Our church sings this song every now and then during our Sunday morning worship (check out http://elevatecc.com if you’re interested in seeing more about my church family – and if you’re ever in town stop by!). This comes from Psalms (as do many worship songs, of course), where you can read nearly the same phrase:
“From the rising of the sun to its going down
The Lord’s name is to be praised.” (Psalm 113:3 NKJV)
I love thinking about how this plays out around the world. When the sun is rising on one side of the world, and people are beginning their days praising the Lord, the sun is simultaneously setting on another part of the world, where people are ending their days praising the Lord.
When I wake up, my first thought is to thank God for another day. Before I go to bed, I pray to God thanking Him for the day He has given me.
The book of Genesis is where people began praising the Lord (you really couldn’t start any sooner than that…); and it continues throughout the Old and New Testaments, and beyond the pages of His Word into the pages of the history of humankind. He has been praised from the beginning when He created us, and He will be praised throughout all eternity!
In fact, the bible makes it clear that we were created to glorify God. Our lives are not our own, you see… and since that is our main purpose on this earth, we cannot feel whole or complete unless we recognize, worship, and praise our Creator. It’s like a dog not being able to ever really be a dog – do you see pictures or hear stories about people treating their dogs as humans? Do you think this was the dog’s idea? If you let most dogs “do their thing”, they won’t be putting on a costume or sitting on a toilet, they’ll be digging in the dirt or laying in the sun (sans clothing, might I add)…
Now, I’m not saying that people who love their dogs and dress them up are bad – one of the great things about most dogs is they will do, or will let you do, almost anything to be loved… to them, being loved by their Master is the most important thing (hmmm…maybe we should be more like dogs, huh?).
For humans, if you are not praising the One to whom you owe your every breath; the One who laid down His very life so you could be free; then you are incomplete. This is not my opinion – this is simply the way He made us.
And if you don’t like how God has created you, or feel it’s unfair for God to expect worship from His Creation, then I guess I can only let the Apostle Paul’s words that were given to him through the Spirit provide the answer:
Well then, you might say, “Why does God blame people for not responding? Haven’t they simply done what he makes them do?”
No, don’t say that. Who are you, a mere human being, to argue with God? Should the thing that was created say to the one who created it, “Why have you made me like this?” When a potter makes jars out of clay, doesn’t he have a right to use the same lump of clay to make one jar for decoration and another to throw garbage into? In the same way, even though God has the right to show his anger and his power, he is very patient with those on whom his anger falls, who are destined for destruction. He does this to make the riches of his glory shine even brighter on those to whom he shows mercy, who were prepared in advance for glory. (Romans 9:19-23 NLT)