Read
For great is the Lord, and greatly to be praised;
he is to be feared above all gods.
Psalm 96:4
Reflect
Search the Internet for news headlines with the word “praise,” and you’ll find things like:
- Kendall Jenner Receives Love and Praise For Her New Look (She changed her long, dark hair for a short, blonde hairstyle for a photo shoot.)
- Sixers Praise James Harden After Big Performance in Win Over Timberwolves (Harden just joined the team and did really well in his first game with them.)
- In Praise of Larry Izzo and the Seahawks’ Special Teams Turnaround (Seattle’s special teams coach helped the team do a lot better in that area in the past season.)
- Black Leaders Praise Biden’s Historic Nominee For Supreme Court Seat (Ketanji Brown Jackson would be the country’s first African-American Supreme Court justice.)
The world has no problem praising things that are remarkable. But there’s something — or more accurately, someone — who doesn’t rate nearly the level of praise that He’s due. Most often, God gets our leftovers, especially when times are “good.” When things are great, too many people tend to remember God, not at all, and when they do, it’s rarely to simply give Him “His props.”
How many of these things have you done lately?
- Made a world.
- Created an animal.
- Produced water from thin air.
- Fed 5,000 people with a few loaves of bread and a few fish.
- Raised someone from the dead.
- Raised yourself from the dead.
- Etc., etc., etc.
God has done all of those things (including all of the miracles performed through Jesus), and yet we tend to only remember Him when we need something. Most of the time, we should really just thank Him for being who He is, and for being awesome and incredible.
This week, start each day with a time of praise for the Lord. God wants you to pray to Him and He definitely hears your requests, but He’s deserving of our worship, praise and adoration just because He’s God.
Reflection copyright © 2024 Doug DeBolt
Scripture quotations are from The Holy Bible, English Standard Version® (ESV®), copyright © 2001 by Crossway, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
