One can hear the phrase “praise the lord” in churches about as often as “War on Terror” in a Republican debate. After prayer, after a song, as a greeting and finally in the way I am going to look at to start this discussion: as a praise itself.
However, the phrase is an imperative command to do: “do praise the Lord.” It is a phrase of encouragement to other men to praise God - not a communication to God, such as: “I praise you Lord.”
Part of worship is connecting to God in an intimate way - by dwelling on the things he has done, both in scripture and in the life and mind of the believer, a desire to respond to God is cultivated. That response is worship.
Praising the Lord, then, is an effect brought about by a cause. Divorcing the effect from the cause leaves one with an empty ritual or a meaningless covering. As the power behind the effect is diluted down into a simple tradition, it is often stretched more and more - attempting to get the most mileage out of a waning resources. But the well that supplied it has dried up and soon it becomes a common meaningless phrase (the same thing has happened in general speech with the phrase “how are you?”
The solution to this is to constantly remind ourselves what the sources is for worship - it isn’t community or even anything having to do with the believer - it is God. Worship is by his Spirit and the truth of his scripture - it is the natural effect of these things being digested by the believer.
Praising God is powerful and meaningful when it is a response. The next time someone declares “praise the Lord,” consider what he has done and revealed of himself and say: “why yes, I will!”
Next time: Articulation
Linguists talk about “performative speech acts” which are when the words themselves accomplish a deed (eg. “I now pronounce you man and wife.”)
I wonder if the words “praise the Lord” are like that, or at least could be like that if the heart of the speaker is in the right place.
Related to this, I personally find it easier to thank God than to praise him. It is easy enough for me to see all God has done both for me and for the world and be grateful for all that, but using the term praise has some negative connotations in my mind. Praise somehow seems like what you give a dog or a child when the actually do what you tell them. Somehow I hardly feel qualified to praise God–but I can recount his blessings to me and I can try to ponder his being and be grateful.