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Many years ago, a very intelligent young lady who had been attending our church off and on for several months sent me an e-mail with the following question...
Worship is an aspect of religion that I always found difficult to understand. God is supposedly an omnipotent being who, for reasons unknown to us, decided to create some beings other than himself. Why should he expect us to worship him? We didn’t ask to be created. Our lives are often difficult and troubled. We know that human tyrants, puffed up with pride, crave adulation and homage. But a morally perfect God would surely have no such insecurities or character defects. So why are all those people on their knees every Sunday?
This is a very good question, and there is no doubt that the Bible is full of places where God commands and even demands that we praise Him.
James 5:13 - Is anyone among you suffering? Let him pray. Is anyone cheerful? Let him sing praise.
Psalm 148:5 - Let them praise the name of the LORD! For he commanded and they were created.
Hebrews 13:15 - Through him then let us continually offer up a sacrifice of praise to God, that is, the fruit of lips that acknowledge his name.
The problem with the young woman’s question is that she assumes the only reason that God demands our praise is because of some insecurity or defect in His character. But with God there is another possibility.
Author and self professed atheist Ayn Rand once said, admiration is the rarest and best of pleasures? I don’t think Ayn Rand understood this, but what if God really is the most admirable being in the universe? Wouldn’t this imply that God’s demand for our praise is actually an expression of His desire for our highest joy? And if the fulfillment of that demand for praise cost him the life of his Son, would that not be love (instead of insecurity or arrogance)?
The reason the Bible gives why God should be greatly praised is that he is great. “Great is the LORD, and greatly to be praised” (Psalm 96:4). He is more admirable than anything he has made. That is what it means to be God.
The Bible says that praise – overflowing, heartfelt admiration – is a pleasure. “Praise the LORD! For it is good to sing praises to our God; for it is pleasant” (Psalm 147:1). And this pleasure is the best there is, and lasts forever. “In (God's) presence there is fullness of joy; at your right hand are pleasures forevermore” (Psalm 16:11).
The upshot of this is that God’s demand for supreme praise is his demand for our supreme happiness. Deep in our hearts we know that we are not made to be made much of. We are made to make much of something greater than ourselves. The best joys are when we forget ourselves, enthralled with greatness. The greatest greatness is God’s. Every good that ever thrilled the heart of man is amplified ten thousand times in God. God is in a class by himself.
C. S. Lewis broke through to the beauty of God’s self-exaltation (thinking at first that the Psalms sounded like an old woman craving compliments). He finally saw the obvious:
My whole, more general, difficulty about the praise of God depended on my absurdly denying to us, as regards the supremely Valuable, what we delight to do, what indeed we can’t help doing, about everything else we value. I think we delight to praise what we enjoy because the praise not merely expresses but completes the enjoyment; it is its appointed consummation...by commanding us to glorify Him, God is inviting us to enjoy Him.
So, let’s enjoy God today by praising Him!
Jeff Frazier
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2 comments:
I love this Jeff -and thanks for the wonderful thoughts guiding us towards God's love and goodness and greatness!...I feel a bit uncomfortable with "Deep in our hearts we know that we are not made to be made much of."...I hear many Protestants emphasize that sometimes to the exclusion of our value...So this is just some thoughts i had...Sometimes when i hear that....
I think we as Protestant Christians, in trying to be sure we speak of God's greatness and our sinfulness,and unworthiness before His holiness...we emphasize it in such a way that it seems to me we are sometimes afraid to really let ourselves think about God creating each of us in His image, and His delight in and love for us....letting ourselves even revel in some of the beauty of His plan in creating us! the pinnacle (?) of His creation on earth... -making us a little lower than the angels, giving us dominion here...man/woman are amazing...He took joy in creating us and makes much of us -so much that He gave His life for us....Our Creator planned us and said "it is very good"....We are deeply valued and loved -as parents love and enjoy their child -they don't really say "they are not much to be made of"?! -- Letting ourselves revel and even praise His amazing creation -in nature and also in creating us, letting ourselves think that He values and loves us,like a Father His children.... we have intrinsic value as His creation! Doesn't take away from what we have allowed sin to mar... I don't think that will take away from the truth that we've fallen and let sin destroy things, that there is an unworthiness of such love when we have rejected Him and turned away from Him...But still He pursues and loves us as a parent their much -loved, much valued children.....? Jan k
Great insights Jan, and I agree with you wholeheartedly!
When we come to Christ, He reveals to us a purpose and value for our lives far beyond what we could ever imagine.
The Scripture teaches us that we do not find our value by looking for it, but by looking to the One who is infinitely more valuable than us!
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