Be Still and Praise

Friends,

On this sixth morning of our camp, I greet you in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ in whom we have redemption and forgiveness of sins. Our God is good all the time, and all the time our God is good. He is worthy to be praised!

Some may hear us and think we’re nuts because in their hearts they say, “There is no God. These people are simply wasting their time.” If we’re nuts, we’ve come to the right place this morning because God is in the business of turning fools into wise. He imparts wisdom to those who recognize their need of it, to those who believe in His name, and to those who praise the One sent by the Father.

O, praise the One who paid my debt

And raised this life up from the dead!

The wisdom of the Father tells us Christ took our foolishness upon Himself, paid our debt, died our death, and raised our dead selves up from the grave that you and I might live. Wisdom tells us to rest in that knowledge and accept the perfect work of Christ is done. Foolishness tells us to keep working and wearying ourselves to death. I want to be wise, don’t you? Please repeat after me:

Jesus lives!

Jesus reigns!

Praise be to my Rock!

Glory to the Redeemer!

God is good and faithful all the time!

He is worthy of power, honor, wisdom, strength, glory, and blessing!

God’s goodness doesn’t always make sense to us. For example, when bad things happen to people we like and esteem (naturally, we like and esteem ourselves first), we tend to ask ourselves, “How can a good God let that happen?” Or when the wicked (famously seen as those we dislike and scorn) seem to be thriving, we complain, “Ah Lord, that’s not fair!”

We all face frustrations, obstacles, and temptations; we embark upon a spiritual journey that is not often even-paced. Yet, God is here, there, and everywhere. He is always present and at work. His grace helps us acknowledge our pitfalls and perils, and invites us to be still and know He is God amidst the harshest physical or spiritual storms facing our hearts. His grace invites us to pray, read, hear, and heed His Word so that we might learn to rely on the righteousness of Christ alone. In His time, He will turn the price tag of earthly trials into the ultimate prize of heavenly triumphs.

In the meantime, He says, “Be still and know that I am God; I will be exalted among the nations, I will be exalted in the earth.” We can embrace spiritual stillness because Psalm 107:29 assures us, “He stilled the storm to a whisper; the waves of the sea were hushed.” We can embrace spiritual stillness because “the Lord Almighty is with us; the God of Jacob is our fortress” (Psalm 46:11). And spiritual stillness leads us to praise God.

Does that knowledge not entice you to thank and praise Immanuel, the Lord Almighty who is with us, the God of Jacob who is our fortress? It does me. Even without that knowledge, some thinkers actually advance the desire to worship (period) is a natural part of humanity. A. W. Tozer, a well-known theologian of the 20^th century, explained how the impulse to praise lodged deep within every human is “the most natural thing about us.” (The Purpose of Man, 61) Harold Best, musician and writer, calls it “an intrinsic part of our nature . . . [that] is ceaselessly at work, even as we choose death in pouring out toward false gods. As mysterious as this fact is, we can well consider it a grace, because it is a ready highway for the coming of the Redeemer.” (Unceasing Worship, 26)

Deep down we know we always worship someone or something. Maybe it’s the piano; maybe it’s the guitar. Maybe it’s a girlfriend; maybe it’s an iPod. Maybe it’s an award from a great institution; maybe it’s a celebrity. Maybe it’s our appearance; maybe it’s the food that goes into our stomachs. Maybe it’s pornography; maybe it’s drugs or alcohol. I tell you, you and I worship every day because we tend to be obsessed by an idea or an object or a person. What Tozer and Best are helping us see is this: Even though those objects, ideas, or individuals we worship are completely misguided and inappropriate, they are all images pointing to the original, the true target of our God-given impulse to worship -- namely, Christ Himself.

