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Praise the Lord

             Praise the Lord, for the Lord is good; sing praise to his name, for that is pleasant. (Psalm 135:3)

                Finally, brothers and sisters whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think about such things. (Philippians 4:8)

                Many years ago, there was a documentary about Stonehenge in which acoustical engineers analyzed the structure, and determined that the bending of the drumbeats back upon the priest at the center, especially along with drugs, had a powerful affect on the priest’s brain. Other studies have shown the great influence music has on people. It can help them remember, it can calm or excite, etc. So, the notion that singing praises can have a pleasant influence on the one singing or listening isn’t some mystical mumbo-jumbo. It’s a simple truth.

                Some would say, correctly, that it doesn’t even have to be religious music. But if the words aren’t true, we do ourselves no favor in burning them into our minds. The more we put into our minds that is true, noble, right, pure, lovely, admirable, excellent, or praiseworthy, the better.

                Backing up a bit to the first part of the verse, it’s good to praise God because God is good. He’s worthy of praise. He fits the list from Philippians. There is no suggestion here that we should praise God because God needs or even wants our praise. The reason we should praise God is that He is worthy of praise. There are some who would disagree with that, but if you talk to them long enough to find out what their god is, they’re likely to agree that their god is worthy of praise, even if they won’t admit that what they’re praising is their god. Some may complain that if God is a god, He shouldn’t need praise, but the passage doesn’t say He needs our praise. It says that He deserves it. There’s a difference. A beautiful piece of music doesn’t need to be praised for its beauty, but if it’s beautiful, it deserves to be acknowledged.

                Moses asked God to show him His glory. That might be a bit much for us, but what would happen if we asked Him to show us at least a little of His beauty?

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