The Hollywood Commandments By DeVon FranklinUzorak

Give Praise Where Praise Is Due

In the story of Daniel, King Nebuchadnezzar decided to make a golden 90-foot statue and commanded everyone in Babylon to fall down and worship the golden image when they heard the music play. He threatened anyone who didn’t obey with death in a fiery furnace. Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego refused, and, furious, the king brought the Hebrew Boys before him and told them that if they didn’t obey, he would order them killed.

What upset the king so much? It was a conflict about praise. Praise is an expression of approval and/or admiration for someone or something. In this story, there was a conflict over who was going to get the admiration, the king or the God of the Hebrew Boys? The king’s narcissistic need to be the object of praise—of worship, really—fueled his appetite for validation so much that he wasted vital resources building a golden statue for no other purpose than to convince others (and himself) of his power. He wanted to be worshiped like a god, yet he didn’t understand that worship was only created for God. Rick Warren has a definition of worship that I’ve always liked: honoring God with our lifestyle. The Hebrew Boys refused to bow down because they realized the truth: We were created to give praise, not receive it.

They knew the only one worthy of their praise and worship was God, not the king, and definitely not a golden statue. And they also understood that bowing down to the statute would indicate a dangerous lifestyle shift. It would communicate the message that they were more comfortable living a life of conformity which valued worshiping the King over worshiping their God.

The battle for praise cuts to the very heart of the war between good and evil. Look at the Devil. The events that led to the Fall and the Devil (a.k.a., Lucifer) becoming Lord of Lies revolved around the fact that he wanted to be the one who received the praise, not God (King Nebuchadnezzar was guilty of the same transgression). What was the result? Banishment from Heaven and being cast to earth along with a third of the angels who were foolish enough to harbor the same idea. The eternal battle between good and evil began with this question: Will you receive praise or give it? It continues today, fought in the hearts and spirits of each one of us.

One of the most popular psalms is Psalm 150, which reads, "Let everything that has breath praise the Lord. Praise the Lord." The Bible also says that God has angels encamped around Him that offer Him continuous praise, and that we were created with the disposition to offer praise to Him from whom we came. Adam and Eve, Moses, David, Jesus—all the figures that God used in the Bible—when they were at their most successful, were acknowledging and appreciating the role God played in their lives. They also resisted the temptation to build an altar to their own greatness; instead, they were humble and grateful to Him. When they weren’t? Well, look at Samson.

Giving praise is part of our divine design. We can give praise in two forms: giving praise to God and giving praise to others in the form of encouragement. Have you ever been depressed but given someone an encouraging word and found your spirits lifted? That’s because you were created to give praise. It feels good. We don’t have to teach our bodies to appreciate a drink of cool, clear water; when we’re thirsty, drinking water feels great because we need it to survive. We thrive on it. Praise is water for our spirit. The more of it we give, the more refreshed we feel.

We would like to thank DeVon Franklin and HarperOne for providing this plan. For more information, please visit: DeVonFranklin.com