Christian Counsel_ Question: I like to give praise dancing. I heard that God answers and blesses us through praise. Then, what kind of praise is God pleased with?
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November 11, 2012 |
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 Manmin Central Church's 30th Anniversary Celebration Performance
Answer
'Praise' is the expression of respect, honor, and thanks to God. In the same manner, praise in the Bible also refers to the representation of God's glory, dignity, and all His works through a variety of ways such as psalms, songs, instrumental performance, dance, and men's words and deeds.
Psalm 150:3-5 reads, "Praise Him with trumpet sound; praise Him with harp and lyre. Praise Him with timbrel and dancing; praise Him with stringed instruments and pipe. Praise Him with loud cymbals; praise Him with resounding cymbals." This passage tells us to praise God with dance and various instruments.
The worldly songs contain no life, so singing them doesn't give you blessings in your businesses or workplaces. It doesn't let you lead a healthy and happy life, either. But our praise offered up to worship God and glorify Him contains life, so it gives us joy in our lives and causes our souls to prosper. It also leads to abundant blessings.
The Bible tells us in many passages to glorify God with praises. God formed us to let us glorify Him as read in Romans 11:36 and 1 Corinthians 10:31. He also saved us from death to life and He is enthroned upon the praises(Psalm 22:3).
As you can see, God is worthy to receive our praises. Then, let's look into the two aspects of praises that delight God.
God Delights in Praise that Contains Hope for Heaven, Joy, and Thanks
There are different genres of praises: praise of repentance, praise for our God-given duties, praise of hope for Heaven, and the like.
The praise of repentance is offered up with mourning in distress when we lose fullness of the Spirit by living outside of the Word of God and committing sins. Another type of praise is the one we offer up to fulfill our God-given duties well. There is also praise offered with hope for Heaven, joy, and thanks. God delights in this kind of praise that you give Him with hope, joy, and thanks. This is a true praise of life.
Acts Chapter 16 talks about Paul and Silas. They preached Jesus Christ earnestly. In the end, they were beaten with rods and thrown into the inner prison with their feet fastened in the stocks. But in the prison they were praying and singing hymns of praise to God. The praise had hope for Heaven and thanks for letting them persecuted for the glory of God. Right then, God let the doors of the prison open and their chains unfastened. He even led the family of a jailer to salvation through this incident.
God is alive for sure so He will surely give you answers when you joyfully praise Him with hope fixed on Heaven and thanks to Him.
Furthermore, some people praise from the bottom of their hearts and the work in their praise is alive, while others, although their voices are beautiful, just praise with their lips in formality.
No matter how beautiful the voices are, if the praise doesn't have the aroma of their hearts, God doesn't accept it. Only when we praise Him with hope for Heaven, with all our hearts, will, and strength, and with love for Him will He then receive the praise joyfully. Of course, if we have both such a heart and a beautiful voice, it will be the best of praise.
God Delights in Praise that Is Offered up with All Your Heart
The praise that is offered up with all our hearts should be holy and blameless. God has no defect and no spot, and He is holy and He is love itself. We, as His children, should praise Him with a holy and clean heart that has no evil at all and with overflowing love for Him. Our outer appearance also should be clean and tidy.
And the praise with hearts is the one prepared with prayer. Just like we need thorough preparation for something in advance to achieve it, we also need heartfelt preparation to give more beautiful and gracious praises to God. Above all preparations, prayer is a top priority. Only when we pray can we rejoice always and give thanks. Moreover, if we give fiery prayer we can enjoy peace always and achieve holiness by getting rid of the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the boastful pride of life. Then, we can offer up God-pleasing praise to Him.
Also, praise of hearts is offered up in the Spirit's inspiration. Praise should give grace to listeners and move their hearts. To do so, the praise givers must receive the inspiration of the Spirit first. Only then can they give praise full of emotion with their hearts and God will accept it joyfully.
God-pleasing praise fills people with the Holy Spirit, allows for their souls to be satisfied, and changes their lives. It is a comfort to people in sorrow (Psalm 105:2-3), it heals a broken heart (1 Samuel 16:23), and it helps ones overcome every hardship. It also causes us to receive God's help (Acts 16:25-26), prevents us from being put to shame in any circumstance (Joel 2:26), and helps us receive answer to our heart desires. Through the praise, we can enjoy a lot of blessings.
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