God’s people have always praised him. In one form or another, praise to our wonderful God has always been in vogue among his followers. In Psalm 33, the opening words of the call to worship include, “Sing joyfully to the Lord, you righteous; it is fitting for the upright to praise him.” Throughout Israel’s history, the people’s most shining moments -- those most pleasing to God -- were times they lifted God up in praise. In fact, David said of God, “You are the praise of Israel.” (Ps 22:3).
Throughout God’s Word we find praise being lifted up to him. The word praise can be found well over 200 times in the Bible. When we include related words such as worship, sing, shout, and bow down, that number climbs to close to 500.
For all eternity God will be praised. Revelation 4 describes part of a vision that the author, John, had of a glorious gathering in heaven that will take place at some point in the future. It’s interesting to note, however, that everything John described was in the past tense because he was telling about a heavenly vision he had already seen. Yet when he spoke of the praise taking place in heaven in vs. 8-11, John suddenly spoke in the here and now. I believe John’s abrupt change from the past tense to the present tense was intentional. John wanted to be clear that the praise he was witnessing was not a one-time event. Praise in heaven is ongoing, both in the present and in the never-ending future!
Throughout all creation God will be praised. According to Revelation 5:11-14, all heavenly beings, including angels, living creatures and elders will praise him. Every created being, including people, animals, fish and all of nature will sing to him. Praise is obviously both pleasing to God and natural for his creation.
At this very moment in heaven, God is being praised. This is perhaps the most amazing of all. If you’ll read Revelation 4:8 again, you’ll notice that the four living creatures never stop saying, “Holy, holy, holy is the Lord God Almighty”. Praise to our holy God is so important that heaven itself never stops praising him.
[taken from Pure Praise: A Heart-Focused Bible Study on Worship, Dwayne Moore, 25-26.]
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