Fear and praise

...In the midst of the assembly I will praise You. You who fear the LORD, praise Him! All you descendants of Jacob, glorify Him, And fear Him, all you offspring of Israel! - Psalm 22v22-23

Here is it Sunday morning again. It is the day we set apart to assemble with the saints for mutual edification, fellowship, praise, worship, and teaching. We have somewhat changed the meaning of 'praise and worship' and just slotted that in to a part of our service. We may have 'praise and prayer' time. Those are fine as long as we really use those time to praise and not just consider it a part of our formality.

Praise is not something we just do during 'praise and worship.' It is not something we just mention during 'praise and prayer' time. It is much more integral to life. It is something that we just are. As the psalmist mentions we are to praise God in the assembly, but it is based on something else the psalmist mentions.

'You who fear the Lord praise Him.'

Fear of the Lord and praise go hand in hand. When we fear the Lord we realise who He is. It is the opposite of taking Him for granted. When we don't fear the Lord we can see Him as our genie in a bottle who is at our beck and call. When we see God that way we only praise Him when He suits us.

When we really fear the Lord we praise Him in every situation. We know who He is and we acknowledge that what He does is best. Therefore praise is continuous. Therefore those who really fear Him will praise, it will be a part of our lives.

Do we fear Him enough to praise Him?