Thursday, September 8, 2011

Praises

So I have been slowly reading through Psalms, often spending 3-5-7 days on one or two chapters. During that time I would just reread it, pray into it and just let it settle itself into me. Well the last week and a half or so I have read through chapters 146, 147, 148, 149 and 150. In those five chapters is says roughly 25 times, in the NIV, to praise the Lord. To my mind that is striking for two reasons; 1) God ended with emphasis on praise for Him as a main element, 2) It reminds me of David praising God in 2 Samuel 6.
In truth 2 Samuel 6 is one of my favorite passages in the Bible when I consider the issue of praise to God. David, a man after God's own heart, longed for God so much that as he brought God's throne into Jerusalem he stopped the procession EVERY 6 STEPS! I don't know how far it was from it's former location to Jerusalem, but six steps aren't much and sacrificing both a bull and a fattened calf would take quite a while each time. David longed to honor God and had no concern for anything else, as demonstrated by the time it may have taken to transport the Ark. As it was entering the city David danced before the Lord with all his might and the entrance was surrounded with shouts and the sound of trumpet blasts. I have heard a rams horn trumpet being blasted and it can get pretty loud and man it just reads like a party to me. David danced before the Lord with all his might, the second chosen king of Israel knew his place before God and wanted nothing but to exalt Him.
As I looked at different versions of the chapter they all seem to say that at the very least David was being exposed and quite possibly was naked entirely. He got rebuked for that later, but his passion for praise and love for God could help him to do nothing else then to celebrate the Lord.
Couple that with the fact that God wraps up the longest book in the Bible, a book full of ancient songs to God by emphasizing the importance of praise for Him and you have an interesting equation. As a personal testimony, I seek to follow God's promptings in my worship. If He says stand, I will, if He says dance, I will, if He says sit, I will, etc. I have always enjoyed praising God but am beginning to see how important it is as a part of the relationship and that will only increase as I grow closer to Him.

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