WHY DOES GOD TELL US TO PRAISE HIM
We sometimes imagine that God calls us to praise Him because He waits for our words as though the Ancient of Days needed the breath of mortals. Yet Scripture whispers otherwise. “If I were hungry I would not tell you for the world is Mine and all its fullness” (Psalm 50:12). The rivers do not fill the sea because the sea is empty but because the rivers themselves need a home. So it is with praise. God does not summon worship to complete Himself. He calls us that our hearts may find the ocean of His presence.
We think too much of ourselves when we suppose that God depends on our songs to feel glorious. The seraphim cover their faces before Him in ceaseless adoration (Isaiah 6:2–3). The heavens stretch across the sky like a great canvas declaring His glory without voice yet with unending proclamation (Psalm 19:1–3). If all human lips fell silent the stones would sing. When He bids us praise Him it is to rescue us from the small prison of self. “Look unto Me and be saved” (Isaiah 45:22). In turning our gaze to Christ we are lifted from dust into delight.
Has it ever occurred to us that the call to praise is the call to become a person. Identity is born in relationship. A face becomes a face when seen by Another. “In Thy presence is fullness of joy” (Psalm 16:11). Without fellowship the heart grows thin and hollow. Abiding is the soul’s true breath. Praise becomes that holy inhaling. It draws us near until the warmth of divine nearness awakens life within us and we find ourselves known loved held.
The essence of identity is communion with the Living God. “This is life eternal that they may know You” (John 17:3). Not achievement. Not striving. Not the ceaseless labor of proving our worth. Identity unfolds in the light of the Shepherd’s face (Psalm 23:1). Praise is the language of that communion. It is the soft wing of humility that carries us to the foot of the cross where a man lies low yet sees heaven most clearly. In praise the soul bows yet rises. It weeps yet rejoices. It dies yet lives.
So God creates us to praise Him because praise restores the music of our being. It frees us from the tyranny of self consciousness and draws us into the liberty of belovedness. It teaches the heart to breathe eternal air. It opens the inner chamber where Christ dwells in gentle majesty. And as Scripture says we offer “the sacrifice of praise to God continually” (Hebrews 13:15). Not as servants earning favor but as children discovering home.
Lord Jesus breathe praise into my heart. Let my identity awaken in Your presence. Break the pride that imagines You need my words. Teach me to praise because my soul needs Your nearness. Draw me into Your love until my life becomes a quiet hymn rising toward Your throne. Amen.
BDD
