Week 6: The Commitment to Praise

Scripture: Psalms 34:1-3

I will bless the Lord at all times: his praise shall continually be in my mouth. My soul shall make her boast in the Lord: the humble shall hear thereof, and be glad. O magnify the Lord with me, and let us exalt his name together.

Commitment to Praise

Dr. Kenneth Blanchard, an accomplished author, Ivy-League Academic, Leadership Guru and Entrepreneur, once made an argument that was so compelling. He argues: “There’s a difference between interest and commitment. When you’re interested in something, you do it only when it’s convenient. When you’re committed to something, you accept no excuses; only results.” I would have to agree with Dr. Blanchard because I have found that in our society we only tend to only partake in things that go our way, and that there are things we are interested in and engaged in until it becomes inconvenient. To be sure, we are interested in some things we should be committed to and committed to some things we should only be interested. We have some people who we are committed to but we should only be interested in. We have disciplines and regimens that we are interested in but we should be committed to. Our interests and commitments hang on the idea that we want everything to go our way. We don’t go to certain restaurants because they don’t cook the food the way we like it. We don’t go to certain gas stations because we don’t trust the quality of their gas. We don’t shop anywhere and everywhere because we don’t care for the quality of their clothing. And the list could go on and on. But we have taken that very same mentality, even towards God.

To be honest, some of us are simply interested in God. Actually, some of us are interested in the idea of there being a God who could deliver us and provide for us. And there are some of us who are only interested in the benefits of God, or what God can offer us. Example of this is: We are interested in paying tithes until it becomes inconvenient. We are interested in church until our schedules make it inconvenient. We are interested in the Blessings coming down, but the praises going up are too inconvenient. We are interested in the gospel, until our lifestyles and practices make it too inconvenient. But there are some who are gathered among us who are committed to the practices and teachings of the Bible, serve the Lord faithfully and are committed to the cause of Christ, and we find an example of this right here in this text.

David has written many psalms of praise to God has been the one who has portrayed the essence of what Praise looks like. He talked about God in a reverent manner, praised God with a Harp, and even danced himself out of his clothing once. He praised God faithfully and fearlessly because of where God had brought him from. While in search for a king, God looked beyond all of his brothers and anointed him, even while the king was still alive. God used David to kill a giant that was terrorizing Saul and his men with a slingshot and a smooth stone. David had something to praise for. But David had been in some positions that would have made the simply “interested” Christian run away, and to make things worse, he wasn’t experiencing a walk in the park at the time. David wrote this Psalm at a time in his life that was not ideal.

He was literally running for his life, because King Saul was trying to kill him. David was being chastised, ridiculed, threatened and nearly killed by God’s Appointed king. He was facing the anger of the one who was Anointed by God to lead. This wasn’t just anyone; it was the king. What do you do when the ones whom you have defended and supported, and put your life on the line for want to get rid of you? How do you respond to people throwing arrows at you, and trying to assassinate both you and your character? Instead of being angry, and treating people the way they treated you, I mean David; David vows to praise. This helps me to know that no matter how saved you are, or if you read your bible every day or if you pray three times a day towards the East; you will experience some things that will leave you no option but praising God.

So I admire David, because David shows us that praise is not set in a type of emotion. You don’t have to be happy to praise. You don’t have to be healed in your body to praise. Praise is an act of gratitude. We praise God because we are grateful for how God has brought us over and brought us through. David is a grateful practitioner of the faith and is intentional about spreading his understanding and theology of praise. The truth of the matter is that David’s commitment to praise is diversified with the hopes that though you may not dance like David or shout like me; there are other manners in which you can praise the Lord our God. And with that being the case, it is time to shift our perspective to the limited understanding on how we praise God. It is not as important how you praise God, then the point that you actually praise God. Throughout the Psalms David lifts up the 7 Hebrew words for praise and uses them in a manner to describe them for others begin to practice. Those terms were:

1.      Halal

a.       It means "to be clear, to shine, to boast, show, to rave, celebrate, to be clamorously foolish."

2.      Yadah

a.       Yadah is a verb with a root meaning, "the extended hand, to throw out the hand, therefore to worship with extended hand.

3.      Towdah

a.       Towdah literally means, "an extension of the hand in adoration, avowal, or acceptance."

4.      Shabach

a.       Shabach means, "to shout, to address in a loud tone, to command, to triumph."

5.      Barak

a.       Barak means "to kneel down, to bless God as an act of adoration."

6.      Zamar

a.       Zamar means "to pluck the strings of an instrument, to sing, to praise; a musical word which is largely involved with joyful expressions of music with musical instruments.

7.      Tehillah

a.       Tehillah is derived from the word halal and means "the singing of halals, to sing or to laud; perceived to involve music, especially singing; hymns of the Spirit.

