Praise Is Comely
Praise is comely for the upright. Praise is suited to the upright. That is, people expect to see an upright person praising the Lord. When you’re not upright, you’re uptight, and praise isn’t comely. More importantly, God is looking for your praise to be comely. That is, your praise should have a pleasing appearance to God.
Praise is comely:
When you praise God with your whole heart, Ps 9:1. We have a tendency to be half-hearted about some things of the Lord that we ought to be doing whole heartedly. Then Lord knows if your heart is in it or not. When you praise the Lord, let him know that you know he is worthy to be praised.
The Charismatics have made a vain show of praising the Lord. They seem more like the wooing, cheering crowds at a concert. That’s flesh; that’s not the heart. And we have a tendency to tone it down because we don’t want to look like “them”. Don’t be afraid to openly praise the Lord. David did when he danced before the ark. His praise was to the Lord and not to men.
When you praise God with your song, Ps 28:7. When we sing here, we have the opportunity to truly praise the Lord and lift him up with our voices. Our minds should be fully concentrating on the words of the songs we’re singing. And we should be totally engrossed in thoughts about the Lord. Sing out. I have been in churches where the congregational song service is like singing in the choir. Everybody is singing out and singing in parts. I remember the first time I went to a service in Florida. When I opened the door to the auditorium during the first hymn, you could tell, beyond the shadow of a doubt, that the Holy Spirit was present in that service.
When you praise God in the congregation, Ps. 22:22, 25. If you can’t praise God in here among his saints, it’s going to be impossible for you to praise him out there among the heathen.
Sometimes our praises are just announcements of something good going on in our lives. Some of these things can be a little hard to attribute to the Lord’s doing.
Likewise, some people praise the Lord to be heard or seen. Their expressions are not so much directed to the Lord as they are to the crowd that’s around them. Don’t get caught in this charade.
Praise the Lord for something everyone can tell is the Lord’s doing. He’s the one who should get all the praise. He’s the one who does good.
When you praise God continually, Ps 34:1, Ps 35:28. Furthermore, church is not the only place you should openly praise the Lord. His praise ought to be on your lips from the beginning of each day until the time you lay your head down to sleep at night. You and I shouldn’t be ashamed to give glory to God “out there” where people might look at us funny for praising God. Don’t worry about what they think. Only concern yourself with what God thinks. And if it’s appropriate to praise the Lord for something he’s done, then let the heathen know it is he who has done it. Perhaps your testimony will be the very thing that will help them to know he’s real.