Sunday 19 October 2008

Reflection on Praise

Today has been a continuous expression of praise to God ranging from vibrant, melodious strains of a visiting gospel choir, to personal participation in a reflective ecumenical communion service, to the soul-inspiring talents of a group of Christ-motivated young musicians and the proven personal testimony of life-long, faithful followers.

At Rowville this morning, Brian Hogg mentioned that "praise is not worship; it is the completion of worship". This got me thinking and searching some thoughts based on the subject of praise.

C S Lewis, in his book Reflections on the Psalms, says that "all enjoyment spontaneously flows into praise". It's true that spouses praise their beloved, readers praise their favorite book, food-lovers their dish of choice, etc. We love to praise the things we enjoy because praise is not just the expression of that joy, but also the completion of it.

As people of faith, our praise for God needs to overflow out of our joy in God. To praise Him is to enjoy God to the fullest. Surely, it is in fully enjoying God that we glorify Him the best. Living lives of praise, then, means being saturated with joy in God.

Praise Him with melody; praise Him with song
Tell of His holiness, all the day long
Give Him all majesty earth can afford
Praise Him with melody; praise ye the LORD!

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

I always look out for and enjoy your blogs. Usually have something worthwhile to make you think and sometimes ponder more deeply about God and what He means personally. Thanks for this note of praise today.