Praising God

Halleluh, halleluh, halleluh, hallelujah, Praise ye the Lord...
I have known this song for pretty much as long as I can remember. I've sung it at the top of my voice, I've sung it sitting down and standing up. But never once did I actually stop and consider what it means.

What does it mean to praise God? Is it just saying, "Praise God!" or "I praise you Lord for doing such-and-such"? Or is there more to praising God than that?

I was fine and content praying to God in my monotonous way, "I praise you for such-and-such," without really thinking whether I was actually praising God or not. That is, I was content until I came across Psalm 150:1 one day and wondered what it actually means to praise God. So decided to look up the meaning for the word praise. The definition I found was kind of surprising.

The Hebrew word for praise (halal) means: to be clear (orig. of sound but also of color); to shine; hence to make a show, to boast; and thus to be (clamorously) foolish; to rave; to celebrate. Hmm... that's interesting. It sounds like what people are doing to movie stars. So praising God is boasting about Him, and raving about Him! God reminded me that I do that with physical things - food, people, books, movies, clothes - when I really like them. I know how to praise, and my God just wants me to rave and talk about how great He is; after all, He does deserve it!

One Thing is Needful

So many times everything that has to be done just presses around me, screaming for attention. So I get busy. In fact my day stays busy as I think, "I've got to do this, and this, and this..." I try to do what needs to be done, but I forget to put the most important thing (or person) first.

Martha also had this problem. Jesus had to stop her and tell her, "Martha, Martha, thou art careful and troubled with many things: But one thing is needful: and Mary hath chosen that good part which shall not be taken away from her." (Luke 10:41-42)

One thing is needful. Just one. Sitting at the feet of Jesus and learning from Him. Nothing else really matters. All those things that seem to be important pale in comparison to this. Those things will be taken away, but what is learned by just sitting at the feet of Jesus will never be taken away.

Faith... When I don't understand

It is easy to trust when I know how things are going to work out and I understand what is going on. But what about when I don't understand? What about when things look impossible or senseless? Do I have faith not only when I understand, but when I do not understand? The past couple of weeks I have really been challenged by the stories of those in Hebrews 11 who had faith when they did not understand.

Noah was warned by God of a coming flood and the destruction of the earth by water. Noah had never even seen rain. But he believed God and took Him at His word, even though it did not make sense to him.

God asked Abraham to offer Him his son Isaac. This was the son that God had promised to Abraham. This was the son that God had said, "In Isaac shall thy seed be called" (Hebrews 11:18). All Abraham's hope for the future was in Isaac, yet by faith, Abraham offered him to God because he believed that God was able to raise him from the dead.

When the Israelites came to Jericho, they were told to march around the walls seven days, and that on the seventh day the walls would fall. Who has ever heard of walls falling down because an army marched around them? It did not make sense, but Joshua and the people trusted God and did it anyway.

In each of these situations, it did not humanly make sense to do what God said. Noah, Abraham, and Joshua did not let this stop them. They did not understand, but they obeyed God. As a result, God saved Noah and his family, provided a lamb in Isaac's stead, and made the walls of Jericho fall.

I want that kind of faith. I want faith that sees past reasoning and trusts God to work things out. I want faith that says, "I don't understand, but I am going to trust God and do it anyway."

Is God Ashamed?

There have been times when one of my siblings has done something that I wanted to say, "I don't know you." I did not want to be associated with them, or be known as "so-and-so's sister." I just wanted to shrink back, out of sight.

The past couple of weeks, I have been working on memorizing Hebrews 11 for Advanced Excel. This week I come across this verse:

But now they desire a better country, that is a heavenly: wherefore God is not ashamed to be called their God:for he hath prepared for them a city.

Immediately I wondered, "Why wasn't God ashamed to be called their God? Why wasn't He afraid to be associated with them?" I looked at the context, and this is what I found:
*These people desired a better (a heavenly) country. They were not content with an earthly one.
*They sought it.
*They died in faith without receiving the promises.
*They had a vision for the future (they saw the promises afar off), and were not caught up in the "here and now."
*They were persuaded that the promises were true.
*They embraced God's promises.

Because of these things, because of their faith, God was not, and is not, ashamed to be called their God. He likes being associated with these people. But is God ashamed to be called my God? Does He want people to associate Him with me? Am I embracing His promises? Do I desire a heavenly country? Do I have faith that sees past the present? Do I have faith to step out and do what God has asked? Do I trust God?

I want God to be able to say about me, "I am not ashamed to be called her God."