Praise: Gratitude of the Heart

Published 20 February, 2008

We have in Jesus the best friend, the closed and most intimate lover, the help of a brother, the love of a father, the care of a shepherd, and the redemption only found in Him. How can we not be thankful for the overflowing blessings which He has so freely poured out upon us? We can have no other reaction, having tasted and having seen, than to express our overflowing gratitude to the one who has given us all things.

Praise is not merely a show of hands, a shout of exclamation, or the singing of a beautiful hymn. Can I praise by clapping my hands? Yes. Is clapping my hands, praise? No. Let me explain briefly. When we begin to feast on the goodness of the Lord, our heart will automatically overflow with thankfulness, and gratitude to Him. Praise is simply any expression of such gratitude towards our Savior and God.
At the same time though, many people clap their hands at the leading of a preacher, sing along with the power-point slides, and dance in the isles never knowing or experiencing true praise. Praise is from the heart. Praise is not done to appease men. Praise is never heartless or even emotionless. Praise is real. Praise is genuine. Praise is honest.

Let me also explain that there are times when we don’t particularly feel like praising him. Times when our hearts are full of sorrow and pain, when our minds are captured by the problems we are facing, or simply a feeling of apathy. Praise is a choice. It has to be your choice, though. It is when we are praising in the middle of crisis, suffering, sorrow and misery, that we will truly begin, to not only learn the true meaning of praise, but to begin to walk in victory.

It would be easy to say “my situation is so bad, why should I praise?” it would be easy to say, “Woe is me, I have it so much worse off than everyone else.” But the word of God tells us story after story of people who were really down and out – some facing death itself, as you may be, and yet they decided to praise God and believe God’s report about the situations at hand. Look at David. He was being chanced down by the king he had served loyally for years; the king whom he had attended to and had trusted. David didn’t just run off and hide and say “o brother, here it is – the end has come.” No, he rose up and declared praises to God, and after much trial, after being hunted like wild game in the wilderness for years, God promoted David to kingship.

Look at Paul and Silas. They were serving Jesus when they were arrested, beat, and thrown in jail like common criminals. They could have said, “Look God, we were doing your work – is this how you repay us?” but instead, they praised God at the midnight hour and were miraculously released from jail after being able to share Jesus with the jailer.

I don’t know what you’re going through today. I have no idea the amount of trouble you’re facing. You could be facing jail, disease, heartbreak, even death. You and I have the choice, do we have a pity-party and get everyone to feel sorry for us, or do we thank God for keeping the promises in His word even though we can’t see them yet with our eyes? We have the choice as Elijah did when he was being chanced and wanted dead by Jezebel. We can say that God hasn’t sent us help, that we have no way out, and we can give up and go down in defeat; or we can choose to believe as Elijah did, that God was at work all around us, even if we couldn’t see Him with our eyes.

What is your choice? Will you rise up and praise Him for all the good things that He has done, or just lay in the bed of grief and give up and go home? You may say, “What do I have to be thankful for?” Are your breathing? Thank Him for that. Do you have life? Praise Him for that. Right now, release your praise and watch God work in your life as He did for Elijah, David, and Paul & Silas. Can you see? The Heavenly Host is all about you - you have no need to fear. Defeat is up to you. Victory is your choice. Let us rejoice and be glad in the God who has given and sustained our lives.