Some Thoughts on Praise

About a hundred years ago lived a man named Robert Ingersoll. He was a brilliant man and a great speaker. But in spite of the fact that he was the son of a minister, he became an agnostic - a man who didn’t believe in God or the Bible. He became quite famous for being a skeptic - a critic of Christianity.

When Robert Ingersoll died, there was a notice in the newspaper about his funeral service. It read simply “There will be no singing.” Robert Ingersoll, the skeptic, went into eternity in silence. There was nothing to sing about.

But Christians, in contrast, are musical people. When you open the Bible, you find right in the middle of it the book of Psalms - the hymnbook of praise to God. It’s no accident that Christians love music. And we love it not just for its own sake, but because music provides us with the perfect vehicle for praising our Creator. What better way to express our wonder, our worship, and our faith in God than in music!

That’s why, for two thousand years, the church of Jesus Christ has been singing. We’ve sung hymns in the good times and in the bad. We’ve sung in prisons, we’ve sung in the midst of natural disasters, we’ve sung while being burned at the stake, or while being torn to pieces by wild animals. We’ve sung because we believe that our God is worthy of our praise, and that nothing can separate us from His love.

When we praise God, we are doing something that is natural and healthy. C.S. Lewis gave us some insightful thoughts on praise. He wrote “It is not out of compliment that lovers keep on telling one another how beautiful they are; the delight is incomplete till it is expressed. It is frustrating to have discovered a new author and not to be able to tell anyone how good he is; to come suddenly, at the turn of the road, upon some mountain valley of unexpected grandeur and then to have to keep silent because the people with you care for it no more than for a tin can in the ditch; to hear a good joke and find no one to share it with.”

Christians are excited about God - that’s why we sing His praises - we want to communicate to others our excitement. If you’re not excited by Him, you won’t be terribly motivated to sing praises to Him, and what music you make won’t be very inspiring.

There is a contemporary American composer named John Cage. Mr. Cage happens, like many people, to believe that the universe is completely impersonal in nature and that it originated through pure chance. In an attempt to live consistently with those beliefs, Cage composes all of his music by applying the principles of random chance.

For example, he chooses his notes by tossing coins, or by rolling dice. He tries to make sure that no personal element whatsoever enters into the final product. As you can imagine, the result is music that has no form, no structure, no melody, no rhythm, no harmony, and no appeal or beauty whatsoever. I’ve heard some of his music, and it is horrible! In a universe with no God, governed by pure chance, this is the kind of music you get.

But this is not the music of the church. As we dedicate our new organ today, we’re stating that we believe the Psalmist when he said…

Psalm 92:1-4 It is good to praise the Lord and make music to your name, O Most High, to proclaim your love in the morning and your faithfulness at night, to the music of the ten-stringed lyre and the melody of the harp. For you make me glad by your deeds, O Lord; I sing for joy at the works of your hands.

That’s why we make a joyful noise - not just because we love music, but because we love the God who gave us the music, and who gives us every good gift.