Praise God - why?

Several months ago I moved to the book of Psalms in my quiet time. This course was started as I had the continual thought that my greatest need as a man is to know God. The God of the Bible, Creator God, the Self Existent God, Eternal God, the One who has always been.

Today I finished Psalms. I wish that I had notes from all my morning meetings, but I did not write them all down...there is great value in the writing down of one's thoughts.

The book of Psalms is a fantastic place to go and see many of God's characteristics. I saw His love for His name, His love for me, how He rejoices over His people, His lovingkindness, His tender mercies, His steadfastness, His grace, my sins, how He led His people, how He leads me....many more that I can't even write now.

Many of these days I would read only one Psalm, but I would read it several times and meditate on the meaning. Always, my prayer was for God to reveal Himself to me that day.

Today, I read the last Psalm (150) a couple times, then re-read the last 5 Psalms in order. The overwhelming message in these Psalms is for us to praise God. Everything from the highest heavens to the depths of the sea is commanded to praise God. We know that He is worthy of our praise. There is no other God besides Him. He is El Sheddai (God Almighty).

So, the question is.... Why does God tell us to praise Him? Make no mistake. I praise Him and only Him!! The question is to see why God wants us to praise Him.