It’s so easy to slip into prayers that are mostly, or even only, petition–asking God to meet our needs. However, it’s clear from the prayers we see in scripture that there’s much more to it than just making requests. In fact, many of examples we have in the bible include extensive declarations of praise. They speak well of God, describing his character and deeds. Have you ever set out to spend time extolling God and found yourself running out of things to say? This has happened to me. My heart wants to go on, but I just end up repeating myself or running out of words to say. Here is a collection of texts that I took from a booklet my father (Vince Finnegan) wrote a couple of years ago. Hopefully these can help us all expand our praise vocabulary and learn by example of those who have come before us. I believe these are from the NASB, though they are slightly edited to put God’s name in where appropriate and I’ve changed the spacing to bring out the poetic structure.
Psalm 29.1-2
Ascribe to the Yahweh, O sons of the mighty,
Ascribe to the Yahweh glory and strength.
Ascribe to Yahweh the glory due to His name;
Worship Yahweh in holy array.
Psalm 117.1-2
Praise Yahweh, all nations;
Laud Him, all peoples!
For His lovingkindness is great toward us,
and the truth of Yahweh is everlasting.
Praise Yahweh!
Revelation 4.11
Worthy are You, our Lord and our God,
To receive glory and honor and power;
For You created all things,
And because of Your will
They existed, and were created.
1 Chronicles 29.10-13
Blessed are You, O Yahweh God of Israel our father, forever and ever.
Yours, O Yahweh, is the greatness and the power and the glory and the victory and the majesty,
Indeed everything that is in the heavens and the earth;
Yours is the dominion, O Yahweh,
And You exalt Yourself as head over all.
Both riches and honor come from You,
And You rule over all,
And in Your hand is power and might;
And it lies in Your hand to make great and to strengthen everyone.
Now therefore, our God, we thank You, and praise Your glorious name.
1 Timothy 1.17
Now to the King eternal, immortal, invisible, the only God,
Be honor and glory forever and ever.
Amen.
Ephesians 3.20-21
Now to Him who is able to do far more abundantly beyond all that we ask or think,
According to the power that works within us,
To Him be the glory in the church
And in Christ Jesus to all generations forever and ever.
Amen.
Romans 16.27
To the only wise God, through Jesus Christ, be the glory forever.
Amen.
Exodus 34.6-7
Yahweh, Yahweh God,
Compassionate and gracious, slow to anger, and abounding in lovingkindness and truth;
Who keeps lovingkindness for thousands,
Who forgives iniquity, transgression and sin;
Yet He will by no means leave the guilty unpunished,
Visiting the iniquity of fathers on the children and on the grandchildren to the third and fourth generations.
Lamentation 3.22-26
Yahweh’s lovingkindnesses indeed never cease,
For His compassions never fail.
They are new every morning;
Great is Your faithfulness.
Yahweh is my portion, says my soul,
Therefore I have hope in Him.
Yahweh is good to those who wait for Him,
To the person who seeks Him.
It is good that he waits silently for the salvation of Yahweh.
Psalm 73.25-28
Whom have I in heaven but You?
And besides You, I desire nothing on earth.
My flesh and my heart may fail,
But God is the strength of my heart and my portion forever.
For, behold, those who are far from You will perish;
You have destroyed all those who are unfaithful to You.
But as for me, the nearness of God is my good;
I have made the Lord Yahweh my refuge,
That I may tell of all Your works.
Psalm 16.11
You will make known to me the path of life;
In Your presence is fullness of joy;
In Your right hand there are pleasures forever.
Isaiah 30.18
Therefore, Yahweh longs to be gracious to you,
And therefore He waits on high to have compassion on you.
For Yahweh is a God of justice;
How blessed are all those who long for Him.
Psalm 89.13-14
You have a strong arm;
Your hand is mighty,
Your right hand is exalted.
Righteousness and justice are the foundation of Your throne;
Lovingkindness and truth go before You.
Deuteronomy 10.17
For Yahweh your God is the God of gods and the Lord of lords,
The great, the mighty, and the awesome God
Who does not show partiality nor take a bribe.
Deuteronomy 32.3-4
For I proclaim the name of Yahweh;
Ascribe greatness to our God!
The rock! His work is perfect,
For all His ways are just;
A God of faithfulness and without injustice,
Righteous and upright is He.
