Made for gladness, made for God
How to Praise God
If you want to learn how to praise God, you are wanting a very good thing, because praise is what you were made for and, strangely, the thing that most completes your own joy. But maybe it feels awkward or unclear: what do you say, do you have to sing, does it count if you do not feel it? The Bible is warm and unfussy about this. Make a joyful noise unto the LORD, all ye lands, the psalmist calls, serve the LORD with gladness, come before his presence with singing. A joyful noise, not a perfect performance. Praise is not a talent you have to possess; it is a response you were built to give, the natural overflow of a heart that has seen how good God is. And it is for everyone, all ye lands, no exceptions, no auditions.
“Make a joyful noise unto the LORD, all ye lands.”Psalm 100:1
“Serve the LORD with gladness: come before his presence with singing.”Psalm 100:2
“Enter into his gates with thanksgiving, and into his courts with praise: be thankful unto him, and bless his name.”Psalm 100:4
“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.”Hebrews 13:15
Let's be honest about this
Let us be honest about two hesitations. The first is the feeling that praise is fake unless you are already in the mood, but that gets it backwards. Praise is not only the expression of joy; it is often the doorway into it. The psalmists frequently command their own souls to praise before the feeling arrives, and the feeling follows the obedience. The second hesitation is the worry that praising God is beneath a dignified adult, a bit much, a bit emotional. But praise is simply telling the truth about someone who deserves it out loud, which we do all the time for a sunset, a song, a team we love. We praise what we enjoy; praise is the completion of our joy in a thing. To withhold it from the most praiseworthy Being in existence is not maturity; it is a strange muteness in the presence of glory.
Where the joy actually comes from
So how, practically, do you praise God? Psalm 100 gives a whole pattern. Come before his presence with singing; you can sing, hum, or simply speak, alone in the car or with the gathered church. Enter into his gates with thanksgiving, and into his courts with praise; begin by naming what He has done, His specific gifts and rescues, and let thanks warm into praise. Be thankful unto him, and bless his name; praise His character, not just His deeds, who He is, good, faithful, merciful, holy. For the LORD is good, his mercy is everlasting, and his truth endureth to all generations; ground your praise in His unchanging goodness so it does not depend on your day. You can praise with words, with song, with lifted hands, with a quiet heart, with your work and your obedience. By him therefore let us offer the sacrifice of praise to God continually, the fruit of our lips. The form is free. The direction is everything: turn your gladness toward God and speak it.
Jesus, the joy of the world
And here is what makes Christian praise overflow: we do not praise a distant, unknown deity but the God who came near in Jesus and gave Himself for us. Every reason to praise God finds its brightest focus at the cross and the empty tomb, where the love we are praising went to the very end for us. When Jesus rode into Jerusalem and the crowds erupted in praise, some told Him to silence them, and He said, if these should hold their peace, the stones would immediately cry out. Praise is that fitting, that necessary; if people will not give it, the rocks will. So do not hold your peace. Let the God who made you, sought you, and saved you in Christ hear the joyful noise you were created to make. Praise Him, and find that your own joy is completed in the giving of it.
Who is Jesus? · Begin with Jesus · Ask someone to pray with you
Questions people ask
Do I have to sing to praise God?
No. Singing is one beautiful way to praise, and the Psalms encourage it, but praise is essentially telling the truth about God with gladness, and that can be spoken, prayed, written, expressed in lifted hands or a quiet heart, and even lived out in your work and obedience. Psalm 100 invites a joyful noise from all lands, not a polished performance from trained singers. What matters is that your gladness is genuinely turned toward God.
What if I don't feel like praising God?
Praise is often the doorway into the feeling rather than the result of it. The psalmists regularly command their own souls to bless the Lord before any emotion shows up, and the feeling frequently follows the choice. Start by naming what God has done and who He is, out loud if you can. You are telling the truth about Him whether or not the emotion is present yet, and very often the heart catches up to the words.
How do I praise God in daily life, not just at church?
Weave it through the day: thank Him by name for specific gifts, speak or sing His praise in the car or the kitchen, offer your ordinary work as worship done for Him, and let your obedience and kindness be a kind of praise in action. Scripture speaks of offering the sacrifice of praise continually, the fruit of our lips. Praise is less an event than a direction, a heart continually turned toward God in the middle of ordinary things.