What does it mean to extol something? The dictionary says this: “Praise enthusiastically, go into raptures about/over, wax lyrical about, sing praises of, praise to the skies, acclaim, exalt, eulogize, adulate, rhapsodize over, rave about, enthuse about/over, overpraise, go wild about go on about, laud.” Websters says this: “to praise highly, glorify.”

Wow, that is a lot to soak in. When you think of the person or thing you extol the most what comes to your mind? What should come to your mind? Who is it that deserves our adoration, our praises? It is Jesus of course! The one who came down from heaven walked this earth, lived, loved, healed, cried, died. Jesus, our salvation. The word made flesh.

We as a society seem to get really excited about a lot of things from food to fame; celebrities, chefs, people who renovate houses just to name a few. It is not wrong to admire people who have accomplished great things, but when we are focused more on this world and the people in it that we think are all that, then we have sadly missed the mark. We are to be praising and glorifying our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ above all else. He deserves all of our praise; he is the one we should be raving about to others. He should be our first love.

We see so many scriptures that tell us exactly what we need to be doing. Our eyes, our affection our adoration needs to be redirected from this world that is passing away to the one we will one day spend eternity with if we are his.

1 Chronicles 16:28-29 “Ascribe to the LORD O families of the peoples, Ascribe to the LORD glory and strength. Ascribe to the LORD the glory due his name; Bring an offering, and come before Him; Worship the LORD IN holy array.”

Psalm 33:1-5 “Sing for joy in the LORD, O you righteous ones; Praise is becoming to the upright. Give thanks to the LORD with the lyre; Sing praises to Him with a harp of ten strings. Sing to Him a new song; Play skillfully with a shout of joy.”

Psalm 34:1-3 “I will bless the LORD at all times; His praise shall continually be in my mouth. My soul will make its boasts in the LORD; The humble will hear it and rejoice. O magnify the LORD with me, And let us exalt His name together.”

Psalm 100:1-2 “Shout joyfully to the LORD, all the earth. Serve the LORD with gladness; Come before Him with joyful singing.”

These are just a few verses to meditate on. We need to check our hearts to see what we hold the closest and we need to listen to ourselves to see who or what we esteem the most. Sometimes when we do not take our thoughts captive and the lusts of the flesh are in full swing we can start sounding a lot like this world we live in. We can start desiring things or people here more than we desire a relationship with Christ. And we can start lauding those here rather than the one who deserves ALL our adoration and praise.

If you find that you have moved from adoring the Lord and praising him on a daily basis get on your knees, repent, ask him to forgive you and get up praising His Holy Worhty name. Your heart will feel lighter and I know he will be pleased by your praise!