Divine wisdom maintains you and I were designed not only to praise (period), but to worship Christ specifically, who is God. We were created by a Supreme Being who delights in the praise of His creation—mountains, rivers, animals, and people. Even the cries of infants and toddlers are considered by God to be expressions of praise to Him. He ordains our praise because our worship wields enough power to silence the foe and the avenger. (Psalm 8:2)

Why would the psalmist say so? Our foe or avenger or enemy, the devil, loves nothing more than to hiss his white noise -- twisting God’s truth and concocting an enticing lie that prevents us from seeing the wisdom of God’s perfect plans and purposes. Relying on our impatient wants and preferences, the enemy grows ever more cunning and influential as he succeeds in convincing our fuzzy brains and hyperactive lips to whine and grumble. He knows better than we do our words and songs of praise to God are the very weapons that can lead to his silence and demise. He is fully aware of the fact that our most important contribution to the work of the gospel is our personal relationship with Christ defined by the patient stillness and humble gratitude we express as we offer our praise to God. (Romans 1:21)

So, regardless of the attacks that come our way and the delays that try our patience, our number one priority is to worship and praise our Father in heaven. Every time we are tempted to say or do something rash, we will be wise to slow down and take stock; wait and recognize that God is God; and, finally, thank and praise the Father instead.

The opening line of the old spiritual Ain’t Got Time to Die accurately conveys the wisdom of praise: 

“Lord, I keep so busy praisin’ my Jesus, 

Ain’t got time to die.” 

Dying, in this case, refers to the insolent and frantic attitude of not pausing and entering the spiritual stillness of acknowledging God before anything or anyone else. That is the epitome of foolishness—pure and simple. On the other hand, wise and prudent living takes place when you and I wear the garment of Christ-centered praise and gratefully put on the full armor of God.

The full armor of God, discussed in Ephesians 6, inspires and encourages us to accept the Father’s invitation to be still and praise. In verse 13, Paul says, “ . . . put on the full armor of God so that when the day of evil comes, you may be able to stand your ground and after you have done everything, to stand.” What is the ‘everything’ you and I are called to do as we seek to stand our ground in evil and troubling times?

We are to:

-       wear the belt of truth around our waist

-       wear the breastplate of righteousness

-       wear shoes of the gospel of peace

-       take up the shield of faith

-       take the helmet of salvation

-       take the sword of the Spirit

-       pray in the Spirit on all occasions with all kinds of prayers and requests

Through the above seven-piece armor, our gracious Father deposits stillness in our hearts through the all-sufficiency of Christ, the Sun of righteousness:

1)    When the hiss of Satan’s deceptive white noise tempts us to despair, we can rest in the truth of Christ’s victory

2)    When we are consumed with the guilt of sin and shame, we can rest in the righteousness of Christ

3)    When political conflicts and family feuds are forcing us to run, we can rest in the gospel of peace that keeps our feet fitted for Christ-honoring conversations

4)    When the evil one throws flaming arrows of unbelief at us, we can gratefully accept the precious faith Christ freely deposits in our hearts

5)    When the accusations of Satan and other people incite us to worry about our salvation, we can rest in the fact that the Father sees us not in my sin but in His Son

6)    When tempests, trials, persecutions attack us, we can rest in the fact that Christ has not left His bride defenseless; He gave us a powerful sword—His Word

7)    When questions baffle us and answers befuddle us, we can rest in the constant access we have to the Father through praying in the Sprit, in the name of the Son, on all occasions, asking anything we need

Why would we not praise God when He has done all of that for us? 

Why would we not turn gratefully to Him when He says, “Come to Me with thanksgiving and praise, with music and joyful songs. Rejoice in My name all day long. Tell others of My righteousness. Come to Me, My beloved, for in My presence is fullness of joy, and eternal pleasures are in My right hand? 

What else could we do? 

We can keep in mind ultimate freedom in life is the ability to choose the perspective God grants us through His Word and accept the gentle, humble attitude of Christ-like submission to the Father’s sovereignty. And because attitude is centered in the will, we can choose to “be still and know that [He is] God.” 

Lord, we praise You because You daily bear our burdens. We praise You because You are the Lord of heaven and earth. We praise You because You are our Father, Creator, and King. We bow down and worship You because You gave Your everything that we may be still and know You are God, the One who is exalted among the nations. Thank You, Lord, for all You do! In Jesus' name, we pray. Amen!