A S P E C T S - a monthly devotional journal For subscription information on receiving Aspects every month via e-mail, or the laser-printed edition by mail, see NOTES, COPYRIGHT & SUBSCRIPTION INFORMATION near the end of this file. Aspects is written by David S. Lampel. ----------------------------------------------------------------- Issue #36, November, 1993 (Internet Edition) H A L L E L U J A H ! ----------------------------------------------------------------- In this issue: Perspective 1 - The Object of Praise Knowing Who He Is Perspective 2 - The Restoration of Praise Receiving What He Can Give Perspective 3 - The Loveliness of Praise Meeting Him in His Praise Bless the Lord, O my soul; and all that is within me, bless His holy name. -Psalm 103:1 ----------------------------------------------------------------- God gifted three people in the Lampel family with singing voices. Then there was Dad. Praise God in His sanctuary! My most immediate recollection of childhood worship services in the old Second Street Baptist Temple is of my dad singing hymns. This memory often springs to mind when I observe people today who choose not to participate in the singing of hymns, claiming they haven't a voice for singing. Sing to the Lord a new song. Dad hadn't a voice for singing. Save for the words, the 16-tone discordant melodies that sprang from his lips bore no relationship whatsoever with what others around him were singing. If we were all reading notes printed on the page, surely Dad was speaking in tongues. Let them praise His name with dancing. In addition, Dad had a peculiar method of singing--in which he was physically incapable of keeping his right hand still. From the opening measure, his hand (with palm flat and fingers aligned) would wave in rhythm at his side, keeping a steady--if not wholly accurate--beat until the final "Amen." And His praise in the congregation of the godly ones. I admit freely that back then--back when I was young and pews were made of wood--I was more than a little embarrassed by my dad's singing. At the time, I wished he would respect the difficulty we were all having staying on the correct note while his choice of note blared in our ears. I wished he would tone it down a little so that God wouldn't be distracted from hearing our more pleasing, melodious sounds. Praise the Lord, O my soul! But now I realize that of the two of us, Dad's song was probably the one making it to heaven and the ears of our God. You see, Dad sang from his heart--from his very soul--and that's the sound that is pleasing to God. Maybe Dad realized that there are no excuses for not lifting our voice in praise. No trying circumstance, no disappointment, no peculiar arrangement of vocal chords is reason to deny God His adoration. Praise the Lord! Praise God in His sanctuary; Praise Him in His mighty expanse. Praise Him for His mighty deeds; Praise Him according to His excellent greatness. Let everything that has breath praise the Lord.(1) ----------------------------------------------------------------- Perspective 1: T H E O B J E C T O F P R A I S E ------------- "O Lord God Almighty, not the God of philosophers and the wise but the God of the prophets and the apostles; and better than all, the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, may I express Thee unblamed?They that know Thee not may call upon Thee as other than Thou art, and so worship not Thee but a creature of their own fancy; therefore enlighten our minds that we may know Thee as Thou art, so that we may perfectly love Thee and worthily praise Thee.In the name of Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen."(2) __________________________ The essential beginning of praise is knowing the object of that praise. It's not enough to know that God is; to properly praise Him, we must know who He is. And after we know who He is, we can do little else but praise Him.(3) Praise need not be put to a tune. Song is a comfortable and fitting vehicle for praise--especially as our guidebook for praise, the Psalms, is essentially a hymnal. But heart-felt praise provides its own tune, and requires no man-made melody. David praised the LORD in the presence of the whole assembly, saying, "Praise be to you, O LORD, God of our father Israel, from everlasting to everlasting. Yours, O LORD, is the greatness and the power and the glory and the majesty and the splendor, for everything in heaven and earth is yours. Yours, O LORD, is the kingdom; you are exalted as head over all."