Praise

Matthew 21:14–16 (KJV 1900) — 14 And the blind and the lame came to him in the temple; and he healed them. 15And when the chief priests and scribes saw the wonderful things that he did, and the children crying in the temple, and saying, Hosanna to the Son of David; they were sore displeased, 16 And said unto him, Hearest thou what these say? And Jesus saith unto them, Yea; have ye never read, Out of the mouth of babes and sucklings thou hast perfected praise?
I was listening to a sermon the other day by John Piper, and he was on the subject of praise....He mentioned that the Scriptures tell us that God wants us to praise Him, and some people consider that self promotion on the part of God....in fact, he mentioned that Oprah Winfrey and Brad Pitt gave up their "childhood faith" [remember, a faith that doesn't endure is no faith at all] because of Scriptures which they said were too self promoting on the part of God [as though they aren't self promoting but that's another subject]....then he mentioned that CS Lewis struggled with this concept in some depth as well....the difference between these 3 is that CS Lewis came to genuine faith in Jesus Christ, and he used faith and common sense to explain God's purpose in demanding our praise..... [personally I don't question God so I've never really thought much about this subject other than He is worthy of our praise]

here is a quote from CS Lewis: 
“I think we delight to praise what we enjoy because the praise not merely expresses but completes the enjoyment; it is its appointed consummation. It is not out of compliment that lovers keep on telling one another how beautiful they are; the delight is incomplete till it is expressed. It is frustrating to have discovered a new author and not to be able to tell anyone how good he is; to come suddenly, at the turn of the road, upon some mountain valley of unexpected grandeur and then to have to keep silent because the people with you care for it no more than for a tin can in the ditch; to hear a good joke and find no one to share it with. . . . The Scotch catechism says that man’s chief end is ‘to glorify God and enjoy Him forever.’ But we shall then know that these are the same thing. Fully to enjoy is to glorify. In commanding us to glorify Him, God is inviting us to enjoy Him.”

Praise completes our enjoyment! We are not complete in the fulfillment of our relationship with our Lord until we Praise Him....it can be done quietly in the heart, or with a song, or with a prayer....But when we praise God our joy is complete! 

Please take time to praise God today Christians! 

May the Lord bless your day! 

​SW