Responding in praise and thanksgiving is only fitting when we consider who God is and what He has done.
“Praise the Lord. How good it is to sing praises to our God, how pleasant and fitting to praise him!” (Ps. 147:1)
How Can We Not Praise Him?
When we consider “his acts of power” and “his surpassing greatness” (Ps. 150:2), how can we not praise Him? No one comes close to Him in ability.
How can we not praise Him when we begin to grasp “the depth of the riches of the wisdom and knowledge of God” (Rom. 11:33). “His understanding no one can fathom” (Isa. 40:28).
This God of whom there is none greater, loves us beyond our ability to measure (Eph. 3:18). How can it not be “pleasant and fitting to praise Him”?
Praising and Thanking God Always Appropriate
Offering praise goes beyond what we do in a church building or gathering as we’re exhorted to “praise God in his sanctuary; praise him in his mighty heavens” (Ps. 150:1). That suggests God want us to praise Him no matter where we are. We don’t need a set time or place to worship.
God also commands us to “give thanks in all circumstances, for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus” (1 Thess. 5:18). That means we praise even in pain and suffering. Job, who suffered far more in a short period of time than most of us will in a lifetime, said, “Though he slay me, yet will I hope in him?” (Job 13:15). In the early stage of his suffering Job affirmed God’s sovereign rights when he fell to the ground in worship saying, “Naked I came from my mother’s womb, and naked I will depart. The Lord gave and the Lord has taken away, may the name of the Lord be praised” (Job. 1:21). His circumstances and feelings did not dictate praise but rather the reality of a God who could be trusted to have his best interest at heart regardless of appearance.
Also read: Worship Ministry: Responding in Praise & Gratitude for Who God Is and What He Has Done