(4) Praise the name of the Lord, for His name alone is exalted. Knowing who God is does not necessarily mean one can paint His portrait. God the Father--even with His accessibility-- is absolute, unimaginable holiness. When Isaiah found himself in the very throne room of God, he just crumpled into a heap and cried out, "I am about to die!" He was unable to describe God Himself; like John in Revelation, Isaiah could only describe the glory of God's presence--not His actual appearance.(5) But isn't that precisely who God is: holiness. He didn't one day say, "Okay. Even with the sin of humankind, I think I'll change my mind and permit you to come into my presence." No, He said, "I permit you to come into my presence through Christ. On your own, you could not possibly bear my presence; but bathed in the blood of My Son, you can." Great is the Lord, and highly to be praised; and His greatness is unsearchable. True words of praise, whether sung or spoken, do not talk about praise; they do not tell others to praise; neither do they speak of how profitable praise is. True words of praise do nothing more (or less) than speak words of adoration to God. For example, the following line from a popular chorus talks about praise: We are here to praise You, Lift our hearts and sing. There's nothing wrong with that, but it's not yet real praise. Another chorus encourages others to bow down in worship: O what a mystery, meekness and majesty; Bow down and worship for this is your God. Again, profitable instruction, but not real, direct adoration, as is the following: You are almighty God, Savior and Lord; Wonderful Counselor, You are the Lord. And I praise Your name. And I praise Your name.(6) Into the Word ------------- Praise the LORD. Praise God in his sanctuary; praise him in his mighty heavens. Praise him for his acts of power; praise him for his surpassing greatness. -Psalm 150:1-2 Exodus 15:1-3 ____________________________ 1 Chron 16:31-34 ____________________________ Neh 9:5-6 ____________________________ Job 38:1-41:11 ____________________________ Psalm 8:1-2 ____________________________ Psalm 19:1-6 ____________________________ Psalm 24:1-2 ____________________________ Psalm 24:7-10 ____________________________ Psalm 29:1-11 ____________________________ Psalm 33:5-11 ____________________________ Psalm 47:1-9 ____________________________ Psalm 65:5-66:7 ____________________________ Psalm 92:15-93:5 ____________________________ Psalm 96:1-13 ____________________________ Psalm 98:1-9 ____________________________ Psalm 150:1-6 ____________________________ Isaiah 6:1-4 ____________________________ Daniel 2:19-23 ____________________________ Luke 1:67-75 ____________________________ 1 Tim 1:17 ____________________________ Jude 1:24-25 ____________________________ Rev 4:1-11 ____________________________ Rev 14:7 ____________________________ ----------------------------------------------------------------- Digging Deeper--Moving Higher ----------------------------- Holy God, We Praise Thy Name Holy God, we praise Thy name; Lord of all, we bow before Thee; All on earth Thy scepter claim, all in heav'n above adore Thee. Infinite Thy vast domain, everlasting is Thy reign. Hark, the loud celestial hymn angel choirs above are raising; Cherubim and Seraphim, in unceasing chorus praising, Fill the heav'ns with sweet accord: Holy, holy, holy Lord. Lo! the apostolic train joins the sacred name to hallow; Prophets swell the glad refrain, and the white-robed martyrs follow; And, from morn to set of sun, through the Church the song goes on. Holy Father, Holy Son, Holy Spirit, Three we name Thee; While in essence only One, undivided God we claim Thee, And adoring bend the knee, while we sing our praise to Thee. Amen.(7) Making it Personal ------------------ Begin paying more attention to the nature of the hymns and choruses sung in the worship services you attend. What are they saying? Beyond the text itself, what is the purpose of each hymn? Is it really appropriate for that moment in the worship? (I.e., if the congregation is supposed to be praising God, does the text do that?) Put another way, what is the direction of the hymn? Is it vertical (up to God) or horizontal (across to believers or the unsaved)? A true song of praise and adoration will always have a vertical direction.