Sunday, October 16th, 2011
Romans 11:33-36
“Power Praise”
Bible Memory Verse for the Week: Sing praises to God, sing praises; sing praises to our King, sing praises. For God is the King of all the earth; sing praises with understanding. Psalm 47:6-7 NKJV
The question to be answered is . . . Why is Paul so geeked as he closes out the doctrinal section of his Epistle to the Romans?
Answer: Because the more Paul thinks about Who God is and what God has done, the more praise, adoration, gratitude and amazement whelms up in his heart. Paul is so pumped up about contemplating God that he erupts into praise. How pleased God would be if we would do the same.
Praise = A word derived from Latin pretium, “price” or “value”; thus it may be defined generally as an ascription of value or worth. (The International Standard Bible Encyclopedia: Vol 3, 929)
The Word for the Day is . . . Praise
The glory and majesty of God and all His works are to fill men’s hearts and find expression in their word and witness. This becomes so overpowering to a man’s mind and heart that he must break out in some utterance. (The Zondervan Pictorial Encyclopedia of the Bible: Vol IV, 834)
Self-love may lead us to prayers, but love to God excites us to praises. -Puritan Tidbit
Our praise becomes powerful when we:
I. Begin to contemplate the wisdom, knowledge and plan of God (Rom 11:33; 1 Chr 28:9; 2 Chr 1:12; Job 12:13; 36:4; Ps 147:4-5; Prv 3:19-20; Is 46:10; 1 Jn 1:5)
Truth is that which corresponds to reality as perceived by God. Only God has a comprehensive knowledge of all reality. God knows reality in its absolute fullness. There is no nuance or microscopic, subatomic particle of the universe unknown to the mind of God. What he knows, he knows perfectly, eternally, and exhaustively. The one who knows all things without error is the source of all truth. (RC Sproul, St. Andrew’s Expositional Commentary: Romans, 400)
(Psalm 9:1ff) Praise is expressing to God our appreciation and understanding of his worth. It is saying “thank you” for each aspect of his divine nature. Our inward attitude becomes outward expression. When we praise God, we help ourselves by expanding our awareness of who he is. In each psalm you read, look for an attribute or characteristic of God for which you can thank him. (Tyndale House Publishers, Life Application Study Bible, 908)
Our emotions respond to and reflect our inner thoughts, and it’s only as we center these thoughts on God’s character that we find joyful praises springing up from our heart. Are your emotions ever warmed by thoughts about God’s majesty? If your thoughts and desires are consumed with Him, your emotions will respond. If you never find yourself moved emotionally, then you must ask whether you desire Him passionately. (Elyse Fitzpatrick, Idols of the Heart, 199)
True worship occurs only when that part of man, his spirit, which is akin to the divine nature (for God is spirit), actually meets with God and finds itself praising Him for His love, wisdom, beauty, truth, holiness, compassion, mercy, grace, power, and all His other attributes. (James Montgomery Boice, The Gospel of John, vol. 1: The Coming of the Light: John 1-4, 296-97)
II. Realize that God learns nothing from us nor owes anything to us. (Rom 11:34-35; Job 36:22; Is 40:13-14)
He is sovereign in all he does, and he is faithful. He keeps his word. And also because he foresees or, which is a better way of saying it, determines all contingencies. We are not like that. We make promises and then are unable to keep them, because things happen that we could not foresee or because we change. But God does not change, and nothing surprises him. His purposes at the end are exactly what they were at the beginning. (James Montgomery Boice, An Expositional Commentary: Romans, Vol. 3, 1387)
The three questions in verses 34-35 are taken from the OT, the first two from Is 40:13 and the third from (probably) Jb 41:3. The questions may correspond, in reverse (chiastic) order, to the three attributes in verse 33:
“Who has known the mind of the Lord?”–knowledge
“Who has been his counselor?”–wisdom
“Who has ever given to God, that God should repay him?”–riches
These questions are obviously rhetorical and expect the answer “no one.” (Douglas J. Moo, The NIV Application Commentary: Romans, 390)
God cannot learn. Could God at any time or in any manner receive into his mind knowledge that he did not possess and had not possessed from eternity, he would be imperfect and less than himself. To think of a God who must sit at the feet of a teacher, even though that teacher be an archangel or a seraph, is to think of someone other than the Most High God, maker of heaven and earth. …Because God knows all things perfectly, he knows no thing better than any other thing, but all things equally well. He never discovers anything, he is never surprised, never amazed. He never wonders about anything (except when drawing men out for their own good) does he seek information or ask questions. (A. W. Tozer, The Knowledge of the Holy: The Attributes of God, 61-62)
In the context of the series of rhetorical questions in Isaiah 40 challenging the believer to behold the power and might of God, we can’t help but fall humbly to our knees in recognition that we can’t even begin to offer anything that is worthy to praise God’s imperial name. Only in the confession of our feebleness, only in the realization of the destitution of our sacrifices, can we come humbly into the presence of the omnipotent God and know our proper place before him. (Marva J. Dawn, To Walk and Not Faint, 100)
The Pharisee went to the temple to use prayer as an announcement about how good he was. We all know that God was not impressed. Neither are we.
