1Praise the LORD! Praise, O servants of the LORD; praise the name of the LORD. 2Blessed be the name of the LORD from this time on and forevermore. 3From the rising of the sun to its setting the name of the LORD is to be praised. 4The LORD is high above all nations, and his glory above the heavens. 5Who is like the LORD our God, who is seated on high, 6who looks far down on the heavens and the earth? 7He raises the poor from the dust, and lifts the needy from the ash heap, 8to make them sit with princes, with the princes of his people. 9He gives the barren woman a home, making her the joyous mother of children. Praise the LORD! Psalm 113 (NRSV)
A woman in a worship service was standing with eyes closed, hands raised in prayer and praise. A three year old, standing in the pew in front of her turned around, saw the upraised palms and gave her a high-five! [1] Worship should be enthusiastic.
On the other hand, have you ever encountered the time when you just plain don’t feel like you have it in you to get up anything approaching worshipful praise? A minister shared that…five or six years ago I visited a church in Connecticut. In the middle of the Eucharistic liturgy, when the whole congregation was kneeling and singing the “Alleluia,” I saw a woman near me with her hands lifted in praise. The thing was, those hands were terribly twisted and gnarled, and she had a pair of crutches near her. Dear Christ, I thought, what makes Christians sing “Alleluia”? Clearly there was something besides self-interest welling up from that woman in the act of praise. [2]
Another example involves Margaret Sangster Phippen who wrote,
…in the mid 1950s her father, British minister W. E. Sangster, began to notice some uneasiness in his throat and a dragging in his leg. When he went to the doctor, he found that he had an incurable disease that caused progressive muscular atrophy. His muscles would gradually waste away, his voice would fail, his throat would soon become unable to swallow.
Sangster threw himself into his work in British home missions, figuring he could still write and he would have even more time for prayer. “Let me stay in the struggle Lord,” he pleaded. “I don’t mind if I can no longer be a general, but give me just a regiment to lead.” He wrote articles and books, and helped organize prayer cells throughout England. “I’m only in the kindergarten of suffering,” he told people who pitied him.
Gradually Sangster’s legs became useless. His voice went completely. But he could still hold a pen, shakily. On Easter morning, just a few weeks before he died, he wrote a letter to his daughter. In it, he said, “It is terrible to wake up on Easter morning and have no voice to shout, ‘He is risen!’—but it would be still more terrible to have a voice and not want to shout.” [3]
There is a common thread which runs through stories like these, and, in fact all the human testimony of people who give praise and maintain incredible faith and joy in the worst of circumstances:
7He raises the poor from the dust, and lifts the needy from the ash heap, Psalms 113:7 (NRSV)
Psalm 113 is the first of many “Hallels”, songs of praise to Yahweh. They were sung as part of the feasts in Israel, Pentecost, Passover, and probably the hymn Jesus and the disciples sang at the Last Supper.
It’s hard to not read this Psalm as a command – it is book-ended by the imperative to “Praise the LORD!” But in reality it’s less command, and more invitation. By unfolding a magnificent picture of the character of God, the Psalmist is inviting us to be like Him. God is great, the creator and sustainer of all life – He even has to look down to observe the highest of the heavens.
By contrast God’s compassion is so great He lifts the lowliest person to sit by Him. Do you recall the hymn, There’s a Widness in God’s Mercy? [4] This is it! From glory in heaven to the gutter of hell, God’s love invites everyone to come close and be cleansed, healed and forgiven. That’s a WIDE gap for mercy to cover, and God is inviting us to live like that; to be like that!
Let’s look at three aspects of praise:
1. A door to God’s presence
2. A lack of praise as door to temptation
3. Praise as Heaven’s schoolroom
Praise – Door to God’s Presence
True praise of God involves faith. This is so because it not only includes thankfulness for what God has done – it includes most certainly a rehearsing of who He is, and what we count on that He will do. It involves celebrating the entire breadth, depth and substance of God Almighty. The fact that none of us even suspects one-millionth of all of God means that faith must come into play. And without faith it is impossible to please Him.
Praise activates our faith in such a way as to open the possibility of God’s presence in my life. Now, trust me, this is not a 6-step program to prosperity (better known as name it and claim it, 30 days to health, wealth and good looks). Rather it is all about a lifestyle of placing daily faith in God through Jesus Christ. It is getting to know the King of glory.
The “possibility” in all this is a one way door – it all depends upon us. God has already stated His position in many ways throughout Scripture that He is waiting for us: [5]
• Proverbs 8:17 Look for me…you’ll find me
• James 4:8 Draw near to me…and I’ll draw near to you
• Mark 11:22 Have faith in God…
• John 6:37 The one who comes to me I will not send away
• Matthew 7:7 Ask, seek, knock…
• Jeremiah 33:3 Seek me….I’ll answer…
There are some conditions for coming close to God
1. Come in faith
2. Come humbly, knowing He is God and you’re not
3. Come with repentance – you’re a sinner and He’s not!
But the point is not strained here – the possibility in praise is that it is the highway that carries us close to God – and THAT, my friend, is exactly what your heart tells you one of these two things:
If you’re already in the lifestyle of praising Him, it is entirely everything that is right about life.
If you’ve not begun a life of praise for God’s goodness, it is entirely everything that is missing in your life.
If praise opens the possibility of God’s presence in your life,
Lack of Praise – Door of Temptation
Like a farmhouse door that opens on the top and the bottom, a lack of praise can open two possibilities for temptation to control your life. Without living in praise, gratitude and thanksgiving we become either demanding or defeated.
