How To Stay Joyful

God is worthy of our praise and our praise releases His presence!

1. Praise and Thanksgiving

“Shout for joy to the Lord, all the earth. Worship the Lord with gladness; come before him with joyful songs. Know that the Lord is God. It is he who made us, and we are his: we are his people, the sheep of his pasture. Enter his gates with thanksgiving and his courts with praise; give thanks to him and praise his name. For the Lord is good and his love endures forever; his faithfulness continues through all generations.”

Psalm 100

If we are uncomfortable with a church that praises God loudly, then we need to understand this scripture and realize our praise here on earth pales compared to what the praise and thanksgiving of Heaven will sound like.

The Bible has much to say about praise and thanksgiving and giving Him ALL the glory. Some people may ask why we shout loudly in church when praising Him and giving Him thanks, but we shout because He is a great God! He is the King of kings. His hands are in the deep places of the earth. As low as you can go, God is there. The heights of the highest hills, God is there. He is everywhere!

2. Meaning of Praise

“As he approached Jerusalem and saw the city, he wept over it.”

Luke 19:41

One of the Hebrew words for praise is tehillah which means a celebration. So when we praise God, we are celebrating Him! Sometimes people release balloons and confetti when they celebrate someone or something, but we shout loudly to celebrate our God and King of the Universe!

Tehillah is also derived from the word halal and means “the singing of halals, to sing or to laud; perceived to involve music, especially singing; hymns of the Spirit or praise.” We are cheering, exalting, and giving Him our admiration when we praise. This involves the raising and elevating of our voices–shouting out loud!

3. Biblical Praise

If you have ever attended any type of sports event, you have experienced the praise of adoration people can give their favorite team or player. It is loud, roaring, and wild. At that moment, their team or player is worthy of their praise, and they have no problem giving it. Let us not keep our admiration just for our favorite team, but on our King who is the most worthy of our praise!

“David said to Michal, “It was before the Lord, who chose me rather than your father or anyone from his house when he appointed me ruler over the Lord’s people Israel—I will celebrate before the Lord. I will become even more undignified than this, and I will be humiliated in my own eyes. But by these slave girls you spoke of, I will be held in honor.”

2 Samuel 6:21-22

There are many religious traditions that scorn at vigorous praises to God in a service. Some were told that to be holy and pious was effort to show reverence to God and fulfill religious obligations. But this is just not true when we dig into the Bible. All through the Bible, God talks about making music, shouting, and singing before the Lord.

The Bible says we shall become more undignified in our praise to God. David praised God until his clothes fell off! This is why we have lost a generation because the spirit of religion, judgment, and condemnation has stolen the shout of Zion.

4. Praise Brings His Presence

“Let us come before His presence with thanksgiving; Let us shout joyfully to Him with psalms.”

Psalm 95:2

The book of Psalms is referred to as the book of praise.  When we praise, we come into His presence!  We have to renew our minds and not allow people or religious beliefs to steal what belongs to God.  He is the Rock of our salvation and we are going to heaven–this is something to praise and shout about!

“There is a river whose streams make glad the city of God, the holy place where the Most High dwells.”

Psalm 46:4

Imagine if somebody told you there was a river and if you drink from it you will have endless joy and you will live forever. I don’t know about you, but the first question I would ask is where is it! The Bible says here in this scripture there is a river that brings joy to the entire city of God. It comes from the holy place where the Most Highs dwells. This river flows from the throne of God–flows from His presence!

Final Thoughts

There is a river that cures ALL of our illnesses: spiritual, mental, and physical. It comes from the presence of God.

If we dip into the river flowing from God’s presence, we will never be the same.

God lives in the praises of His people!