The Results of Praising God

 I wonder if we really know how much our praise of the Lord pleases Him? Of course, He is worthy of all of our praise. That is why He commands us to praise Him. However, He doesn't want us to praise Him out of obligation. He desires for our praises to flow from hearts of love for Him. When we praise Him well, He responds in a wonderful way. Solomon found this out when he was dedicating the Lord's temple. (II Chronicles 5:13) Solomon had appointed the trumpeters and the singers to join together with one voice in praising and thanking the Lord. They raised their voices accompanied by trumpets, cymbals, and various musical instruments. They sang: "For He is good; His faithful love endures forever." Then, the temple of the Lord was filled with a cloud. What did that mean? Let's think about it for a few moments.

The cloud that filled the temple was the glory of the Lord. It was His presence. We see this happen in the Old Testament and the New Testament. God chooses to show up among His people and manifest His presence so all will be aware of Him. Many times this manifestation is connected with true worship of the Lord, like the people were doing in Solomon's day. When God sees our hearts of praise and thanksgiving, often He comes closer. He wants us to know His pleasure in our sincere worship. That is when we feel the glory of the Lord and sense His presence among us. That should be our goal every time we worship the Lord as individuals, and especially, as congregations of believers. When we play the instruments and sing with one voice to the Lord our God, we should be pouring out our hearts of love to Him. When we do that God responds in love for us. This is one of the most wonderful times of every week. I pray that we will all participate in true, sincere worship of the Lord Jesus Christ each week, so we can know the presence of the Lord is with us. It will strengthen us all week long.

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Tomorrow, I intend to read II Chronicles 6-8.