In our series on the creeds, we have looked at why they came into being, what they were refuting and why meditation on Scripture is important.
Rooted in God’s word
In conducting the above process came the realisation that actually our biggest theological influence today is what we somewhat euphemistically call ‘Praise and worship’. In regard to the volume of consumption at least, this is the single biggest shaper in regard to what we think about God.
Therefore, if we are going to present a worshipful heart to God, it seems to me that we need to use our worship times to reflect the heart of God as revealed in his Word. For ultimately, worship is man’s supreme response to God. In other words, if we are to successfully formulate a theology of worship in terms of its place within God’s revealed truth, then it must clearly be rooted in the Bible. This is fundamental to all loci and sub-loci of theology proper.
Theo-centric Scriptures
Just a brief glance at the landscape of the divine self-revelation tells us far more than we might at first imagine. The Bible begins with God, ends with God and has God as its central focus throughout. It is theo-centric, and therefore it is hardly surprising that everything else we encounter in its pages either directly or inferentially relates to the God-head as well.
Our God tells us through the Bible that he has tied his reputation to the work of his hands in creation, providence and, most of all, in his gracious work of salvation.
Every atom of the created order owes its existence to God. Every detail in the unfolding history of the cosmos is under his control and woven into his eternal decree. And the ‘telos’ of all things lies with God alone. Our God tells us through the Bible that he has tied his reputation to the work of his hands in creation, providence and, most of all, in his gracious work of salvation.
It was his intent from the very beginning that he should be glorified through all of his works – even in his final judgment. It is only natural then, that as the apostle Paul explores these themes in light of the gospel in Romans, he explodes into spontaneous doxology, with the words:
Oh, the depth of the riches of the wisdom and knowledge of God!
How unsearchable his judgments,
and his paths beyond tracing out!
“Who has known the mind of the Lord?
Or who has been his counsellor?”
“Who has ever given to God,
that God should repay him?”
For from him and through him and to him are all things.
To him be the glory forever! Amen (Rom 11:33-36).
Songs of praise
This attitude of praise feels to me to spring directly from Psalm 150, which I always think of as the ABC of praise: -
Halleluyah (which incidentally is an instruction: ‘Begin to praise God’).
Praise God in his holy place!
Praise him in the heavenly dome of his power!
Praise him for his mighty deeds!
Praise him for his surpassing greatness!
Praise him with a blast on the shofar!
Praise him with lute and lyre!
Praise him with tambourines and dancing!
Praise him with flutes and strings!
Praise him with clanging cymbals!
Praise him with loud crashing cymbals!
Let everything that has breath praise Adonai!
Halleluyah!
In fact, maybe a better description than ABC would by the ‘Where’, ‘What’, ‘How’ and ‘Who’ of praise.
a) Where should we praise God? In the holy place, in the heavenly dome of his power. That pretty much encapsulates all of creation. We praise God wherever we are, because he is there.
b) What should we praise God for? His mighty deeds, his surpassing greatness. We praise God for who he is and what he has done.
c) How should we praise God? With the trumpet and guitar, with tambourines and drums, with wind instruments and not least, loud clanging cymbals.
d) Who should praise God? Let everything that has breath praise him. Are we breathing? Well then, we should be praising!
Focusing on Him
I had intended, as part of this article, to highlight particularly overt examples of poor praise. However, when I started to look at the question through the biblical lenses of Paul and Psalm 150, I realised that it isn’t an issue of what is bad praise, rather how easy is it to find any good praise?
As I was thinking on this matter, a scripture from Jude came to my mind. When Mikha’el, one of the ruling angels, took issue with the Adversary, arguing over the body of Moshe, he did not dare bring against him an insulting charge, but said, “May Adonai rebuke you.”
Let us as his people lay aside this focus on songs that talk about how we feel, how we see the world. Instead, let us focus on him, and declare his glory, and let us do so with all our hearts.
I am not going to highlight poor examples (though a future article may discuss this further); I am simply going to ask that the Lord would lay on all of our hearts a desire to review any praise and worship material we come across in the light of Paul’s eulogy and Psalm 150’s guidance. Let us as his covenant community praise God with all our being; praise him for his surpassing greatness; praise him for what he has done. Let us as his people lay aside this focus on songs that talk about how we feel, how we see the world. Instead, let us focus on him, and declare his glory, and let us do so with all our hearts.
If we encounter material that is overly ego-centric, rather than theo-centric, then may we graciously refuse to participate. If we encounter material that fails to praise his surpassing greatness and deeds, may we lay it aside. The Psalms indicate that there is a place for expressing to God our feelings, but this should be subordinate to the praise that is due our God, which should always be our main focus. Praise leads us to success. It was through praise that Judah led the way into the Promised Land. It was praise that Jehoshaphat chose to lead the army when they went to fight against the three kings. Praise is the advance guard of a walk of faith. Let us choose to walk in faith, in praise and in the joy of the Lord, heeding these words from Ecclesiastes (5:1).
Guard your steps when you go to the house of God. Go near to listen rather than to offer the sacrifice of fools, who do not know that they do wrong.
