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Sacrifice of Praise
a study in joyful living
by
Ken Chant
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Introduction
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Text: Hosea 14:2 –
“Come back to the Lord, and bring
words with you . . . Making him an
offering of the calves of your lips!”
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Notice the importance of
words !
What you say and how
you say it can effect your
destiny for ever!
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Because the Spirit of the Lord has
filled the world, and that which holds
all things together knows what is
said;
8 therefore no one who utters
unrighteous things will escape notice,
and justice, when it punishes, will not
pass him by. (Wis 1:7-8)
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Notice too that the most
acceptable sacrifice we can
offer God is our praise!
• But when is praise a
sacrifice?
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When it is Offered Continually
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See Hebrews 13:15 −
“Through Jesus, let us offer to God
continually a sacrifice of praise – that
is, the fruit of lips that rejoice in his
name.”
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Shall we praise God only when the
sun is shining, or when worship
makes us happy?
• But that leads to sadly spasmodic
praise – which in the end is no
praise at all!
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The best time to praise God is when
you least feel like it!
• Praise gains its greatest power
when it hurts.
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 But mark the difference between
praising God “in” or “for” all things.
 So we can always praise God for
such realities as –
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the opportunity to experience a
miracle of answered prayer
• the unchanged reality of the
victory that is ours in Christ
the Father’s unwavering love, which
we know will not fail us in our time
of need
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the certainty that you can rise
up in the power of the Holy
Spirit and crush your enemy
underfoot
• the knowledge that you are
still indwelt by Christ, the
hope of all glory
and perhaps best of all –
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the assurance that our defeat or
failure on earth cannot affect the
righteousness and authority that
remain safely ours in the heavenlies,
in Christ!
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When it is Offered Brokenly
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See Micah 7:8-10 –
“Hah, my enemy! You
rejoice too soon! I may
have fallen, but I will
stand up again. I may
seem to be surrounded
by darkness, but the
Lord is still my light. . . .
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. . . I will bear with the
anger of the Lord . . .
and he will bring me out
into the light and once
again show me his
righteousness!”
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How hard it is to
praise God in the
face of our own
defeat! Such as –
• when you have
had a great
miracle of
healing, but then,
some months
later, the disease
returns with
greater ferocity
than before
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when, against your expectation, you
are dismissed from your job
• when some cherished goal eludes
you
when, against your own loathing of it,
sin has overwhelmed you.
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But the prophet refused to
capitulate to failure – he would not
accept defeat as final – he refused
to bow before his enemy’s scorn –
he would not despair, even in the
face of divine indignation!
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The spiritual principle is this: do you
believe what God says about you in
Christ, or what you say about yourself
in defeat?
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When it is Offered Confidently
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Praise is never so hard as when it
seems that God himself has failed.
• We sometimes feel like crying with
Jeremiah –
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“Lord, why do you tell such
terrible lies? . . . You have
failed me when I most needed
you! . . . You are like a desert
mirage, or like a brook that
promises abundant water, but
then runs dry!” (15:17-18,
based on the KJV; and also 12:1-2;
20:7; and cp. 4:10)
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What happens to the man who calls
God a liar?
Something terrible?
• No, the Lord answered words with
words – but it was a stern reply –
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“Stop talking such nonsense. Speak
some sense instead! Only if you keep
on trusting me will I let you stay my
spokesman. You should make them
turn around, and not let them turn
you around!” (vs. 19)
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Next Steps
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“Bring words with you
when you come to me!”
– thus said the Lord
through Hosea.
• This is a major key to
ongoing victory in
Christ – that is,
setting ourselves to
“offer a sacrifice of
praise”.
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God deserves our praise
just because of who he is.
• So then, let our song
never be silenced!
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