Have you thought about why it is so critically important to praise God? We find the command to praise God all throughout the Bible. For example, the Psalmist wrote:
“Praise the Lord! Praise the Lord from the heavens; Praise Him in the heights! Praise Him, all His angels; Praise Him, all His hosts! Praise Him, sun and moon; Praise Him, all you stars of light! Praise Him, you heavens of heavens, and you waters above the heavens! Let them praise the name of the Lord, for He commanded and they were created. He also established them forever and ever; He made a decree which shall not pass away.”
“Praise the Lord from the earth, you great sea creatures and all the depths; fire and hail, snow and clouds; stormy wind, fulfilling His word; mountains and all hills; fruitful trees and all cedars; beasts and all cattle; creeping things and flying fowl; kings of the earth and all peoples; princes and all judges of the earth; both young men and maidens; old men and children.”
“Let them praise the name of the Lord, for His name alone is exalted; His glory is above the earth and heaven. And He has exalted the horn of His people, the praise of all His saints—of the children of Israel, a people near to Him. Praise the Lord!”
Psalms 148:1-14
One reason God commands His entire creation to praise Him is because He wants us to be wise. God does not want what you worship to make a fool out of you! Did you know that what or whom you praise will make you either wise or foolish?
We only praise whatever we deem worthy of merit, right?
What is it you hold worthy of praise? What is “praise” anyway? I think it’s fair to say that “praise” is the affirmation of what we admire. Our praise is evident in whatever we talk about with the most passion and excitement. When you analyze what captures most of your passion is it: A new friend? A new job? A grandchild? Your next vacation? The World Series? A great song?
Are any of these people or things truly worthy of our most passionate praise?
To “praise” is to express admiration or adoration. Our entire life is characterized by praise. We praise people, things, ideas, success, beauty, money, relationships, and just about anything we think is important. But—think about this: If you believe that God is the CREATOR of all the things we praise—shouldn’t our praise be more proportionately directed towards HIM? When we begin to passionately praise God—the SOURCE of all we enjoy—He enables us to have the wisdom to become all we were created to be.
Nobody or nothing we admire—will give us what God can give us!
In fact, our passionate praise to God is evidence of deep wisdom; and to fail to thank God leads to foolish darkness. The Bible warns us:
“[A]lthough they knew God, they did not glorify Him as God, nor were thankful, but became futile in their thoughts, and their foolish hearts were darkened. Professing to be wise, they became fools.”
Romans 1:21-22
TO FAIL TO PRAISE GOD WILL MAKE US A FOOL!
Psalm 115:8 makes it clear we become like what we worship:
“Those who make them are like them; so is everyone who trusts in them.”
Do you see why it’s so critical for us to worship God? We praise what we admire; we praise what we are most thankful for. To fail to glorify God—who makes it all—will make us a fool. Anything we dedicate our passion to that is less than God—will fail. It will pass away. Why not circumvent failure and dedicate our worship to the only ONE who will never fail? To give glory to God is our greatest purpose. We can WORK for God’s glory. We can LOVE for God’s glory. We can TALK, WALK, and THINK—for God’s glory.
When God’s glory is our greatest passion, our life has glorious purpose and eternal significance! Is there a more wise way to live?
2 Responses
We were created for God’s purpose. Like Hezekiah Walker says, “Every praise is to our God”.
Amen