Many psalms in the Bible’s book of Psalms tell us to praise God. But if the Bible is God’s words, is this God commanding praise? Indeed, some skeptics complain that praise psalms make God appear egotistical. In fact, when I first read Psalms, this very thing bothered me.
But let me tell a story that clarifies what what I had missed.
A Trip Down a River
Clay and I once boarded a boat docked on the sea green Tortuguero Canal in Costa Rica. Its blue canopy shielded us from sun and sporadic showers as we glided slowly on the water on the lookout for wild creatures.
We spotted many birds, including tiny roosting bats and blue-and-white swallows. Iguanas and big-headed green basilisk lizards crawled on roots and branches. Both two- and three-toed sloths hung lazily in trees.
We floated between riverbanks thick with the big, heart-shaped leaves of balsa trees. Everywhere, skinny aerial roots reached from mangrove tree branches down to the brackish water. Heavy yellow fruit hung like pendulums on coconut trees beneath cream-colored frothy flowers and jade-green serrated fronds. Flamboyant flowers in showy colors popped amidst the deep jungle green.
We heard hidden monkeys howling from the tree canopy. We breathed in the soft perfume of the pale yellow ylang-ylang flower, from which Channel No. 5 is made. Our fingers brushed fuzzy red achiote seed pods. We tasted slightly crunchy lady fingerling bananas with their lingering, honey-like sweetness.
Natural Praise
With each new wonder, we said to each other, family, and even strangers things like, “Look! Isn’t it gorgeous?!”; “Here—feel how incredibly soft this is!”; “Did you hear that? Wasn’t it amazing?!”; and “Oh, you’ve got to smell this—it’s beautiful!” When our ultra-zoom camera caught details the eye couldn’t see, we passed it around to others: “Look at this!”
The boat was filled with excited chatter about the wonders surrounding us.
Isn’t that what most people do when they encounter something wonderful? It seems fitting to share our discovery with someone. And when others respond with equal delight, our enjoyment increases.
Why the Psalmists Call us to Praise
In fact, as C. S. Lewis has pointed out, enjoyment is not complete until it is expressed and shared.
This is why the psalmists so often call us to sing praises to the Lord: They experienced God and responded by calling others to share in their joy.
I did not always know this. I confess that the first few times I read Psalms, I wondered why God told people to praise him. The idea made me squirm because I associated it with tyrannical dictators and bad bosses: people who surround themselves with Yes men, reward flattery, and punish disagreement. Since then, I’ve found I wasn’t alone in my confusion.
What I missed was that the psalms aren’t God demanding people praise him. Rather, they are psalms by godly people who experienced the wonders and realities of God, and who responded naturally with praise and a call to others to witness and share their delight under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit.
C. S. Lewis on Praise
C. S. Lewis put it this way:
All enjoyment spontaneously overflows into praise unless (sometimes even if) shyness or the fear of boring others is deliberately brought in to check it. The world rings with praise—lovers praising their mistresses, readers their favorite poet, walkers praising the countryside, players praising their favourite game—praise of weather, wines, dishes, actors, motors, horses, colleges, countries, historical personages, children, flowers, mountains, rare stamps, rare beetles, even sometimes politicians or scholars.… Just as men spontaneously praise whatever they value, so they spontaneously urge us to join them in praising it: “Isn’t she lovely? Wasn’t it glorious? Don’t you think that magnificent?” The Psalmists in telling everyone to praise God are doing what all men do when they speak of what they care about.
C.S. Lewis, The Inspirational Writings of C. S. Lewis, Reflections on the Psalms (New York: Inspirational Press, 1994), 179 (Amazon affiliate link).
On the Costa Rican boat, there was something else we did besides call others to marvel in tropical plants and animals: We praised their Creator, and thanked the Giver of all blessings. It was only fitting.
Praise the LORD. How good it is to sing praises to our God, how pleasant and fitting to praise him!
Psalm 147:1
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Some of the links below are Amazon affiliate links:
- Reflections on the Psalms by C.S. Lewis
- Discovering Hope in the Psalms by me, with Pam Farrel and Karla Dornacher (for special pricing on cases of 18, see here)
Like many Christians I’d memorized verses such as “all things work together for good” and “give thanks in all circumstances (Rom 8:28, 1Th 5:18). When bad things happened, I’d quote these verses, thank God for the good He would work, and push away questions. Trying to trust God, I did something akin to closing my eyes, putting my hands over my ears, and saying, “Lalalalalal—just have faith—lalalalalala.”