SILENT PRAISE

Have you ever struggled with the concept of giving God praise? Praise is something that is heaped on someone for their excellent performance or execution of a technically difficult routine. I usually tend towards the practice of blending praise and thanksgiving together, when I attempt to give God praise. The other day, while completing a project for church, I read Psalm 65 in the Common English Bible. David begins the chapter by saying in verse 1, “God of Zion, to you even silence is praise.” How intriguing! My first reaction was, “Of what use is silent praise?” Isn’t praise supposed to be sung or spoken or even shouted, so that all in range of your voice can hear? How can I make His praise glorious in silence? Lately, I have been sharing pictures on social media of sunsets over the ocean. These wordless shots of undoctored beauty take me back to the moments I have spent on a patio overlooking the ocean as God paints an amazing panorama of color in the sun setting above the waves. I could cheer and crow aloud my amazement of the glory of these moments, but I usually sigh in wonder and soak in all the beauty without speaking a word. I might share a smile with my husband as we admire God’s handiwork together. I don’t believe that God needs to hear me say, “What a great artist You are!” He recognizes the praise flowing from my wondering eyes as they search the horizon for the last ray of light in display before me. He enjoys my pleasure at a sight that I know only He can create. My silent awe is a form of praise.

God not only recognizes praise in quiet moments such as these, but nature has boundless ways of silently praising God, the Creator of the universe. I live in the Pacific Northwest and I often travel through high desert places on my way to vacation in the nearby mountains. I confess that as a born and bred Midwesterner, I do not find much beauty in hillsides of sagebrush. Because of the dearth of rainfall in the area in which I live, more often than not, these hillsides are brown and speckled with drying plants just waiting to become the next tumbleweed to roll in front of my vehicle. I know that beauty is in the eye of the beholder, but there truly is not much beauty to behold in these areas, as far as I can see. Yet, I have recently read about the profusion of flowers that can bloom in desert places after an unexpected abundance of rain. Whatever seeds have lain dormant and unseen to the naked eye produce carpets of flowers in the desert of Chile or mounds of blooms in Australia’s desert places. These phenomenons of nature are never heralded by any spoken declarations of their coming. They appear, seemingly out of dead earth, without a whisper of warning and proudly display themselves in glorious color for only a day or two. They appear as a surprise of beauty in an arid place, where beauty such as they silently offer is not usually seen. They lift their blooms for no other reason than that they were called out of the dry ground by the invitation of our God, the Rain Giver, to offer praise for the unexpected gift of this opportunity to sprout and come to life in wondrous color in this land of desert hues.

I have experienced my own opportunities to celebrate praising God without words, although I have never described it as such. As a fallible human being, I have had my share of guilt and the need for confession as I walk this journey of faith. God is so faithful to convict my heart and bring me face to face with my sin and failure. Usually, this process of confession and forgiveness is a very personal and private transaction between the Lord and me. I honestly don’t go around advertising the things I have needed to confess. Nor have I offered my repentance over my sins as fodder for dinner conversation. I’m sure that God keeps my confidences about these things and that most times I can leave them in God’s Sea of Forgetfulness. This very gift of confidentiality and blessed restoration fills my heart with praise. My silent, yet fervent, gratitude for the forgiveness that He freely gives me, whenever I come to Him one on one to deal with my guilt, is silent praise that I offer to Him as each sin is pitched into that sea. This doesn‘t mean that I never voice my thanksgiving to Him in prayer. I just consider the life of gratitude I live in response to His free dispensation of righteousness poured out upon my contrite heart as silent praise. Praise becomes part of my attitude and permeates my relationship with God as I commune with Him in grateful openness and intimacy. He recognizes that I view Him with reverence and awe for all He has done for me and in that acceptance of my authentic adoration, He accepts my silent praise.

There are other ways that I can communicate my praise without words. Every time I sacrifice something of myself in obedience to his leadership, I am acknowledging His superior wisdom and insight, and thus am lifting silent praise as I submit my will to His. I find Him so praiseworthy as I watch Him work His amazing way in me and fulfill His mighty purposes through me. My willing acquiescence to His plan can become silent praise offered to Him, as I go forward to do whatever He calls me to do. As I keep my promise to follow wherever He leads, my lifestyle of full obedience to His Spirit demonstrates how much I hold Him in high esteem. I cannot help but want to praise Him in word and deed.

Lord God, Praiseworthy and Awesome One, I want my life to give You praise! Thank You for showing me that praise is not just a pretty phrase, but is also a reverent attitude and a heart ready to do Your will. I pray that You will open my eyes to the wonders around me that bring You praise just because You created them. Keep me so close to Your heart that I am always aware of how great and awesome You are. Saturate my mind with Your wondrous love and mercy, so that I go into my tomorrows with an attitude of gratitude that “speaks” of Your praise. Let silent praise flow from my life because words alone cannot contain the praise that is Your due.

Prayerfully Yours,

Terry Cotner