Ascending praise

In John’s Gospel, there is an account of Jesus meeting a Samarian woman drawing water from a well. Perceiving Jesus to be a religious man she said, ‘Jerusalem is the place where men ought to worship’. John 4:20. This woman summarized in beautiful simplicity the foundational motivation for attending church. We are to ‘come before Him with joyful singing’. Psa 100:2. Whether committed church goers or non-attendees, nearly all people believe church is about worshipping God. It is the place where we hear from God and pay tribute to Him, or as the Bible says, we ‘praise’ Him. In this month’s On That Note we will consider that true praise comes from our faith to offer up a sacrifice to the Lord.

The psalmist continued, ‘Enter into His gates with thanksgiving, and into His courts with praise’. Psa 100:4 When the psalmist wrote about ‘courts’, he was referring to the Tabernacle of Moses. This was a temporary, portable tent-like structure used by God’s people after their exodus from Egypt. The people brought animals as a sacrifice of thanksgiving to the tabernacle’s outer court, where they would be offered up by fire. As the smoke from these offerings ascended it was a ‘soothing aroma to the Lord.’ Lev 1:13. The ascending fragrance of the sacrifices was the means by which the people were known by God. ‘Moses said, “This is the thing which the Lord has commanded you to do, that the glory of God may appear to you”.’ Lev 9:6. This is still the desire of believers today; that God would know us and we would know God. We want to know first-hand that His glorious power is working in our lives.

Paul exhorted us in his letter to the Corinthian church, ‘We are a fragrance of Christ to God.’ 2 Cor 2:15. He was using the language of the Old Testament to give great meaning to our Christian lives today. Of course, we don’t take animal sacrifices to church on Sunday mornings, but we still desire for our offering to ascend before God as a sweet aroma. The psalmist encouraged us, ‘Let us sing for joy… let us come before His presence with thanksgiving’. Psa 95:1,2. Understanding the progression from offering, to praise, to ascending fragrance gives great meaning to the words of King David, who wrote that the Lord is holy and inhabits the praises of His people. Psa 22:3. Using the language of the tabernacle, the Lord ‘inhabits’ our praises when we enter His gates and sing in the place of His habitation.

Praise is our individual expression of faith. We don’t half-heartedly sing to the Lord, as if we are waiting for Him to physically inhabit our bodies and raise us to a higher level of spirituality and musicality! Rather, the Lord pours out His grace as our unreserved praise ascends. ‘Through Him then, let us continually offer up a sacrifice of praise to God, that is, the fruit of lips that give thanks to His name.’ Heb 13:15. ‘Through Him’ implies that we receive grace as our praise ascends as a sweet aroma. True praise for God originates in our own hearts, and by our own faith we sing.

Lachlan Perrin

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Feature Articles
October 2009

Grace to you

The trumpet of God

Ascending praise

The path of the just

A church community

No longer your own

Where is wisdom?
- Part 1

Asking and receiving

Our greatest support

Confidence to endure