PRAISE YE THE LORD!

Seventh-day Adventist Publishing Association · Battle Creek, Mich. · April 22, 1880

FromThe Advent Review and Sabbath Herald, Vol. 55, No. 17

PRAISE YE THE LORD!

So exclaims the psalmist more than one hundred times. There is, perhaps, no injunction more often repeated in the Bible. But is it not most often neglected?

Praise is more than giving thanks. The latter may be done in the heart, in secret; the former implies a more open and public act; for it means to commend, applaud, to extol in words or song, to glorify on account of excellence of character or perfection of works.

We should praise the Lord,—

1. As a commendation of the religion of Christ.

In religion, as in other matters, men always look for the best, and they judge of the quality of religion by its effects upon its professors. A gloomy, morose, unbelieving, complaining Christian, if we may use such a contradiction of terms, only repels the sinner, and reproaches his own cause; while he who is cheerful and hopeful, whose heart overflows with gratitude, and whose mouth is full of the praises of the Lord, attracts and wins.

2. Because the servants of a bad master never praise him. The wicked never praise their master, the devil. And if the servants of the Lord never praise him, they virtually say that he is a no better master, and no more worthy of commendation.

3. As a safeguard against backsliding. We believe it would be just as impossible to backslide, continually praising the Lord, as to go into idolatry while keeping the Sabbath.

4. Because by praising the Lord we must speak of him; and it is one of the greatest evils among Christians, that they do not talk enough about Christ and his salvation.

5. Because all else praises him. Sun, moon, and stars, the heavens above, the earth beneath, sweet flowers and waving fields, the cattle on a thousand hills, and songsters in a thousand groves, all praise continually their Maker; and the great deep lifts up its voice on high to celebrate the praise of Him who holds the waters in the hollow of his hand. Amid all the wonders and glories of creation, showing forth the excellence of God's wisdom, and the might of his power, man, who of all else has most reason to praise him, man, alone, suffers his heart to be dead, and his lips to be silent to the praise of the King, the Lord of hosts. This ought not so to be with any; and that it should be so with Christians, is a fearful inconsistency.

We have enough for which to praise him. This beautiful world—beautiful even beneath the blighting footfall of the curse—fitted up for our abode, and life given us with its infinite possibilities, and if we so choose, an unending future; a Saviour to cleanse from sin, and open before us the path of life; the Bible, a lamp from Heaven to guide us through the gloom; the companionship of those of kindred faith and hope; health; home; supplies for all our wants; a location in a land of civilization and freedom; the light of truth; the privilege of prayer; and the blessings of the Holy Spirit;—all from the hand of our bountiful Father in Heaven. And if we are sick, we can still praise him; for we know that he chastens us for our good; if we are poor, such he has chosen to be heirs of the kingdom; if we are afflicted by persecutions, those light afflictions are working out an eternal weight of glory; if men deprive us even of life itself, they have but interfered with the shadowy and temporary, they cannot touch the real and eternal which opens in dazzling prospect before every Christian. No man's lot is so hard that it might not be harder, and he may still praise God that he has not gone down to that deeper depth. And so from all, in every place and in every station, the seeming favorite of fortune, in the midst of peace and plenty, or the martyr amid the consuming flames, the voice of praise may rise, on the good and sufficient basis of mercies received, and greater good to come.

He who does not praise God, shows that he has settled down and gone to sleep. The bird on the nest does not sing. The lark pours forth its song, it is said, when it is mounting upward, not when it is coming down.

And finally, all the denizens of the world to come, will find their highest employ in praising in perfect strains the great Author of life and all its blessings. We reach the time at last when there will be no discordant or jarring note in all the universe. Every ungrateful and rebellious heart shall be still in death, and every disloyal and blasphemous tongue shall be hushed in silence. If, then, praise is to be so prominent a feature of our employ in the future world, we had better begin to exercise ourselves a little in this direction here. Better learn the trade somewhat before we are called upon to put it in such exercise. If we do not, it appears extremely doubtful whether we shall ever have the opportunity. The idea of a sudden transition from a life of murmuring, repining, or even silence here, to the rapturous praise of the redeemed, does not seem consistent nor reasonable. Let silent, inactive professors, who think more of the favor of the world than of the blessing of God, more of their ease than of the prayer-meeting, take heed. If Christ is in the heart, his praises will come forth. As water bursts spontaneously from the mountain spring, to vivify and freshen all around, so will thanksgiving and praise flow from every loving heart, and we shall scarcely need one to say to us now, more than in the rapture of the final triumph, “Praise ye the Lord.” As we cannot praise him too much, it is certain that we do not praise him enough. Take your harps from the willows, despondent pilgrims. Salvation is full and free. Victory is at hand. Begin the life of praise now, and thus prepare for that time when not a note shall be heard in all the universe which is not in accord with the psalmist's words, “Praise ye the Lord.”