While understanding these different forms or types of praise are important, it is far more important that we learn to put them into practice; because knowing it is not enough. We will never prove that we are committed to praise until we start praising God. It doesn’t matter if you praise God, how I praise God, Just as long as you do praise God. It may not make sense to you, but knowing that God can and will work it all out for your good, will make you want to join in with the Psalmist and bless the name of the Lord. This text lifts for me, three important things that David wants us to understand about praise in order for us be committed to praising God.

The Commitment of Praise is Unconditional

I like what David said here in verse; he said “I will bless the Lord at all times and his praises shall continually be in my mouth”. He doesn’t limit his praise to God, but rather states God will receive his praise no matter what. Some people may make this claim and retract it after a period of time, but I believe David. I believe David because David didn’t write this Psalm from a place of joy or expectation. He is not asking God to do something for him and praising him as a means of sealing the deal. He wrote this from a place of pain, despair and fear. You can praise God when your money is funny, your change is strange, and your credit won’t get it. Praise God when it feels good and when it doesn’t. Praise God when you’re sick and when you’re well. Praise God when you feel like it, and when you don’t. David vows to praise God at all times and not simply when it’s convenient. David’s commitment to praise is one we should model in our lives. We should not limit our praises to our conditions or our locations. That the praises of God should have a continual flow from us no matter what we are going through or where we are. Praise is not a church-regulated thing. Wherever I find myself, and whatever I should experience; Praise is always in Order! Praise is not an emotional state; it is a mandate; that's why the psalmist declares in Psalm 150 Let everything that has breath praise the Lord!

The Commitment to Praise is Universal

On top of that, the commitment to praise is not only unconditional but it is also universal. That means that even if everybody won't praise God, everybody can praise God and the saints rejoice in the praising of the lord. Verse 2 says “My soul shall make her boast in the Lord: the humble shall hear thereof, and be glad”. David is suggesting that here that the praise will cause other saints to rejoice. When I praise the Lord, in the midst of my pain or situation, those who are committed to God will stand in agreement with me to praise God. It is a reminder that Praise is not a spectator sport, but a universal sign of the gratitude of the people of God. We’ve all got a place where we can reflect back on and begin to praise God, because He’ brought us from a mighty Long Way.

For every mountain he’s brought me over,

For every trial he’s seen me through,

For every blessing Hallelujah,

For this I Give You Praise!

When I Think of the Goodness of Jesus

And All He Has Done for Me

My soul Cries Out, Hallelujah

I thank God For Saving Me!

The Commitment to Praise Shouldn’t Be Unaccompanied

David had a personal commitment to praise and was going to praise God even if he had to do it by himself. Some of us are in need of assistance in praising God, but not David. Let’s be clear about what David is saying here. David doesn’t ask us to praise on behalf of him, but rather David asks us to praise with him. He would continue in his praiseful posture as he states “Oh Magnify the Lord with me and let us Exalt God’s name together”. He is arguing that by praising God's name, we are literally magnifying the name of the Lord. That we enlarge his name and allow people to see him for more clearly. Suggesting that when we praise people who don’t know anything about God get a better picture of who God is and what God is able to do. So when you see someone praising God, you shouldn’t be concerned about whether people will make fun of you or what people will think about you; because it’s not about you. You are causing people to see God’s power on a clearer and greater level.

Now that we know that the commitment to praise is unconditional, universal and sometimes unaccompanied; there is more that the psalmist wants to say to us. The psalmist doesn’t desire that your praises stop in Psalms 34; He desires to keep the commitment to praise by keeping the party going. Now that he’s gotten us to understand our responsibility to praise, He charges us throughout a few more of the psalms to praise the Lord and give thanks unto the Lord our God. Again he doesn’t tell us how to praise, but emphasizes the need to praise. He wants us to Just Praise the Lord.

He says in Psalms 111:1 Praise Ye the Lord.

He says in Psalms 112:1 Praise Ye the Lord.

He says in Psalms 113:1 Praise Ye the Lord.

He says in Psalms 135:1 Praise Ye the Lord.

He says in Psalms 146:1 Praise Ye the Lord.

He says in Psalms 147:1 Praise Ye the Lord.

He says in Psalms 148:1 Praise Ye the Lord.

He says in Psalms 149:1 Praise Ye the Lord.

But most importantly, He says in Psalms 150- Praise ye the Lord. Praise God in his sanctuary: praise him in the firmament of his power. Praise him for his mighty acts: praise him according to his excellent greatness. Praise him with the sound of the trumpet: praise him with the psaltery and harp. Praise him with the timbrel and dance: praise him with stringed instruments and organs. Praise him upon the loud cymbals: praise him upon the high sounding cymbals. Let everything that hath breath praise the Lord. Praise ye the Lord. It doesn’t matter how it looks, or what you’re going through, the commitment in our lives should be to praise the Lord! Amen!