Why Praise and Worship Him?

I was looking for a quote on a website the other day, when I came across this one by German philosopher Friedrich Nietzsche: “I cannot believe in a God who wants to be praised all the time.”  After getting over being totally appalled by his words, I started thinking about this statement and wondering how I would refute this if someone ever said it to me. 

                                                       

Why do we praise God?  Is He a dictator that sits up there on His throne and demands that we bow down to Him or else?  To answer this question, I started examining the meaning of those two words; praise and worship.   

According to Biblos.com, the word “praise” comes from the Latin pretium, meaning “price” or “value”, and may be defined generally as an ascription of value or worth. True praise consists in a sincere acknowledgment of a real conviction of worth.  The principal Old Testament word for “worship” is shachah, meaning to “depress”, “bow down”, or “prostrate”.   The word is applied to acts of reverence to human superiors as well as supernatural superiors.  Next in frequency for “worship” is sebomai, meaning “venerate”, and its various cognates, sebazomai, eusebeo, theosebes, sebasma. Its root is sebas, meaning “fear”, but this primitive meaning is completely merged into "reverence," meaning to "hold in awe”. 

So to simplify: we praise something or someone that has great value or worth to us.  We worship something or someone by being in awe of or bowing down to it/them.

After I had the definitions established, I began to think about how these two things applied to my relationship with God.  In Genesis 5:1, the bible tells us that “When God created human beings, he made them to be like himself.”  I was created to be like Him, so how do I expect my children to act towards me? 

I want to be of great value or worth to them and I love when they acknowledge my value to them. There is a whole day set aside for that…Mother’s Day!  I gave birth to them and I would give my life for them. I love them and protect them and provide for them.  All that I expect in return is for them to love, honor, obey and respect me and to be thankful.  There is nothing worse than an ungrateful child!!  I want to have a relationship with them (that is why I had them)!   What would I do if they began to give all of their love and attention to another “mother” that does nothing for them?   How would I feel if they put someone else above me in value after all that I have done? 

Everyone can understand the concept of a parent-child relationship.  That is how I view God.  He is my Father.  He created me; He knit me together in my mother’s womb. (Psalm 139:13-14 NIV – For you created my inmost being; you knit me together in my mother's womb. I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made; your works are wonderful, I know that full well.)  He is the ONLY one who knows EVERYTHING about me and loves me anyway.  He wants to have a relationship with me.  He wants to see me happy.  He wants good things for me. (Matthew 7:11 NIV - If you, then, though you are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven give good gifts to those who ask him!)  And most importantly, He gave His only Son to die for me, so that I could have access to Heaven and spend eternity with Him. 

How do you think He feels when we put great value in someone else, or worship someone or something besides Him?  Exactly how we would feel if our kids did that to us!  Exodus 20:5 NIV - You shall not bow down to them or worship them; for I, the LORD your God, am a jealous God…”  He is jealous for us because we belong to Him.

So what would my answer be if someone said those words to me, “I cannot believe in a God who wants to be praised all the time.”??   My answer would simply be this,  “How can we not give Him praise?  How can we not worship Him?  He loves us more than anyone else ever could.  He is our everything.  We owe our lives to Him.  He deserves nothing less than what we would expect from our own children: love, honor, obedience, respect, gratitude…But He also deserves SO MUCH MORE:  praise, worship, EVERYTHING.   

No Substitutions!

 Jeremiah 24:7 NIV – “I will give them a heart to know me, that I am the LORD. They will be my people, and I will be their God, for they will return to me with all their heart.”

A friend of mine just gave birth to her fourth child.  She definitely has her hands full!  The other day, as she sat in the school gym, trying to be discreet about breastfeeding the baby (while her oldest daughter was having a cheer crises and her other two daughters were ready to go home), I felt helpless.  I asked her why she didn’t “pump” so that she could just give him a bottle.  At least that would make things easier on her and surely be more convenient!  But she told me that he would not take a bottle from her.  Sometimes, he might take one from someone besides her, but only if she isn’t around.   She said, “I think he can smell me!” 

That made me start thinking, so I researched it.  Actually, she is right.  I won’t go into detail, but babies do smell their mothers (up to 50 feet away!) They KNOW where their meals come from!  This simple thing is so amazing.  God created that in us.  He created babies to know their mother’s by their smell.  And when a baby wants its mother, no substitute will do! 

This is a perfect picture of how God created us to respond to Him.  We are His children, and we were made to know Him.  No substitute will do.  We were born with an innate desire to seek Him out and have a relationship with Him.   Many people spend their lives in search of something that will fill that need in their life.  But nothing ever can!  People try to substitute money, fame, drugs, alcohol, jobs, other people, the list could go on…but just like that tiny baby that KNOWS his mother and will not accept a substitute, we KNOW our creator and nothing or no one can take His place. 

Are you restlessly searching for that “thing” than can fulfill you?  I promise that when you get IT (whatever IT is for you) you will not be happy.  True happiness is only found in the Lord. Ecclesiastes 2:26 NIV - To the man who pleases him, God gives wisdom, knowledge and happiness, but to the sinner he gives the task of gathering and storing up wealth to hand it over to the one who pleases God.”  

When we seek after Him, all the "stuff" that seemed so important before pales in comparison.  And when we give our lives to Him, He provides everything that we would ever need.    Matthew 6:31-33 NIV - "So do not worry, saying, 'What shall we eat?' or 'What shall we drink?' or 'What shall we wear?' For the pagans run after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them. But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well."

A relationship with Him is what we crave...there are NO SUBSTITUTIONS! 

My Hero

What is a hero?  One definition is “a person who displays courage and a will for self sacrifice for the greater good of all humanity.”  I love this description…it describes my hero perfectly. 

Most people have heroes that they don’t really know outside of the television or Internet.  But I have had the privilege of personally knowing my hero all of my life. I have never once been let down by or lost respect for my hero.    

She has many titles: Daughter, sister, wife, mother, grandmother, friend, Christian…and hero.  If I tried to make a list of her many attributes (which it would never include everything) it might look something like this:  strong, unselfish, humble, peaceful, comforting, patient, kind, forgiving, loving, gentle, protecting, generous, trustworthy, faithful, hopeful, beautiful, nurturing, fun-loving, creative, joyful, courageous, wise, and humorous.

As I started making this list, I couldn’t help but notice the similarities to the scripture:  1 Corinthians 13:4 NIV - Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It is not rude, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs.  Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres. Love never fails. 

I guess we can see the driving force behind my hero…love.  Because of love, she is able to possess all of the qualities I listed above. The love of Jesus in her shines through her onto everyone around her. That is why she is my hero.  Not because she has a college degree or a high-paying job; not because she drives fancy cars or lives in a mansion; not because she is famous or a politician.   She is my hero because she loves Jesus and she lets Him control her life.  

My hero’s name is Clara Grider Morden Smith.  If you don’t know her, you are missing out!  Today is her birthday, the day God chose to bring her into this world.  She has touched so many lives since she has been here, and I know that she will touch many more before she leaves. 

Happy Birthday to my hero: my precious mother.  I love you so very much and I pray you have the best birthday ever!!