Nine Different Ways to Praise the Lord

This text has been entitled "Nine Different Ways to Praise the Lord" because nine different Hebrew words in the Old Testament have been translated as "praise" in the Scriptures. They are yadah, hilluwl, tehillah, barak, halal, zamar, towdah, shabach, and mahalal. Among those nine, five are verbs and four are nouns. Each of those words will be discussed in this text. In addition, though, because verbs in Hebrew can have different meanings based upon the use of stems, a separate chapter has been devoted to the discussion of Hebrew stem types. Single chapters have also been written to discuss each of the above nine Hebrew words for "praise." However, because some of those words are very similar, an attempt has also been made to associate each of those words with their corresponding Greek word for "praise" that appears in the New Testament. There are seven such words that are translated as "praise" in the Scriptures. They are ainos, aineo, doxa, epainos, epaineo, humneo, and ainesis. Of them, four are nouns and three are verbs. Another distinction which has been made within this text, however, is that the Septuagint on two occasions had used different Greek words than the seven to replace their corresponding Hebrew words. So in those cases, which had been for eulogetos and psallo, the discussions have included that handling by the Septuagint translators.

While this text is not terribly exhaustive, it does involve a lot of discussion about Hebrew and Greek words. The Scriptures provide the bases for praising the Lord, and the Hebrew and Greek "praise" words provide the methods for praising Him. Therefore, the hope is that everyone reading this book will be challenged to lay aside all of the many distractions of this existence and be drawn into a closer walk with Christ. The simple fact is that nothing in this existence is more important than seeking the Lord with all of one's heart and living for Him. Nothing in this existence is more important than being committed to the Christ, than trusting in Him, and than being in a personal relationship with Him. In fact, one hundred years from this very moment, those are the only things that will really matter to every single person that is alive today. This may be a simple thought. But it is still very true. If something in this life will not be important on the other side of the grave, then it is not really very important on this side of the grave. Not one person that has already entered eternity cares who won the important sporting events of this year or who won the highest political offices of their former land. The only thing that is important to any of them is what they had done with the Lord while they had been in this life. The Lord will NEVER turn anyone away that comes to Him by faith in the right spirit and with the right attitude.

Therefore, while praising the Lord is a very important part of worship, no praise or worship can ever begin until a person first comes to the Lord by faith to be saved. Salvation is seeking Him with all of one's heart. It is making a personal commitment to live for Him and to serve Him. It is trusting in Him in one's daily walk through life. It is being in a personal relationship with Him. So this book like all the others by this author has been written so that every person may know the Lord in a very personal way. Therefore, that having been said, let everything that has breath praise the Lord.