Christian Living

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Traditionally in Christianity when we see the word ‘praise’ we think of fast songs, or when we see the word ‘worship’ we think of slow songs, but is this Biblical? Let’s start off by having a close look at the word ‘praise’ in the Hebrew. Did you know that there are at least seven main Hebrew words for ‘praise’, and each has its own individual descriptive function? The English language falls short when it comes to describing Biblical praise, so let’s have a look into the Hebrew to unlock a much deeper understanding of the word ‘praise’.

1/ Praise=(strongs) H1288=Baw-rak (English equivalent)=to kneel and bow in worship.

2/ Praise=(strongs) H3034=yaw-daw (English equivalent)=literally to use the hand; especially to revere in worship with extended hands.

3/ Praise=(strongs) H8426=to-daw (English equivalent)=properly an extension of the hand, especially a procession of worshippers or choir, confession, thanksgiving

4/ Praise=(strongs) H2167=zaw-mar (English equivalent)=properly to touch strings or parts of a musical instrument.

5/ Praise=(strongs) H7623=shaw-bakh’ (English equivalent)=properly to address in a loud tone, specifically loud, in words, commend, glory, keep in, praise, still, triumph

6/ Praise=(strongs) H1984=haw-lal’ (English equivalent)=originally of sound, but usually of colour, to shine, hence to make a show, to boast; and thus to be clamorously foolish;

7/ Praise=(strongs) H8416=teh-hil-law (English equivalent)=laudation; specifically a hymn:

As we can see, there are many different types of praise. We can be kneeling or bowing to God in worship. We can be revering God with our extended hands and even without music we can still be praising God. Those that play musical instruments even without singing are still ‘praising’ (zaw-mar) God, and when we simply cry out to God with a loud and triumphant voice we are praising. My favourite is haw-lal’ to be like David as the Ark of the Covenant was brought in. He was clamorously foolish for God, he didn’t care what anyone thought of him; not even his wife as he danced and made a show before his God. Now some of you may be thinking, ‘hey that’s good for you, but I’m not really like that’. However, I am going to show you that God has created us all to interact like this with Him. Don’t let pride and the fear of man stop you from being free in your praise and worship unto God. The Bible tells us ‘where the spirit of the Lord is there is freedom’ (2 Cor 3:17).

Psalms 66:4 All the earth shall worship thee, and shall sing unto thee; they shall sing to thy name. Selah.

Psalms 96:1 O sing unto the LORD a new song: sing unto the LORD, all the earth.

Psalms 98:4 Make a joyful noise unto the LORD, all the earth: make a loud noise, and rejoice, and sing praise.

Rev Dorian Ballard tells Christians ‘if your loud then be loud, and if your quiet then be loud’. As funny as it sounds it’s actually Biblical correct. God desires all of us to praise, rejoice and be loud at times for our God; he desires “all the earth” to be this way; and that means you! Another thing that I want to cover when it comes to praise, worship and music in the Biblical church;

Col 3:16 Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly in all wisdom; teaching and admonishing one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing with grace in your hearts to the Lord.

Notice here, that praise & worship is not the only reason we have psalms, hymns and spiritual songs in church. Songs that we sing in church are supposed to be full of the Word of God. They are designed to “teach” and “admonish” (warn) the Saints. Unfortunately we don’t see a lot of teaching and warning from either the pulpit or through song today. Many song writers today only pick scriptures from the Bible that don’t offend or tell Christians their duties in Christ, hence another reason we have an over balanced false “new age” type of love and grace in a lot of the western church today. We need songs that are full of the Word, songs that will help us learn doctrine, reproof, correction, and instruction in righteousness (2 Tim 3:16). The church needs the full council of God proclaimed continuously within it; the goodness of God AND the severity of God (Rom 11:22). Not only do we need it preached from the pulpit, but we need it back in our churches through song. You won’t have to read the psalms for long to realize David wrote some pretty heavy stuff; it wasn’t all rainbows and lollypops, and these psalms were often put to music and sung in the congregations. It’s time Christians started to get back on the Bible with their Christianity. Finally I want to leave you with a quote from the late John Wesley: (Directions for congregational Singing) “
Sing all. See that you join with the congregation as frequently as you can. Let not a slight degree of weakness or weariness hinder you. If it is a cross to you, take it up, and you will find a blessing. Sing lustily, and with a good courage. Beware of singing as if you were half dead, or half asleep; but lift up your voice with strength. Be no more afraid of your voice now, nor more ashamed of its being heard, than when you sung the songs of Satan. Above all, sing spiritually. Have an eye to God in every word you sing. Aim to pleasing Him more than yourself, or any other creature. In order to do this, attend strictly to the sense of what you sing; and see that your heart is not carried away with the sound, but offered to God continually; so shall your singing be such as the Lord will approve of here, and reward when he cometh in the clouds of heaven.”

Remember, to let your life be a song unto God. Praise and worship God with all your heart, soul and strength in your everyday life with your everyday actions and be Blessed

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