Man was created to live and breath in an atmosphere of praise, praise to His creator. Our daily approach to God is to be paved with praise. Such a walk will cultivate a deep devotion, faithful obedience and constant joy. Praise is confrontive, requiring us to kill our pride, fear, etc. We need to cut ourselves off from the circumstances surrounding us and concentrate on Him. You need to make a decision if you want to praise.
Sacrifice in Hebrew means to slay, to slaughter. It involves the offering of a life. Passover was the celebration of freedom and commemoration of the establishment of the covenant community of God. During Passover an animal was sacrificed. God called for a celebration to be enacted in one location after Israel possessed the Promised Land, in a place where His sanctuary would be located. Thus, God's Covenant people were to come together in one place as one family under the leadership of one God.
Praise in the Old Testament.
In 1 Chronicles 23:30 "to stand every morning to thank and praise the LORD, and likewise at evening" we see they had to do it twice a day! Many of us do not want to do it once a week.
In this text praise in the Hebrew is "halal" and this means to thank, to rejoice, boast about someone. "Halal" is the root word for Hallelujah. This phrase is a command; you were forced to do it. "Halal" usually conveys the idea of speaking or singing about the glories, virtues or honor of someone or something.
The Hebrew title for the Book of Psalms is "Tehillim" and this literally means the Book of Praises. Let us look at some of the Psalms.
Psalm 63:1-5
O God, You are my God; Early will I seek You; My soul thirsts for You; My flesh longs for You In a dry and thirsty land Where there is no water.
So I have looked for You in the sanctuary, To see Your power and Your glory.
Because Your lovingkindness is better than life, My lips shall praise You.
Thus I will bless You while I live; I will lift up my hands in Your name.
My soul shall be satisfied as with marrow and fatness, And my mouth shall praise You with joyful lips.
In this Psalm the word for praise is "shabach" in Hebrew. It means to command, to praise, to adore, to glory in something or to pacify someone.
Praise releases blessings and satisfaction. Here it starts with a prayer and the result is "My soul shall be satisfied as with marrow and fatness" which means that all my personal needs will be met.
The Psalmist is totally involved in this worship hymn to the Lord. His eyes (see), lips, hands, soul, mouth and mind (meditate) as such are involved with his praise to the Lord. David serves as an example for the true worshipper and David wrote this Psalm.
In both this and the previous example we see that it was a command to praise. This means that they had no choice, they were forced to do it.
Psalm 100:1-5
Make a joyful shout to the LORD, all you lands!
Serve the LORD with gladness; come before His presence with singing.
Know that the LORD, He is God; it is He who has made us, and not we ourselves, we are His people and the sheep of His pasture.
Enter into His gates with thanksgiving and into His courts with praise. Be thankful to Him, and bless His name.
For the LORD is good; His mercy is everlasting and His truth endures to all generations.
The praise in this scripture is "tehillah" in Hebrew. The meaning of "tehillah" is celebration, a loading of someone praiseworthy, the praise or exaltation of God, praises, songs of admiration. The Book of Psalms was actually the songbook for worship events in the temple of Jerusalem.
This poetic poem set forth a key to a successful spiritual life entering into God's presence by means of dynamic praise which includes singing gladness, thanksgiving and worship.
The last five Psalms (Psalm 145 to Psalm 150) are all praises to the Lord. The Psalms conclude with a mighty appeal to praise the Lord. We can also see where to worship, both indoors and outdoors.
Psalm 150: 1-6
Praise the LORD! Praise God in His sanctuary; Praise Him in His mighty firmament!
Praise Him for His mighty acts; Praise Him according to His excellent greatness!
Praise Him with the sound of the trumpet; Praise Him with the lute and harp!
Praise Him with the timbrel and dance; Praise Him with stringed instruments and flutes!
Praise Him with loud cymbals; Praise Him with clashing cymbals!
Let everything that has breath praise the LORD. Praise the LORD!
