I’ve come to realize that there is a LOT of confusion over words when it comes to religious talk. Most churches have what’s called a “Praise & Worship” (P&W) service, and yet I think most of us don’t really even know what Biblical praise is anymore. So of course to do this, we need to look at Biblical examples. The Old Testament is just full of examples of Praise. To kick it off, let’s look at one of the most commonly used words today in P&W - Hallelujah. Hallelujah is a transliteration (a Hebrew word written with the English alphabet) of Hebrew word that means “Praise God”. That starts us off with our first Biblical definition of “Praise” - Hallal. The English language is very boring when it comes to the word “Praise”. That’s pretty much the only word we have. But the Hebrew language has many words for “Praise” that are each a little different. Let’s look at 6 of them here, beginning with Hallal. These definitions have been taken from Strong’s Exhaustive Concordance of the Bible. And there are several examples in scripture where each of these words are used with the defined word in bold.

Hallal: to praise, to make a show or rave about, to glory in or boast upon, to be clamorously foolish about your adoration of God

Psalm 22:23 - You who fear the Lord, praise him! All you descendants of Jacob, glorify him, and fear him, all you offspring of Israel!
Psalm 44:8 - In God we boast all day long, and praise your name forever. Selah
Psalm 63:5 - My soul shall be satisfied as with marrow and fatness, and my mouth shall praise you with joyful lips.

The Hebrew word “hallal” was used in the Old Testament 140 times. Is this the kind of praise that we give God in our P&W services today?

Tehillah: to sing hallal, a new song, a hymn of spontaneous praise glorifying God in song

Psalm 34:1 - I will bless the Lord at all times; His praise shall continually be in my mouth.
Psalm 40:3 - He has put a new song in my mouth — praise to our God; Many will see it and fear, and will trust in the Lord.
Psalm 149:1 - Praise the Lord! Sing to the Lord a new song, and his praise in the assembly of saints.

Yahah: to use, hold out the hand, to throw (a stone or arrow) at or away, to revere or worship (with extended hands, praise thankful, thanksgiving)

Isaiah 12:4 - And in that day you will say: “Praise the Lord, call upon His name; Declare His deeds among the peoples, Make mention that His name is exalted.
Psalm 33:2 - Praise the Lord with the harp; Make melody to him with an instrument of ten strings.
Psalm 18:49 - Therefore I will give thanks to you, O Lord, among the Gentiles, and sing praises to your name.

“Yahdah” is used in the Old Testament 111 times.

Shabach: to address in a loud tone, a loud adoration, a shout, proclaiming with a loud voice (unashamed), to glory, triumph, power, a testimony of praise

Psalm 63:3 - Because your lovingkindness is better than life, my lips shall praise you.
Psalm 117:1 - Praise the Lord, all you nations; extol him, all you peoples.
Psalm 145:4 - One generation shall praise thy works to another, and shall declare thy mighty acts.

When’s the last time you heard “shabach” in a church?

Zamar: to touch the strings or parts of a musical instrument i.e. play upon it, to make music accompanied by the voice, to celebrate in song and music, give praise, sing forth praises, psalms

Psalm 66:2 - Sing out the honor of his name; Make his praise glorious.
Psalm 71:22 - Also with the lute I will praise you — and your faithfulness, O my God! To you I will sing with the harp, O Holy One ofIsrael.
Psalm 144:9 - I will sing a new song to you, O God; On a harp of ten strings I will sing praises to you…

Guwl: to spin around, under the influence of any violent emotion

Psalm 32:11 - Be glad in the Lord and rejoice, you righteous; And shout for joy, all you upright in heart!
Psalm 35:9 - And my soul shall be joyful in the Lord; It shall rejoice in his salvation.
Psalm 118:24 - This is the day the Lord has made; We will rejoice and be glad in it.

Funny. If people began to “Guwl” in the Lord in most churches, they be asked to leave and not come back unless they promise not to “guwl” anymore. Actually it’s not really funny.

There are a LOT more Hebrew words used in the scriptures that relate to praise. Here’s a link to a long list if you are interested in further study.

So in summary, this is the heart of what it means to praise: To celebrate, to shout and applaud, to loudly commend and even to dance in joy. It’s an upward explosion of energetic expression to God!

Finally, we must always remember that worship is about God. It’s not about us. Worship always begins with God. Apart from his willingness to share himself with us, we would never be able to enter into His presence. It’s all about God. It’s not about what we “get out of it.” It’s not about us feeling close to God, or having a warm fuzzy feeling. Worship is To Jesus, it’s About Jesus, and it’s For Jesus. It’s sad to see how our P&W today is so far from the Biblical praise & worship. Now, it seems to be more of a cultural, societal thing. We go into the sanctuary, listen to some catchy music, mouth a few words (if we feel like it that morning), and then wait until we are told that we are done.

In my next entry, I’ll look at the term “worship”. Many people think that Praise and Worship are the same thing. But actually they are very different. Similar in nature, but very different in practice.