Prayer that recites our accomplishments is nothing more than pious conceit. When you pray, recite God’s accomplishments instead–all that God has done for you and others. That kind of prayer directs praise to the right mailbox. (Bruce B. Barton, D.Min., Life Application Bible Commentary: Luke, 413)
Right now a hundred million angels are praising God’s name; He certainly doesn’t need to beg or plead with us. We should be the ones begging to worship in His presence. (Francis Chan, Crazy Love, 109)
III. Understand that all is from God (Rom 11:36a; Gn 1-2; Dt 8:18; 1 Sm 2:7-8; 1 Chr 29:12-14; Jb 12:9-10; Ps 127:1-2; Eccl 11:5; Is 44:24; Jer 10:16; 51:19; Jn 1:3; 1 Cor 2:12; 8:6; Eph 1:3; 3:9; Col 1:16-17; 1 Tm 6:17; Heb 1:2; Jas 1:17; Rv 4:11)
In this single verse we find the sum and substance of the whole biblical revelation of the being and character of God. Paul sets it forth with a succinct use of three prepositions, each of which is virtually loaded with significance: “For of Him and through Him and to Him are all things.” These three prepositions teach us about the nature of God. Through these three prepositions the apostle is saying that God is the source and owner of everything that is. He is also the ultimate cause of everything that comes to pass, and everything that comes to pass occurs through the exercise of his sovereign will. God is not only the means of all things but also the end or the purpose of all things. (RC Sproul, St. Andrew’s Expositional Commentary: Romans, 398)
(Ezra 3:10, 11) All good gifts come from God–talents, abilities, strength, and leadership. We should thank God for what has been done in and through us! (Tyndale House Publishers, Life Application Study Bible, 778)
One way we glorify God is by exploring and educating ourselves about everything He has created. The innate impetus is holy curiosity. And the result is the praise of discovery. (Mark Batterson, Primal, A Quest for the Lost Soul of Christianity, 98)
To those who submit gladly to the truth of God about themselves as sinners, and about Christ as the Savior, and about the Holy Spirit as the Sanctifier, and about God the Father as Creator–to them sex and food are sanctified. That is, they are pure. They are not unclean idols competing for our affections, which belong supremely to God. They are instead pure partners in the revelation of God’s glory. They are beams of his goodness along which the pure in heart see God (Mt 5:8). (John Piper, When I Don’t Desire God, 189)
IV. Understand that all is through God (Rom 11:36b; Dt 32: 39-43; 1 Sm 2:6-8; Jb 12:23; Ps 104:11-30; 107:1-43; Prv 21:31; Is 40; Dan 4; Jn 13:3; 19:11; Acts 17:28; Eph 1:22; Col 1:16-17; Heb 1:2-3; Rv 4:11)
If we ask where all things came from in the beginning, and still come from today, the answer must be, “From God.” If we ask how all things came into being and remain in being, our answer is, “Through God. If we ask why everything came into being, and where everything is going, our answer must be, “For and to God.” (John Stott, Romans, God’s Good News for the World, 311)
Augustine prayed, “Give me the grace [O Lord] to do as you command, and command me to do what you will!…O holy God…when your commands are obeyed, it is from you that we receive the power to obey them.”
