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And again: “Praise the Lord, all you Gentiles! Laud Him, all you peoples!”<\/strong><\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n God deserves our praise, so let\u2019s give it to Him!<\/p>\n The Greek verb translated \u201cPraise<\/span>\u201d is aine\u014d<\/em><\/span>, which means \u201cto sing praises.\u201d In the New Testament it is only used for giving praise to God. The Hebrew equivalent in Psalms 117:1<\/strong><\/span> is halal<\/em><\/span>, meaning \u201cto shine or to give praise.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cLaud<\/span>\u201d is translated from epaine\u014d<\/em><\/span>, which is made up of epi<\/em><\/span>, meaning \u201cupon,\u201d used here as an intensifier and aine\u014d<\/em><\/span>, which means \u201cto sing praises.\u201d The Hebrew equivalent in Psalms 117:1<\/strong> <\/span>is shawbakh<\/em><\/span>, meaning \u201cto praise with a loud voice.\u201d<\/p>\n Today\u2019s verse is a direct quotation from one of the shortest psalms in the Bible,<\/p>\n Praise the LORD, all you Gentiles! Laud Him, all you peoples! For His merciful kindness is great toward us, And the truth of the LORD endures<\/em> <\/span>forever. Praise the LORD!<\/span> (Psalms 117<\/strong><\/span>)<\/p>\n Paul is providing additional Old Testament evidence that God has always intended that He would gather His own out of both Jews and Gentiles and that the result of His action in their lives is, has been, and will continue to be praise, freely offered up to Him.<\/p>\n What is really sad is the treatment that is being given to God today by those who claim to be His children, professedly Christian churches expending their energies in arguing about the color of the carpet, the proper way to observe traditions, or what is the proper type of music for a church service. I think that this and the previous chapter of Romans could have been written to the churches today. Instead of starting with,<\/p>\n Receive one who is weak in the faith, but<\/em> <\/span>not to disputes over doubtful things. <\/span>(Romans 14:1<\/strong><\/span>)<\/p>\n He might have started it with,<\/p>\n Quit arguing among yourselves about unimportant things and join together with other true believers in praising God for His mercy and His grace!<\/p>\n We give so much effort and attention to the temporal things and so little effort and attention to eternal things and to giving God the praise and obedience that He deserves. I suspect that if God were to give a performance review to our churches today He might say, as He did to the church in Laodicea,<\/p>\n I know your works, that you are neither cold nor hot. I could wish you were cold or hot. So then, because you are lukewarm, and neither cold nor hot, I will vomit you out of My mouth. <\/span>(Revelation 3:15-16<\/strong><\/span>)<\/p>\n Stop for a minute and consider the fact that you are a sinner who has fallen short of God\u2019s righteousness and you deserve eternal Hell. Then consider what God in Jesus Christ did for you so that you might have eternal bliss in God\u2019s holy presence. It\u2019s not fair, is it? We aren\u2019t going to get what we deserve and we should loudly proclaim His praises for it. Let us all recommit to humbling ourselves before our Almighty, Holy God and praising Him for what He has done instead of focusing on ourselves and our petty issues!<\/p>\n In God\u2019s service, for His glory,<\/strong><\/p>\nTruth to Learn<\/span><\/strong><\/span><\/h3>\n
Behind the Words<\/span><\/strong><\/span><\/h3>\n
Meaning Explained<\/span><\/strong><\/span><\/h3>\n
Application<\/span><\/strong><\/span><\/h3>\n
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