Dear Friends,

Praise and thanksgiving are wonderful.  They bless the living, sovereign, unchanging, eternal God.  They also bless His subjects, who have all believed in Him but need to be blessed and reminded frequently of what He’s like, for their own good.  It’s remarkable that merely getting our hearts and heads right and then speaking of our appreciation and love of God can do all that for Him and for us.

As to how our praise and thanksgiving affect the Living God, we must take His word for that.  We waste so much time trying to figure out how to be good so God will notice our virtue and reward us.  We act as if His every blessing must be earned.  Praise reminds us that our purpose is not to see what we can get Him to do for us, but how we can do for Him. 

Two verses in Psalm 22 speak of the difference our praise makes to the Lord.  Psalm 22:3 says, “Yet Thou art holy, O Thou who art enthroned upon the praises of Israel.”  God inhabits the praises of His people.  That is what this verse means.  I don’t understand all the implications of it, but I do know it means He shows up where praise of Him is given.  We sense His presence.  We sense His guidance.  We see and know what we cannot know apart from praise.  Verse 26 says, “Those who seek Him will praise the Lord.”  Praising is a big part of seeking and finding God.  God makes Himself available to those who praise Him.  This doesn’t mean He hides from us otherwise, but it does mean God is especially present to people who have love and appreciation for Him on their hearts. 

It feels strange to say my actions affect God.  He is so perfect and complete, so all-knowing.  In fact, He is all-everything.  But does a one-year-old running to you with a big grin on her face light up your life?  Of course.  Our praise does the same for God - not because He needs us, but because He makes His heart available to us.

What do praise and thanksgiving do for us?  They remind us that the little confining, self-contained world, where we can’t get away from our needs, fears, failures, and pain, is not as confining as we feel it is.  Praise reminds us of the power and might of God. It reminds us that He sees our fear and doesn’t want us to be mastered by it.  Jesus said, “In the world you have tribulation, but take courage; I have overcome the world” (John 16:33).

Praise is the opposite of our normal way of dealing with our self-created little fear world.  Our normal way is to try to overcome our troubles by our own flesh.  Sometimes we succeed, which is good at a problem solving level. But if your success leads you to believe it’s all up to you, that’s terrible.  Praise takes our fear and failure and puts them down long enough to lift holy hands to God in thanksgiving.  Strangely, when we’re through, we are much less inclined to pick fear and failure back up.

So praise God and thank Him.  It will bless the Lord and you too.

Your Pastor,