That is a biblical prayer, and we will see many like it in the chapters to come (e.g., Ps 51:12; 90:14; Rom 15:13). It corresponds to the mystery of the Christian life. We must delight in God. And only God can change our hearts so that we delight in God. We are thrown back on God utterly. The Christian life is all of grace. “From him and through him and to him are all things. To him be glory forever” (Rom 11:36). (John Piper, When I Don’t Desire God, 53)
V. Understand that all is to (or for) God (Rom 11:36c; Ps 96:4-7; 97:2-9; 119:91; Is 6:1-3; 43:7; 42:8; 48:11; Mt 6:13; Lk 2:14; Eph 1:10; Col 1:16-17; Heb 1:2; 1 Pt 4:11; Jude 25)
This is why the great Baptist preacher Geoffrey Thomas has said that in true worship men have little thought of the means of worship because their thoughts are on God; true worship is characterized by self-effacement without self-consciousness. That is, in biblical worship we so focus upon God himself and are so intent to acknowledge his inherent and unique worthiness that we are transfixed by Him, and thus worship is not about what we want or like (nor do his appointed means divert our eyes from him), but rather it is about meeting with God and delighting in his delights. Praise decentralizes self. (Philip Graham Ryken, Give Praise to God A Vision for Reforming Worship, 64)
It is because all things are from, through and to God that the glory must be his alone. This is why human pride is so offensive. Pride is behaving as if we were God Almighty, strutting round the earth as if we owned the place, repudiating our due dependence on God, pretending instead that all things depend on us, and thus arrogating to ourselves the glory which belongs to God alone. (John Stott, Romans, God’s Good News for the World, 311)
To the extent we try to abandon the pursuit of our own pleasure, we fail to honor God and love people. Or, to put it positively: the pursuit of pleasure is a necessary part of all worship and virtue. That is, The chief end of man is to glorify God BY enjoying him forever. (John Piper, Desiring God, 23)
Physical tastes like hot fudge vs. caramel are morally neutral. It’s not right or wrong to like the one over the other. But having a spiritual taste for the glory of Christ is not morally neutral. Not to have it is evil and deadly. Not to see and savor Christ is an insult to the beauty and worth of his character. Preferring anything above Christ is the very essence of sin. It must be fought. (John Piper, When I Don’t Desire God, 33)
CONCLUSION/APPLICATION:
Some practical ideas to help you praise the Lord:
A. You are a child of God and co-heir with Christ (Jn 1:12; Rom 8:17; Gal 3:29; 4:7; Col 3:23-24; Ti 3:7; 2 Pt 1:2-4; 1 Jn 3:1-2) (see July 3rd, 2011 HFM message for more details)
* Formerly we were in Adam – Now believers are In Christ
* Formerly we were in the flesh – Now we are in the Spirit and partakers of the Divine Nature
* We were once children of darkness – Now we are children of the light
* We were once children of wrath – Now we are children of children of divine blessing
B. Think about God’s great love for you as demonstrated in the work of Christ (Ps 63:3-5; 106:1; 117:1-2; 118:28-29; Lk 1:68; Jn 3:16; Rom 5:8; 8:38-39; 15:13; 1 Jn 3:1, 16; 4:7-21)
(Hebrews 13:15, 16) Since these Jewish Christians, because of their witness to the Messiah, no longer worshiped with other Jews, they should consider praise and acts of service their sacrifices–ones they could offer anywhere, anytime. This must have reminded them of the prophet Hosea’s words, “Forgive all our sins and receive us graciously, that we may offer the fruit of our lips” (Hos 14:2). A “sacrifice of praise” today would include thanking Christ for his sacrifice on the cross and telling others about it. Acts of kindness and sharing are particularly pleasing to God, even when they go unnoticed by others. (Tyndale House Publishers, Life Application Study Bible, 2242)
C. Your praise must be in conjunction with love and obedience or it is simply inauthentic (Jo 22:5; 1 Sm 15:22; Neh 1:5; Jer 7:22-23; Is 1:11-18; 29:13-16; Hos 6:6; Mt 15:8; Mk 7:6; 12:33; Jn 14:15, 23-24; 15:10; Rom 15:7; Jas 3:9-10; 1 Jn 5:3; )
Godly faith glorifies God; the One who gives faith receives all the credit. Conversely, any faith that does not glorify God is not of or from Him. Faith in God, because it affirms His trustworthy character, is the supreme way that men glorify Him, while without faith, any attempt to worship, praise, or honor Him is a worthless, self-righteous sham. John makes the sobering declaration that “the one who does not believe God has made Him a liar, because he has not believed in the witness that God has borne concerning His Son” (1 Jn 5:10). (John MacArthur, The MacArthur New Testament Commentary: Romans 1-8, 265)
He says that if on entering church we remember an unresolved quarrel with anyone, we had better delay our worship until we have cleared up the misunderstanding; because God can neither hear nor bless the man who comes to offer praise or claim a mercy, but at that moment has something on his conscience about a fellow man. It is at this point that the voice of Isaiah reaches us across the centuries and bids us look into our own heart before we come to God.
