A recent Christian Science Bible Lesson made repeated reference to the word praise in the Responsive Reading, so it seemed worth investigating its definition a little further.
The word praise appears frequently in the Bible (close to 150 times in the King James Version) especially in the book of Psalms. Many references include commands such as “Sing praises to the Lord” (Psalms 9:11) or statements of intention: “For what you have done, I will always praise you” (Psalms 52:9, New International Version). The many references to “praise” made me want to understand more deeply what praise is and what it does for us, and provided me a way to distinguish between the material conception of God—which can act as a subtle influence on our thought—and the immortal or true understanding of the divine creator.
It occurred to me that when I thought of God as I thought of a human person, praising Him as I might a business associate, a friend, or a child, praise made little sense. After all, God doesn’t need my encouragement, approval, or recognition. I found that this sort of thinking stemmed from a vision of God, based on a human definition—seeing Him through a human lens. But Mary Baker Eddy, the Discoverer and Founder of Christian Science, makes clear that what she calls the “divine Ego” is distinct from mortal conceptions. She says “The Ego is God Himself, the infinite Soul” (Unity of Good, p. 48). From a material standpoint I wouldn’t be able to understand God or how to praise Him.
The Interpreter’s Dictionary of the Bible notes several terms for the activity of praise in the Bible (p. 857). One stood out to me: In the original Hebrew, the word involves “thanksgiving.” This line of thinking put me on track; I realized that when I express gratitude, my thought is looking upward to the Divine. It’s God-centered. And when I turned to God with this new view of praise in thought, I found it so much easier to commune with Him and trust in His infinite capacities. I realized that expressing gratitude means I’d first turned my attention to God and was therefore more conscious of His goodness, more aware of His presence—embracing the good that comes from Him, and giving thanks for it.
In fact, I found there’s a lot going on “behind the scenes,” too. Being grateful includes my awareness of God’s love and bestowals, the acknowledgment of where all true good originates, the acceptance of such good in my life, and my active reception of it. It became much easier to rest in God’s all-presence and power as I recognized and accepted the good He has for me. I found that the action of gratitude can be quite healing because it allows me to turn my thought Godward and both feel and demonstrate my oneness with Him.
Learning more about “praise” helped me understand that praise as thanksgiving makes perfect sense. When we praise God, we’re actively becoming conscious of His presence. We’re being alive to God’s vital care of us, residing in the understanding of His creation, and participating in receiving and reflecting His love. I’ve come to cherish praise as the outward expression of a light-filled array of thoughts, a growing love for God, all of which allow us to prove each day our divine heritage.
