112818: Sing Praise

A Song, a Psalm of David.
My heart is steadfast, O God;
I will sing, I will sing praises, even with my soul.
Awake, harp and lyre;
I will awaken the dawn!
I will give thanks to You, O LORD, among the peoples,
And I will sing praises to You among the nations.
For Your lovingkindness is great above the heavens,
And Your truth [reaches] to the skies.
Be exalted, O God, above the heavens,
And Your glory above all the earth.
​Psalm 108:1-5 (NASB)

Hymn: "I Believe God Is Real" Ralph Carmichael

Every time a witness in scripture is given a glimpse into the throne room of God, praise is being sung. Songs of praise punctuate events throughout the book of Revelation, they slip out of Paul's pen as he works through theological issues, they accompany the opening of the temple and the birth of Christ and His final major arrival to Jerusalem. God is praised constantly throughout scripture.

One thing I've tried to incorporate here is a hymn with each daily devotion. The text of the hymn rarely, if ever, makes any direct impact on what I end up writing. I only really even tell you what the hymn I read that day is because it holds me accountable to actually have one. I read it as part of my prayer time, and have been recently just going through my hymnal in order without much consideration about finding a hymn directly relevant to the day's texts (which would be very difficult anyway, since I do that stage before reading scripture and therefore don't know what a relevant hymn would even be). I'll be changing gears and doing specifically Advent hymns when that season starts soon. But the point is, I had to recognize that my life was not centered on praise, and one step I took in addressing that was making sure I spend some time every day actively worshiping God.

​I'm not where I need to be with praising God throughout my day, and I think this is something we should all ask ourselves once in a while. We are constantly told about the importance of maintaining an active prayer life, and I fully back that--we need to be going to God constantly and we need to be leaning on Him to do the work He has for us--but I sometimes grow concerned when we are not also told about the importance of maintaining an active life of worship. Of setting our eyes and minds and hearts on God, remembering His greatness, extolling His virtue. When we worship we join with a constant activity being poured out before God, we participate in the regular spiritual life of the kingdom beyond this world. Beyond that, we are reminded of who it is we are praying to, serving, and honoring. Prayer reminds us, among other things, that we can boldly approach the throne of grace; worship reminds us, among other things, that it is still very much a throne.