"I will give thanks to you, O Lord, with my whole heart, recounting all of your glorious deeds. I will be glad, exulting you. praising your name, O most high". Psalm 9:1&2.
It's not so hard to figure out what Christian practice is all about. The first believers shared life together around good teaching, seeking God together in prayer and participating in common meals and the Lord's supper - and there was one other element - praise and worship. They would assemble themselves in thanksgiving.
The Psalmist makes it clear that for the believer, there is a genuine necessity to 'joy' in the bounty of the goodness which God bestows in giving us the many gifts of life (Psalm 8) and in His being our Redeemer (Psalm 91). Our meditations on these precious treasures is indeed sweet, and naturally over-spills into a need to raise our souls and bodies heaven-ward in adoration to Him who rains down every good and crucial blessing to furnish our days here.
The essential truth of such beauty is evidenced whenever we are allowed a glimpse into the majesty and radiance which pervades and adorns the cathedral of the Most High. Throngs of angels, too many to number, join in constant exaltation with Seraphim to the one upon the throne and to the Lamb, fulfilling the very purpose for which they were fashioned - to reflect something of the unfathomable glory of the Godhead.
In truth, all of creation has been clothed to express and make plain this same truth - that such a one is uniquely worthy of honour and praise, for He alone makes all things good.
It is with this backdrop that we must view recent events and ask why - why would the church ever become convinced that ceasing to be actively engaged in such a plain necessity is a viable option?
Can such a vital proclamation end??? Can we entertain a 'form' of spirituality where the view given to us in scripture is subjugated to 'necessity' in respect to the directives of external impositions?
Since the creation of the realm we can see and in which we 'have our being', it is clear that a 'song' of delight has been offered to the Lord, so to believe it is required for this to be silenced is folly. Our brief days here, as Solomon notes, must be marked by the wisdom of revelling in what is provided and being thankful for such days, so adversity and hardship should amplify our appreciation of unmerited care.
In truth, we can no sooner deny our vocation to praise than we can our need for breath or water - it is simply essential to our living well and offering to our sustainer and deliverer all that makes life true.
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