206 Sermon Illustrations on Praise

At BreakPoint’s blog, The Point, we had a lively debate over church music — especially the now-common practice of bands performing during Sunday worship.

Much of the debate focused contemporary music versus traditional hymns. But one of our bloggers invited readers to consider another question: Does God intend us to merely listen to music — or to sing ourselves?

Theologian T.M. Moore answers this question in an article he wrote for BreakPoint Online called “Whatever Happened to Singing?” It’s curious, Moore writes, that “Scripture gives us no specific guidance in how to listen to music. Music, according to the Bible, is not the spectator sport we have made it to be.” Instead, we find many commands to sing.

Earlier generations of Christians sang on all sorts of occasions, Moore writes. When they were locked up in jail, Paul and Silas sang psalms. So did early Christians as they went about their chores. As Moore notes: “Celtic Christians considered singing an important spiritual discipline for making progress in the life of faith. Their spiritual descendents of the 16th to the 19th centuries wrote songs for everything from lighting the fire to milking the cows to heading out to sea. They set those songs in the form of prayers to God for blessing, guidance, and help.”

We see this point illustrated in the 1985 film WITNESS. After the barn-raising, Amish men sang together as they began walking home.

Why do so many modern Christians neglect the practice of singing spiritual songs?

First, it’s much more enjoyable to listen to professional singers than to the sound of our own voices — especially if you have a voice like mine. Second, Moore writes, “singing is hard work.” It “takes a commitment of the mind (in remembering the lyrics, melody, and beat). It takes a commitment of the heart (in summoning up the proper affections.)” It also calls on our strength “(in exercising the voice and lungs).”

It’s much easier to pop a CD in the player.

Third, most of us don’t know many spiritual songs all the way through.

But singing is good for us — which is why we ought to recover the spiritual discipline of singing to the Lord. And when learning the songs all the way through, we ought to look for opportunities to sing “the Lord’s own words back to Him.”

Moms could lead their kids in song on the drive to school in the morning. (It might even help wake them up.) Instead of turning on the TV after dinner, parents might lead their kids in some joyous singing to the Lord. This is a practice in Scotland. Just for fun, we might even dig up those songs Christians used to sing when they lit the fire and milked the cows.

Singing hymns about God’s love and protection can also provide comfort in a dangerous situation — like when a loved one is undergoing surgery, or when you’re driving during a blizzard.

As Moore puts it, “Singing psalms deepens us theologically, [and] puts us in the company of that great unseen host who have gone before us and surround us as faithful witnesses to the Lord.”

So no matter what kind of voice you have, or what day of the week it is, lift up your voice and sing praise to God Most High.

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Copyright (c) 2009 Prison Fellowship Ministries. Reprinted with permission. "BreakPoint with Chuck Colson" is a radio ministry of Prison Fellowship Ministries.

“Praise ye the LORD. 0 give thanks unto the LORD, for he is good: for his mercy endureth for ever.” (Psalms 106:1)

We are looking at the keys to Christian living. An important key to living the Christian life is the key of Praise. Every child of God should praise the Lord, and we have a lot to praise Him for. We really need to understand some things about praising God from the Bible, because there are many who are wrongly offering praise to God today. I believe that praise is being neglected in many areas today, and it is also being perverted in many areas in this day of seducing spirits and doctrines of devils. Praise to God is a method of worshipping God, and if we are to worship God, we must do as the Bible says in (John 4:23-24) where it says “But the hour cometh, and now is, when the true worshippers shall worship the Father in spirit and in truth: for the Father seeketh such to worship him. God is a Spirit: and they that worship him must worship him in spirit and in truth.” All of our worship must be in spirit; that is, from the heart spiritually, and also in truth; that is, according to Word of God as it is written in the Bible.

Now let us consider: The Meaning of Praise

Praising God means to ascribe to Him honor and glory. It means to give thanks to God in worship and thanksgiving, as Leah praised God when she gave birth to Judah in (Genesis 29-35), where it says, “And she conceived again, and bare a son: and she said, Now will I praise the LORD: therefore she called his name Judah and left bearing.” So, to praise God means that we give Him glory and honor with thankful and grateful heart.

Now, let us consider, The Object of Praise

The object of our praise is the only true and living God. In the minds of men there are many gods, but beloved, there is only one true and living God, and that is the God of the Bible. We see many people today give praise to one they call god, but their god is not the God of the Bible. The God of the Bible is the eternal, self-existent, holy, loving, righteous and just God.

