Praising the Lord

To give praise to God and to praise God is to confess Him,

and from confession of heart to worship Him… .

(Apocalypse Explained 1210)

There are many ways to praise the Lord in our lives. Obeying His Word and trying to help others is a beautiful way to glorify or praise Him. Another way is to praise the Lord with our minds and hearts. When we are praying to the Lord or reading His Word, we may feel appreciative of all that He does for us. At other times joy may move us to praise the Lord with music, song, or dance.

FAMILY WORSHIP: Praising the Lord
Can you think of times that people in the Word praised the Lord? One such time was when the Lord brought the children of Israel out of Egypt and prevented Pharaoh and his army from following them. Imagine the surprise and joy of the Israelites! Read aloud portions of Exodus 15 (verses 1-2, 12-13, 17-21), describing how Moses and the children of Israel sang a song to the Lord and then Miriam took a timbrel and the women danced (see Exodus 15:1-21).

Discussion Ideas:

• What is the song of Moses about?

• What miracle(s) did the Lord do to bring the Israelites safely out of Egypt?

• Why did Miriam and all the women celebrate with timbrels and with dances?

• Note: A timbrel was probably a hand drum rather than a tambourine.

Related Activities:

• Select part of the song to memorize and recite as a family, such as: “The Lord is my strength and song, and He has become my salvation; He is my God, and I will praise Him” (Exodus 15:2) or a shorter section such as: “The Lord shall reign forever and ever” (Exodus 15:18).

• With a reverent sphere, perhaps after your family worship, play a piece of religious music and invite family members to use movement to praise the Lord. A beautiful variation is to give everyone a silk scarf to move through the air. If you have plenty of space, you could also give each child a dowel rod with long ribbons or streamers attached.

READ: “Praise the Lord!,” a family talk by the Rt. Rev. George de Charms
David wrote the Psalms to joyfully thank the Lord for all His gifts. We can do this too, when we praise the Lord with words and music.

ACTIVITY: Praise the Lord with Music (for preschoolers)
Make simple instruments and then praise the Lord with song, dance, and music.

ACTIVITY: “His praise shall continuously be in my mouth” (Psalm 34:1)
Say this verse and others as you go through the day—at the beginning of the day, as a blessing before meals, at the end of the day. This can help remind us to praise the Lord with our actions as well as our words. See the Praise Cards (below) that are available for printing and cutting apart.

PROJECT: Praise Cards
Print out cards which quote beautiful passages of praise from the Psalms and use blank cards to make additional cards with your favorite quotes from the Word that celebrate the Lord our God.

SING: “O Render Thanks to God Above”

PROJECT: “It is good to give thanks to the Lord” (Psalm 92:1)
Select a quote about a praising the Lord (such as Psalm 92:1-2) and put it on a plaque and then decorate the edges. Or illustrate the quote and write the verse beneath.

POSTER: In the Morning and Every Night
Print out this poster to display in your home as a reminder to thank the Lord morning and evening 

ACTIVITY: Write an Acrostic Poem of P-R-A-I-S-E (page provided)

LISTEN TO AND SING: "Awaken the Dawn" by Karen Childs Elder (mp3) (lyrics)
This is a joyous song to help you praise the Lord with words taken from Psalm 57:8-10.
An audio file and a pdf of the words and guitar chords are provided.

READ: “O, Magnify the Lord” by the Rev. Grant Odhner
The Rev. Odhner explains the truth that the Lord wills us to worship Him, not because it makes Him feel better, but because of what it does for us.

ACTIVITY: Write a Poem of Praise
A framework is provided if you would like to use it in writing your poem.

ACTIVITY: Words of Praise
Praising the Lord is one way that we can build a relationship with him. This activity involves thinking about a variety of words that mean "praise" to help us understand the concept more deeply.

SINGING

[S]inging exalts, and causes affection to break out from

the heart into sound, and show itself intensely in its life.

         (Apocalypse Revealed 279:2)

Singing is a beautiful way to communicate affections. Language helps us express our thoughts, while music expresses affections. Singing actually combines thoughts and feelings, since words are set to music. When songs are mentioned in the Word, they symbolize glorifying or praising the Lord with thanksgiving. 

READ: “Sing to the Lord,” a family talk by the Rev. Lorentz Soneson 

READ: “Music—A Gift from the Lord,” a sermon by the Rt. Rev. Brian Keith
This sermon explains why music is so powerful and how it can connect us with the Lord.

PROJECT: You Can Write a Psalm (level 2 of Family Lesson for Psalm 1)

ACTIVITY: Sing to the Lord a New Song
Write a song of praise to the Lord. Try writing the lyrics and setting them to your own melody or you may want to select an existing tune and make up new words.

ACTIVITY: Wake Your Children with Music
If you enjoy singing, consider waking little children with a song in the morning. Or put on peaceful  music to help them wake up and greet the day.

ACTIVITY: Go to Sleep with Peaceful Music
Sing songs to your children after evening prayers or use a tape or CD to hold them in a beautiful sphere.  Religious music such as Songs from the Word by John and Lori Odhner is especially nice for young children.

ACTIVITY:  Sound Expresses Feelings
Take turns making a sound and have others guess the feeling or emotion it expresses. A variation is to give children an emotion or feeling and have them express it with sound and movement. 

instrumental music

[M]usical instruments and dances symbolize varieties
of joy and gladness that spring from the affections.

