Ascribe to the Lord, all you families of nations. Ascribe to the Lord glory and strength. Ascribe to the Lord the glory due His name. Bring an offering and come into His courts. (Psalm 96:7-8)
“Ascribing” is an old Middle English word that means we attribute praise to God for the glory that He already has. We worship the Lord (Father, Son, and Holy Spirit) and give credit to Him because He deserves it. We chalk up all our blessings to God, and rightly connect Him with the good things we enjoy from His hands. Pastor Thomas Watson (1620–1686) said: “The motion of our praise must be like the motion of our pulse, which beats as long as life lasts. In prayer we act like humans. In praise we act like angels.”
Here are some ascriptions of praise for personal meditation to decentralize ourselves and help us look up to Christ to rejoice in Him. These are all from the Book of Psalms and with hymn stanzas scattered in between.
Psalm 7:17 I will give thanks to the LORD because of His righteousness and will sing praise to the name of the LORD Most High.
Psalm 8:1 O LORD, our Lord, how majestic is Your name in all the earth! You have set Your glory above the heavens.
Psalm 9:1-2 I will praise You, O LORD, with all my heart. I will tell of all Your wonders. I will be glad and rejoice in You. I will sing praise to Your name, O Most High.
Psalm 9:7-11 The LORD reigns forever. He has established His throne for judgment. He will judge the world in righteousness. He will govern the peoples with justice. The LORD is a refuge for the oppressed, a stronghold in times of trouble. Those who know Your name will trust in You, for You, LORD, have never forsaken those who seek You. Sing praises to the LORD, enthroned in Zion. Proclaim among the nations what He has done.
Praise Him! Praise Him! Jesus, our blessed Redeemer!
Sing, O earth, His wonderful love proclaim!
Hail Him! Hail Him, highest archangels in glory.
Strength and honor give to His holy name! (Fanny Crosby)
Comment: Praising the Lord prepares our hearts to pray to Him. Let’s bless Christ today because He blesses us every day. Praise decentralizes us and glories God our King and Savior.
Psalm 13:5-6 I trust in Your unfailing love. My heart rejoices in Your salvation. I will sing to the LORD, for He has been good to me.
Psalm 18:46-49 The LORD lives! Praise be to my Rock! Exalted be God my Savior! He is the God who avenges me and saves me from my enemies. You exalted me above my foes. From violent people You rescued me. Therefore I will praise You among the nations, O LORD. I will sing praises to Your name.
Psalm 30:4-5 Sing to the LORD, you saints of His. Praise His holy name. For His anger lasts only a moment, but His favor lasts a lifetime. Weeping may remain for a night, but rejoicing comes in the morning.
Psalm 68:4-6 Sing to God, sing praise to His name, extol Him who rides on the clouds–His name is the LORD–and rejoice before Him. A father to the fatherless, a defender of widows, is God in His holy dwelling. God sets the lonely in families, He leads forth the prisoners with singing. But the rebellious live in a sun-scorched land.
Praise Him! Praise Him! Jesus, our blessed Redeemer!
For our sins He suffered and bled and died.
He our Rock, our hope of eternal salvation.
Hail Him! Hail Him, Jesus the crucified. (Fanny Crosby)
Comment: We have never praised the Lord enough, and we never can. Christ’s people are to be adoring Him always in this life and in the next life forever. God listens attentively when His children help each other by telling of His goodness and how He has delivered us.
Psalm 68:32-35 Sing to God, O kingdoms of the earth, sing praise to the Lord, to Him who rides the ancient skies above, who thunders with mighty voice. Proclaim the power of God, whose majesty is over Israel, whose power is in the skies. You are awesome, O God, in Your sanctuary. The God of Israel gives power and strength to His people. Praise be to God!
Psalm 95:1-7 Come, let us sing for joy to the LORD. Let us shout aloud to the Rock of our salvation. Let us come before Him with thanksgiving and extol Him with music and song. For the LORD is the great God, the great King above all gods. In His hand are the depths of the earth, and the mountain peaks belong to Him. The sea is His, for He made it, and His hands formed the dry land. Come, let us bow down in worship, let us kneel before the LORD our Maker. For He is our God and we are the people of His pasture, the flock under His care.
Psalm 150:6 Let everything that has breath praise the LORD. Praise the LORD.
Praise Him! Praise Him! Jesus, our blessed Redeemer!
Heavenly portals loud with hosannas ring!
Jesus, Savior, reigns for ever and ever.
Crown Him! Crown Him! Prophet and Priest and King! (Fanny Crosby)
Comment: In praising other people, it’s easy to go overboard. But in praising God we tell who He really is to us. And it is impossible to exaggerate the Lord’s value to us. Our danger is saying too little. The best service we give to God is to praise Him with our lips and our lives.
To be continued. You can read Ascribing Praise to Jesus (Part 2)
Go in peace, beloved. Walk with King Jesus today and be a blessing to others!