A few months ago I received an invitation on Facebook cause called, Allow God In Schools. Normally I just ignore the stuff, but I ended up joining the group because of a discussion that intrigued me. Over the course of several weeks the discussion gradually moved off topic but ended up with some really thought provoking statements. There was one in particular that stuck out to me that I haven't been able to stop thinking about. A professing atheist made the following statement.
"if there is a god and i meet him when i die, ill say the same thing to him as christopher hitchens would say... do you have some sort of self esteem issues that mean constant praise is what you strive for?..."
There was a little more to it, but this is the part I want to address. It took me a while to get my mind around the answer to this question, but during a recent prayer conversation with God He finally helped me understand it.
The God I love and serve is the creator of the universe, the King of kings, the Lord of lords. He is in His very nature, Holy, Righteous, and Perfect. God simply for who He is deserves praise, simply because of His status He deserves praise. But if we look at who He really is, what He really is, we see more than that. Because He is so Holy, so Righteous, and so Perfect, He HAS to be praised. It is not a preference that He simply asks to happen because He enjoys it, it isn't a privilege He has earned because of every blessing He has poured out on us. It is His right, something He is entitled to simply for who He is.
There is a verse in Luke that I love, and it is one that explains this so well.
"As soon as He was approaching, near the descent of the Mount of Olives, the whole crowd of the disciples began to praise God joyfully with a loud voice for all the miracles which they had seen, shouting: 'BLESSED IS THE KING WHO COMES IN THE NAME OF THE LORD; Peace in heaven and glory in the highest!' Some of the Pharisees in the crowd said to Him, 'Teacher, rebuke Your disciples.' But Jesus answered, 'I tell you, if these become silent, the stones will cry out!" Luke 19.37-40
God is so deserving of praise that He HAS to be praised. If we as humans do not give it, something else will, even a rock, because it has to be done! God is so deserving of it, He is the only one worthy to receive any glory at all, and we as fallen humans are so unworthy to offer it. Think about that, a God who is so holy that He has to be praised because of how holy He is, and yet the one creature most able to give it is unworthy to. But here is the most incredible thing about it, God, even though He deserves more than we could ever offer to Him, even in eternity when all things are made new and perfect, still wants our praise, and He invites us to praise Him!
I think it's incredible, that a God who is so far above us and worthy of praise that we cannot give not only wants it from us, but invites us to give it to Him. I think the very fact that God allows us to praise Him shows His love for us, but I think an even greater demonstration of His love is that He invites us to give Him glory.
It just blows my mind to think about. God is not the one with a self-esteem issue, if anything we should be the ones with it, and the saddest part of it is that some of us are so arrogant that we miss out on the awesome opportunity to praise the creator of the universe because of it.
I still have trouble fully wrapping my mind around this, but at the same time I have so much peace about it, and it makes so much sense. I simply hope my inadequate explanation does it some justice.
Peace be with you
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