(9) Here is a list of possibilities (non-inclusive): Call to Worship Evangelism Worship Declaration Call to Praise Assurance Praise Edification Devotional Informational Prayer Benediction Supplication ---------------------------------------- Intercession ---------------------------------------- Thanksgiving ---------------------------------------- Make it a goal to always have a Psalm, a chorus, or a hymn handy with which to praise God. For example, the one that always seems to spring to my lips in moments of bursting praise is the old Doxology: Praise God, from whom all blessings flow; Praise Him all creatures here below; Praise Him above, ye heavenly host; Praise Father, Son, and Holy Ghost! (10) Into the Word ------------- "That our idea of God correspond as nearly as possible to the true being of God is of immense importance to us. Compared with our actual thoughts about Him, our creedal statements are of little consequence. Our real idea of God may lie buried under the rubbish of conventional religious notions and may require an intelligent and vigorous search before it is finally unearthed and exposed for what it is. Only after an ordeal of painful self-probing are we likely to discover what we actually believe about God."(8) If you've never done it before, spend some time describing your God. Be sure to base your thoughts and images on Scripture--not tradition, or emotions, or how others describe their God. Just who is it that you praise? ----------------------------------------------------------------- Perspective 2: T H E R E S T O R A T I O N O F P R A I S E ------------- "Holy Father, Thy wisdom excites our admiration, Thy power fills us with fear, Thy omnipresence turns every spot of earth into holy ground; but how shall we thank Thee enough for Thy mercy which comes down to the lowest part of our need to give us beauty for ashes, the oil of joy for mourning, and for the spirit of heaviness a garment of praise? We bless and magnify Thy mercy, through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen."(11) __________________________ No matter how experienced in the Christian faith we might be, no matter how "Spiritually mature," no matter how eager we are to do and think right--there will always be those times when we have set too many bricks into the wall that stands between ourselves and God, and we imagine that nothing will break through. Sometimes we have no words for the Father. Sometimes the anger and brutality and callousness of this world have become so fiercely imbedded in our lives that we are numb from the neck up. We want to reach up and caress the grace of a loving God--but even that seems impossible; the scar tissue is too thick, too unfeeling. In my distress I called to the LORD; I cried to my God for help. From his temple he heard my voice; My cry came before him, into his ears. In those times all we can do is worship. There are no tricks, no magical formulas, no incantations to miraculously brighten our step and our outlook. All we can do is worship. All we can do is fall to our knees, press our face to the ground, and remind ourselves who God is. I call to the LORD, who is worthy of praise, and I am saved from my enemies. Then the healing begins. Then the bricks and stones and carefully-trowelled mortar of that wall begin to disintegrate and tumble to the earth. Then the piercing light of God's forgiving grace once again pours through to restore the relationship that has fallen into such bad repair. I will praise you, O LORD. Although you were angry with me, your anger has turned away and you have comforted me. The next time the only words you have for your heavenly Father are "I'm sorry," the next time your head feels so numb that you can barely call upon His name, just worship Him. Approach the Father in the blood of His Son and call out His greatness.(12) And be restored. Shout for joy, O heavens; rejoice, O earth; burst into song, O mountains! For the LORD comforts his people and will have compassion on his afflicted ones. __________________________ "If we could remember that the divine mercy is not a temporary mood but an attribute of God's eternal being, we would no longer fear that it will someday cease to be. Mercy never began to be, but from eternity was; so it will never cease to be. It will never be more since it is itself infinite; and it will never be less because the infinite cannot suffer diminution. Nothing that has occurred or will occur in heaven or earth or hell can change the tender mercies of our God. Forever His mercy stands, a boundless, overwhelming immensity of divine pity and compassion."