I truly believe that God has a vastly wider view of praise than do we. Somehow we seem to lump our praising into a portion of our worship—and that is a good thing! But I suspect that God expects our voices of praise to be operating at all times and in every place as we walk through this life of faith. NEVER CEASE TO PRAISE GOD!

Why is this held to be such an important thing? The Apocryphal Book of Tobit quotes the Archangel Raphael as sharing keen insight in 12.6-10: ‘Praise God and tell everyone about the good things he has done for you, so that they too will honor him and sing his praises.’ Praising God is catching! If we do it, others get the idea as well—AND THEY’LL DO IT!

The heavenly instructions continue: ‘Let everyone know what God has done. Never stop praising him; what God does should be told everywhere, so that he may be praised and honored.’ God’s Messenger continues to instruct on how to declare that we praise God by how we respond to those among us who are in need—as acts of praising God.

The point is this: God does nothing just to be doing something. Everything he is about is another piece of the revelation of his character and nature. Those of us who know the true God are the prime witnesses to his interest and involvement in the lives of all of humanity. He wants all to know him and to love him, and as we praise God they begin to get another picture for their own lives, and soon they too will praise him. GET IT!?