What Are You Looking At?

Praise to the Lord the Almighty, the King of creation!

Oh, my soul, praise Him for He is thy health and salvation.

All ye who hear now to His temple draw near.

Join me in glad adoration.

~Excerpt from Praise to the Lord, hymn by Joachim Neander

This hymn has long been a favorite of mine. It is a triumphant, joy-inspiring song. I remember singing it as a young girl, reading from a Baptist church hymnal. I still know the words by heart.

The hymn is a call to praise. It tells of the perfect attributes and great acts of God. It speaks of God’s providence, sustenance, goodness, mercy, and redemption. The tone of the hymn is imperative; in the second line, the writer is actually commanding his own soul to praise the Lord. Maybe Joachim, like all of us, needed to remind his soul to praise the Lord.

Why don’t we praise as we should?

There are plenty of reasons. Life distracts from praise. Discouragement dampers praise. Worry overshadows praise. Or, painful as it may sound, maybe we’re uninspired.

Look at God

As an inspiration to praise, we need to look at God. Really look at him! Open wide the eyes of our souls and gaze upon him. He is incredible.

We are made in his image, yet he transcends, exceeds, and surpasses us in every possible way. We should look at his holiness—his complete otherness.

Let’s turn our eyes to his glistening, untarnished robes, gleaming with righteousness and worthiness. We should look at his face and see there the perfect juxtaposition of stern justice and gentle mercy. His creative hands laid the earth’s foundation and marked its dimensions. Think of his unlimited knowledge and wisdom, of his mind, which no one has ever instructed and in which there is no hint or shadow of change.

At God’s right hand we see his son, Jesus. Look at his hands and feet, which were pierced for our transgressions, his brow crowned by thorns. Look at the knees that bent at Gethsemane and the shoulders that carried a cross up Calvary’s hill. Look in his eyes—the eyes that glinted in the night during a secret meeting with Nicodemus, the eyes that wept over the death of Lazarus. We need to see his glory, glory like that of the Father, full of grace and truth. We need to look at him, the good shepherd who tends his flock with meekness and compassion. We need to look at him, the smote lamb, silent before his slaughter.

Look at the Holy Spirit – the Spirit who has sealed us with a promise of future inheritance in the kingdom of heaven. Look at the Spirit whose fruit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. The Holy Spirit is who empowers us to be God’s witnesses and to testify of his love. When given permission, his work in our lives is utterly transformative: his subtly-cast light can change our perspectives and attitudes. He convicts of sin; he sings of grace.

This is the God we serve! Are you inspired yet?

Look at Ourselves

As an inspiration to praise, we need to look at ourselves.

We should look at our failures. We should come face-to-face with the apathy that can petrify our hearts into calloused stones. We need to consider our wandering hearts that are so quick to turn idols for love, support, encouragement, affirmation, or enjoyment. We must remember that our hearts are deceitful and desperately wicked—even we can’t comprehend the depth of our depravity. We need to gaze in the mirror and stare intently at the plank in our eye.

We should look at our beauty. Made in the image of the Creator, we are marked by qualities and characteristics that reflect Him! We are inventive, relational, and expressive. Our ingenuity—engineering, architecture, aeronautics—reflects the God who designed Noah’s ark and taught the hummingbird to hover in midair. Our inspiration to create beauty—music, art, dancing—reflects the God who rejoices over His creation with singing, who sculpted the asymmetry of an orchid, whose spirit moved over the face of the waters. Our desire for relationships—marriage, parenting, friendships—reflects the God who made Eve for Adam, who commanded us to be fruitful and to multiply, who communes within His own trinity.

Look at Nature

As an inspiration to praise, look at nature.

Look at the striping of a zebra, each one unique. Admire the rock striations of the Grand Canyon and the wildflowers of the Rocky Mountains. Wade in ocean tidepools where fish dart and anemones sway. Think of the African Serengeti where gazelles run with such elegance and poise. Taste the polka-dotted flesh of a dragon fruit; feel the fuzz on a kiwi. Enjoy the midnight stars, and let them remind you of just how small we are. Appreciate the variety, the complexity, and the bounty of God’s handiwork.

Inspiration for praise surrounds us from every angle and viewpoint. Let us command our souls to praise our God! Praise is the antithesis to negativity. Praise kindles thanksgiving. Praise spurs excitement and propels spiritual growth. Praise nourishes our soul because it satisfies our deepest, most base purpose—our purpose to make much of God.

The beloved doxology says it well:

Praise God from Whom all blessings flow!

Praise Him you creatures here below!

Praise Him above, ye heavenly hosts!

Praise Father, Son, and Holy Ghost!

Amy Beaulieu lives in Michigan with her husband and children. She is a lover of music, language, and all things thought-provoking. She is a witness and testimony to God’s redemptive grace.