Wash yourselves clean
Take out of my sight your evil deeds (vs. 16).
“Leave there thy gift before the altar, and go thy way; first be reconciled to thy brother, and then come and offer thy gift” (Mt 5:24). If that word were obeyed, there would be a sudden exodus from our churches, for so many lives are burdened with unconfessed wrongs done to others. But if it were indeed heeded, there would be a new note in our praise, a new expectation in our petitions, because by being right with our brethren we would have authority to speak to our Father. (The Interpreter’s Bible: Volume V, 173-174
Praise to God the Father is at the heart of authentic faith. (R. Kent Hughes, Preaching the Word: Luke, Vol. Two, 173)
A man cannot become what he is not: the seed of gratitude must be in him before it can grow. It is in him: praise is native, and men give thanks for the same reason that birds sing. Praise is man’s instinctive response to the creative love of God, the river’s flowing back to the sea. Children are taught how to say “Thank you,” but they hardly need in the first instance to be taught how to feel it. To praise, in the original meaning, means almost to shout–for joy. There is some evidence that “Hallelujah” could be translated “Hurrah for Yahweh!” (Abingdon Press, The Interpreter’s Bible, Vol. VIII, 299)
To worship God is also to bow before his absolute, ultimate authority. We adore not only his power, but also his holy word. Psalm 19 praises God first for revealing himself in his mighty acts of creation and providence (vv. 1-6) and then for the perfection of his law (vv. 7-11). When we enter his presence, overwhelmed by his majesty and power, how can we ignore what he is saying to us? So, in worship we hear the reading and exposition of the Scriptures (see Acts 15:21; 1 Tm 4:13; Col 4:16; 1 Thes 5:27; Acts 20:7; 2 Tm 4:2). God wants us to be doers of that word, not hearers only (Rom 2:13; Jas 1:22-25; 4:11). (John M. Frame, Worship in Spirit and Truth, 4)
D. God is always there to comfort, encourage and protect (Dt 31:6-8; 2 Sm 22:2; Josh 1:5, 9; Ps 18:2; 28:8; 46:7, 11; 91:2; 94:22; Jer 16:19; Rom 15:5; 2 Cor 1:3-7; Heb 13:5)
E. Praise God because God the Holy Spirit has given you the ability to see, hear and understand what the natural man cannot (Is 6:9-10; Mt 11:25-27; 13:10-17; 16:17; Mk 4:11-12; Jn 14:26; Acts 28:23-29; Rom 11:7-10; 1 Cor 1:18-2:16)
Why is it so hard for us to feel wonder at the usual when clearly it is more spectacular than the man-made imitation? Clyde Kilby, a former literature teacher atWheatonCollege, who had a great influence on me when I was there, gave this answer:
The fall of man can hardly be more forcefully felt than simply in noting what we do with a fresh snowfall or the first buds of spring. On Monday they fill us with delight and meaning and on Tuesday we ignore them. No amount of shouting to us that this is all wrong changes the fact for very long…Only some aesthetic power which is akin to God’s own creativity has the capability for renewal, for giving us the power to see. (John Piper, When I Don’t Desire God, 195)
My aim is that you will find a way of life that enables you to use your mind and your five senses as effective partners in seeing the glory of God, and that you be so satisfied in him that you are willing to risk your health and your life to make him known. It may seem paradoxical, but that’s the way it is: The right use of your body and your mind may enable you to see so much of God that you would sacrifice your life for Christ. (John Piper, When I Don’t Desire God, 203)