The true and living God is from all eternity. He has always been, and always is. The Bible says in (Psalms 90:2) “Before the mountains were brought forth, or ever thou hadst formed the earth and the world, even from everlasting to everlasting, thou art God” And we see in (Psalms 102: 25-27) “Of old hast thou laid the foundation of the earth: and the heavens are the work of thy hands. They shall perish, but thou shalt endure: yea, all of them shall wax old like a garment; as a vesture shalt thou change them, and they shall be changed: But thou art the same, and thy years shall have no end.” So we give praise to the eternal self-existent God who has always been and always is.

We praise the God that is Omnipresent. The God of the Bible is everywhere present at the same time. God is present in all His creation, but He is in no way limited by it. God is not limited by space, time or matter. The Bible says in (Psalms 139:7-10) “Whither shall I go from thy spirit? or whither shall I flee from thy presence? If I ascend up into heaven, thou art there: if I make my bed in hell, behold, thou art there. If I take the wings of the morning, and dwell in the uttermost parts of the sea; Even there shall thy hand lead me, and thy right hand shall hold me.” Beloved there is no place that God is not present in His essence, wisdom and knowledge. He knows all things; He sees all things. We see in (Psalms 139:1-6) “0 LORD, thou hast searched me, and known me. Thou knowest my downsitting and mine uprising, thou understandest my thought afar off. Thou compassest my path and my lying down, and art acquainted with all my ways. For there is not a word in my tongue, but, lo, 0 LORD, thou knowest it altogether. Thou hast beset me behind and before, and laid thine hand upon me. Such knowledge is too wonderful for me; it is high, I cannot attain unto it.” And we see in (Hebrews 4:12-13) “For the word of God is quick, and powerful, and sharper than any twoedged sword, piercing even to the dividing asunder of soul and spirit, and of the joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart. Neither is there any creature that is not manifest in his sight: but all things are naked and opened unto the eyes of him with whom we have to do.” This is the God that we give praise to. This is the true and living God as He is presented in the Bible.

Today we hear many celebrities, sports figures, and even some religious leaders giving praise to God for their many talents and accomplishments. But they live an ungodly life-style. They commit adultery, fornication, use drugs and liquor. I have even seen them hold up their glasses of liquor before God and give Him thanks for their victories and accomplishments. But their god is not the God of the Bible. The God that is presented in the Bible says. “Thou shalt not commit adultery” (Romans 13:9); “Flee fornication” (I Corinthians 6:18); “Woe unto them that rise up early in the morning, that they may follow strong drink; that continue until night, till wine inflame them! And the harp, and the viol, the tabret, and pipe, and wine, are in their feasts: but they regard not the work of the LORD, neither consider the operation of his hands.” (Isaiah 5:11-12); and in (I Corinthians 6:9-10) it says, “Know ye not that the unrighteous shall not inherit the kingdom of God? Be not deceived: neither fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor effeminate, nor abusers of themselves with mankind, Nor thieves, nor covetous, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor extortioners, shall inherit the kingdom of God.” You see, Beloved, the god these people are praising is not the God of the Bible. It is an imaginary god that they have conceived in their minds to fit their life-style. Therefore, their god is not the true and living God, but an idol god that cannot save them from the wrath and condemnation of the true and living God, in whom they will one day stand before and give an account of their lives to.

The true Christian gives praise to the God of glory, a holy and just God, who is righteous in all that He does. We praise the God who has created all things, who has so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son to die on the cross of Calvary for the sin of the world. The sin of the world is unbelief. It is rejecting and rebelling against God’s Word. Because of this sin, mankind lives a sinful life in the sight of God. The reason people behave the way they do is because of this little three letter word “sin.” People lie, steal, commit adultery, commit fornication, kill, because they are sinners. The root problem with mankind is not because of bad environment or bad social conditions, but because of sin. People sin because they have the sin nature within them. (Ephesians 2:2-3) “Wherein in time past ye walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that now worketh in the children of disobedience: Among whom also we all had our conversation in times past in the lusts of our flesh, fulfilling the desires of the flesh and of the mind; and were by nature the children of wrath, even as others.” And in (Romans 3: 10-12) it says “As it is written, There is none righteous, no, not one: There is none that understandeth, there is none that seeketh after God They are all gone out of the way, they are together become unprofitable; there is none that doeth good, no, not one.” Sin is the cause of mankind’s behavior. It is the cause for the great gulf of separation between God and man. But the Lord Jesus Christ is the answer for the sin question. He is the bridge over this great gulf. He is the “Lamb of God that taketh away the sin of the world.” God gave His only begotten Son to die for the sin of the world. In Him we can find salvation. In the Lord Jesus Christ we find the way, the truth, and the life. We find the way to God, the truth of God in all things, and the eternal life that is ours now and forever, when we put our trust in Him.

