Worship With CXMMXNS: A 3-Day Devotionalنموونە

Day 1: Why We Praise

“Great is the Lord and most worthy of praise; his greatness no one can fathom. One generation commends your works to another; they tell of your mighty acts. They speak of the glorious splendor of your majesty— and I will meditate on your wonderful works. They tell of the power of your awesome works— and I will proclaim your great deeds. They celebrate your abundant goodness and joyfully sing of your righteousness.”

Psalms 145:3-7 NIV

I can still remember so many of the songs I sang growing up. My parents took me to church every Sunday. My dad and I would help set up and pack down the chairs in the little school hall, where our Baptist church met in the suburbs of Melbourne, Australia. I would walk out of church humming the tunes and the lyrics to the songs we had all just sung together. We would sing Jack Hayford’s ‘Majesty’. We would sing “As the Deer Panteth”. One of my friends told me it was a song about a deer and a panther, and at that age, it seemed plausible, albeit still a little obscure.

What I now realize is how much my theology was shaped by the songs we sang. I may not have remembered too many of the sermons I heard (sorry!), but I found myself reading the scriptures and remembering a melody that brought that scripture to life. Those songs taught me so much about who God is and what He has done.

I think that’s what the psalmist was celebrating in Psalm 145. The first song recorded in the scriptures is the song of the Exodus. No sooner had the people of God crossed through the parted waters than they paused to sing of His “awesome works” and “great deeds”. For generations, these songs, and others like them, were used to tell of His mighty acts.

Music is only one medium to pass on our knowledge and experience of the goodness of God. We tell stories, we read the Bible with our kids and grandchildren, we volunteer to teach Sunday school, pray for a friend, we sing together, we lead worship at church—the list goes on. C.S. Lewis describes praise as the culmination of enjoyment. When God has done something that brings us joy and enriches our lives, the ultimate response is praise. And our praise lets everyone around us know that the source of every good thing is the Lord.

So when we tell our story of the goodness and faithfulness of God, when we sing our songs of worship, we do what generations before us have done: We commend His works one to another. And that’s why we praise Him, one generation to the next.

Prayer:

Thank you, Lord, for Your faithfulness and goodness that surpasses time, that is the one constant from generation to generation. I ask that You would continue to increase my knowledge and understanding of just how great You are. I thank You for all those who have gone before, who have spoken of Your great works, who have painted, sculpted, written songs and poetry, who have found new ways to tell of ancient truths. May I also be able to use the gifts You have given me to expound Your mysteries to the generations to come. In Jesus’ Name, Amen.