A pleasure to praise – 21 May 2020

Why does God demand we must praise God? Why would God, who also tells us that he needs nothing, demand this perpetual compliment, approval, and honour?

C.S. Lewis said, “We delight to praise what we enjoy because the praise not merely expresses but completes the enjoyment. 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.”

When you think about praise only in terms of compliment, approval, and honor, it’s easy to forget that the largest aspect of praise involves enjoyment! There is a clear connection between our enjoyment of something and the praise that naturally springs out of that enjoyment. Indeed, it’s hard to separate one’s praise of an object from one’s enjoyment of it. Praising is part and parcel of pure enjoyment.

God wants us to praise him for our own sake, not his. A demand for praise is a demand for our happiness. God loves us and seeks the fullness of our joy that can be found only in knowing and praising him, the most magnificent of all beings.

Prayer: May the peoples praise you, God; may all the peoples praise you. Today and every day, may I celebrate and share the joy of knowing you. Amen