You have to love King David! I can only imagine the type of leader he was from reading his psalms and his history in the Old Testament. But you know from his psalms that he loved God and loved to praise God. He was a praise-happy guy! His joy was the Lord and praising God! In this psalms, he lets you know. Praise the Lord! What a command! It's a "come on, people, join in this praise thing we got going on!" If you've never been to a youth gathering, you've missed this kind of join or lose out invitation that happens whenever youth get together to praise God. There is an excitement and a joy that is not easily duplicated in most churches. One of the sadnesses I've had as a pastor was to see a great gathering of youth in a retreat setting praising God and making important decisions for God and God's church, only to return home to a church that is neither open nor knowledgeable about such praise. But that excitement was David's and he knew it could happen in any setting, regardless of format. It's within one's spirit to say, "Let's praise God!" And David's invitation is to come to the sanctuary/temple and praise God there, and then outside, wherever you might find yourself, praise God. Why? Because God has done great things for us, and for God just being God! How? With whatever you have! If it's a trumpet, use it! Blow it loud and hard and use it to invite others to join the praise! If it's a string instrument of some sort, use it! Banjo, mandolin, ukelele, lute, harp, use them! And if the music moves you, move! Dance! Use a tambourine and dance; and while you're at it, get other instruments involved. Bang the cymbals, and slam them loud! Let the world know that you're involved with God. Who? Everyone and everything with breath can praise the Lord! In a word: Praise the Lord!
Okay, now that you're back in reality, what holds us back? What are the "rules" and who made them? It was not too long ago, Nellie and I sat through a "lecture" where a renowned seminary professor railed against clapping in church. I could see his points against it (he believes all the praise should be directed to God not to choirs or soloists), but sometimes the clapping is a part of the praise directed to God. I experienced that yesterday in worship; the choir sang a great anthem to the Lord and the response from the congregation was a "shall we clap or not" applause. The point is not to discuss or argue clapping or not clapping in church, but to say that we should be open to the Spirit's leading to getting us to praise God as a genuine expression of our gratefulness to God for all that God has done for us. This is set in the context of Easter, which by the way did not end yesterday at 12 noon or with the last Easter egg found or cascarón cracked. Easter is a season of the Christian year where our gratitude towards God and God's victory at Calvary and at the tomb continues through this season as should our praise to God.
PRAYER: Loving God, let me not hold back. I want to be a part of a worship and praise that never ends. May I employ all my being and all of what I can, to praise You and invite others to come and join in. You are worthy for all You have done. Thank You for Easter; life beyond life comes from You. I praise You and pray to You in Christ Jesus' precious and powerful name, amen.
Have a great and blessed day in the Lord!
Eradio Valverde
Thought for the Day
Will I praise God with what I have in ways that invite others to join?
