The Sacrifice of Praise

By Pastor George Kingsley Judah

It is easy to praise God when life is going well. When prayers are answered, doors are opening, the family is healthy, and the future looks promising, thanksgiving can flow almost effortlessly. But what happens when circumstances change? What happens when the prayer remains unanswered, disappointment replaces expectation, or we are carrying grief, pressure, loss, or uncertainty?

Hebrews gives us a remarkable expression: “Therefore by Him let us continually offer the sacrifice of praise to God, that is, the fruit of our lips, giving thanks to His name” (Hebrews 13:15). Praise can certainly be joyful and spontaneous, but Scripture shows that there are moments when praise becomes something more: it becomes a sacrifice.

A sacrifice, by its nature, costs the person offering it something. Under the Old Testament system, worshippers brought valuable offerings before God. Christ has now fulfilled that sacrificial system through His once-for-all sacrifice, yet Hebrews deliberately retains the language of sacrifice when describing praise. There are times when praising God costs us the surrender of disappointment, bitterness, our demand to understand everything, or our insistence that God must first change our circumstances before He deserves our praise. At such moments, praise becomes an act of faith.