Thoughts for the Day

Make a joyful noise to God, all the earth;
sing the glory of his name;
give to him glorious praise.
Say to God, ‘How awesome are your deeds!
Because of your great power, your enemies cringe before you.
All the earth worships you;
they sing praises to you,
sing praises to your name....

Come and hear, all you who fear God,
and I will tell what he has done for me.
I cried aloud to him,
and he was extolled with my tongue.
If I had cherished iniquity in my heart,
the Lord would not have listened.
But truly God has listened;
he has given heed to the words of my prayer.

Blessed be God,
because he has not rejected my prayer
or removed his steadfast love from me.

(Lectionary, New Revised Standard Version)

Thoughts

What does 'true praise of God' mean? One definition has it that it's 'an expression of reverence, adoration, and gratitude that is heartfelt and authentic'. Another definition says this: 'true praise declares who God is and what He does on behalf of His people and comes from a heart filled with love and gratitude.' From this we can gather that true praise is not about us but about God. If you want to look at this subject in greater depth then it would be worth buying Judith Mackie's book titled 'Praise him' (or ask the library to get it), it's worth reading.

When we praise God we are saying He is more precious than anything or anyone else, and so it's connected to faith, for how can we praise and worship God if we do not have faith? Praise is perhaps the more joyful side of prayer, for when we use praise in our worship it comes from a heart filled with goodness and gratitude. The Epistle of James says "Is anyone happy? Let them sing songs of praise." (James 5.13). When we praise God we are reminded of all that He has done for us and how God is greater than our trials and tribulations.

If we look at Psalm 66 we see the writer is filled with gratitude and adoration for God, such that he wants the whole earth to make a "joyful noise noise to God", and to "give him glorious praise". He also points out that "extolling" God's goodness led him to pray and his prayers were answered because they came from a heart full of love for God. Perhaps we might say that praising God leads us to ask for appropriate requests.

Lord God,
we praise You,
we bless You,
we adore You,
we thank You for Your great goodness.
With hearts full of joy
we come before You today
to faithfully align our hopes
with Your will as we make our prayers,
saying "Amen" that is, "So be it Lord".