Praise the Lord!
Praise God in his sanctuary;
praise him in his mighty heavens!
Praise him for his mighty deeds;
praise him according to his excellent greatness!
Praise him with trumpet sound;
praise him with lute and harp!
Praise him with tambourine and dance;
praise him with strings and pipe!
Praise him with sounding cymbals;
praise him with loud clashing cymbals!
Let everything that has breath praise the Lord!
Praise the Lord!
The Psalmist calls on everyone to praise God at all times and in all places. Here too we find that music can play a role on our worship, something which only a few Christian sects seem to ignore. Music is very helpful in assisting us in worship for it conveys a tone of emotion appropriate to our mood and can heighten our sense of thankfulness for what the Lord has done. That means music can help us feel gladness and joy when even when we are down or anxious. Music can also convey the gravity and seriousness that we should maintain when in the presence of Almighty God. It is not fitting to be overly familiar with Him since He is so holy and awesome that we cannot but feel humbled when we meet with Him.
As with all worship, praise is not just repeating “I praise you” or “Hallelujah” or other such words over and over again. They are appropriate as refrains or as a chorus, but as we see here and in all of the other Psalms, we praise God as we specifically recall, list and meditate upon all of His mighty deeds as well as His greatness as exemplified by His attributes and character. Worship, after all, is not about us or our feelings. Worship is centered on God’s worth. As we do that our mood will change because we will be in His very presence. Our response will be in the form of a wide range of emotions and will result in acts and deeds that show our love and commitment to Him.