Friday, March 28

The Percentage of Praise in Our Prayers

Friday, March 28

Psalm 103:1

I suspect that most people don’t think of Luther as a man associated with “praise.” But Luther would often include “praise” in his teaching, certainly more than I typically do. For example, when teaching the Second Commandment, “You shall not misuse the name of the Lord your God,” Luther gave this explanation: “We should fear and love God so that we do not curse, swear, use satanic arts, lie, or deceive by His name, but call upon it in every trouble, pray, praise, and give thanks.” (Luther’s Small Catechism, p. 67)

As we pray, if we mentioned “praise” as often as we mentioned God’s name, we would certainly be doing and giving more praise than we typically do in our prayers.

In a way, praise is hard to define. Sometimes the word comes from the Hebrew word “Baruch” which means “bless.” That typically means invoking God’s name to bring some spiritual blessing, strength, forgiveness, or goodness to another. But that word also can simply mean “thanks.”

Another word also used for “praise” is actually the name of one of the tribes of Israel. This is what one of the lectionaries says about that word: “The Hebrew verb ‘yadah’ primarily means to express gratitude or praise, often directed toward God. It encompasses the act of giving thanks, confessing, and acknowledging God’s character and deeds. In the context of worship, ‘yadah’ involves a heartfelt expression of reverence and adoration, often accompanied by physical gestures such as raising hands.” (Brown-Driver-Briggs) In most English Bibles, if the word is not translated “praise,” it is translated by the name of the tribe: “Judah.”

The word praise is not frequently mentioned in the Old Testament – that is until we get to the book of Psalms! Used only 3 times in Genesis, it is used over 150 times in the Psalms! And it is used with greater frequency as the Psalms move toward their conclusion.

The Psalms are often described as a prayer book. And so, proportionally, praise is mentioned at least once in each of the 150 chapters of Psalms. That is a lot of praise!

When we praise God, we give thanks for all He is, all He does, all He has created – and especially His redemption. We do remember that Jesus came from the tribe of Judah. Deuteronomy 10:21 says, “He is your praise, and He is your God…. ” Proportionally, the more we are praying to Christ, the more we are praising God!

David prioritized praise – especially in the Psalms – and in his own life! He would write that everything within him would be focused on praise: