Even though the book of Psalms concludes with Hallelujah! to the Lord and we saw yesterday that everything that has breath is praising the Lord, what about us – do we live a life of praise? Do we praise the Lord from the very moment we wake up in the morning? Do we praise the Lord in the meetings of the church?
We need to admit that we are not there yet and praising the Lord might still be rare for us since we’re so much in our feelings, in ourselves, in our situations, etc. The Lord understands us and cares for us, and it is in His heart that we would have a genuine praise to Him in the way of life – something gradual but real!
Praising God in the assembly
In Psalm 22:22 the assembly in which the Son sings praises to the Father is the church – the Lord’s many brothers produced out of Christ’s resurrection are now the church, the Body of Christ.
Christ’s resurrection is a church-producing resurrection, and we were all begotten of God to be sons of God and members of the Body of Christ in Christ’s resurrection (1 Pet. 1:3).
In our gatherings Christ declares the Father’s name to us and He praises the Father in the church (see Heb. 2:12, note 3).
Christ takes the lead in the church to praise the Father, and the saints follow Him to praise God! Praise the Lord!
As we read the Psalms with a prayerful spirit, as we muse over the words in the Psalms, we realize that God is turning us from the law to Christ, He is bringing us from Christ to the house of God, He is enlarging us as the house to be the city of God, and from the city He is recovering the whole earth!
As we see this happening, God’s purpose is being fulfilled and we just praise the Lord!
We praise the Lord for what He is doing, and we praise the Lord not apart from Him – we are being led by the Firstborn Son of God to sing praises to the Father! Christ praises the Father in our praises – when we praise the Lord, He sings songs of praise in us!
The Firstborn Son sings praises in our praises
In Psalm 22:22-23 we see that the firstborn Son of God takes the lead to praise the Father in the midst of His brothers, the church. In the assembly – which signifies the church, the Lord’s brothers (Heb. 2:11-12) – the Son praises the Father! How can we praise the Lord? It is by exercising our spirit when we meet with the saints so that we would cooperate with Christ who sings praises to the Father!
In our praises Christ the Firstborn Son of God praises the Father! In our singing Christ the Firstborn Son of God sings songs of praise to the Father! If we sing, He sings in our singing! When we praise, He praises in our praises!
This is a matter of development and growth – we are learning to turn from our pitiful self, from our situations, and from our condition, and worship the Father by praising Him with Christ! In the church life in the meetings of the church we need to praise the Lord more and sing to Him more!
Not a “flash of praise”, something sudden that finishes as quick as it started, but a life of praising, a habit of praising the Lord, and a practice of praising the Lord in all the meetings of the church! It is our privilege and it is a great opportunity whenever we meet to deny ourselves and just praise the Lord, sing praises to Him, and worship Him!
Being perfected and led in our praising
We can all testify that this is our experience in the church life, in the meetings of the church. Heb. 2:12 is our reality – when we exercise our spirit and open our mouth to praise the Lord, on the one hand we enjoy Him and on the other hand it is Christ as the Firstborn Son of God who praises the Father in our praises!
We are being led in our praises by Christ, and as we practice singing and praising the Lord, we are being perfected in our praise! We have the clear sensation that Christ is singing to the Father and praising the Father in our singing! This is the way to grow in Him and be brought on to offer a consummate praise to God!
We praise You, Lord! Make our life be a life of praising You. No matter what happens, no matter where we are, and no matter our condition, may we learn to praise You! Perfect our praise that we may offer You a consummate praise for what You are and what You are doing. Lord, uplift our praises in the meetings. May we cooperate with the inward praising Christ to offer praises to God the Father! Praise the Lord!
References and Further Reading
- Sharing inspired from portions in the Life-study of Hebrews (msg. 12), as quoted in the Holy Word for Morning Revival on the Crystallization-Study of Psalms (2), week 24.
- Hymns on this topic:
# We are never weary singing our eternal song: / Glory to God, hallelujah!
# Sing praise to Christ Who lives in us, / The God of our salvation;
# It’s a good thing to give thanks unto the Lord / And to sing praises unto our God. - Picture source: Psalm 22:22 in a picture.
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