(13) Into the Word ------------- The LORD lives! Praise be to my Rock! Exalted be God my Savior! He is the God who avenges me, who subdues nations under me, who saves me from my enemies. You exalted me above my foes; from violent men you rescued me. Therefore I will praise you among the nations, O LORD; I will sing praises to your name. -Psalm 18:46-49 Deut 10:21 ____________________________ 1 Sam 2:1-10 ____________________________ 2 Sam 22:4 ____________________________ 1 Chron 16:35-36 ____________________________ Psalm 8:3-9:20 ____________________________ Psalm 18:1-50 ____________________________ Psalm 24:3-6 ____________________________ Isaiah 12:1-6 ____________________________ Isaiah 25:1 ____________________________ Isaiah 49:13 ____________________________ Isaiah 52:7-10 ____________________________ Daniel 2:23 ____________________________ Luke 17:12-19 ____________________________ Acts 16:22-34 ____________________________ James 5:13 ____________________________ ----------------------------------------------------------------- Digging Deeper--Moving Higher ----------------------------- Sing Praise to God Who Reigns Above Sing praise to God who reigns above, the God of all creation, The God of power, the God of love, the God of our salvation; With healing balm my soul He fills, and every faithless murmur stills: To God all praise and glory. What God's almighty pow'r hath made, His gracious mercy keepeth; By morning glow or evening shade His watchful eye ne'er sleepeth; Within the kingdom of His might, lo! all is just and all is right: To God all praise and glory. The Lord is never far away, but, through all grief distressing, An ever-present help and stay, our peace, and joy, and blessing; As with a mother's tender hand, He leads His own, His chosen band: To God all praise and glory. Thus, all my toilsome way along, I sing aloud Thy praises, That men may hear the grateful song my voice unwearied raises, Be joyful in the Lord, my heart, both soul and body bear your part: To God all praise and glory.(14) Making it Personal ------------------ Being able to praise God when that is the last thing you feel like doing has a lot to do with grace. It is grace that permits us to draw near to God when we are at our lowest--when we are feeling the least Spiritual. Do you ever catch yourself thinking that you really should clean up your act-- somehow improve yourself--before approaching God? Is there any validity to those thoughts? Now, find some Scripture passages that speak to this situation. (For starters, read Romans 5 and Ephesians 2.) Into the Word ------------- Broaden your understanding of the restorative qualities of praise or praise offered as the result of God's restoration. Find and read some of Scripture's illustrations. To get you started, read the story of Moses leading the Israelites through the Sea of Reeds and the song of praise that followed (Exodus 14:1-15:21). ----------------------------------------------------------------- Perspective 3: T H E L O V E L I N E S S O F P R A I S E ------------- "God of all grace, whose thoughts toward us are ever thoughts of peace and not of evil, give us hearts to believe that we are accepted in the Beloved; and give us minds to admire that perfection of moral wisdom which found a way to preserve the integrity of heaven and yet receive us there. We are astonished and marvel that one so holy and dread should invite us into Thy banqueting house and cause love to be the banner over us. We cannot express the gratitude we feel, but look Thou on our hearts and read it there.Amen."(15) __________________________ Little in our experience comes without practice. God gifts us with skills and talents in various pursuits, but without practice they soon wither and fade. With practice, we are better today that we were yesterday; without practice, today is but a fading memory of what we were yesterday. LORD, I have loved the habitation of Your house, And the place where Your glory dwells. There are many reasons why we should praise God. Topping the list is that He has commanded us to. But maybe the second reason, before any others, would be that we praise God because we find Him there. And the more time we spend with God, the more practiced we become in His ways. His vocabulary begins to replace and overshadow the vocabulary of this age; His bright and shining Spirit becomes our beacon, to replace the tarnished headlamps of society; His pervasive love becomes the glue that bonds us not only to Him, but to each other. One thing I have desired of the LORD, That will I seek: That I may dwell in the house of the LORD All the days of my life, To