We are to praise God in His sanctuary that is His earthly temple and throughout His created universe and for His mighty acts and according to His excellent greatness. Then a list of instruments and ways to praise Him follows. Our praise should be creative. Musical instruments are an integral part of praise and worship. Finally, if you have God's life-breath in you, you have no excuse, you should praise Him.
A Sacrifice of Praise for the Royal Priesthood.
1 Peter 2: 9-10
9 But you are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, His own special people, that you may proclaim the praises of Him who called you out of darkness into His marvelous light;
10 who once were not a people but are now the people of God, who had not obtained mercy but now, have obtained mercy.
As a "royal" priesthood, the kingly nature of the redeemed worshipper is noted. This passage is rooted in God's call to the ancient Israel (Ex 19:5-7). Peter (1 Peter 2:9-10) and John (Rev 1:5,6) draw this truth to full application and prophetic fulfillment in the New Testament believer. As with Israel's deliverance through the blood of the Lamb is but the beginning. As promised dominion and destiny will unfold as their priestly duty is fulfilled. True authority is always related to a walk in purity and constancy in worship. The spirit of worship is essential to all advance of the kingdom. Just as the ancient Israel will only take the Promised Land while doing battle from a foundation of righteous worship before the Lord so with the church. We will only experience promised power for evangelism and spiritual victories as we prioritize and grow in our worship of the living God. Kingdom power is kept from pollution this way as kingdom people keep humble praiseful before the King and witnesses His works of Power with joy. (Rev 1:5,6)
Paul said in 1 Cor 10:11 "These things happened to them as an example and they were written for our instruction upon whom the end of the ages have come." We need to take note of the things in the Old Testament and learn from it.
The Believers Worship to God.
The text in 1 Peter 2:9-10 not only appoints praise but represent a basic revelation of the Bible. God wants people, who will walk with Him in prayer, march with Him in praise, thank and worship Him. Peter said in this passage some very important elements: -
We are a chosen generation.
We are part of this continually expanding generation. We are chosen when we receive Jesus Christ in our life.
We are a royal priesthood.
Under the Old Covenant in the Old Testament the priesthood and the royalty were separated. We are now - In the Person of our Lord - all kings and priests to God (Rev 1:6), a worshipping host and a kingly band prepared for walking with Him in the light or warring beside Him against the power of the darkness.
We are a holy nation.
We are composed of Jews and Gentiles, which forms the church. In the Old Covenant it was reserved for a part of the Jews, only the Tribe of Levi. Now we are one, of one blood from every nation.
We are His own special people.
God's intention from Abraham's time has been to call forth the people with a special mission and that is to proclaim His praise and to propagate His blessing throughout the earth.
The Church is now the new "Israel" which include not only the Jews but also Gentile believers who obtained mercy.
Why is Praising God a sacrifice?
As I said before, sacrifice means to kill or slaughter. Sacrifice is to kill or slaughter for a purpose. Praise often requires that we "kill" our pride, fear or anything that threatens to diminish or interfere with our worship or praise to the Lord. How many times will something happen when we decide to praise the Lord? It is always something distracting you from what you intended to do. Furthermore we discover that the basis of all our praise is the sacrifice of our Lord Jesus Christ. It is by Him, in Him, to Him and for Him that we offer our sacrifice of praise to God. Praise will never be successfully hindered when we keep our focus on Him, the founder and finisher of our salvation. The Cross-, His blood, the love gift of live and forgiveness to us, keep praise a living sacrifice.
Conclusion: The 4P FACTOR.
I believe that we as believers only tapped into praise and did not experienced the fullness of it yet.
The 4P factor is the following :-
Perfect Praise Produces Power. (Matt 21:16) Jesus quote here Psalm 8:2 and reminds us of a great secret.
Perfect Praise will Produce strength. When we capture this revelation it will cause loud and powerful praise to come forth. I believe that there will be a time coming when things will happen when we praise God. People will get healed, delivered, saved, etc.
Now that we have the examples, the instruction to praise Him what is stopping us to do it that way.