You Inhabit Israel’s Praise - Lee Brainard

In Psalm 22:3 we read the fascinating line, “You, the Holy One, inhabit the praises of Israel.” What a wonderful thought. The infinite God who does not dwell in temples made by human hands (Acts 7:48), does dwell in the praises of his people. He who flung the universe into existence, with galaxies innumerable, far beyond man’s ability to calculate, gathers up the praises of those who trust him and makes of them a tent in which he delights to reside. Every believer’s praise is spun into a thread of worship, and these threads are gathered up and woven into the tabernacle of Israel’s praise.

Why does God value praise so much? Because praise is the one thing that man can give God that he cannot give himself. In other words, it is a very valuable commodity. The only praise and worship in the entire universe comes from a small group of beings who turn the carbon of common language into the diamonds of praise.

But as the proverb admonishes the treasure seeker, “not all that glitters is gold,” so not all that sounds like praise is accepted by God as praise. May we take his warning at face value. “They honor me with their lips, but their heart is far from me.” (Matt. 15:8). We must purify our hearts (James 4:8) and worship in spirit and truth (John 4:24) if we would rightly praise the Lord.

~Lee Brainard, January 17, 2015

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