F. Believers have a tenacious hope (Ps 25:3, 5; 31:24; 37:9; 62:5; 71:14; 130:7; 146:5; 147:11; Is 40:31; Jer 29:11; Rom 5:1-5; 8:18-25; 15:13; 2 Cor 3:7-12; Eph 1:18; 2:12; Col 1:22-23; 1 Thes 1:3; 4:13; 2 Thes 2:16-17; 1 Tm 6:17; Ti 3:4-7; Heb 6:16-19; 10:23; 1 Pt 1:3-7, 21; 3:15-16)
Hope is one of the Theological virtues. This means that a continual looking forward to the eternal world is not (as some modern people think) a form of escapism or wishful thinking, but one of the things a Christian is meant to do. It does not mean that we are to leave the present world as it is. If you read history you will find that the Christians who did most for the present world were just those who thought most of the next. The Apostles themselves, who set on foot the conversion of the Roman Empire, the great men who built up the Middle Ages, the English Evangelicals who abolished the Slave Trade, all left their mark on Earth, precisely because their minds were occupied with Heaven. It is since Christians have largely ceased to think of the other world that they have become so ineffective in this. Aim at Heaven and you will get earth “thrown in”: aim at earth and you will get neither. It seems a strange rule, but something like it can be seen at work in other matters. Health is a great blessing, but the moment you make health one of your main, direct objects you start becoming a crank and imagining there is something wrong with you. You are only likely to get health provided you want other things more–food, games, work, fun, open air. In the same way, we shall never save civilisation as long as civilisation is our main object. We must learn to want something else even more. (C. S. Lewis, Mere Christianity, 118-19)
Hope is stronger than memory. Memory is strong. Hope is stronger. People live on hope, not on memory. Take away a person’s memories, and they become anxious. Take away a person’s hopes, and they become terrified. (Kennon L. Callahan, Effective Church Leadership, 124)
Jim Wallis of Sojourners defines hope as “trusting God in spite of all the evidence, then watching the evidence change.” This is also a good working definition of faith (trust in God) and of faithfulness (obedience to God in spite of all cost). “No lack of trust made him waver,” says Paul, holding up Abraham as the model of the one who trusts God, “but he grew powerful in his faith as he gave glory to God” (4:20). (A. Katherine Grieb, The Story of Romans, 53)
G. The righteousness we cannot obtain on our own is given to us by the grace of God (Rom 1:16-17; 3:21-26; 4:5; 9:30-32; 10:4-5; 2 Cor 5:21; Gal 2:15-16; Phil 1:11; 3:8-11)
(Ephesians 2:8, 9) When someone gives you a gift, do you say, “That’s very nice–now how much do I owe you?” No, the appropriate response to a gift is “Thank you.” Yet how often Christians, even after they have been given the gift of salvation, feel obligated to try to work their way to God. Because our salvation and even our faith are gifts, we should respond with gratitude, praise and joy. (Tyndale House Publishers, Life Application Study Bible, 2132)
With these images and statements the NT is saying what Isaiah says: that God wants us to share an intimate relation with himself in which he will do for us what we cannot do for ourselves, that is, to make us like himself, to make us behave as he does. In ancient times the week leading up to the consummation of the marriage was a time of celebration, with the men celebrating in one area and the women in another. On the day of the wedding, the bride was led to her groom’s home dressed in a gown he had provided for her. There another round of feasting occurred before the bride and groom went to the wedding chamber.
