Meaning of PRAISE

Action of glorifying God, exalting him and blessing him especially with hymns and songs (2 Chron. 7:6; Ps. 28:7; 40:3; 95:1, 2; 149:1-3; 150), music and dance.

Praise is one of the manifestations that is frequently invited in the Bible, many of the Psalms belonging to this type of prayer.

In reality, in Scripture praise and thanksgiving are frequently found in the same movement of the soul, and on the literary level in the same texts.

God reveals himself worthy of praise for all his benefits to man. Praise comes naturally as gratitude and as a blessing for the benefits received, and the examples are numerous (Ps. 35:18; 69:31; 109:30; Ezra 3:11).

Praise and thanksgiving arouse the same outward manifestations of joy, especially in worship gatherings and where believers again and again render glory to God (Is. 42:12; Ps. 22:24; 50:23 ; Lk.

17:15-18; Acts. 11:18; Phil. 1:11; Eph. 1:6, 12, 14). Praise tends more to the person of God than to his gifts; It is very close to worship, on the path to ecstasy.

In hymns of praise God is sung because he is God. Christian praise has its essential movement in the praise of the Old Testament, but it is distinguished because it is raised by the gift of Christ Jesus, which manifests his power in the redemption of the human race and in the individual salvation of each man.

Such is the meaning of the praise of the angels and the shepherds on Christmas night (Luke 2:13-20), like the praise that Christ receives from the mouths of the multitudes after the miraculous healings (Mark 7). :36; Luke 18:43; 19:37; Acts 3:9); This is the meaning of the praise of the Jews on Palm Day, before his Passion (Mt. 21:16), and this is also the meaning of the song of the Apocalypse (Rev. 15:3).

Some fragments of primitive hymns, preserved in the letters of St. Paul, reproduce the echo of this Christian praise directed to God the Father, who has revealed the mystery of salvation in Christ Jesus (1 Tim. 3:16) and who will make Christ return glorious at the end of time (1 Tim. 6 :fifteen).

Sentiments of prayer expressing gratitude for the mystery of Christ (Phil. 2:5; Col. 1:5) and for the gift of salvation (2 Tim. 2:11) and expressing true Christian faith (Eph. 5: 14).