Studying the Psalms: Praise

We will carry on with studying the psalms this month. We considered psalms of lament last month, and today we will look at psalms of praise. What could be more lovely!

I must admit that as I considered this topic, my heart was immediately lightened. I had been dragged down by a bit of bureaucracy today and yet the mere thought of praising God lifted my countenance. How true it is that thinking of others, and particularly God, helps get outside ourselves and feel better.

Praise

We generally understand the word ‘praise’ to be the lift up or laud the attributes or actions of someone. Praise and worship are often used together, and I have heard the distinction that praise is lauding what God has done, and worship is lauding who God is. I’m not sure if these are easily separated, as when we do one, it is often with the other in mind. However, I find the distinction powerful because we should indeed laud God for both what he has done and who he is.

Praise in the Psalms

Praise psalms usually begin with a call to exalt the Lord, either alone or corporately, then the psalm talks of what God has done, is doing or will do and noting that this indicates some characteristic, it repeats the call to praise. Some end here, yet others end with a short lesson or concluding instruction.

If we consider Psalm 111, verse one opens with ‘Praise the Lord,’ and an affirmation that author will indeed praise God. Verses 2-9 talk of God’s works and his character. The psalm closes with instruction that the ‘fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom’ and follows that with eternal praise belonging to God. Psalm 66 follows along similarly, though calling ‘all the earth’ to rejoice in God, so offering an example of corporate praises in the psalms.

Psalm 40 follows the general outline a bit more loosely. It begins with the account of what the Lord has done, in praise through testimony style, for the first three verses. It then includes instruction ‘blessed is the one who trusts in the Lord,’ in verse 4, before going on to extol the wonders of God and the author’s need for Him. By verse 16, the author encourages others to exalt God as well. The closing returns to praising God and who he is.

Psalms of Praise

All psalms were written to be set to music, though the exact tunes have been lost through time. It is also thought that the music of that era would have been more of a chant. Modern musicians have set some psalms to music, as we may find with psalms 150, 23, 130, 90, 121, and so on. There is even a group that has set out to do so. Other modern musicians have written new praise psalms.

Any way you look at it, the examples of praise that we are given in this little book show us the things that God has done and his incredible character that is worthy of all praise and honor. He has acted and will continue to act in the same ways that the praise psalms talk of.

To praise him today, look up the following psalms: 18, 21, 28, 30, 32, 34, 36, 40, 41, 66, 105, 106, 111, 113, 116, 117, 135, 136, 138, 146, 147.