Glory Song - Devotional By Matt RedmanSample

Place of Praise

From the album ‘Glory Song’ by Matt Redman

The final chapter of 2 Samuel tells a story of David building an altar to the Lord. When someone offers to give him the materials for the altar for free, David says, “I will not offer burnt offerings to the Lord my God that cost me nothing” (2 Sam. 24:24).

I will not bring that which cost me nothing

If the highest praise is a sacrifice

And the greatest song is to give my life then

I will not bring that which cost me nothing

It’s easy to sing songs, but true worship backs up the singing with your thoughts, words and actions. That is what completes the integrity of the worship you sing, through the life that you live. This type of worship, the type that happens after the song is sung and the church’s doors are closed, always has a cost attached to it. 

When everything is easy, any heart can sing

But the deepest cry of worship will be found in the flame

It’s easy to sing a song of praise when life is going smoothly. But it’s the tough seasons of life that reveal what type of worshipper you truly are. If it’s only in the winter that you find out what trees are evergreen, it’s only in the winter of the soul that you find out if your worship can get you through the cold and dark seasons. Can you find your way to the place of praise in every season of the soul? Or do you only bring to God that which cost you nothing?

David had been through a lot when he said those words at the end of 2 Samuel. He had run for his life from Saul. He had sinned against God multiple times. He had battled against his own son, who was eventually killed by one of David’s own men. He had experienced the darkest nights any human could. And yet, in the end, he built an altar to God. He brought his praise before the Lord and he did so at a cost. 

We can sing all day long, but we can’t stop there. We must sing through the night as well, no matter how dark or difficult. Sometimes worship is an easy-choice, at other times it is a gutsy and determined battle cry. That is the praise God wants from us. One in which we bring him everything, in all seasons. A living sacrifice, laid down before the altar.