is the end we seek in all things.To Gain the Good Land (7)

Sing to God, you kingdoms of the earth;
Oh, sing praises to the Lord,
Selah
To Him who rides on the heaven of heavens, which were of old!
Indeed, He sends out His voice, a mighty voice.
Ascribe strength to God;
His excellence is over Israel,
And His strength is in the clouds.
O God, You are more awesome than Your holy places.
The God of Israel is He who gives strength and power to His people.
Blessed be God! Psalm 68.32-35

Ending at the beginning
The pattern of Christian endeavor comes full circle when it ends in the praise and glory of God – that which we seek in everything we do (1 Cor. 10.31).

We begin any effort in the name of the Lord, whether in our personal lives or ministries, seeking to realize His promises and to exalt Christ and glorify God. Thus every effort will only be complete when it redounds to the glory of God through a witness of praise, thanks, and adoration. Because God is pleased to dwell within the praises of His people, His glory is most fully known when, individually and together, His people sing His praise and extol His power and blessings to the people around them (Ps. 22.3, 22-31). David worked to rally Israel for building the Lord’s temple because he knew that this great work would bring glory to God among the nations.

What does it mean to praise God? To listen to many Christians as they pray, it must be something like, “Lord, we really just praise you.” But this is not the way praise is explained or practiced in the Word of God. God’s people praise the Lord when they enumerate His many virtues and works. We describe the Lord in all His majesty and greatness, His splendor, glory, and might, and with singing, shouting, clapping and backslapping, eagerly talking with one another and our neighbors about the God who brings us to the good land in every area of our lives and allows us to dwell there with Him in glory.

But we mainly glorify God when Christ makes Himself known in and through us, and the presence of His righteous Kingdom of blessing fills the environment where we live (Eph. 4.8-10). Thus we praise God not only by our words, but by our lives.

Glory and praise
We need a lot more practice in praising the Lord. But then, we need a lot more practice in the experience of the Lord, showing us His glory and leading us into the good land He has promised before we’re likely, like David in Psalm 68, to boast of His greatness and tell of His loving kindness and power to the people around us.

The quality and constancy of our praise to God – whether in worship or witness – is directly related to the reality of our experience of His glory. The more we seek God’s promises and glory, following the pattern of Christian endeavor outlined for us in Psalm 68, the more we can expect to meet with Him in His glory, realizing the blessings of His Word, and knowing the transforming power of His glory to make all things new in our lives.

As that begins to happen, we won’t have to be reminded to praise and glorify God. Glorifying God will issue from us as naturally and sincerely as anything in our lives, because we will express in words and deeds the reality within which we live and move and have our being.

Help for our praise
In this area, as in all other areas of Christian endeavor, we need to prepare well and to practice praising God in all the social and cultural arenas of our lives. This begins, of course, with a life lived to honor and please the Lord in all things (Col. 3.23, 24).

But it must also include words of praise and thanksgiving which bear witness to the blessings God provides, and which He promises to all who turn to Him. If praising the Lord doesn’t come readily to you, you might try learning to pray the psalms. The psalms are filled with prayers of praise to God. Use the psalms in your own prayers; learn to sing them; let the psalms be your praise and worship book. Soon enough you’ll find that the words of praise you find in the psalms are making their way into your everyday conversation. The praises of God will become embedded in your soul, from where they will become the praise that comes out as you talk with the people around you each day.

Join with other Christians to praise the Lord – I mean, beyond Sunday morning. Sing together. Share testimonies of what God is doing in your life, of the ways He is enabling you to gain more of the good land He has promised. Encourage one another with your praises of the Lord, and rejoice in one another’s progress and praise (Heb. 10.24).

God will be present in the midst of our praises, whenever and however we offer them, to make His glory known. David understood this, which is why he wrote Psalm 68 to lead the people of his day to seek and praise the Lord for the work of building the temple which lay before them. Praise – by life and words – brings glory to God by declaring His goodness, beauty, and truth. This is the goal we seek in every endeavor undertaken for the Lord, and praise is the surest way to make God’s glory in Jesus Christ known to the people around us.

For reflection or discussion
1.  Why is praise so important? Why are we so bad at it?

2.  Find a psalm that expresses praise to God. Use it to praise God for a whole day. Share with another believer what you learned from this psalm about improving your own praise to the Lord.

3.  Outline the pattern of Christian endeavor as we have examined it. In which of these areas do you most need to improve?

Next steps – Demonstration: Choose one or two psalms that help you to praise the Lord. Begin using them daily in your prayers. Try using phrases from these psalms in your conversation with other Christians. Encourage your fellow believers, whenever they’re together, to find a way to incorporate praise to God in their activities. Today, talk with someone who does not know the Lord about how much you love Him.

T. M. Moore

This is part 3 of a 5-part series, Living toward the Promises. You can download this week’s study as a free PDF, suitable for personal or group use, by clicking here. You can learn more about living toward the promises of God by ordering a copy of the book, I Will Be Your God, from our online store (click here).

We invite you to register for the free online course, One in Twelve: Introduction to Christian Worldview. In this course T. M. Moore provides a sweeping panorama of how life in the Kingdom of God unfolds in an age in flight from God such as ours. Set your own schedule and study at your own pace. Learn more, and register for One in Twelve, by clicking here.

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Except as indicated, Scripture taken from the New King James Version. © Copyright 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved.