Why we praise

Photo by Shelagh Murphy on Pexels.com

David is up and down like a yoyo all the time. But even at the end of Psalms which cry out to Yahweh for deliverance, there’s a common factor; a line about praising Yah.

So … what does this mean? Why does David praise Yahweh even when he’s being persecuted, when he’s depressed, and when he has sinned? Is he trying to appease Yah with praise? Is David simply afflicted with a case of long-term-optimism, or is he blessed with this condition?

Well, we know Yah cannot be appeased with insincere praise. In many of the Prophetic books, Yah says over and over again that Israel’s sacrifices and prayers are worth nothing to Him, and that He is sick of it because they are also worshipping false gods, and not worshipping Him with their whole heart.

Taking into account all the Psalms, we know why David praises Yahweh.

1. Yahweh is all-powerful. He is sovereign over all, and so His glory alone makes Him worthy of praise.

2. Yahweh saves. The degree to which David described His trouble is unbelievable. He describes being pursued, deceived, trapped, abandoned, and betrayed. And Yah saves him out of it all.

3. Yahweh’s law. The law is perfect, pleasing to the soul, like honey, life-bringing, everlasting. A wonderful covenant from Yah.

4. Yahweh’s love is everlasting. We have all felt the pain of some form of rejection, whether it come from our family or friends, but though mankind can be flighty, Yah always loves us.

5. Yahweh created us. He chose to bring us into being. Man was created to praise Yah! When you think about it that way, you realize just how short is the amount of time we worship in our lives. We should be praising Yah throughout the week, in addition to on the Sabbath.

And yes, instead of being afflicted with long-term-optimism, David is blessed with the above knowledge of Yah. The Hebrew word for “to know” means so much more than simply learning a certain fact. When someone “knows” someone else, it means they have an intimate understanding of the essence of the other person. Their soul. Their personality. They KNOW them inside and out.

“O Lord, thou hast searched me, and known me.”

– Psalm 139:1, KJV (italics added)

With such a relationship, David has no choice but to be delighted with how close he is to Yah. We can also strive to have such trust and knowledge of Yah, and to be a man or woman after His own heart.

But long-term optimism isn’t really a “thing”, as we would say these days, or at least it shouldn’t be. I would rather describe David’s constant delight in Yahweh as knowing that even though he was going through some tough times, he knew Yah would take care of him in the end. David knew that rough periods shape us into someone we need to be to deal with the situations we will face in life, and because he understood that it was for his good, he praised Yah.

~ Makayla

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