27. Being a worshipper III
I. Why should we worship the Lord?
First of all, we praise Him, because we are commanded in His Word to do so. Praise the Lord! - (Ps.150:1). Have you noticed, that God has not asked us to praise Him? That is, because kings do not ask - they command! “Why does God demand our praise?”, you may ask. “Is He some sort of egomaniac who feeds on our adulation?” No, it is not, that God needs our praises, but He knows, that we need to praise Him! Ultimately, praise does not benefit God (He is God, whether we choose to praise Him or not) - God has commanded praise for our own good. Not until we praise Him are we able to come into proper relationship with Him. Without a thankful and praising heart we will never grow in the grace of Christ Jesus.
A second reason for praising is, because God is enthroned upon our praises (Ps. 22: 3). He loves our praise! He is pleased with our praise, that He literally surrounds Himself with and bathes in our praise. We praise Him, because He loves it!
Third, there is power in praise. When we stop trying to fight our battles, and simply begin to praise the God, Who has said He will fight for us, God is free to release His power and provision on our behalf.
Praise is a weapon in spiritual warfare and brings victory, power, deliverance and blessing.
Fourth, we also praise God because it is a good thing to praise the Lord (Ps. 92:1). It is a pleasant thing for the upright to praise Him (Ps.135: 3). It is fitting for His holy ones to bless Him.
A fifth reason for praising God is simply because He is worthy of our praise. Great is the Lord, and greatly to be praised (Ps. 48:1). Worthy art Thou, our Lord and our God, to receive glory and honor and power; for Thou didst create all things, and because of Thy will they existed, and were created (Rev. 4:11).
Consider these beautiful words of Maarten Luther: “A person cannot praise God, unless He understands, that there is nothing in himself worthy of praise, but that all that is worthy of praise is of God and from God. But since God is eternally praiseworthy, because He is the infinite God and can never be exhausted, therefore they will praise Him for ever and ever.”
Sixth, we were created to praise Him. The Shorter Catechism expresses this as: “Man’s chief end is to glorify God and to enjoy Him forever.” This is clearly brought out in the Scriptures. Jer.13:11 shows us, that God called the house of Israel unto Himself specifically for His praise, renown and honour. This is echoed in 1Pet. 2: 9, which tells us: But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for God’s own possession, that you may proclaim the excellencies of Him, Who has called you out of darkness into His marvellous light. We have been chosen of God for the express purpose of declaring His praises! Isaiah capsulized this so beautifully: The people whom I formed for Myself will declare My praise (Is. 43:21).
Many people in the world today are longing for fulfilment and are searching desperately for it in all the wrong places. They will never find complete fulfilment in their innermost beings, until they come into proper relationship with God through praise. A.W. Tozer has so aptly said: “The purpose of God in sending His Son to die and live and be at the right hand of God the Father was, that He might restore to us the missing jewel, the jewel of worship; that we might come back and learn to do again, that which we were created to do in the first place - worship the Lord in the beauty of holiness.” Praise should not be a difficult and arduous task to master, but it should flow from our lives in a most natural way, for it is in fact a normal tendency inherent within our very fibre, placed there purposely by our Creator / Father. Praise is one of the most natural things we can do!
J. When should we worship the Lord?
The Old testament prophet Habakkuk gave his remedy for times when everything is going wrong (Hab. 3:17,18):
Though the fig tree should not blossom,
and there be no fruit on the vines,
though the yield of olive should fail,
and the fields produce no food,
though the flock should be cut off from the fold,
and there be no cattle in the stalls,
yet I will exult in the Lord.
I will rejoice in the God of my salvation.
A modern rendition of this passage might read like this:
“Though the economy is unstable,
and unemployment is rising,
though lawlessness may be growing,
and terrorism is rampant,
though the car is broken down
and my wife is stranded in town,
though my kid just broke his arm
and the medical insurance is gone,
yet I will rejoice in the Lord.
I will be joyful in God my Saviour!”
It is not hypocritical to praise the Lord in hard times; that is precisely the time we need to lift our voices in praise to God! It is God’s will, that we offer up thanks in every situation in which we find ourselves.