Why Praise and Worship?

Faith is to believe what you do not see;

the reward of this faith is to see what you believe.

~Saint Augustine

Scripture:

For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, declares the Lord.  For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts.

~Isaiah 55:8-9

Perspective:

Have you ever wondered why we are asked to praise and worship God when there are so many bad things happening all around us and throughout this world?  When I was a new Christ-follower that was probably my biggest question.  I have heard many question, why a loving God does not stop all the evil things happening daily in this world…where is God in all that?  It is a good question and God does not mind when we cry out to Him or even ask where He is in all our troubles, just look at how David cried out to the Lord in the Psalms.  How long, O Lord?  Will you forget me forever?  How long will you hide your face from me?  How long must I take counsel in my soul and have sorrow in my heart all the day?  How long shall my enemy be exalted over me? (Psalm 13:1-2).  He felt sad, abandoned by everyone including God, hopeless, and discouraged.  Even Jesus cried out to the Lord, His Father when He knew He was facing imminent death!  And about the ninth hour Jesus cried out with a loud voice, saying, “Eli, Eli, lema sabachthani?” that is, “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?” (Matthew 27:46).  God wants us to be real with Him, to have a relationship with Him, which requires being vulnerable.  He wants us to turn to Him, lean on His strength, and trust in Him no matter what this world throws at us; He is always there for us even when we do not see Him working.

Praise is “the act of magnifying and honoring God for who He is and the act of exalting His great name.”

Worship is “a more intimate form of praise where believers seek to personalize their expression of God’s worth to them and others.”

So, why are we supposed to praise and worship God?  There are numerous reasons.  God set up a life in paradise for Adam and Eve, to walk by His side, and He asked them not to do one thing simply because  He knew what the result would be, He did it out of love and to protect them.  Yet that is the thing their free-will drew them to and that then unleased sin on mankind.  After watching people dig themselves deeper and deeper into sin, God sent His only son to live amongst mankind, to love and to teach people, and to die a harsh death for all of our sins past and future, so that we could escape death and spend eternity in Heaven with Him.  Can you imagine letting your child be crucified for anyone’s sin?  THAT is how much God loves us and wanted to right our wrongs.  When you walk close to God you can feel and see His love all around you.  This privilege is only given to those who choose to have faith in and seek God despite life’s hardships.  You begin to understand that God is constant, that He keeps His promises, and He did promise that this life would be filled with adversity.  In this world you will have tribulation.  But take heart; I have overcome the world (John 16:33).

So, God’s incomparable love for us, His creation, is one awesome reason we praise and worship Him, but there are more reasons as well.  First, we are instructed to do so over and over throughout the Bible.  Is anyone among you suffering?  Let him pray.  Is anyone cheerful?  Let him sing praise (James 5:13).  Obedience is especially important to God as it demonstrates our faithfulness and grows our faith as we see His work all around us.  Second, God is our creator and savior.  He created everything around, above, and below us.  Our last and our next breath come from Him.  He alone is in control of all that did and will happen.  Even when chaos abounds, He has a plan.  Nothing takes God by surprise.  Let everything that has breath praise the Lord!  Praise the Lord! (Psalm 150:6).  Third, He is love and goodness, free from all sin.  All that Jesus preached and all that His Word instructs us to do is based on love and goodness, even the fact that following Jesus is about an intimate relationship with Him.  So, we have come to know and to believe the love that God has for us.  God is love, and whoever abides in love abides in God, and God abides in him (1 John 4:16). 

Fourth, it is a way to say thank you and show appreciation for all that we do have and everything this world offers us that is good.  Everyone has blessings in their imperfect life.  No matter how tumultuous, out of control, or unbalanced life feels at times, there is always (99.9% of the time, there are extreme cases) something good and positive going on as well and if we just seek it, we will see it.  Think about the different areas of your life: spiritual, family, relationships, health and fitness, growth and learning, professional, financial, and other if you have one.  Inevitably there will be parts of our life in any given moment that are not as we would like them to be, maybe a real struggle and very discouraging, but we must not let that cause us to lose sight of the parts that are good or the lessons we can learn from our trials that will help us move in a positive direction.  There is a solution to every problem that exists, it may feel less than ideal or even impossible in the moment but with a plan and by taking one step at a time we can create positive changes over time, the key is not to give up!  Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly, teaching and admonishing one another in all wisdom, singing psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, with the thankfulness in your hearts to God (Colossians 3:16).  Fifth, doing so invites God into our situation and into our life.  The Lord is a gentleman, He gently knocks but waits for an invitation to enter our life.  We must choose to receive God’s call, we must believe in Him to be called His children and to truly reap the benefits of His love, strength, and goodness.  Behold, I stand at the door and knock.  If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in to him and eat with him, and he with me (Revelation 3:20).  Next week we will learn the ways we can praise and worship God and the many benefits of prayer, praise and worship.

Life Applications:

>Contemplate this…which do you do more: thank God for what is good in your life and in the world or blame Him for what is wrong in your life and in this world?  Are you quick to judge and blame Him when something goes wrong?  How about when all is well, who gets the credit then?

>>Get out your journal.  Consider 1) what you are struggling with right now in your life, 2) what parts of those problems are a result of your choices and actions, and then 3) brainstorm possible solutions to those problems.  As I like to say, “make a plan and then work your plan,” one step at a time.  If you persist, the passing of time will show you results!

>>>Listen to contemporary Christian music this week on one or more of the many ways we are able to do so today with the simple push of a button and pray for God to bring you a song that will truly inspire you and even transform your heart.