PRAISE vs. WORSHIP And The SACRIFICE of Praise

 PRAISE vs. WORSHIP And The Sacrifice of Praise

 

We often use the terms ‘praise’ and ‘worship’ interchangeably – yet there is a difference between the two.

Praise is mentioned in the Bible numerous times.  The word ‘Praise’ translated from the Hebrew can have different meanings.

 

Sometimes. Praise (H2167 za’mar) can mean – striking with the fingers, to touch the strings or parts of a musical instrument; to play upon; to make music, accompanied by the voice; hence to celebrate in song and music.

For this definition, you will usually find the word ‘sing’ accompanying the word ‘praise’ as in these Psalms….

Psalm 33:2 - Praise the LORD with harp; sing unto Him with the Psaltery
and an instrument of ten strings.

Psalm 147:7 – Sing unto the LORD with thanksgiving; sing praise upon the harp unto our God:

Psalm 149:3 – Let them praise His name in the dance: let them sing praises unto Him with the timbrel and harp.

God wants us to not only praise Him by singing songs and playing instruments, He also desires us to praise Him with a dance.

Most people think of ‘dance’ as the kind they do on the dancefloor while lustful and sensual songs are played. Some religions use dance as a form of worship to false gods.  But God originally created a pure undefiled dance to Him as a means to praise Him.  

Miriam the Prophetess, sister of Aaron and Moses, took a timbrel in her hands and led the women in dancing to celebrate God triumphing over their enemies and drowning Pharoah’s army in the sea. (Exodus 15:20)

In other passages, Praise (H8416 tehillah) may mean – laudation; specifically a hymn.

Nehemiah 12:46 – For in the days of David and Asaph of old there were chief of the singers, and songs of praise and thanksgiving unto God.

Psalm 22:3 – But Thou art holy, O Thou that inhabitest the praises of Israel.

When we begin to sing hymns that praise our God, He comes down and resides in the midst of it. It is pleasing to His ears and touches His heart.

Many times, Praise (H1984 halal) will mean – to boast; be clamorously foolish; to celebrate; to rave, to make or feign oneself mad.

This is the same word used when describing David when he was running for his life from King Saul.  He came to the King of Gath but was afraid they would harm him as well or maybe deliver him over to Saul so he pretended to be insane (he feigned himself mad).  It worked.  They let him go and he was able to escape to a cave. (1 Samuel 21:10-22:1)

Just a few chapters later, David again acted like a mad man.  This time it wasn’t an attempt to save his life but rather to praise God for bringing the Ark back to Israel.  David danced (whirled) before the LORD with all his might.  (2 Samuel 6:14-15)  They shouted (H8643 meaning: they made a loud noise, an acclimation of joy similar to a battle cry).  They blew the trumpet. It was a huge celebration. 

David did not look dignified as he leapt and danced before the LORD, but he did not care. The LORD was worthy to be praised for what He had done.

Praise is not meant to be quiet.  It can be with instruments.  It can be with song.  It can be with a shout.  It can be with a dance.  It can be with leaping for joy, just as David did. 

The world acts crazy and wild for a ball game or concert and most everyone does not think anything odd about them. In fact, they applaud them, or join in, and even proudly post it on social media.  BUT… if anyone gets a little excited and exuberant in Church, they are looked at as strange and sometimes labeled as being crazy or a cult.

This particular word for Praise (Halal) is the word that is found throughout Psalm 150. (Halal meaning: to boast; be clamorously foolish; to celebrate; to rave, to make or feign oneself mad)….

PRAISE (Halal) ye the LORD. 
PRAISE God in His Sanctuary.
PRAISE Him in the firmament (expanse) of His power.
PRAISE Him for His mighty acts:
PRAISE Him according to His excellent greatness.
PRAISE Him with the sound of the trumpet.
PRAISE Him with the psaltery and harp.
PRAISE Him with the timbrel AND DANCE.
PRAISE Him with stringed instruments and organs.
PRAISE Him upon the LOUD cymbals:
PRAISE Him upon the HIGH SOUNDING CYMBALS (H8643 – a loud noise, an acclimation of joy similar to a battle cry. The SHOUT David gave when bringing the Ark back).
LET EVERYTHING THAT HATH BREATH PRAISE THE LORD!
PRAISE ye the LORD!

The type of Praise mentioned here in Psalm 150 does not sound like quiet praise.  It doesn’t sound like Praise you can fall asleep in the middle of.  This sounds like a celebration praise!  This sounds like people were on their feet, leaping, dancing, shouting, and making all sorts of clamorous noise with instruments and their voice. 