The church is now in that week of celebration. God through his Son, Jesus, has sent to us a “garment of praise,” a dress that will have all the onlookers uttering “oohs” and “ahs” as we walk through the streets to go to his house. Shall we go to the Groom clothed in the rags of our own failures to live a life where sin is defeated? Surely not! We can go to him clothed in a gown of the righteous behavior that he has enabled us to experience. (John N. Oswalt, The NIV Application Commentary: Isaiah, 651-52)
Should not we, who know the mercy of redemption, be filled with more praise than the angels who have worshiped since the beginning of time? God recounts how all the “morning stars sang together and all the sons of God shouted for joy” (Jb 38:7). How much more should we, who have been forgiven, redeemed, adopted, and made heirs of His kingdom, praise Him and shout for joy? Indeed, the heavens are filled with praise (Rv 19:5-7), and the inanimate is moved before Him (Is 6;4; Lk 19:40). This demonstrative worship is the environment of God. Heaven is filled with prayers and praises, and our eternity will be spent singing and rejoicing in His magnificence. (Elyse Fitzpatrick, Idols of the Heart, 198)
H. Praise God in the midst of the good and bad for God is always working things out for our ultimate benefit (Gn 50:20; Dt 23:4-5; 1 Sm 2:6-9; Rom 8:28; 2 Cor 9:8; 1 Thes 5:18; 1 Pt 4:16)
(Psalm 103:1ff) David’s praise focused on God’s glorious deeds. It is easy to complain about life, but David’s list gives us plenty for which to praise God–he forgives our sins, heals our diseases, redeems us from death, crowns us with love and compassion, satisfies our desires, and gives righteousness and justice. We receive all of these without deserving any of them. No matter how difficult your life’s journey, you can always count your blessings–past, present, and future. When you feel as though you have nothing for which to praise God, read David’s list. (Tyndale House Publishers, Life Application Study Bible, 1016)
(Acts 16:22-25) Paul and Silas were stripped, beaten, and placed in stocks in the inner cell. Despite this dismal situation, they praised God, praying and singing as the other prisoners listened. No matter what our circumstances, we should praise God. Others may come to Christ because of our example. (Tyndale House Publishers, Life Application Study Bible, 1992)
For if [a Christian] cannot thank and praise God as well in calamities and sufferings as in prosperity and happiness, he is as far from the piety of a Christian as he that only loves them that love him is from the charity of a Christian. For to thank God only for such things as you like is no more a proper act of piety than to believe only what you see is an act of faith.
Resignation and thanksgiving to God are only acts of piety when they are acts of faith, trust, and confidence in the divine goodness. (William Law, A Serious Call to a Devout and Holy Life, 321)
Focus, rather, on the belief that God is bigger than the problem and is present right now in the middle of this painful thing you’re caught up in. Say, “God, I praise you. You are bigger than the mess I am in.” This way of living is new for me, but it is an old spiritual discipline. William Law, eighteenth-century English theologian and clergyman, said, “If anyone can tell you the shortest, surest way to all happiness and perfection, he must tell you to make it a rule to yourself to thank and praise God for everything that happens to you, for it is certain that whatever seeming calamity happens to you, if you thank and praise God for it, you turn it into a blessing.” Helen Keller, blind and deaf saint, wrote, “I thank God for my handicaps. Through them I have found myself, my work and my God.” John Wesley, the evangelist and founder of the Methodist church, wrote, “Thanksgiving is inseparable from true prayer. It is almost essentially connected with it. He that always prays is ever giving praise, whether in ease or pain, both for prosperity and for the greatest adversity.” Paul writes, “For I have learned in whatever state I am, to be content” (Phil 4:11). (Lloyd J. Ogilvie, The Communicator’s Commentary: Luke, 244)
Therefore what Paul is teaching us here is that the proper use of physical pleasures in sex and food is that they send our hearts Godward with the joy of gratitude that finds its firmest ground in the goodness of God himself, not in his gifts. This means that if, in the providence of God, these gifts are ever taken away–perhaps by the death of a spouse or the demand for a feeding tube–the deepest joy that we had through them will not be taken away, because God is still good (see Hb 3:17-18). (John Piper, When I Don’t Desire God, 187)
