ourselves and our
hearers to reverence Him.

Consequently we need to praise God with our lips, not indeed for His
sake, but for our own sake; since by praising Him our devotion is
aroused towards Him, according to Ps. 49:23: "The sacrifice of praise
shall glorify Me, and there is the way by which I will show him the
salvation of God." And forasmuch as man, by praising God, ascends in
his affections to God, by so much is he withdrawn from things opposed
to God, according to Isa. 48:9, "For My praise I will bridle thee
lest thou shouldst perish." The praise of the lips is also profitable
to others by inciting their affections towards God, wherefore it is
written (Ps. 33:2): "His praise shall always be in my mouth," and
farther on: "Let the meek hear and rejoice. O magnify the Lord with
me."

Reply Obj. 1: We may speak of God in two ways. First, with regard to
His essence; and thus, since He is incomprehensible and ineffable, He
is above all praise. In this respect we owe Him reverence and the
honor of latria; wherefore Ps. 64:2 is rendered by Jerome in his
Psalter [*Translated from the Hebrew]: "Praise to Thee is speechless,
O God," as regards the first, and as to the second, "A vow shall be
paid to Thee." Secondly, we may speak of God as to His effects which
are ordained for our good. In this respect we owe Him praise;
wherefore it is written (Isa. 63:7): "I will remember the tender
mercies of the Lord, the praise of the Lord for all the things that
the Lord hath bestowed upon us." Again, Dionysius says (Div. Nom. 1):
"Thou wilt find that all the sacred hymns," i.e. divine praises "of
the sacred writers, are directed respectively to the Blessed
Processions of the Thearchy," i.e. of the Godhead, "showing forth and
praising the names of God."

Reply Obj. 2: It profits one nothing to praise with the lips if one
praise not with the heart. For the heart speaks God's praises when it
fervently recalls "the glorious things of His works" [*Cf. Ecclus.
17:7, 8]. Yet the outward praise of the lips avails to arouse the
inward fervor of those who praise, and to incite others to praise
God, as stated above.

Reply Obj. 3: We praise God, not for His benefit, but for ours as
stated.
_______________________

SECOND ARTICLE [II-II, Q. 91, Art. 2]

Whether God Should Be Praised with Song?

Objection 1: It would seem that God should not be praised with song.
For the Apostle says (Col. 3:16): "Teaching and admonishing one
anothe