2 Samuel 22:2-4 The Lord is my Rock and my Fortress and my Deliverer, my God my Rock in whom I take refuge, my Shield and the horn of my salvation, my stronghold and my refuge; my Savior you save me from violence. I call upon the Lord who is worth to be praised, and I am saved from my enemies.
David was a guy who really knew how to praise God. He jumped in with both feet when He began to worship. So much talk goes on today about how God is to be worshipped for who He is, and not for the things He has done. Though that does sound nice, all through the Bible we find men and women who are passionate about what God has done. They praise God for his help, his faithfulness, his miracles and His creation. Nowhere do we find God having problems with these people. In fact the Holy Spirit often makes sure that such expressions of praise are recorded in His word for us to know that it is not only okay with Him, but it is just awesome when we praise Him because...
Sometimes when I tell my wife that I love her, she wants to know why. "What do you love about me?" She asks. She wants to hear it from my own lips. I cannot just say "Just because you are you.." It may sound nice but she needs more and so does our God. One leper out of ten came back and worshipped Jesus because He had healed him. The disciples worshipped because Jesus had stilled the dangerous storm. Mary magnified the Lord, when Gabriel brought her the message that she would give birth to the Messiah. They all came and worshipped because of what God had done in their lives.
Maybe we are not worshipping God for what He has done in our lives, because we keep God in our own little box so much. He has very little chance to come and do His work in us and with our real problems. It is way too easy to just close our eyes and say "I worship you because of who you are" and then pretend that our needs, desires and problems don't exist. That is not glorifying to God at all. Even when we do work our way through a battle we rarely stop to worship, because we think that God had nothing to do with our solution. Maybe we think God doesn't need to hear our praise for what He has done. Maybe we think He just wants us to keep showing up in church and putting money in the plate!
Try to imagine living with a husband or wife who acted like that. You receive a gift or and act of unselfish love from that person and you just don't respond or you give some kind of lukewarm, "Hey thanks". Thank would fly like a lead balloon! The joy would be taken out of the moment and maybe the next time they might just figure it isn't really worth it to do things for someone who doesn't care!
So when you go to praise God stop and remember the things He has done. Remind Him of how great He has been to you. Is He really your Rock, your Salvation, and the one giving you comfort in the middle of life's battles? God loves to hear His children praise Him for all He has done. He has joyfully given to us all we need. I know He longs to hear us praise Him with honest joyful hearts for what He has done!
David was a guy who really knew how to praise God. He jumped in with both feet when He began to worship. So much talk goes on today about how God is to be worshipped for who He is, and not for the things He has done. Though that does sound nice, all through the Bible we find men and women who are passionate about what God has done. They praise God for his help, his faithfulness, his miracles and His creation. Nowhere do we find God having problems with these people. In fact the Holy Spirit often makes sure that such expressions of praise are recorded in His word for us to know that it is not only okay with Him, but it is just awesome when we praise Him because...
Sometimes when I tell my wife that I love her, she wants to know why. "What do you love about me?" She asks. She wants to hear it from my own lips. I cannot just say "Just because you are you.." It may sound nice but she needs more and so does our God. One leper out of ten came back and worshipped Jesus because He had healed him. The disciples worshipped because Jesus had stilled the dangerous storm. Mary magnified the Lord, when Gabriel brought her the message that she would give birth to the Messiah. They all came and worshipped because of what God had done in their lives.
Try to imagine living with a husband or wife who acted like that. You receive a gift or and act of unselfish love from that person and you just don't respond or you give some kind of lukewarm, "Hey thanks". Thank would fly like a lead balloon! The joy would be taken out of the moment and maybe the next time they might just figure it isn't really worth it to do things for someone who doesn't care!
So when you go to praise God stop and remember the things He has done. Remind Him of how great He has been to you. Is He really your Rock, your Salvation, and the one giving you comfort in the middle of life's battles? God loves to hear His children praise Him for all He has done. He has joyfully given to us all we need. I know He longs to hear us praise Him with honest joyful hearts for what He has done!
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