I. God is robbed when we fail to praise Him and He deals justly with robbers (Dn 4; Hb 2:4; Mal 1-2; Acts 12:23)
Esteeming God less than anything is the essence of evil. (John Piper, When I Don’t Desire God, 34)
J. Praise is a duty and is always the right thing to do and may be a sacrifice if your emotions are not cooperating. (Ps 33:1; 92:1; 147:1; Heb 13:15)
Interestingly, praise is frequently spoken of in Scripture as a duty. If a man is not inspired to praise God in the normal inspiration of the hour, he is nevertheless commanded to praise God. Failure to do so is to withhold from God what rightfully belongs to His glory. There is nevertheless a sound psychological principle. The very act of praising God in obedience to the requirement to praise may create the emotion that befits true praise. This is akin to the commands of Scripture to love. It is in the act of loving that a person “feels” more loving. A “dryness” in desire to praise God may call for obedience to the command to praise. (The Zondervan Pictorial Encyclopedia of the Bible: Vol IV, 834)
(1 Chronicles 15:16-25) Beginning any task by praising God can inspire us to give him our best. Develop the practice of giving praise to God, and you will experience greater joy and strength to face anything. (Tyndale House Publishers, Life Application Study Bible, 688)
First, we must say that joy is part of your duty. The Bible says, “Rejoice always” (1 Thes 5:16). And in regard to the duty of giving, it says, “God loves a cheerful giver” (2 Cor 9:7). In regard to the duty of service, it says, “Serve the LORD with gladness” (Ps 100:2). In regard to the duty of mercy it says do it “with cheerfulness” (Rom 12:8). In regard to the duty of afflictions, it says, “Count it all joy” (Jas 1:2). We simply water down the divine command when we call someone to half their duty. (John Piper, When I Don’t Desire God, 220-21)
(Psalm 61:8) David made a vow to praise God each day. David continually praised God through both the good and difficult time of his life. Do you find something to praise God for each day? As you do, you will find your heart elevated from daily distractions to lasting confidence. (Tyndale House Publishers, Life Application Study Bible, 969)
One of the reasons people deny that delighting in God is essential is that they know intuitively that this delight is beyond their control, and they feel that something beyond their control cannot be required. They are half right. In the end, joy in God is a free gift, not a self-wrought human accomplishment. That’s right. But it is not biblical to say that the only virtues God can require of me are the ones that I am good enough to perform. If I am so bad that I can’t delight in what is good, that is no reason God can’t command me to love the good. If I am so corrupt that I can’t enjoy what is infinitely beautiful, that does not make me less guilty for disobeying the command to delight in God (Ps 37:4). It makes me more guilty. (John Piper, When I Don’t Desire God, 47)
Worship point: Worship will occur quite instinctively and naturally as you understand and respond to the God of the Universe.
When we gather in public worship, we are ushered into the presence of Christ. He is among us (Mt 18:20). We do in worship what we were created to do–offer to God intelligent praise. We become more truly human at that point than at any other of human existence. Just as a boy is more aware of his identity as a son in the presence of his father, or as a husband is more aware or his identity as provider and protector in the presence of his wife, so we are most aware of who we are and what we were created to do as human beings at that point at which we bow in worship before our Creator and Redeemer. We are humbled as we offer to him our praise and adoration. We are cleansed as we confess our sins. We are built up, torn down, and rebuilt again as we submit to instruction by his word (Eph 4:11-16). We are fed and united to the whole body of Christ by the sacraments. Through the bread and cup we enjoy koinonia with Christ and one another (1 Cor 10:16). We access his strength through “all prayer and petition” (Eph 6:18) and are thereby enabled to fight the spiritual battles of life. (Philip Graham Ryken, Give Praise to God A Vision for Reforming Worship, 330)
Spiritual Challenge: Contemplate what Paul means by . . . “for from him and through him and to him are all things.” This will really jump start your worship and make praise a no-brainer.
