If God has no needs, why does he require our praise?

Psalm 8:1-2O Lord, our Lord, your majestic name fills the earth! Your glory is higher than the heavens. You have taught children and infants to tell of your strength, silencing your enemies and all who oppose you.

Luke 19:36-40His [Jesus’] followers began to shout and sing as they walked along, praising God for all the wonderful miracles they had seen. “Blessings on the King who comes in the name of the Lord! Peace in heaven, and glory in highest heaven!” But some of the Pharisees among the crowd said, “Teacher, rebuke your followers for saying things like that!” He replied, “If they kept quiet, the stones along the road would burst into cheers!”

If we fail to lift our voices in praise of Jesus as our Lord and King, the very rocks and stones will cry out! If we do not praise, we have turned away from a central aspect of the reason for our existence. God doesn’t accept our praise because he needs it; God accepts our praise because we need to offer praise. We are created for it. It’s part of our identity. When we praise him, we are accepting and expressing our unique identity as creatures who can consciously respond to our Creator.

Ephesians 1:6-7So we praise God for the glorious grace he has poured out on us who belong to his dear Son. He is so rich in kindness and grace that he purchased our freedom with the blood of his Son and forgave our sins.

Praise God for providing his gracious salvation. The world ignores the depth of its own depravity and offensiveness to God when it seeks out multiple means of earning salvation. They want to find way that gives them credit instead of humbly and gratefully accepting the amazing grace God has shown us by offering us one way of salvation when there is otherwise no hope.