Psalm 9.7-9
Yahweh abides forever;
He has established His throne for judgment,
And He will judge the world in righteousness;
He will execute judgment for the peoples with equity.
Yahweh also will be a stronghold for the oppressed,
A stronghold in times of trouble
Jeremiah 23.23-24
Am I a God who is near, declares Yahweh, and not a God far off?
Can a man hide himself in hiding places so I do not see him? declares Yahweh.
Do I not fill the heavens and the earth? declares Yahweh.
Isaiah 40.28
Do you not know? Have you not heard?
The Everlasting God, the LORD,
The Creator of the ends of the earth
Does not become weary or tired.
His understanding is inscrutable.
Psalm 139.6-12
Such knowledge is too wonderful for me;
It is too high, I cannot attain to it.
Where can I go from Your spirit
Or where can I flee from Your presence?
If I ascend to heaven, You are there;
If I make my bed in sheol, behold, You are there.
If I take the wings of the dawn,
If I dwell in the remotest part of the sea,
Even there Your hand will lead me,
And Your right hand will lay hold of me.
If I say, “surely the darkness will overwhelm me,
And the light around me will be night,”
Even the darkness is not dark to You,
And the night is as bright as the day.
Darkness and light are alike to You.
Hebrews 4.13
There is no creature hidden from His sight, but all things are open and laid bare to the eyes of Him with whom we have to do.
Hebrew 13.5-6
“I will never desert you, nor will I ever forsake you,”
So that we confidently say, “Yahweh is my helper,
I will not be afraid. What shall man do to me?”
Romans 8.38-39
For I am convinced that neither death, nor life,
Nor angels, nor principalities, nor powers,
Nor things present, nor things to come,
Nor height, nor depth,
Nor any other created thing,
Will be able to separate us from the love of God,
Which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.
Psalm 16.11
You will make known to me the path of life;
In Your presence is fullness of joy;
In Your right hand there are pleasures forever.
Psalm 147.5
Great is our Lord and abundant in strength;
His understanding is infinite.
Romans 11.33
Oh, the depth of the riches both of the wisdom and knowledge of God!
How unsearchable are His judgments and unfathomable His ways!
James 1.17
Every good thing given and every perfect gift is from above,
Coming down from the Father of lights,
With whom there is no variation or shifting shadow.
Exodus 15.11
Who is like You among the gods, O Yahweh?
Who is like You, majestic in holiness,
Awesome in praises, working wonders?
Revelation 4.8
And the four living creatures, each one of them having six wings, are full of eyes around and within; and day and night they do not cease to say,
“Holy, holy, holy is Yahweh God, the Almighty,
Who was and Who is and Who is to come.”
Psalm 104.1-19
Bless Yahweh, O my soul!
O Yahweh my God, You are very great;
You are clothed with splendor and majesty,
Covering Yourself with light as with a cloak,
Stretching out heaven like a tent curtain.
He lays the beams of His upper chambers in the waters;
He makes the clouds His chariot;
He walks upon the wings of the wind;
He makes the winds His messengers [angels] ,
Flaming fire His ministers.
He established the earth upon its foundations,
So that it will not totter forever and ever.
You covered it with the deep as with a garment;
The waters were standing above the mountains.
At Your rebuke they fled,
At the sound of Your thunder they hurried away.
The mountains rose;
The valleys sank down to the place which You established for them.
You set a boundary that they may not pass over,
So that they will not return to cover the earth.
He sends forth springs in the valleys;
They flow between the mountains;
They give drink to every beast of the field;
The wild donkeys quench their thirst.
Beside them the birds of the heavens dwell;
They lift up their voices among the branches.
He waters the mountains from His upper chambers;
The earth is satisfied with the fruit of His works.
He causes the grass to grow for the cattle, and vegetation for the labor of man,
So that he may bring forth food from the earth,
And wine which makes man’s heart glad,
So that he may make his face glisten with oil,
And food which sustains man’s heart.
The trees of Yahweh drink their fill,
The cedars of Lebanon which He planted,
Where the birds build their nests,
And the stork, whose home is the fir trees.
The high mountains are for the wild goats;
The cliffs are a refuge for the shephanim [rock badgers].
He made the moon for the seasons;
The sun knows the place of its setting.
You appoint darkness and it becomes night,
In which all the beasts of the forest prowl about.
How do you think you can incorporate these awesome scriptures into your life?
