“Praise the Lord. I will extol the Lord with all my heart in the council of the upright and in the assembly” (Psalm 111:1).
If you’re like me, extol is not a word you use every day (or maybe ever).
When I came across it in the verse from Psalm 111 (quoted above), curiosity got the better of me, and I looked it up. Extol means to “praise enthusiastically.”
Now, to be clear, praising God doesn’t have to be overly expressive.
You and I don’t have to jump up and down in the pew on Sunday morning to show our thanksgiving and praise to God for everything he’s done for us in Christ Jesus our Savior. (And in many worship settings, it’s probably best that we don’t jump up and down in the pew!)
Enthusiastic praise can appear quiet and reserved, and God will still know it for the joy-filled worship that it most certainly is.
But as I thought further about what it means to extol the Lord, I felt an uncomfortable, nagging sense of guilt and shame. As much as I don’t like to admit it, I don’t enthusiastically praise the Lord. Not in worship services and certainly not in my day-to-day interactions with other people.
My problem—and maybe yours too—is that far too often, my praise doesn’t involve my whole heart. I’m not fully present in worship. My mind is elsewhere, I’m distracted, and I merely offer the Lord half-hearted praise. I go through the motions without ever really thinking about what I’m doing and saying. More importantly, I’m not fully thinking about what amazing things God has done, is doing, and promises he will do for me.
God forgive me!
So how do you and I extol the Lord?
Enthusiastic praise comes when we, as God’s people, sit and listen to his Word. When we gather around the Word and sacraments in worship with fellow believers and in personal study. As Psalm 111:2 goes on to say, “Great are the works of the Lord; they are pondered by all who delight in them.”
What are the Lord’s works?
First and foremost, the great works of the Lord involve Jesus. God sent his Son to live a perfect, praise-filled life in our place, to die the death we deserve for our sins, and to rise triumphant from the grave so that, one day, we can perfectly extol our God with all our hearts in heaven. The Lord’s works also include everything he does to care and provide for our physical and spiritual needs.
Focus on Jesus, dear Christian!
Focus on your Savior and ponder in your heart what he has done for you because he loves you with an everlasting love.
I’ll do the same, and together let’s encourage one another and our fellow brothers and sisters in Christ to strive to extol the Lord with all our hearts—in worship and with our very lives.
In The Heart of Faith, you’ll explore life-giving biblical themes in Psalm 51, Mark chapter 15, Luke chapter 2, and other parts of the gospels. You will also be encouraged to put your faith into action through personal application sections. Meditate on these precious passages and let the heart of faith transform your understanding of what it means to follow Jesus.
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Alex Brown is the marketing and content copywriter at Northwestern Publishing House. He has his Master of Divinity degree from Wisconsin Lutheran Seminary and enjoys reading, writing, and spending time in God’s creation.
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