Praise God | AllWorship.com

The command to praise God is …

one of the more misunderstood concepts in the Bible.

Why would the Omnipotent, Omniscient, and Omnipresent Creator of all that exists need us to tell Him how great He is–to the degree that we are expected to do so all the time, in every way, at every opportunity? Not understanding why this is vital for us makes God sound like a narcissist or an egomaniac. He is neither–yet some people think so because they do not understand.

So, why are we expected to praise God? Although I do not claim to know all about it, there are a few points of understanding that have helped me in my relationship with Him that I will share with you. Let’s begin at the beginning.

We are commanded to seek wisdom above all else we can seek, pursue, or acquire. Understanding is then presented as a “companion,” if you will, to wisdom. We are admonished to do whatever we have to do to get both.

As wisdom begins to take hold and grow in a person and understanding begins to form as a natural consequence, something else begins to happen. Humility appears and begins to grow stronger as a result of wisdom and understanding. This is the inevitable product of genuine wisdom.

This is essential because without humility, there is no relationship with God to be had. Not only will it not be, but it also cannot be. Without humility, one is left with only knowledge. Knowing about God does not establish a relationship. With knowledge only, a person at best has only a transactional interaction. They then may mistake that interaction for a relationship–which it is not.

Only KNOWING God in an authentic and intimate way leads to a true relationship. Although this could go deep, I do not have time to go into the depths now; therefore, we will just skirt around the surface. Is that OK? So, let’s continue on. As humility is a product (or result) of wisdom and understanding, praise to God is a product of humility. Genuine praise can only originate from this place. I will speak from a personal perspective:

The more I realize who God is, the natural consequence of which is to realize who I am not, the more I am overwhelmed with awe and wonder that He even knows who is this less than minute speck of humanity that I am in the whole of the Universe, much less that Jesus died for me, thinks of me every moment, knows everything there is to know about me even down to which number the hair is that just feel out of my head, and desires for me to be with Him forevermore.

The more I realize these things, the more I want to fall on my face in gratitude for what He has done. As I write this moment, I am literally weeping. Tears are running down my face to the point I can hardly see what I am writing on the screen. This is the natural result of wisdom, understanding, and humility.

Turning to God in thanksgiving and gratitude and expressing them in the feeble way of words is not a task but an honor and a privilege beyond reckoning. Once perceiving even the slightest understanding of who He is from a place of genuine humility, to do any less is to be arrogant, ungrateful, and toxically proud.

Now, at the beginning of this message, I asked why God would expect–and even command–us to praise Him. I said I would share my thoughts. With the background laid, here goes.

We are commanded to do this because praising God shifts our focus from us to Him. The more we understand who He is, the more we will overflow with unstoppable praise, gratitude, and thanksgiving–the natural result of humility, which is the foundation of relationship.

Remember? Without humility, there can be no relationship with God, and humility enables a relationship. We are, then, commanded to praise God not for God’s sake because He needs someone to tell Him how great He is. Not at all: It is for our good, our benefit, our betterment, and to enable us to better perceive who He is.

It is also a test of sorts. If you can genuinely turn to God in overawing praise, you are at least at the threshold of humility. With humility, you can grow into a deeper, intimate relationship with Him. No genuine, balanced, and appropriate relationship with Him can exist without it.

I used an uncommon word in the preceding paragraph: ‘Overawing.’ It means to be so strongly impressed in awe, respect, or fear that a person will be overwhelmed to the point that they are unable to hold back an expression of it in some manner.

I hope for you to become overawed by God. Praise will then not be a required task, but something you could not hold back if you tried. If you are truly in a humble relationship with Him, you will not want to hold back anything and may even feel grief that you cannot express more than you are able because He is so deserving of it.

This is the result and product of true humility, and I pray for you to know it on this side of life and in your relationship with God. It is what you will carry with you into the next.