Praising God
If you praise God, you express your respect, honour, and thanks to God. -- Collins Dictionary
Great is the LORD, and greatly to be praised, and His greatness is unsearchable. -- Psalm 145:3 (ESV)
Praise with words
Because your steadfast love is better than life, my lips will praise you. So I will bless you as long as I live; in Your name I will lift up my hands. -- Psalm 63:3-4 (ESV)
My mouth is filled with your praise, and with Your glory all the day. -- Psalm 71:8 (ESV)
Let everything that has breath praise the LORD! Praise the LORD! -- Psalm 150:6 (ESV)
Through Him then let us continually offer up a sacrifice of praise to God, that is, the fruit of lips that acknowledge His name. -- Hebrews 13:15 (ESV)
Praise with songs
I will be glad and exult in you; I will sing praise to Your name, O Most High. -- Psalm 9:2 (ESV)
But I have trusted in Your steadfast love; my heart shall rejoice in Your salvation. I will sing to the LORD, because he has dealt bountifully with me. -- Psalm 13:5-6 (ESV)
All the earth worships you and sings praises to You; they sing praises to Your name.” Selah -- Psalm 66:4 (ESV)
Sing to God, sing praises to His name; lift up a song to Him who rides through the deserts; His name is the LORD; exult before him! Father of the fatherless and protector of widows is God in His holy habitation. -- Psalm 68:4-5 (ESV)
I will give thanks to You, O LORD, among the peoples; I will sing praises to You among the nations. -- Psalm 108:3 (ESV)
Sing praises to the LORD, for He has done gloriously; let this be made known in all the earth. -- Isaiah 12:5 (ESV)
And above all these put on love, which binds everything together in perfect harmony. And let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, to which indeed you were called in one body. And be thankful. Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly, teaching and admonishing one another in all wisdom, singing psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, with thankfulness in your hearts to God. And whatever you do, in word or deed, do everything in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him. -- Colossians 3:14-17 (ESV)
Today many modern Christian churches sing hymns:
| Strong's Concordance | |
|---|---|
| humnos | a hymn |
| Original Word | ὕμνος, ου, ὁ |
| Part of Speech | Noun, Masculine |
| Transliteration | humnos |
| Phonetic Spelling | (hoom'-nos) |
| Definition | a hymn |
| Usage | a hymn, sacred song, song of praise to God. |
The original ancient "hymns" are found in the Bible and the majority in the book of Psalm. Unfortunately the Israeli did not preserve the original melodies and there are no recording of any notes in the bible.
Therefore, some Protestant musicians wrote their own hymns for their churches:
| Period | Author | Background | Most popular hymns |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1483-1546 | Martin Luther | Lutheran | "A Mighty Fortress Is Our God" |
| 1674-1748 | Isaac Watts | Congregationalist | "Joy to the World", "O God, Our Help in Ages Past" |
| 1702-1751 | Philip Doddridge | Congregationalist | "O God, Our Help in Ages Past" |
| 1707-1788 | Charles Wesley | Methodist | "Jesus, Lover of My Soul" |
| 1725-1807 | John Newton | Anglican | "Amazing Grace" |
| 1731-1800 | William Cowper | Anglican | "There Is a Fountain Filled with Blood" |
| 1793-1847 | Henry Lyte | Anglican | "Abide with Me" |
| 1795-1866 | John Keble | Anglican | "New Every Morning Is the Love" |
| 1808-1889 | Horatius Bonar | Presbyterian | "All Is Well" and "Be Still, My Soul" |
| 1814-1863 | Frederick Faber | Anglican | "Hark, My Soul, It Is the Lord" |
| 1820-1915 | Fanny Crosby | Methodist | "Blessed Assurance", "Pass Me Not, O Gentle Savior" |
| 1834-1892 | Charles Spurgeon | Baptist | "All Hail the Power of Jesus' Name" |
| 1866-1960 | Thomas Chisholm | Methodist | "In the Garden", "Precious Lord, Take My Hand" |
| 1899-1959 | Katharine von Schlegel | Anglican | "Come Down, O Love Divine,", "We Gather Together" |
| 1899-1963 | Stuart Hine | Methodist | "How Great Thou Art", "Great Is Thy Faithfulness" |
| 1932-2011 | Doris Akers | Baptist | "There's a Sweet, Sweet Spirit", "He Is My Everything" |
| 1932-2018 | William Gaither | Baptist | "He Touched Me", "Because He Lives" |
| 1963 | Stuart Townend | Anglican | "How Deep the Father's Love for Us" |
| 1972 | Chris Tomlin | non-denominational | "How Great Is Our God", "Holy Is the Lord" |
| 1974 | Matt Redman | Anglican | "Heart of Worship, 10,000 Reasons (Bless the Lord)" |
| 1974 | Keith Getty | Presbyterian | "In Christ Alone My Hope Is Found" |
| 1975 | Jonas Myrin | non-denominational | "You Are the One", "How He Loves" |
| 1976 | Kristyn Getty | Presbyterian | "O Church, Arise, Sing! Sing! Sing!" |
(The list is incomplete.)
Praise with shouts
I cried to Him with my mouth, and high praise was on my tongue. -- Psalm 66:17 (ESV)
My lips will shout for joy, when I sing praises to You; my soul also, which you have redeemed. -- Psalm 71:23 (ESV)
Tremble before Him, all the earth. Say among the nations,
“The LORD reigns; The world also is firmly established, it shall not be moved; He shall judge the peoples righteously.”
Let the heavens rejoice, and let the earth be glad; -- Psalm 96:9-11 (NKJV)