Hymns about Praise

Praise is the glad ascription of worth to God for who He is and what He has done. Scripture fills heaven and earth with this duty and delight: Let everything that hath breath praise the Lord. Praise is not flattery seeking favor; it is truth spoken in love toward the worthy One. Theologically praise answers revelation—God discloses His name, and the creature responds. Where praise grows thin, the heart has usually grown small in its thoughts of God. Hymns of praise therefore enlarge the soul by rehearsing divine attributes and mighty acts.

Praise hymns range from brief doxologies to expansive catalogs of creation, redemption, and providence. They often stand near Worship and Thanksgiving, yet praise accents adoration of God's character as much as gratitude for gifts. Themes of glory, holiness, faithfulness, and salvation recur. Musically the repertoire is vast—solemn, jubilant, contemplative—because the subject is inexhaustible. Congregations singing praise learn theology by heart and practice self-forgetfulness before the throne.

In gathered worship, praise songs rightly open and crown the service, framing Word and sacrament with adoration. In personal devotion they fight complaint and restore perspective. Teachers use them to introduce the language of exaltation and the difference between entertainment and offering. Sung sincerely, praise hymns fulfill a chief end of redeemed humanity: to glorify God and to enjoy Him, beginning already the song that shall not end.