the heavy burdens of worry, concern, pain, frustration, unanswered questions, and anxiety. Praise is worship that surrenders to God, trusting that He is always with us in trials and uncertainty and in the good and joyous times.

PRAYER: FATHER, this life can be difficult, confusing, frustrating, and wonderful. It seems there is always a trial of some kind to test my faith. Help me to trust You with all my heart and praise You in every situation, knowing that You have a plan and a purpose that is often beyond my human understanding. In Jesus’ name, I pray. Amen.