behold the beauty of the LORD, And to inquire in His temple. Practice makes perfect. Is it bordering on tedious to be reminded again that we need to be in training for our eternal occupation? The soul who thinks he or she will be lounging lazily in a golden palace, sipping iced tea for eternity hasn't read the job description. Then I looked and heard the voice of many angels, numbering thousands upon thousands, and ten thousand times ten thousand. They encircled the throne and the living creatures and the elders. In a loud voice they sang: "Worthy is the Lamb, who was slain, to receive power and wealth and wisdom and strength and honor and glory and praise!" Then I heard every creature in heaven and on earth and under the earth and on the sea, and all that is in them, singing: "To him who sits on the throne and to the Lamb be praise and honor and glory and power, for ever and ever!"(16) There is a pristine rightness about dwelling in His praise. As with so many things of God, it is circular: The words of our praise emanate from His Spirit; as we praise, His glory fills our sight and pushes aside encumbrances; as our focus dwells on Him, our own spirit is quickened into more creative praise; with this, He showers us with even more of His blessings--including more words of praise. It is in praise that we see the lovely attributes of God: His wisdom, His righteousness, His mercy. It is in praise that we see God as He truly is--not as the world paints Him, but as He paints Himself. Blessed is the man You choose, And cause to approach You, That he may dwell in Your courts. We shall be satisfied with the goodness of Your house, Of Your holy temple.(17) Into the Word ------------- Praise the LORD! How good it is to sing praises to our God, how pleasant and fitting to praise him! -Psalm 147:1 2 Chronicles 9:8 ____________________________ Psalm 27:4 ____________________________ Psalm 33:1-4 ____________________________ Psalm 84:1-4 ____________________________ Psalm 91:1 ____________________________ Psalm 147:1 ____________________________ Psalm 149:1-9 ____________________________ Isaiah 52:7 ____________________________ Matthew 26:6-10 ____________________________ Luke 1:46-49 ____________________________ Acts 2:46-47 ____________________________ Eph 1:3 ____________________________ Eph 5:19-20 ____________________________ Phil 4:8 ____________________________ Hebrews 13:15 ____________________________ ----------------------------------------------------------------- Digging Deeper--Moving Higher ----------------------------- Light of the World, We Hail Thee Light of the world, we hail Thee, flushing the eastern skies; Never shall darkness veil Thee again from human eyes; Too long, alas, with-holden, now spread from shore to shore; Thy light, so glad and golden, shall set on earth no more. Light of the world, Thy beauty steals into every heart, And glorifies with duty life's poorest, humblest part; Thou robest in Thy splendor the simple ways of men, And helpest them to render light back to Thee again. Light of the world, illume this darkened earth of Thine, Till everything that's human be filled with what's divine; Till every tongue and nation, from sin's dominion free, Rise in the new creation which springs from love for Thee.(18) Making it Personal ------------------ Just how are you with praise? When you speak to God do you find yourself asking and receiving more than giving? Does praise come easily to you, or does it somehow seem a little unnatural? "Sing to the Lord . . ." Do you think this must be synonymous with "Now open your hymnal and turn to hymn #236 . . ."? Do you think it only happens corporately--in the congregation--or should it also happen individually? Sing to the Lord! Praise Him in the sanctuary, but also in the sanctuary of your heart as you're walking down the street, strolling through the woods, rocking your baby to sleep--praise Him from where you are and He will meet with you from where He is. Into the Word ------------- Praise is adoration of God that declares who He is. Some examples of this have been given earlier: His wisdom, His righteousness, His mercy. Using Scripture as your guide (or one of the fine books listed below) list as many of God's attributes as you can find. Then take the project a step further: make for yourself a "praise page" listing these attributes of God that you can carry around with you as a reminder and prompter when it is time to praise the Lord. A Brief Bibliography -------------------- Here are the titles