Demanding
Praise helps us be submissive and obedient to God. A lack of praise can deteriorate into entitlement mentality. When we pray we want healing, wealth and all our troubles to disappear….and we want it RIGHT NOW! This is the truest sense of taking the LORD’s name in vain. We pray, but it’s really telling God how he should act. We are not interested in relationship; we want results!
This kind of attitude is that which asks the question whenever something difficult appears on the screen: How could a good God let something like this happen? Friends, this is questioning the goodness of God…it is doubt rather than faith.
Defeated
To be defeated is to live wounded by choice. It is the spiritual equivalent of the “victimism” we observe in society. This is the self-inflicted attitude of the victim who won’t live in praise because it may mean coming out of the depths of despair to be obedient to God and live a life of victory. That’s scary for a person who is comfortable with being down where everyone strokes your head and tells you how sorry they are for you.
There is a certain comfort in being a victim. It means you won’t be expected to contribute or rise up. But God wants to lift you up, and so this lack of praise position – the wounded victim – is the response to temptation to center on self as opposed to giving God glory.
People don’t come to church for so many victimism-related excuses, I cannot begin to recount them all.
• Crowds confuse me
• Sunday is my only day off
• No money, clothes, transportation
• Got company comin’ – gotta cook, clean
• Ball game ran late
• Etcetera ad nauseum
As a pastor I’ve heard them all. I used to argue with people – never again! They’ve already made up their minds, and if they desire defeat, they’ll have to wallow around in it alone….at least until the Day of Judgment. My only comment these days is that if something they really wanted to do has obstacles to overcome – those obstacles would be overcome. People do what they really want to do!
Praise – the door to God’s presence
Lack of praise – the door to temptation, and…
Praise – Door to Heaven’s Schoolroom
In any educational system there is always “core curriculum”; in the Heavenly Schoolroom it is godliness. In short, God teaches us in praise how to be like Him. If you need a proof text or two for that consider these:
Paul wrote that he wanted to know Jesus…learn him intimately
I want to know Christ and the power of his resurrection and the sharing of his sufferings by becoming like him in his death, Philippians 3:10 (NRSV)
Paul also wanted to grow to be like Jesus
But speaking the truth in love, we must grow up in every way into him who is the head, into Christ, Ephesians 4:15 (NRSV)
And the Apostle John put the final touch on it, promising we would be like Him.
What we do know is this: when he is revealed, we will be like him, for we will see him as he is. 1 John 3:2b (NRSV)
The Heavenly schoolroom is all about growing into the image or our Lord…that same image into which we were created, and departed due to sin. Let’s read one more time from our text:
He raises the poor from the dust, and lifts the needy from the ash heap,
Psalm 113:7 (NRSV)
The place of the Heavenly schoolroom is on earth in dust and ashes…the ash heap! There are two kinds of ash-heap residents:
The Dust Eater
Many of us cannot conceive of being worthy to stand before God. We sing that great old hymn:
Alas! And did my Savior bleed, and did my Sovereign die?
Would he devote that sacred head for sinners such as I?
However the original version has it: for such a worm as I? Poor self esteem issues aside, the dust eaters amongst us can never feel worthy because they know their human side too well. They understand just how far it is, this gap between God and man.
The Self Satisfied
The self-satisfied are in a bigger pickle than the dust eaters. At least the dust eaters don’t have to search for humility. To imagine oneself alright with God because you’re not as bad as Hitler, or because you do some good things is to miss the mark. It is the equivalent of what Jesus said about “straining out a gnat and swallowing a camel”.
If you’re going to compare your goodness with anyone else’s record the standard has to be Jesus, not someone who is also a sinner. The problem is that self-sufficient people rarely see the need. But it’s only because they’re not honest enough to face their own sinfulness.
So, how does praise enter this dilemma? In praise God lifts us from the ash heap of either:
a. I could never be good enough for God – dust eater
b. I am ok – self sufficient dust dweller
……….and He raises us up to get a clear and honest view of who we are, and what Christ is calling us to do – praise God forever! He teaches us to be like Him, loving and joy-filled, no matter the circumstances.
One author I read this week reminded me what praise does. He put it this way:
… Jeremiah 8:22. The prophet asks a rhetorical question, “Is there not a Balm in Gilead?”.…Balm was used and would draw out the poison and cause it to heal without scar. The word Gilead means “Raw” or “Rugged”. In other words, God wants to meet you at the rawest and rugged place of your life and produce healing. [6]
That kind of healing comes from a life of praise. And when you get in that schoolroom, dust eater or dust dweller, God covers whatever raw, rugged thing the world has inflicted, or whatever self-inflicted stuff you’re carrying around. He smoothes-on the Balm of Gilead and makes you whole. You tell me, WHO is like the LORD our God?
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ENDNOTES
1] Jenifer Smith, Fort Gratiot, Michigan, Christian Reader, “Kids of the Kingdom”
2] James S. Hewett, Illustrations Unlimited ©1988.
3] Vernon Grounds, Denver, Colorado. Leadership, Vol. 8, no. 1
4] United Methodist Hymnal, 121, WORDS: Frederick W. Faber, MUSIC: Lizzie S. Tourjee.,
5] Brownworth paraphrases
6] Steve Ely, Get Off Your Ash, on SermonCentral.com
