Many of us are very familiar with the scripture “I will bless the Lord at all times: his praise shall continually be in my mouth” (Psalms 34:1, KJV). Although I truly believe it is our intention to live by this confession, it is important that we examine whether or not our actual behavior is in alignment. Praising God means that we are willing to extol, rejoice, speak, and even shout about His awesomeness and greatness in our lives. It means we are willing to be thankful at all times in every situation and verbally speak good things about God from our hearts regardless of our circumstances. Continuous praise goes forth from our mouths in the good and challenging times regardless of how we feel. Contingency praise is when we allow our situation and circumstances (or our own knowledge) to determine whether or not we are going to give God the praise He deserves.
Our life’s circumstances should not dictate the intensity of our praise! God is ALWAYS worthy of the greatest praise we can humanly give.
For the past 20 years, I have been blessed to serve as a praise and worship leader in several ministries. During that time, I’ve encountered congregations that praise God with such consistent intensity you would never know the struggles and challenges in their lives. Also, I’ve led praise and worship in congregations where you had to pump and prime the people so much that you did everything short of going into the pews and pushing their hands up and opening their mouths. Sometimes this was due to a lack of understanding regarding what is God’s “due praise” which opened them up to praising God based on how they felt that day. How do I know? I know because I asked and here are some of the comments they shared with me.
“I didn’t feel like standing up,” “I was too tired to lift or clap my hands,” “I’m going through so much right now, I just couldn’t get into praise and worship,” and the most common response “I just don’t think it takes all of that.” In other words, my praise is contingent on how I feel and what I think, not based on what God said about praising Him in His Word or that He deserves the best from me!
Here’s the deal. Psalms 150:2 says “Praise him for his mighty acts; praise him according to his excellent greatness” (KJV, Emphasis added). There is no scriptures that says “praise him based on how you feel today.” We are required, however, to offer a sacrifice of praise when we don’t “feel” like actively praising God. To sacrifice means to give up something. In this case, it means to give up your own way of thinking about active praise and give up what your flesh (body) wants you to do which is usually to sit down and be entertained (or comforted) by the praise leader, praise team, or choir.
Praising God is a command for everything and everyone and it is based on God’s goodness and awesomeness, not our feelings or own understanding. Not only does the Bible tell us to praise Him with instruments, but also with singing (including loud rejoicing singing) and with dancing—which is bodily movement. So, if you’re sitting down during the praise portion of the service, get up and move! (Note: Worship and meditation may not require much movement, but that’s another blog and a different command.)
When we praise God according to His Word, we demonstrate our submission to His authority. This is also a demonstration of “presenting our bodies as a living sacrifice” (Romans 12:1) because our flesh does not always want to engage in active praise. This act of submission requires that our faith be activated and put into motion along with our arms, legs, and mouths. Mark 14:38 says “Watch and pray, lest ye enter into temptation. The spirit truly is ready, but the flesh is weak.” The flesh doesn’t want to praise, yet our spirit is thankful, so we have to align them with the Word of God. Active praise says that “my mind, body, and soul belong to God and they all will honor Him in the ways He has commanded.”
Challenge: Let us lean not to our own understanding of praise and embrace the active involved praise that God has called us to demonstrate according to His excellent greatness. It is through our obedience and faith that we receive His blessings.