Praise the Lord! How good to sing praises to our God! How delightful and fitting! … Glorify the Lord, O Jerusalem! Praise your God, O Zion! [Psalm 147:1,12 (NLT)
Praise God, from Whom all blessings flow;
Praise Him, all creatures here below;
Praise Him above, ye heav’nly host;
Praise Father, Son, and Holy Ghost. [Thomas Ken]
Fortunately, the words to Vivaldi’s “Laudamus te” from his Gloria were shown on the screen in the front of the auditorium: “We praise you. We bless you. We adore you. We glorify you.” The soprano’s exquisite voice did that beautifully. When she was finished, I thought back to last summer when hiking in the Canadian Rockies. While gazing at the breathtaking scenery, I turned to my husband and said, “I’m singing at the top of my lungs—you just can’t hear me!” While relishing the splendor of a glacial lake and waterfall, I was silently singing the Doxology for a private audience and the One for whom I sang heard me loud and clear. Had I sung that song of praise aloud, however, it wouldn’t have sounded anywhere as pleasant as that soprano’s clear voice. Nevertheless, I think God enjoyed my song just as much.
After the concert, I wondered if we praise, bless, adore and glorify God anywhere near as much as we should. Every action we take, every thought we think, and every word we say should do those very things but, at least for me, that is not the case. Praising God is joyfully detailing all that God has done. As I did in the mountains, we often offer praise when we are overwhelmed by His magnificent creation but often forget Him in the little routine gifts of everyday life. Yet, I wonder, how can we possibly bless God? Whenever He’s blessed us, our lives have been enriched—we’ve been helped, healed, gifted or made stronger or wiser. How can we bless God when there’s nothing we can do for or give to Him that could make Him any better than He already is? When we bless God, however, we’re proclaiming our gratitude, appreciation and admiration for His blessings. To adore God is to love and worship Him and to glorify Him is to acknowledge His greatness. After all, it is He alone who deserves to be honored and worshipped; it is all His creation and anything we have achieved is only through His power. In all of these actions, we joyfully make an offering of self and surrender to God’s will.
Let’s not wait until we view majestic mountain scenery or a stellar sunset, hear Vivaldi’s Gloria or Handel’s Messiah, or even sing the Doxology to acknowledge God’s power and glory and take joy in His limitless grace. God’s fingerprints are as visible in our everyday chores as they are in a beautiful waterfall and our every thought, word and deed should be a prayerful song that praises, blesses, adores and glorifies His holy name.
God is most glorified in us when we are most satisfied in Him. [John Piper]
I woke to yet another cold dreary winter day. Troubled by a variety of concerns and hoping to improve my glum mood, I turned to Psalms. Unfortunately, I made a bad choice in Psalm 88. Written by Heman the Ezrahite, I saw that originally it was to be sung to the tune “The Suffering of Affliction” (which should have been my clue to read no further).
It was a dreary winter day when the entire congregation exited the church into a weed-filled field. Like the Israelites, we were armed with horns, only ours were those silly blowout noisemakers seen at children’s birthday parties. Silently, we marched until we’d circled the muddy patch of ground seven times. Anyone observing us from the highway surely thought us foolish as we raised those noisemakers to our lips, blew hard and then cheered. Unlike the Israelites who marched around Jericho so God would knock down walls, we marched around that field to show our faith that God would erect walls for us!
For several years, a well-known and highly regarded actor/comedian’s name was synonymous with fatherhood and family values. After becoming the subject of sexual abuse allegations, spanning more than fifty years, by more than fifty women, his name went from respected to scorned. Several universities rescinded the honorary degrees awarded him, removed him from their boards and fund-raising campaigns, and eradicated his name from buildings and scholarships. His statue was removed from a Disney theme park, reruns of his shows were cancelled, there was a petition to revoke his Presidential Medal of Freedom, and he was dumped by his agent. No one wanted their good names tarnished by any association with such disgraceful behavior.
Pray like this: Our Father in heaven…” [Matthew 6:9a (NLT)]
Our fight is not against people on earth. We are fighting against the rulers and authorities and the powers of this world’s darkness. We are fighting against the spiritual powers of evil in the heavenly places. [Ephesians 6:12 (ERV)]
Devotions of the Heart 