(Apocalypse Explained 323:11)

There are many different kinds of musical instruments, producing a variety of sounds. The Heavenly Doctrine for the New Church explains that different kinds of instruments symbolize different kinds of affections. In general, wind instruments symbolize affections for what is good and stringed instruments symbolize affections for what is true. So a variety of affections are expressed by the sounds of the instruments as well as the music being played.

FAMILY WORSHIP: David Plays the Harp
Read the story of David playing his harp for King Saul (see 1 Samuel 16:17-23). The Lord has told Samuel to anoint David to be the next king of Israel, and the Lord is with David. But Saul is still the king for now, and he starts being troubled by bad moods. His servants suggest that the music of the harp might be helpful.

Discussion Ideas:

• What happened to Saul’s mood when David played his harp? (It improved and Saul felt better.)

• The harp symbolizes spiritual truth. How can truth help us when we experience bad moods?

• If you have a CD or tape with harp music, play that for your family.

• David was inspired by the Lord to write the Psalms, and these were songs. When we read the Psalms, we find that they express various emotions. Many of the Psalms are songs of praise, such as Psalms 146-150 which all begin and end with the words “Praise the Lord.”

Activities:

• Let everyone choose one of the Praise Cards to read aloud.

• Or let everyone select a favorite passage from the Psalms and share it.

 For Reflection:

• Think about the effect that music can have on us. What kinds of music inspire us and lift our spirits? What kinds of music tend to make us feel more energetic? Is there music which could make us angry or unhappy, perhaps feeling sorry for ourselves? Is there music which calms us, putting us in a reflective mood?

•  Church music varies in mood as well. Some songs help us come before the Lord with quiet reverence and humility. These are often used during the first part of a New Church worship service. Other songs praise the Lord with joyful lyrics and melodies. These are more often used later in the service.

• This week, listen to various kinds of music and reflect on how it affects your moods.

ACTIVITY: Categorize Ancient Musical Instruments
Print the picture cards showing musical instruments mentioned in the Old Testament. Then group them into these categories: wind instruments, stringed instruments, and percussion instruments. 

ACTIVITY: Listening to Music
Music does affect us, and we can play different kinds of music for different kinds of activities.
Here are some suggestions for classical music that can be played to soothe or calm and suggestions of music that is inspirational.

For Parents: Try Singing to Change the Moods of Preschoolers
When young children are grumpy, a simple way to change their mood is to just start singing. It can be a song they know, and they may join you in singing. Or make up a pretty or silly song about what you are doing (cooking, cleaning, working in the yard, etc.). Without lecturing or trying to reason with them, the mood will usually shift in a positive direction.

IN HEAVEN

[In heaven] glorifications and celebrations of the Lord are taken from the Word…. (see Conjugial Love 5)

Think of the most beautiful music you have heard and reflect on how beautiful the music of heaven must be. The angels know that they praise the Lord whenever they are useful, doing kind things for others. But they also delight in praising the Lord with choral speaking or with instrumental or choral music.

STORY: “A Song for Swedenborg” by the Rev. Kurt Horigan Asplundh
An imaginative story of children in heaven who are learning to sing in a choir.

PROJECT: Picture Angels in Heaven Praising the Lord with Music
In heaven, the angels have days of celebration to help them relax and recreate. On such days, they have concerts of choral and instrumental music. Read the description of a day of celebration and then illustrate some aspect of it. Older children who would welcome a challenge might try a more technical drawing of the three tiered stage surrounded by lattice work woven out of grape vines!

COLORING PAGE: “Morning Song” by Linda Simonetti Odhner
A lovely drawing of girls in heaven singing at the start of the day.

ACTIVITY: Choral Recitation
In heaven, choirs praise the Lord with choral music or speech. When speaking as a choir, they recite passages from the Word that best express their affections. As a family or class, choose one or two passages from the Word to memorize and practice reciting together. 

READ: “Songs and Worship,” a family talk by the Rt. Rev. Alfred Acton

RESOURCE AVAILABLE: Songs from the Word by John and Lori Odhner
The Odhners have written many songs with lyrics from the Lord’s Word. These have been published in a book titled “Songs from the Word.” The sheet music and audio recordings are available from the New Church Book Center (215-914-4920 or www.newchurch.org/bookstore). Many a child has delighted in these joyous songs!

PRAISING THE LORD IN WORSHIP

To praise with joyful lips means to worship the Lord by means of truths which gladden the mind. (see Apocalypse Explained 1151)

One of the adjectives used to describe genuine worship is “joyful.” Because humility helps us come before the Lord with thanksgiving and joy, a worship service will usually begin with music that helps us reflect on all that the Lord does for us. This prepares us to celebrate His wondrous works! As the Rt. Rev. George de Charms notes, “When we sing about the Lord from joy of heart then the angels are with us and increase our happiness…[and] we feel just a little touch of the joy of heaven.”

SING: Praise the Name of the Lord (a contemplative song) 

SING: Hark the Song of Jubilee (a joyful song)

READ: “Confessing the Lord from Joy of Heart” by the Rev. Norman Reuter
This sermon explores how music can help us respond to the Lord with joy because it is such a wonderful way to express our love for the Lord. The Rev. Reuter observes, “For a person to receive the full benefit of worship, he is to open to the Lord not only his mind but also his heart.”

ACTIVITY: Pray to the Lord
See the Prayers of Praise for this month:

For Children
For Teens
For Adults

READ: “In the Presence of the Lord” an article for teens by the Rt. Rev. George de Charms
What about those times when we don’t feel joyful, when things don’t seem to be going well for us. Can we still find ways to praise the Lord?