Bible verses about

Bible Verses About Praise

12 verses · ESV & King James Version

Praise sounds like the part of faith that requires a good mood. Read the Psalms closely and that is not how it works.

A great deal of the praise in Scripture is issued as an instruction — to the self, out loud, often in the middle of something difficult. The psalmist tells his own soul what to do more than once, which is a strange thing to record unless it needed saying.

Twelve passages below, quoted in full in both translations. Several of them are written by people in trouble, and the note under each says which.

12 verses for when you need them

  1. Bless the LORD, O my soul, and all that is within me, bless his holy name!

    Psalm 103:1 ESV

    Bless the LORD, O my soul: and all that is within me, bless his holy name.

    Psalm 103:1 KJV

    Bless the LORD, O my soul. He is giving himself an order, which is worth noticing — you do not instruct yourself to do something that is already happening.

  2. Let everything that has breath praise the LORD! Praise the LORD!

    Psalm 150:6 ESV

    Let every thing that hath breath praise the LORD. Praise ye the LORD.

    Psalm 150:6 KJV

    Let every thing that hath breath praise the LORD. The final line of the whole book, and the qualification is breathing. That is the entire entry requirement.

  3. Through him then let us continually offer up a sacrifice of praise to God, that is, the fruit of lips that acknowledge his name.

    Hebrews 13:15 ESV

    By him therefore let us offer the sacrifice of praise to God continually, that is, the fruit of our lips giving thanks to his name.

    Hebrews 13:15 KJV

    The sacrifice of praise — a costly word, deliberately. And continually, which rules out waiting for the mood. The verse assumes praise will sometimes be expensive.

  4. I will bless the LORD at all times; his praise shall continually be in my mouth.

    Psalm 34:1 ESV

    I will bless the LORD at all times: his praise shall continually be in my mouth.

    Psalm 34:1 KJV

    I will bless the LORD at all times: his praise shall continually be in my mouth. At all times and continually are both absolute, which is the demanding part — the verse leaves no gap for the mornings when praise is not what you feel like producing.

  5. About midnight Paul and Silas were praying and singing hymns to God, and the prisoners were listening to them,

    Acts 16:25 ESV

    And at midnight Paul and Silas prayed, and sang praises unto God: and the prisoners heard them.

    Acts 16:25 KJV

    At midnight Paul and Silas prayed, and sang praises. Their feet were in the stocks and the other prisoners were listening. Nothing had been resolved; the singing came first and the earthquake after.

  6. Why are you cast down, O my soul, and why are you in turmoil within me? Hope in God; for I shall again praise him, my salvation and my God.

    Psalm 42:11 ESV

    Why art thou cast down, O my soul? and why art thou disquieted within me? hope thou in God: for I shall yet praise him, who is the health of my countenance, and my God.

    Psalm 42:11 KJV

    Why art thou cast down, O my soul? The psalmist interrogates his own discouragement and then instructs it to hope. It is the clearest picture in Scripture of praise as something you decide rather than something you feel.

  7. Oh come, let us sing to the LORD; let us make a joyful noise to the rock of our salvation! Let us come into his presence with thanksgiving; let us make a joyful noise to him with songs of praise!

    Psalm 95:1-2 ESV

    O come, let us sing unto the LORD: let us make a joyful noise to the rock of our salvation. Let us come before his presence with thanksgiving, and make a joyful noise unto him with psalms.

    Psalm 95:1-2 KJV

    Let us come before his presence with thanksgiving. Plural throughout — this is corporate, a thing done together and out loud, which is why so much of the Psalter reads like stage directions.

  8. addressing one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody to the Lord with your heart,

    Ephesians 5:19 ESV

    Speaking to yourselves in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody in your heart to the Lord;

    Ephesians 5:19 KJV

    Speaking to yourselves in psalms and hymns. The singing is described as addressed to each other as much as to God, which makes it a way a community says true things to itself.

  9. Yet you are holy, enthroned on the praises of Israel.

    Psalm 22:3 ESV

    But thou art holy, O thou that inhabitest the praises of Israel.

    Psalm 22:3 KJV

    Thou that inhabitest the praises of Israel. This sits in the psalm that opens my God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me — so the claim about God dwelling in praise is made by someone who feels abandoned.

  10. Sing to the LORD, all the earth! Tell of his salvation from day to day. Declare his glory among the nations, his marvelous works among all the peoples! For great is the LORD, and greatly to be praised, and he is to be feared above all gods.

    1 Chronicles 16:23-25 ESV

    Sing unto the LORD, all the earth; shew forth from day to day his salvation. Declare his glory among the heathen; his marvellous works among all nations. For great is the LORD, and greatly to be praised: he also is to be feared above all gods.

    1 Chronicles 16:23-25 KJV

    Shew forth from day to day his salvation — praise as reporting rather than emoting. The instruction is to tell people what happened, which is a job anyone can do regardless of temperament.

  11. Because your steadfast love is better than life, my lips will praise you. So I will bless you as long as I live; in your name I will lift up my hands.

    Psalm 63:3-4 ESV

    Because thy lovingkindness is better than life, my lips shall praise thee. Thus will I bless thee while I live: I will lift up my hands in thy name.

    Psalm 63:3-4 KJV

    Because thy lovingkindness is better than life, my lips shall praise thee. Better than life is an extraordinary comparison, and the psalm sets it beside a soul that thirsts and a flesh that longs in a dry land — so it is written from want, not from plenty.

  12. And I heard every creature in heaven and on earth and under the earth and in the sea, and all that is in them, saying, “To him who sits on the throne and to the Lamb be blessing and honor and glory and might forever and ever!”

    Revelation 5:13 ESV

    And every creature which is in heaven, and on the earth, and under the earth, and such as are in the sea, and all that are in them, heard I saying, Blessing, and honour, and glory, and power, be unto him that sitteth upon the throne, and unto the Lamb for ever and ever.

    Revelation 5:13 KJV

    Every creature which is in heaven, and on the earth. The scale is the point: praise is described as the eventual condition of everything, which makes joining in now a rehearsal rather than an achievement.

Notice how much of this is imperative.

Bless the LORD, O my soul. Praise ye the LORD. Let every thing that hath breath praise. These are commands, and several of them are aimed by the writer at himself — which only makes sense if praise was not arriving on its own.

That reframes it usefully. Praise in the Psalms is less a report on how you feel than a decision about what you will say, and the deciding is done out loud and often in company.

The two to sit with are Psalm 42:11, where the psalmist interrogates his own downcast soul and instructs it to hope, and Acts 16:25, where Paul and Silas sing at midnight in a prison with their feet in stocks. Neither is pretending. Both are choosing what to do with a voice while the situation is unresolved.

Scripture quotations marked KJV are from the King James Version, which is in the public domain. Scripture quotations marked ESV are from the ESV® Bible (The Holy Bible, English Standard Version®), © 2001 by Crossway, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers. Used by permission. All rights reserved.