Beloved, this is the God we give praise to. The loving, merciful, just and righteous God that is pictured in the Bible. We need to come back to this great Bible truth. Today, in this modern age, the church world has taken a wrong path that will lead to destruction. They are giving praise to the wrong god, who is really not a god.

Having the key of peace with God, and the key of prayer, we also use the key of praise to the true and living God, who has saved us and is keeping us. What a joy it is to give praise to God who spared not His Son, but gave Him up freely for us, that we might have eternal life, and the inheritance of the Holy City.

Beloved, we praise God because He is good, and His mercy endures forever. We praise Him because His merciful kindness is great toward us, and His truth endures forever. We praise the Lord because His greatness is unsearchable, His love is everlasting, His truth endures forever, His kingdom is an everlasting kingdom, His dominion endures throughout all generations, He is righteous in all His ways, holy in all His works. We praise Him because the Lord is nigh unto all them that call upon Him in truth, because He preserves all them that love Him.

We worship and praise God because He heals the broken in heart, and binds up their wounds; because He knows the number of the stars, and calls them all by their names. We praise God because He is great in power, His understanding is infinite, He lifts up the meek, He covers the heavens with clouds, prepares rain for the earth, He makes grass to grow on the mountains, and in the valleys. We praise Him because He takes pleasure in His people: He will beautify the meek with salvation.

Yes, God is to be praised by all His people. Praising God gives Him honor and glory, and this is why God has made us. When we praise God it will bring us blessings from Him because He is pleased. Our praise is to be true and from the heart. Praising God will give us strength, hope, courage, and a greater love for God. It will cause us to be more thankful for the things that God is doing for us day by day. As the last verse in the book of Psalms says, “Let everything that has breath praise the Lord. Praise ye the Lord.”

This is why we say that praise is one of the keys to living the Christian life.

Honor is a hard term to describe. It doesn’t have a color or weight or shape. If someone were to ask me what honor looked like, I’d probably struggle with what to say. But something happened on May 23, 2012 at 9:31 a.m. at Gate 38 of Reagan National Airport that might change that. A flash mob of sorts broke out. But not like you’ve seen on YouTube with highly choreographed dance numbers or people singing a song in unison. In fact, virtually all of the participants of this “flash mob” didn’t know they would be participating until moments before it happened.

Let me explain. Shortly before 9:30 over the loud speakers, a US Airways gate attendant announced that an Honor Flight of World War II veterans would be arriving momentarily and encouraged anyone passing by to help greet them. Five or six people looked like they were officially part of the welcoming committee, and the rest of the people in the secure section of the airport were regular old travelers going somewhere. Then I had a terrible thought. What if these veterans came off the plane and just those five or six individuals were there to greet them. I walked a gate over to help see the veterans out.

But – then it happened and frankly, I wasn’t expecting it. All throughout the terminal, people left their gates and gathered around gate 38. A few active military personnel in plain clothes approached the gate attendant and politely asked if they could join in the salute within the jet way as the heroes first stepped off the plane. Every human being in the terminal stood at attention and faced the door.

Someone held up an old newspaper from 1945 that had a banner headline that said, “Nazis Quit!” And when I saw that newspaper, I realized that World War II wasn’t just a chapter in a history book. It was men and women who saw an evil like the world has never seen before and traveled across the world to meet that evil. And they defeated it.

I wonder if in 1945, any of those brave soldiers could ever imagine that 67 years later, we’d still be basking in the freedom that they preserved. And some of those heroes were about to walk through Gate 38.

The first soldier walked through the door. Old, frail and needing help walking. And every person I could see in the entire airport stood and applauded. No – maybe cheered is more like it.

But here’s the thing – the applause didn’t stop. For a full 20 minutes, as veteran by veteran stepped out of the jet way, the US Airways wing of Reagan National Airport thundered in appreciation. Travelers stepped out for the opportunity to shake their hand while others held back tears.

This is the America we picture in our heads. Heroes getting a hero’s welcome and those who enjoy the freedom adequately conveying their gratitude.

Now, I know what honor looks like.