Monday Meditation
May 25, 2015
From the desk of Dr. A.J. Higgins
Praise waits for the Man or Men Wait for Praise
“Praise waiteth for Thee, O God, in Zion.”
Psalm 65:1
Men are born into the world; they grow, and mature. Quickly, evidence of the fall becomes apparent and the self-centered existence which marks us by nature is evident. Men strive, struggle, and scrape to reach places of honor and esteem among their peers. Men live their lives waiting for their “five minutes of fame.” Men live waiting to receive praise from others. This is what, by nature, we strive for and desire: to be recognized and acclaimed either for our work effort, athletic accomplishments, wealth, or achievements in some other field.
But Psalm 65 tells us of something entirely different. “Praise waits for God!” Think of what the implications of this statement are. God need accomplish nothing to receive praise. He is worthy of praise in light of Who He is. Praise waits for Him. He does not wait to be praised. Praise is almost personified in these verses. It suggests that He is actually greater than His praise. Praise waits for Him. Praise is honored to be able to give itself to Him. All that God has done, all that His wisdom has accomplished and that His grace has wrought, has only added to His praise. But He Himself, in His person, in His essence of holiness and love, is worthy of praise.
At times we may descend into the low-level thinking that God requires our praise. No, God does not need anything. He is greater than our praise. We are honored to be able to give Him praise and worship.
As we gather this week to worship and praise Him, let us think of the honor conferred upon us to be worshipers of the true God; the honor to be able to give Him what He deserves – the praise of our lips and the worship of our hearts.
Consider:
- Look at verse 4 and consider how blessed we are. This is one of the beatitudes of the Psalms. The first is in Psalm 1. We can claim all for ourselves.
- The thought of the Psalm may be that everyone is gathered in Zion waiting to praise God when He appears. If we take license and apply this to a gathered company on a Lord’s Day morning, it suggests that we should come with our praise prepared and ready to give, rather than waiting to get warmed up by the hymns or praise of others.
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