Photo by Rio Hodges on Unsplash
I remember the day when I hiked to that rushing waterfall in the mountains. It was a long, slightly arduous hike, but as the trail ended I realized that all that walking was worth it. The waterfall that had been roaring in the distance for some time finally came into view and my jaw dropped. It was beautiful. Water gushed down in majesty, beauty, and power.
Waterfalls like this one remind me of Psalms 40:5, “Many, O LORD my God, are thy wonderful works which thou hast done, and thy thoughts which are to us-ward: they cannot be reckoned up in order unto thee: if I would declare and speak of them, they are more than can be numbered.”
Close your eyes and imagine a rushing waterfall. Now, imagine a rusty old faucet that leaks into the sink. Leaky faucets are invariably annoying things. There you are, looking at the stupid thing. You tried to turn it off, but the faucet just keeps dripping, dripping, dripping. Your brow furrows as you listen to the water droplets plink! plink! plink! into the sink below.
What is my point in saying all of this?
Well, when I stop and really ponder the world around me, I see that God’s wonders are so amazing. His power, might, majesty, creativity–it can all be seen in and through His awesome creation.
My response should be one of praise, of joy, of song. My heart should bubble over with love for the One who created everything out of His own overflowing heart of love!
In light of this, I wonder why I am so hesitant to praise God, to declare His goodness. Why do I not extol His righteousness, faithfulness, salvation, and lovingkindness more…especially when I’m around and in front of others?”
After all, in Psalms 40:9-10 the Psalmist writes, “Lo, I have not refrained my lips, O LORD, thou knowest…I have declared thy faithfulness and thy salvation: I have not concealed thy lovingkindness and thy truth from the great congregation.”
Sometimes my personal “praise time” for God seems a bit flat and lifeless. I try to praise God in my heart when I walk outside, when I think about it, or when I pray.
And that’s good. But I always feel like I’m not praising God enough.
Like I don’t appreciate or enjoy Him as much as I should.
Like I’m just checking the “pray” box off on my “spiritual” to-do list.
“Oh, I praised God today,” I think to myself, “now let me move on to the other sections of my schedule…”
The truth is that even if I gave my entire life over to praising God–every minute, hour, and day–it still would just be a drop of water in the bottomless bucket of praise that God deserves.
It is really so sad that I find myself often slogging through my day, wading through my school, work, responsibilities, even prayer, without giving a thought to what God has done for me. It is so easy for me to lose that awe-struck wonder, that jaw-dropped reverence for my Lord and Savior. It is so easy for me to get bogged down in the here-and-now.
I want my praise to rush forth like a mighty waterfall, but usually it just drips out like water from a leaky faucet. I know that there is so much to praise God for, but sometimes I’m still stuck at, “Lord, thank you for this day.”
Why? Why is there this problem in my heart and mind and life?
I believe that one of the reasons we simply don’t think enough about praising God is because we aren’t willing to praise Him in front of others.
In Psalms 40:3, we read that when we praise our God, “many shall see it.”
In Psalms 40:9, the Psalmist writes, “I have preached righteousness in the great congregation…I have not refrained my lips…”
Psalms 40:10 enunciates this truth again: “I have declared thy faithfulness and thy salvation: I have not concealed thy lovingkindness and thy truth from the great congregation.”
One reason that I struggle to praise God is that I want to do it so quietly. I want to do it in my private prayer time. I want to do it within myself. I don’t want to ask others to be my praise accountability! And I certainly don’t want to be the “awkward” one that’s talking about how good God is in front of other people.
But, as is clear in Colossians 3:16, the word of Christ that dwells in us impels us to praise (praise in our hearts and praise in front others)!
Why are we sometimes so private about our praise to and for God? Why do we hesitate to praise his name in public? What do we fear? Scorn? Seeming too…joyful? Do we fear the “hypocrisy” of looking thankful when we’re really not?
Sometimes praising God out loud and just preaching God’s goodness to ourselves (and others) puts our hearts in a position of thankfulness, even if we didn’t necessarily feel like praising before.
We can either put ourselves in the mental state of, “I will praise God, no matter my circumstances or what is happening right now,” or we can slip into the pattern of, “I just don’t feel thankful right now, so why try to be thankful?”
Joni Eareackson Tada, a quadriplegic from the age of 17, writes, “Giving thanks is not a matter of feeling thankful. It is a matter of obedience.”
Why am I such a leaky faucet when I need to be a rushing waterfall of praise?
It is because I’m not being as obedient as I should be.
In the Christian life, Jesus requires us, all of us. He gave himself for us, He loves us, and he
owns us. I want to praise my perfect Master for all that He has done for me.
This means praising Him: praising even when I don’t feel like it, praising when I’m at my lowest moments and my highest, praising when everyone around me is complaining, praising in my heart, praising out loud, praising in front of others.
I want to be a rushing waterfall of praise, and I want to start now:
The Creator created. He spoke everything from nothing. He crafted every living and non-living thing with his voice.
His creation was perfect, masterful:
Majestic trees
Blades of thin, dewy grass
Purple sunsets
Rippling waves of water
Dry, grainy sand
Squelchy mud
Waddling ducks
Noble (and wrinkly!) elephants
Hairy lions.
Delicate butterflies.
And God has created millions, trillions of other things.
He’s created things yet to be discovered!
My wonderful Creator created me.
He knit me together in my mother’s womb.
He created me with a unique personality, a personality that is different from anyone that ever has lived or ever will live.
He created me fearfully and wonderfully.
He placed me in my specific family for a specific reason.
He holds all the threads of my being together.
He knows everything about me down to the deepest core of my soul...
He knows what a sinful, terrible person I am. I am nothing compared to Him. I am less than dirty rags before Him. I choose to rebel against Him over and over and over. My sin separates me from Him. My sin makes it impossible for me to please my Creator or even to have a relationship with Him at all. I deserve to be damned forever.
But my Creator looks upon me, and He loves me. He loves me in spite of my sin. He loves me even when I go against Him so many times. He didn’t want me to be doomed to Hell so he sent His only, perfect Son to die for me.
Because of my perfect Savior, I can come boldly before the throne of Grace.
Because of Jesus’ sacrifice, God can have a relationship with me.
Because of Christ, God sees me as I will be one day: completely pure, innocent, and without blame.
Because of Jesus, I can be the Friend of God.
Because of Him, I am going to Heaven when I die.
Because of King Jesus and what He has done for me, I will lay my all down and follow Him.
God created me, loved me, and died for me.
How could I ever NOT praise? How could I ever NOT sing songs of praise to my mighty, powerful, loving Redeemer?
I want to be more than just a leaky faucet in light of God’s awesome glory. I want to be a rushing waterfall, roaring His praise to the hilltops, singing His works to the stars, proclaiming His goodness in front of whoever would possibly care to listen.
Lord, help me to be like a rushing, roaring waterfall. I want to be the kind of person who shouts your praise.
I want this to be my prayer. I want this to be my heart's desire.
What is yours?
-- Karis Anne
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