Episode 20 - Enter His Courts with Praise
In Episode 20 of Worship Moments, Dr. Wyrick explains how praise moves us from the gates of God's presence into His courts.
Text of Video
For those who prefer to read, here is the text of the video.
In my last few videos we have been talking about praise and thanksgiving. I realize that many times these two words are used almost interchangeably. They mean very similar things and the meanings can overlap. But for this video I would like to make a slight distinction between them.
I believe thanksgiving, if we are being fussy about terms, is acknowledging what God has done, while praise is acknowledging who He is. Again, I fully realize these term overlap and can be used interchangeably, but I think this slight distinction will help us as we look at Psalm 100:4 where it says,
“Enter His gates with thanksgiving and His courts with praise.”
It could be that this is just typical parallelism in the psalms and that the two halves of this statement mean the same thing. But I suggest that thanksgiving – recognizing what God has done – is simpler than praise and tends to open our eyes more to Gods presence. And thus thanksgiving is how we best “enter the gates” to recognizing His presence.
Praise, on the other hand – recognizing who He is – requires more work – more Biblical and theological understanding, but it moves us closer to His presence. It draws us closer to Him as we understand Him better.
So, do you want to move from the gates of God's presence into His courts? Then learn more about the attributes and character of God and praise Him for it. Take time right now to praise God for who He is is – for His love, omniscience, omnipotence, omnipresence, justice, holiness – the more you know about God, the more reasons you have to praise Him. Start today. Start now.