As I am putting the finishing touches on a writing project on worship, I was reminded this morning by Charles Spurgeon of the duty and joy of worship for the Christian. Appropriately, Spurgeon reminds us that it is the warp and woof of our lives.
"Sing forth the honour of His name, make His praise glorious."—Psalm 66:2
IT is not left to our own option whether we shall praise God or not. Praise is God's most righteous due, and every Christian, as the recipient of His grace, is bound to praise God from day to day. It is true we have no authoritative rubric for daily praise; we have no commandment prescribing certain hours of song and thanksgiving: but the law written upon the heart teaches us that it is right to praise God; and the unwritten mandate comes to us with as much force as if it had been recorded on the tables of stone, or handed to us from the top of thundering Sinai. Yes, it is the Christian's duty to praise God. It is not only a pleasurable exercise, but it is the absolute obligation of his life. Think not ye who are always mourning, that ye are guiltless in this respect, or imagine that ye can discharge your duty to your God without songs of praise. You are bound by the bonds of His love to bless His name so long as you live, and His praise should continually be in your mouth, for you are blessed, in order that you may bless Him; "this people have I formed for myself, they shall show forth my praise"; and if you do not praise God, you are not bringing forth the fruit which He, as the Divine Husbandman, has a right to expect at your hands. Let not your harp then hang upon the willows, but take it down, and strive, with a grateful heart, to bring forth its loudest music. Arise and chant His praise. With every morning's dawn, lift up your notes of thanksgiving, and let every setting sun be followed with your song. Girdle the earth with your praises; surround it with an atmosphere of melody, and God Himself will hearken from heaven and accept your music.
"E'en so I love Thee, and will love,
And in Thy praise will sing,
Because Thou art my loving God,
And my redeeming King."
1 comment:
So true, so true. My wife and I sing psalms in our family worship, and reading through and singing the psalms it is plain that we as the people of God are commanded to sing praises (psalms) to the Lord everyday.
I particularly love Psalm 92, which is a psalm for the Sabbath Day. The opening of the psalm is so telling regarding the frequency of praise (especially on the Sabbath-Lord's Day): "It is a good thing to give thanks unto the Lord, and to sing praises unto thy name, O most High: to shew forth thy lovingkindness in the morning, and thy faithfulness every night."
Does not this psalm implore the people of God to gather to worship both morning and evening on the Lord's Day and sing psalms unto him? Many commentators believe so.
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