That’s Why We Praise Him!

THAT’S WHY WE PRAISE HIM!

It was late October.  Though power outages were announced, we felt prepared.  We had two generators—one for each side of the house—along with plenty of propane.

I felt at peace slipping into bed that night—until the generator on my parent’s side of the house had a catastrophic failure at 2:00 am.  Then we were running extension cords, in an attempt to make life for them tolerable.

A few days later, I was sitting down with my mom.  While we had done everything in our power to make them comfortable, I was apologetic about the stress and discomfort the outage undoubtedly had caused her.  At 89, I had concerns that the stress may have affected her health.

She said, “I am not stressed at all!  My needs are taken care of.  We are fed like we are in a hotel.  I have every confidence that you have everything under control and will take care of things.  I am not worried one bit!”

What a tremendous joy to know that her choice to trust me to care for her, allowed her to rest and be at peace in the midst of chaos.

What a beautiful truth to weave into the tapestry of our lives!

Psalm 22:3 is often quoted as, “the Lord inhabits the praises of His people.”  However, a more accurate translation of the verse says,

“Yet you are enthroned as the Holy One; you are the one Israel praises.” – Psalm 22:3
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Rather than inhabiting our praise, He is “enthroned” upon them. When we worship, we turn the authority over to Him, and declare Him King.  We trust Him and hand over not only the ownership, but also the responsibility.

And while He no doubt enjoys it when we worship Him, it is not for the reason we might think.  He doesn’t need or desire our worship to boost His self esteem.  Unlike us, He is not looking for kudos for a job well done.

When He is enthroned upon our praises, He takes delight in it—not because He needs to receive ANYTHING from us, but rather, because He knows that we will receive what WE need from Him, when we do.  It brings Him great joy when we trust Him, because as we offer Him Lordship, we receive peace and unburdened shoulders.

The great joy I had, knowing that my momma felt peace trusting in the covering of my care, is the same joy the Father feels, when we enjoy peace as we relinquish control to Him.

THAT’S WHY WE PRAISE HIM, beloved! God does not need us to praise Him.  WE need to praise Him! What an amazingly selfless God we serve!  Perhaps if we remembered the transaction taking place in worship, we might be more exuberant in the offering.

Father, You love lavishly and selflessly, without thoughts of personal gain.  We put our trust in You.  We crown You as King, and we throw ourselves joyfully into Your peace.  In Jesus’ Name ❤️

https://www.facebook.com/Prayers-of-a-Ragamuffin-Warrior-171515087035441/

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