If we truly grasped that when we sing we are praising him or praying to him, that we are in the presence of the King of Glory, and that we should have come to thank him, praise him, and ascribe worth to him (not to make ourselves feel better), we would begin to understand how important it is to know what we are singing. This is one reason, among others, that hymns have fallen out of popularity and use in many circles. It is because they require thought, and we do not want to think. “I come to church to be refreshed–not to work” is a common attitude. But proper worship does take work, thought, preparation, and action. (Philip Graham Ryken, Give Praise to God A Vision for Reforming Worship, 251-52)
C. S. Lewis explains how this works:
The world rings with praise–lovers praising their mistresses, readers their favourite poet, walkers praising the countryside, players praising their favourite game–praise of weather, wines, dishes, actors, motors, horses, colleges, countries, historical personages, children, flowers, mountains, rare stamps, rare beetles, even sometimes politicians and scholars…just as men spontaneously praise whatever they value, so they spontaneously urge us to join them in praising it: “Isn’t she lovely? Wasn’t it glorious? Don’t you think that magnificent?”
I think we delight to praise what we enjoy because the praise not merely expresses but completes the enjoyment; it is its appointed consummation. If it were possible for a created soul fully to ‘appreciate,’ that is, to love and delight in, the worthiest object of all, and simultaneously at every moment to give this delight perfect expression, then that soul would be in supreme blessedness. To praise God fully we must suppose ourselves to be in perfect love with God, drowned in, dissolved by that delight which, far from remaining pent up within ourselves as incommunicable bliss, flows out from us incessantly again in effortless and perfect expression. Our joy is no more separable from the praise in which it liberates and utters itself than the brightness a mirror receives is separable from the brightness it sheds. (C. S. Lewis, Reflections on the Psalms, 94, 95)
Quotes to Note:
As people of faith, our praise to God must be radically Christ-centered. Saving faith does not vaguely give glory to God the Father. Hearts of faith are doxologically Christocentric. (R. Kent Hughes, Preaching the Word: Luke, Vol. Two, 173)
C. S. Lewis thought deeply about this issue and wrote about it in a sermon called “Transposition.” His argument is that the spiritual life of emotion is higher and richer than the material life of physical sensation in the way a symphony orchestra is richer than a piano. When the music of spiritual joy plays in the soul, it gets “transposed” into physical sensations. But since the spiritual “orchestra” is richer and more varied than the physical “piano,” the same piano keys have to be used for sounds that in the orchestra are played with different instruments. As physical people with souls, we always experience spiritual emotions at both levels: the orchestra and the piano.
There are at least four reasons why Lewis’ analysis is helpful. One is that it explains the fact that introspection can never find spiritual joy in God, but only its residue of physical sensation. The reason is that the moment we turn from focusing on God to focusing on the emotion itself, the emotion is no longer what it was. It leaves its trace only in the physical sensation, not in the spiritual reality. The reality of spiritual joy depends moment by moment on the steadfast seeing of the glory of God. (John Piper, When I Don’t Desire God, 179-80)
Lewis has helped us see that there are some legitimate steps we can take at the physical sensory level in order to properly increase our joy in God. . . . Our physical lives will affect our spiritual lives whether we plan it or not. Better to think it through and be intentional. (John Piper, When I Don’t Desire God, 183)
(Psalm 146-150) These last five psalms overflow with praise. Each begins and ends with “Praise the LORD.” They show us where, why and how to praise God. What does praise do? (1) Praise takes our minds off our problems and shortcomings, and focuses them on God. (2) Praise leads us from individual meditation to corporate worship. (3) Praise causes us to consider and appreciate God’s character. (4) Praise lifts our perspective from the earthly to the heavenly. (Tyndale House Publishers, Life Application Study Bible, 1064)
(Psalm 148:5-14) All creation is like a majestic symphony or a great choir composed of many harmonious parts that together offer up songs of praise. Each part (independent, yet part of the whole) is caught up and carried along in the swelling tides of praise. This is a picture of how we as believers should praise God–individually, yet as part of the great choir of believers worldwide. Are you singing your part well in the worldwide choir of praise? (Tyndale House Publishers, Life Application Study Bible, 1066)
Through Jesus, therefore, let us continually offer to God a sacrifice of praise — Hebrews 13:15
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