TOGETHER IN HIS PRESENCE: PRAISING
Dear Friends,
You should praise your wife, but you should not worship her. Same goes for wives and their husbands. Hopefully this short illustration will help you to begin to see the difference between “worship” and “praise”. Worship has more facets, or aspects, than praise. Listen to this ancient (1549) Call to Worship.
“Dearly beloved brethren, the Scripture moveth us in sundry places to acknowledge and confess our manifold sins and wickedness; and that we should not dissemble nor cloak them before the face of almighty God our heavenly Father; but confess them with an humble, lowly, penitent and obedient heart; to the end that we may obtain forgiveness of the same by His infinite goodness and mercy. And although we ought humbly acknowledge our sins before God; yet ought we most chiefly so to do, when we assemble and meet together to render thanks for the great benefits that we have received at His hands, to set forth His most worthy praise, to hear His most holy word, and to ask those things which are requisite and necessary, as well for the body as the soul. Wherefore I pray and beseech you, as many as are here present, to accompany me with a pure heart, and humble voice, unto the throne of the heavenly grace, saying after me …”
As you can see, for God’s children by adoption and grace, worship is to be biblical, and involves: coming to Almighty God; acknowledging and confessing your sin; humbling yourself before Him; longing to obey Him; becoming transparent and honest before Him; acknowledging His attributes (He is almighty and of infinite goodness and mercy); thanking Him; praising Him; acknowledging He is worthy of praise; listening to Him; making needs known to Him; and desiring to go higher up and further into His presence. Worship is big and multifaceted, and “worthy praise” is an important part of worship. But worship and praise are different.
So, what does it mean to set forth His most worthy praise.
First, praising God is not flattering Him. Let’s be honest, often when you praise people you are really flattering them. You flatter to manipulate. Often, your real and hidden motivation in worship and praise of God is to manipulate Him. When you do this, you are no longer praising Him, you are flattering Him. You hope to manipulate Him in your praise so that He will empower you, or be in your debt, or do your will. Note how wonderful and biblical this ancient call to worship is. By locating praise in the bigger context of biblical worship, it warns you against your praise subtly changing into flattery.
Second, your time spent praising God is not a time of mutual admiration. Often you praise other people hoping they will praise you. You generally know that God is not going to burst forth in praise about you. However, you can praise the Lord with a mindset that there is something better, especially beautiful/powerful/effective and praise worthy in your praise. You are here to worship and you know how to do it better than others and you will be blessed and empowered as a result. Your praise of yourself in “praising” Him involves the delusion that He is praising you. However, such an inner life of self praise will not receive His praise, but instead His warning as to your spiritual danger.
Third, your praise should not be “vain praise”. Here “vain” does not refer to pride, but to praising in vain - vain in the sense of futile and doomed to failure. You could go to a beautiful, solemn, traditional anglican cathedral style worship service with a world class choir; you could go to a mega church with a world class band leading a boisterous and exuberant congregation; you could go to a more traditional protestant service with hymns sung with great gusto by the whole congregation - but, if the music, readings, and sermon all refer to our “Mother in Heaven” and the Holy Spirit as “she” and all avoid the use of masculine pronouns for God - then you are praising the Triune God in vain. What you say is not true, but is an idol from your fallen imagination. It is futile and ineffective - vain. It is not in fact praise of the Triune God, no matter how beautiful, intense or sincere you are.
Fourth, to set forth His most worthy praise always serves to “locate” and ground you. In my mind, I am a legend and very important. Worthy praise implicitly reminds me that I am not central, He is central, and this is good. In my mind I am always right. Worthy praise implicitly reminds me that only God is all knowing and true, and this is good. In my heart I am full and God is empty. Worthy praise forms me to understand that He is fullness of joy, and I need His joy because of my emptiness - and this is good. Worthy praise grounds me in the real world, it reveals who I really am in light of Him.
Fifth, you can set forth His most worthy praise while you are feeling empty. Praise should not arise from your feelings. Praise is evoked and compelled by the truth of His worthiness to be praised - so, praise Him while feeling empty.
Sixth, long to set forth His most worthy praise. Imagine that you are at a cottage with a beautiful lake spread out before you. As you sit around the fire with your friends you see a spectacular sunset unfold. You are caught up in its beauty. You know that If someone could sit there and not be moved by such a vision, not see its worth, “rightness”, beauty, and not feel the tug of the beauty beckoning you into more - you would know there was a problem in that person. This gives you a hint of what “His worthy praise” means. His beauty must be greater, just as all causes are greater than their effect. His “rightness”, glory, and worth all must be greater; and once we have received the Gospel, we begin to be formed to know the weight of His true, profound, worth. So to set forth His worthy praise is right. It is right for your mind, but also for your heart and affections. You were made for this. Your end in Christ is to go further in and higher up into His worthy praise.
So, ask the Lord to help you put aside all flattery, manipulation, lies, pride, rivalry, self-centeredness and instead put on a mind and heart which sets forth His most worthy praise. You set forth His most worthy praise in song, prayer, bible reading, liturgy and sermon. Worthy praise is true. Worthy praise has longing and affection.
Seventh, we want to learn to be one church that sets forth His most worthy praise through three congregations (8am, 10am, online) and one common life . Pray for Messiah that we will set forth His most worthy praise in our corporate worship, in our “common” and in our “private” life. Pray the Lord’s blessing on “your own” service. Pray the Lord’s grace upon the other two congregations. Pray we will grow and grow in setting forth His most worthy praise.
George +
