Authentic Praise

More than any other day of the week, I look forward to Sunday because I think of it as a day to praise. This is the day when I gather myself with other believers and we focus our attention on God. We study His Word. We sing praises to His name. We hear a message proclaimed. The hearts of fellow believers are drawn to the One who alone is worthy of our praise.

The following is take from A Heart Like His by Beth Moore.

Praise requires focus. I will praise you, O LORD, with all my heart; I will tell of all your wonders. Psalm 9:1

Praise is not confined. Each of the following original Hebrew words have been translated to praise in the Psalms:

• Yadhah: most often translated to speak out, confess.
• Tehillah: a laudation, hymn, a song.
• Zamar: to play an instrument, or make noise.
• Halah: to be bright, to shine, to boast, to praise. At the root is the idea of radiance.

Praise is a choice. Praise the LORD, O my soul; all my inmost being, praise his holy name. Praise the LORD, O my soul, and forget not all his benefits- who forgives all your sins and heals all your diseases, who redeems your life from the pit and crowns you with love and compassion, who satisfies your desires with good things so that your youth is renewed like the eagle's. Psalm 103:1-5

Praise is to become a habit. Through Jesus, therefore, let us continually offer to God a sacrifice of praise—the fruit of lips that confess his name. Hebrews 13:15

Praise becomes compulsory when we experience true intimacy with God. O God, you are my God, earnestly I seek you; my soul thirsts for you, my body longs for you, in a dry and weary land where there is no water. I have seen you in the sanctuary and beheld your power and your glory. Because your love is better than life, my lips will glorify you. I will praise you as long as I live, and in your name I will lift up my hands. Psalm 63:1-4

Praise is contagious. I will praise you forever for what you have done; in your name I will hope, for your name is good. I will praise you in the presence of your saints. Psalm 52:9

Praise Him for who He is universally. O LORD, our Lord, how majestic is your name in all the earth! You have set your glory above the heavens. From the lips of children and infants you have ordained praise because of your enemies, to silence the foe and the avenger. When I consider your heavens, the work of your fingers, the moon and the stars, which you have set in place, what is man that you are mindful of him, the son of man that you care for him? Psalm 8:1-4

Praise Him for who He is personally. Praise be to the LORD my Rock, who trains my hands for war, my fingers for battle. He is my loving God and my fortress, my stronghold and my deliverer, my shield, in whom I take refuge, who subdues peoples under me. O LORD, what is man that you care for him, the son of man that you think of him? Man is like a breath; his days are like a fleeting shadow. Psalm 144:1-4

Praise Him with a new song. I waited patiently for the LORD; he turned to me and heard my cry. He lifted me out of the slimy pit, out of the mud and mire; he set my feet on a rock and gave me a firm place to stand. He put a new song in my mouth, a hymn of praise to our God. Many will see and fear and put their trust in the LORD. Blessed is the man who makes the LORD his trust, who does not look to the proud, to those who turn aside to false gods. Psalm 40:1-4

Praise invites the audience of God. Yet you are enthroned as the Holy One; you are the praise of Israel. Psalm 22:3 The original Hebrew word means, "to sit and dwell".

Won't you praise Him now?