God is worthy and deserves this type of praise!

 

WORSHIP is far deeper….

Worship (H7812 shachah) means: to depress, to bow, to stoop, humbly beseech, to prostrate yourself before.

 

Worship is an act of humility. It is humbling oneself before God.
 

Genesis 24:26 – And the man bowed down his head, and worshipped the LORD.

 

Genesis 24:52 – …when Abraham’s servant heard their words, he worshipped the LORD, bowing himself to the earth.

 

Nehemiah 8:6 – And Ezra blessed the LORD, the great God.  And all the people answered, Amen, Amen, with lifting up their hands: and they bowed their heads, and worshipped the LORD with their face to the ground.

 

We are to worship (humble ourself before God) in the beauty (decoration) of holiness. (1 Chron 16:29 + Psalm 29:2) Holy living is beautiful before God.  He is a holy God and requires holiness from us. (Lev 11:44-45; 20:7)

 

2 Chronicles 20 - When Moab and Ammon came to fight against the Israelites, they became fearful and all of Judah. They asked help from the LORD and began to seek Him. They didn’t know what to do except turn their eyes to the LORD. He was their only help.  

 

The first thing they did was FAST.  Then, everyone fell before the LORD and worshipped – they weren’t pleading for help.  They were WORSHIPPING. When you are facing a problem that you don’t see any way out of, WORSHIP and see what God will do.

 

Next, the Levites stood up and began to PRAISE the LORD God of Israel with a LOUD voice.  They appointed SINGERS that went BEFORE the army (PRAISE was leading the fight).  The Bible says that WHEN they began to SING and to PRAISE, the LORD set ambushments against their enemies.  

 

Praise is more of an outward and exuberant act like a celebration.  Praise is something that is easy to give when things are going good and God is answering prayers.

 

While worship is more reverent and an act of humbling and bowing ourselves before God.

 

And then there is THE SACRIFICE OF PRAISE…. 

 

This is something so much deeper.  This is praise offered up when you feel like hanging your harp upon the willow because your heart is so heavy, broken, and grieving.

Hebrews 13:15 - By Him therefore let us offer the SACRIFICE OF PRAISE to God continually, that is, the fruit of our lips giving thanks to His name.

 

Have you ever been through a trial so intense that the night seemed endless and that your sorrow and trial will never end? 

 

You've held on tightly to hope but wonder ‘when will morning come?’ 

You try to smile despite the pain but it never feels quite genuine. 

 

The Bible says in Psalm 30:5… ...Weeping may endure for a night,
but joy cometh in the morning.

 

In life, you will go through things at times that literally knocks the breath out of you. 

 

I liken the things we experience in life to a roller coaster.  Some people love roller coasters.  Me, personally, I detest them.  I prefer the smooth, safe rides that don’t make me sick and leave me with my head spinning once it’s over.

But life is a lot like a roller coaster ride with its ups and downs, twists and jerky curves, hurling you upside down in loop-the-loops, then plunging you rapidly downward, and then slowly back up a hill again, only to repeat the unexpected twists, spirals and turns that send your heart racing and cause you to grip the bars of the roller coaster more tightly.

 

You wonder if you will survive the roller coaster of life or if things will ever get better.  But, you will and they will.  

 

The Bible comforts us in that same verse with these words….But Joy cometh in the morning!

 

It may not feel like it at the moment, but your trial, your sorrow, the darkness of night will only endure for a little while.  

 

It can't last forever.  It may feel like it will just as rain seems to be endless at times.  It rains and rains and then it rains some more.  Then we have a short reprieve only to have more rain come our way. 

 

We slosh through the mud and puddles, trying our best not to track it into our cars, our homes, or the church, but it’s inevitable.  The rain and mud eventually get tracked everywhere despite the best of efforts to stop it.   It can be cleaned up but it’s another frustration to deal with and can end up affecting our mood.

 

In the same way, the things we deal with in life (problems, trials, situations, etc) end up bleeding into areas of life that we try to prevent it from affecting, especially when the trial seems to last longer than we want. 

 

As the trial seems to linger endlessly, you may find yourself becoming more agitated as the things you’re dealing with seem to grate like sandpaper.  You may even find yourself being more irritable than you normally would.

 

We need to keep in mind is that the trials are not meant to make us rougher, but rather to toughen us up so we can withstand the fiery darts of the enemy and also to smooth out any rough blemishes that may be in our heart or mind.

 

We need to pliable as clay on the potter’s wheel and let God smooth the rough edges out of us.  It’s not easy when we’re in a storm and we fight bitterness and resentment over the situation we may be in….especially if it’s not from our own doing.

