Staying On The Path With Praise & Worship

According to good ole Merriam-Webster, praise is defined as 'to proclaim the glory of'.  And, worship is defined as 'to offer honor or respect to'. 

Praise is expressing thanks and gratitude for what He has done.  This is usually done in songs, music and words.  For example:  Psalm 9:2 says, "I will be glad and rejoice in thee: I will sing praise to thy name, O thou most High".  In Psalm 33:2, it says, "Praise the LORD with harp: sing unto him with the psaltery [and] an instrument of ten strings". And Hebrews 13:15 says, "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.

Worship is the action we take to acknowledge Him for who He is.  It is a lifestyle.  How we live our life needs to show honor and respect to Him.  Some examples of how worship is used in the Word of God are:  In 1 Chronicles 16:29 "Give unto the LORD the glory [due] unto his name: bring an offering, and come before him: worship the LORD in the beauty of holiness."  In Psalm 29:2, it says, "Give unto the LORD the glory due unto his name; worship the LORD in the beauty of holiness."  And in Psalm 95:6 "O come, let us worship and bow down: let us kneel before the LORD our maker."

Psalm 138:2 says, "I will worship toward thy holy temple, and praise thy name for thy lovingkindness and for thy truth: for thou hast magnified thy word above all thy name".  Back in Old Testament times, the priests were the only ones allowed into the temple.  Everyone else would face the temple (where the spirit of God dwelt in the Holy of Holies) to worship. Today, we look to Jesus and towards Him we direct our worship, honor and respect.  This verse also says that I will "praise thy name for thy lovingkindness and for thy truth".  We praise him for his kindness, goodness and faithfulness.  Above all we can praise Him for His truth - the Word of God.  Without this "roadmap" for our journey down this path called life, where would we be?

Praise and Worship are very important attributes of a Child of God.  Why?  Read in Romans 1:21..."Because that, when they knew God, they glorified Him not as God, neither were thankful; but became vain in their imaginations, and their foolish heart was darkened". When we do not worship and praise God, other things creep into our lives and can distract us and detour us from the path God has set before us.  God has a plan for each of our lives.  He has laid out a path before us to follow.  The "roadmap" to that path is the Word of God.  To stay on the path of righteousness, we must keep worship and praise an active part of our life.