Make His Praise Glorious

We sang the song, "Make It Glorious," by Tommy Walker last Sunday in church, (check out song here). The concept for the song comes from Psalm 66:1-4, which says,

"Shout for joy to God, all the earth; sing the glory of this name; give to him glorious praise! Say to God, "How awesome are your deeds! So great is your power that your enemies come cringing to you. All the earth worships you and sings praises to you; they sing praises to your name." (ESV)

Other versions say, "make His praise glorious." I have been thinking about that phrase and wondering how we go about doing it, when God is already completely glorious. I can't add anything to His glory. The emphasis seems to be on the praise offered being glorious. This verse also has aesthetic implications. What kind of praise is glorious to God?

In Psalm 66:1-4, it is clear that glorious praise is God-centered. Also, because of the repetition and declarative commands, it is intensely passionate (see also Revelation 4 & 5). Hebrews 11:6 says that without faith, it is impossible to please God. For God to consider our praise as glorious, it must be offered by faith in Jesus Christ, looking only to him for our salvation and acceptance, not at our offering of praise.

This morning I was reading Titus and Paul hits on something that sheds light on this subject for me. In chapter 2, Paul is giving instructions to various groups in the church (older men, older women, younger men, and slaves) on how to live godly lives. He says in 2:10b, "so that in everything they may adorn the doctrine of God our Savior." The Amplified version says, "so that in everything they may be an ornament and do credit to the teaching [which is] from and about God our Savior. (italics mine) On the very surface, Paul seems to be saying that mere head knowledge, only thinking rightly about doctrine, is only part of the equation. Our lives must be a visible display of the doctrine we believe in. Our lives should adorn or be an ornament of the gospel of Jesus Christ.

How do we make God's praise glorious? Paul would say to us in Titus 2:10, in everything, let your obedience to God adorn the gospel. Let your lives be an ornament and beautify, as it were, God's glorious name.