Praise is not only an expression of what we believe, a proclamation and confession, and an expression of our gratitude to God for His precious and endless love and grace. Praise and worship, like preaching, help us to move our gaze from what surrounds us (good or bad) to Christ and His finished work on the cross.

When I was meditating on communion, I was deeply touched by what Scripture says about it: “do this in remembrance of Me…” [1 Cor.11:24-25], that is, we remind one another, ourselves and those around us of what the Lord accomplished on the cross; we remind ourselves that thanks to His sacrifice — the blood shed and the body pierced — we have great blessings, unlimited access into God’s presence of boundless and beautiful love, and unhindered fellowship with Him. And suddenly I remembered the verses in the Bible that speak of praise and worship, and also the call to praise Him for His wonderful works [Ps.117:1; Ps.135:3]. And it occurred to me that this too is a reminder for us, like communion — a reminder of what a wonderful and great God we have, a reminder of His great works, the greatest of which is the sacrifice of His Son on the cross. It isn’t God who needs us to praise Him, although He is pleased to hear that His children are grateful to Him. It is first of all we who need it, for as it is written: “the joy of the LORD is your strength” [Neh.8:10]. And also, when the Lord spoke to Israel after they had crossed the Jordan, He told the Israelites to take stones from the parted Jordan and make a memorial, so that they would remember His works and not be tempted to follow other gods, the gods of the nations whose lands they were entering to possess them [Joshua 4]. In the same way we need a constant reminder of what Christ has done for us and who He has made us through His sacrifice on the cross, so that we look to Him and are transformed into His image from glory to glory [2 Cor.3:18]

And when in our songs we proclaim what the Lord has done, and not just sing but understand, receive and let it pass through ourselves, through our hearts, we proclaim Him as the Victor, the loving Father, the One He is, and our born-again new inner man rises up and is strengthened. There is a song that goes: “Turn your eyes upon Jesus, look full in His wonderful face, and the things of earth will grow strangely dim in the light of His glory and grace.” Listen to what beautiful words these are — don’t they strike a chord in your heart?
This is what true worship in spirit and truth is — proclaiming what He has accomplished. For this is our calling: to proclaim His praises! “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…” [1 Pet.2:9].

And praise is also preaching, as I wrote at the very beginning. And if our songs are about what He has done, and not about us and our works, then it is the preaching of true grace, which is the power of God to salvation for everyone who believes it. [Rom.1:16] That is why praise strikes a chord in our hearts and gives us strength and joy in the Holy Spirit! He alone is worthy of worship and praise!