of a few good books on praise and worship: Eastman, Dick. A CELEBRATION OF PRAISE: Exciting Prospects for Extraordinary Praise. Baker, c.1984. Hayford, Jack W. WORSHIP HIS MAJESTY. Word Books, c.1987. Kendrick, Graham. Learning to Worship as a Way of Life. Bethany House, 1985. Myers, Warren & Ruth. PRAISE: A Door to God's Presence. NavPress, 1988. Needham, David C. w/Libby, Larry. CLOSE TO HIS MAJESTY: An Invitation to Walk With God. Multnomah Press, c.1987. Tozer, A.W. THE KNOWLEDGE OF THE HOLY: The Attributes of God: Their Meaning in the Christian Life. HarperCollins, 1992. __________. THE PURSUIT OF GOD. Christian Publications, C.1982. (Tozer Lega). __________. (compiled by G.B.Smith). WHATEVER HAPPENED TO WORSHIP? Christian Publications, c.1985. ======================================================================== NOTES, COPYRIGHT & SUBSCRIPTION INFORMATION Notes ----- 1 from Psalm 150 NASB. 2 A.W. Tozer in The Knowledge of the Holy: The Attributes of God: Their Meaning in The Christian Life (HarperSanFrancisco, 1992), p.1. 3 After that, we must know the difference between "praise" and "thanksgiving." If I pray that God would heal my friend's body, and He does, I pray with thanksgiving for His actions on my friend's behalf, but I praise His mercy_which is part of who He is. For example: "Father God, I thank You for healing my friend and I praise Your compassionate mercy." Praise is more exclusive than thanksgiving, more intimate. When I receive my bag of groceries from the check-out clerk, I say "thank-you." I don't have to have any other feelings for that person to express my gratitude for their courteous behavior. Praise should not be so easily or mechanically given. Praise is saying, "You are worthy." Worthy of what? "To receive my praise!" "You are worthy, our Lord and God, to receive glory and honor and power, for you created all things, and by your will they were created and have their being." -Revelation 4:11 4 1 Chron 29:10-11. 5 Isaiah 6:1-7; Revelation 4:1-11. 6 We Are Here to Praise You, by Graham Kendrick; Meekness and Majesty, by Graham Kendrick; You Are The Mighty King, by Eddie Espinosa; all taken from Praise 9 by Maranatha! Music. 7 Te Deum (c.4th Century), translated by Clarence Walworth (1820-1900). 8 A.W. Tozer in The Knowledge of the Holy: The Attributes of God: Their Meaning in The Christian Life (HarperSanFrancisco, 1992), p.2f. 9 This is not always easily discerned, as many hymns change direction several times within their stanzas_as seen by my example of the Doxology at the bottom of page 11-3. 10 Thomas Ken (1637-1711). 11 A.W. Tozer in The Knowledge of the Holy: The Attributes of God: Their Meaning in The Christian Life (HarperSanFrancisco, 1992), p.139. 12 When even that seems impossible, open the Psalms and read some of God's words back to Him. Praise Him with the words He Himself set down for His glory. 13 A.W. Tozer, p.141. 14 Johann J. Sch tz (1640-1690); translated by Frances E. Cox (1812-1897). 15 A.W. Tozer, p.145. 16 Rev 5:11-13. 17 Psalm 65:4 NKJV. 18 John S.B. Monsell (1811-1875). Copyright Information --------------------- All original material in Aspects is Copyright (C) 1995 David S. Lampel. This data file is the sole property of David S. Lampel. It may not be altered or edited in any way. It may be reproduced only in its entirety for circulation as "freeware," without charge. All reproductions of this data file must contain the copyright notice (i.e., "Copyright (C) 1995 David S. Lampel."). This data file may not be used without the permission of David S. Lampel for resale or the enhancement of any other product sold. This includes all of its content. Brief quotations not to exceed more than 500 words may be used, with the appropriate copyright notice, to enhance or supplement personal or church devotions, newsletters, journals, or spoken messages. Unless otherwise indicated, all Scripture is from the New International Version. NIV quotations are from the Holy Bible: New International Version, Copyright 1973, 1978, 1984 by the International Bible Society. Used by permission. NASB quotations are from the New American Standard Bible (C) 1960, 1962, 1963, 1968, 1971, 1972, 1973, 1975, 1977 by The Lockman Foundation. Subscription Information ------------------------ Aspects is published monthly. There are two preferred methods of receiving it on a regular basis: 1) You may subscribe to the laser-printed (hard copy) edition, which is sent out via regular mail. 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