Praise: Ever too faint

Paul throws them in all the time...

Rom 11:33-36

33. Oh, the depth of the riches both of the wisdom and knowledge of God! How unsearchable are His judgments and unfathomable His ways! 34. For WHO HAS KNOWN THE MIND OF THE LORD, OR WHO BECAME HIS COUNSELOR ? 35. Or WHO HAS FIRST GIVEN TO HIM THAT IT MIGHT BE PAID BACK TO HIM AGAIN ? 36. For from Him and through Him and to Him are all things. To Him be the glory forever. Amen.

Rom 16:25-27

25. Now to Him who is able to establish you according to my gospel and the preaching of Jesus Christ, according to the revelation of the mystery which has been kept secret for long ages past, 26. but now is manifested, and by the Scriptures of the prophets, according to the commandment of the eternal God, has been made known to all the nations, leading to obedience of faith; 27. to the only wise God, through Jesus Christ, be the glory forever. Amen.

Job, after hearing God...

job 42:2,3

2. "I know that You can do all things, And that no purpose of Yours can be thwarted. 3. `Who is this that hides counsel without knowledge?' "Therefore I have declared that which I did not understand, Things too wonderful for me, which I did not know."

Rabbinic blessings

there is a rabbinic praise/blessing for all situations. some are blessings bestowed upon man (prayers), others are basically praises to God. e.g, these blessings from the babylonian talmud (via http://sixthirteen.org/blog/2002/08/morning_blessings_bones_ligame.php):

for sleeping: Blessed is He who causes the bands of sleep to fall upon my eyes and slumber on my eyelids, and gives light to the apple of the eye. upon waking: My God, the soul which Thou hast placed in me is pure. Thou hast fashioned it in me, Thou didst breathe it into me, and Thou preservest it within me and Thou wilt one day take it from me and restore it to me in the time to come. So long as the soul is within me I give thanks unto Thee, O Lord, my God, and the God of my fathers, Sovereign of all worlds, Lord of all souls. Blessed art Thou, O Lord, who restorest souls to dead corpses
When he hears the cock crowing he should say: Blessed is He who has given to the cock understanding to distinguish between day and night.
When he opens his eyes he should say: Blessed is He who opens the eyes of the blind.
When he stretches himself and sits up, he should say:Blessed is He who looseneth the bound.
When he dresses he should say: Blessed is He who clothes the naked.
When be draws himsaf up he should say: Blessed is He who raises the bowed.
When he steps on to the ground he should say:Blessed is He who spread the earth on the waters.
When he commences to walk he should say: Blessed is He who makes firm the steps of man.
When he ties his shoes he should say: Blessed is He who has supplied all my wants.
When he fastens his girdle, he should say: Blessed is He who girds Israel with might.
When he spreads a kerchief over his head he should say: Blessed is He who crowns Israel with glory.
When he wraps himself with the fringed garment he should [missing text] " who has sanctified us with His commandments and commanded us to put on tefillin.
[When he puts it] on his head he should say Blessed is He who has sanctified us with His commandments an commanded us concerning the commandment of tefillin.
When he washes his hands he should say: Blessed is He who has sanctified us with His commandments and commanded us concerning the washing of hands
On entering a privy one should say: Be honoured, ye honoured and holy ones, that minister to the Most High. Give honour to the God of Israel. Wait for me till I enter and do my needs and retum to you.
Abaye said: A man should not speak thus, lest they should leave him and go. What he should say is: Preserve me, preserve me, help me, help me, support me, support me, till I have entered and come forth, for this is the way of human beings.
When he comes out he says: Blessed is He who has formed man in wisdom and created in him many orifices and many cavities. It is fully known before the throne of Thy glory that if one of them should be [improperly] opened or one of them closed it would be impossible for a man to stand before Thee.

His works

Ps. 21:1-4 (deliverance)

1. O LORD, in Your strength the king will be glad, And in Your salvation how greatly he will rejoice! 2. You have given him his heart's desire, And You have not withheld the request of his lips. Selah. 3. For You meet him with the blessings of good things; You set a crown of fine gold on his head. 4. He asked life of You, You gave it to him, Length of days forever and ever.

&Nbps;
Moses' song after the Red Sea (Ex 15)

His Nature

Rev. 15:3,4

3. And they *sang the song of Moses, the bond-servant of God, and the song of the Lamb, saying, "Great and marvelous are Your works, O Lord God, the Almighty; Righteous and true are Your ways, King of the nations! 4. "Who will not fear, O Lord, and glorify Your name? For You alone are holy; For ALL THE NATIONS WILL COME AND WORSHIP BEFORE YOU, FOR YOUR RIGHTEOUS ACTS HAVE BEEN REVEALED."

1. Is praise a duty which is behind these prohibitions of mourning? (do not allow sorrow to overcome praise in these circumstances?)

neh. 8:9-12

8. They read from the book, from the law of God, translating to give the sense so that they understood the reading. 9. Then Nehemiah, who was the governor, and Ezra the priest and scribe, and the Levites who taught the people said to all the people, "This day is holy to the LORD your God; do not mourn or weep." For all the people were weeping when they heard the words of the law. 10. Then he said to them, "Go, eat of the fat, drink of the sweet, and send portions to him who has nothing prepared; for this day is holy to our Lord. Do not be grieved, for the joy of the LORD is your strength." 11. So the Levites calmed all the people, saying, "Be still, for the day is holy; do not be grieved."

lev 10:1-7

1. Now Nadab and Abihu, the sons of Aaron, took their respective firepans, and after putting fire in them, placed incense on it and offered strange fire before the LORD, which He had not commanded them. 2. And fire came out from the presence of the LORD and consumed them, and they died before the LORD. 3. Then Moses said to Aaron, "It is what the LORD spoke, saying, `By those who come near Me I will be treated as holy, And before all the people I will be honored.' " So Aaron, therefore, kept silent. 4. Moses called also to Mishael and Elzaphan, the sons of Aaron's uncle Uzziel, and said to them, "Come forward, carry your relatives away from the front of the sanctuary to the outside of the camp." 5. So they came forward and carried them still in their tunics to the outside of the camp, as Moses had said. 6. Then Moses said to Aaron and to his sons Eleazar and Ithamar, "Do not uncover your heads nor tear your clothes, so that you will not die and that He will not become wrathful against all the congregation. But your kinsmen, the whole house of Israel, shall bewail the burning which the LORD has brought about. 7. "You shall not even go out from the doorway of the tent of meeting, or you will die; for the LORD'S anointing oil is upon you." So they did according to the word of Moses.

2. At minimum, praise should be a constant part of life for the christian.

phil 4:4 "rejoice in the lord always, and again i say rejoice"

4. Is joy based on our praise of God?

not sure here, but maybe...

4. I'm not sure of this, but I think that praise may be one of (if not the) most important things to existence.

westminster confession: the chief end of man is to glorify god and enjoy him forever"
this isn't scripture, but i think it might be correct.

praise/worship is the main activity described in heaven by angels and men

rev 15:3,4 (read above)
ezekiel (and many other prophets) reveals that God does things "for his name's sake" (eze 36:22-37)
daniel...nebuchadnezzar was humbled because he didn't praise god (dan 4)