 

I was in a storm after my first husband passed.  I watched as my children battled bitterness and anger toward God, not understanding why He took their dad.  I felt helpless as they drifted further and further away from God and me.

 

I couldn’t bring myself to sing.  My heart was too heavy.  I would raise my hands in Church services, but I could not seem to open my mouth to sing along with the worship songs. 

 

I felt like the Israelites did in Psalm 137 when they were carried away captive to Babylon.  They were in prison and didn’t want to sing either.  Instead, they hung their harps upon the willows.

 

I prayed but I couldn’t praise.  That’s when praise becomes a sacrifice. 

 

Merriam-webster’s definition of sacrifice means: Destruction or surrender of something for the sake of something else.

 

I had to learn to surrender my will and let my worship rise above my sorrow for the sake of my children (so they could see me worship through my pain and it would be a testimony to them). 

 

During our times of weeping in the trials and tests of the dark nights, it’s a sacrifice to offer up praise.

 

You don’t feel like praising.  You feel more like weeping.

 

Jeremiah was known as the ‘weeping prophet.’  He wrote both the books of Jeremiah and Lamentations.  Jeremiah was persecuted and imprisoned for prophesying about the coming captivity because of their idolatry and forsaking the Lord their God. 

 

He suffered much because the people and leaders did not want to hear any proclamations of doom and consequences for their sins (sounds a lot like today), yet Jeremiah wrote….

 

Jeremiah 33:11 - The voice of joy, and the voice of gladness, the voice of the bridegroom, and the voice of the bride, the voice of them that shall say,  Praise the Lord of hosts: for the Lord is good; for His mercy endureth for ever: and of them that shall bring the SACRIFICE OF PRAISE into the House of the Lord. For I will cause to return the captivity of the land,
as at the first, saith the Lord.

 

The sacrifice of praise will turn our captivity!

 

The devil knows how powerful our praise can be, especially when it is a sacrifice, so he tries to silence our worship.  But our trials and tests can be our greatest blessings because it causes us to draw closer to God.

 

I slowly began to force myself to sing when I didn’t want to sing and to worship when all I wanted to do was wallow in sorrow and cry.  It was a sacrifice for me to offer up praise, but the more I praised, the more I would begin to feel God strengthen me and lift me up out of the ashes. 

 

I found that just as the night turns into day and the sun always rises in the morning, joy will return….if we keep our eyes on Jesus!

 

Paul also knew what it was like to suffer.  He had been beaten many times, ship wrecked, stoned a couple times, bitten by a venomous snake, betrayed, lied about, he suffered hunger and cold, but through it all, he learned the importance of offering up the sacrifice of praise.

 

Hebrews 13:15 - By Him therefore let us offer the SACRIFICE OF PRAISE to God continually, that is, the fruit of our lips giving thanks to His name.

 

He admonished us to offer the sacrifice of praise CONTINUALLY.

The sacrifice of praise is the fruit that comes from our lips as we offer up thanks to the Name of Jesus for all He’s done and brought us through and will continue to bring us through.

 

God’s Word promises that the weeping will only endure for a night (it really is just a short span of time), but JOY cometh in the morning!

 

God has also promised that…. We know that ALL things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to His purpose. (Romans 8:28).

 

What the devil meant to destroy you, God can use to bring Him glory....if you allow it.

Your test will become your testimony!  Your trial will become your victory!

What was meant to destroy you will only make you stronger in Christ Jesus!

 

If you keep your eyes on Jesus, keep offering the sacrifice of praise, and let His perfect will be formed within you, He will work all things together for good.

 

So, if you’re in a trial, keep hanging in there and offering the sacrifice of praise!  Joy will return, and the sun will shine again eventually.  

 

David penned in Psalm 30:11-12 - Thou hast turned for me my mourning into dancing: Thou hast put off my sackcloth, and girded me with gladness; To the end that my glory may sing praise to Thee, and not be silent. O Lord my God, I will give thanks unto Thee forever.

 

David had been through some intense trials, but He found God to be faithful and that the trials will not last forever.

 

For those who are in a trial, God will take off the sackcloth of sorrow and gird you once again with gladness. He will turn mourning into dancing and restore joy just as the morning dawns each day.

 

So, don’t let your praise be silent! 

 

In the good times praise Him! That’s when it’s the easiest. But remember also while in the bad times to offer to Him the Sacrifice of Praise!

 

And find a place to worship – prostrate yourself before Him.  Worship is where you go deeper in the things of God as you humble yourself before Him and place Him on the throne where He belongs.