“Praise the Lord! Praise the name of the Lord! Praise him, you who serve the Lord, you who serve in the house of the Lord, in the courts of the house of our God. Praise the Lord, for the Lord is good; celebrate his lovely name with music. For the Lord has chosen Jacob for himself, Israel for his own special treasure. I know the greatness of the Lord— that our Lord is greater than any other god. The Lord does whatever pleases him throughout all heaven and earth, and on the seas and in their depths. He causes the clouds to rise over the whole earth. He sends the lightning with the rain and releases the wind from his storehouses. He destroyed the firstborn in each Egyptian home, both people and animals. He performed miraculous signs and wonders in Egypt against Pharaoh and all his people. He struck down great nations and slaughtered mighty kings— Sihon king of the Amorites, Og king of Bashan, and all the kings of Canaan. He gave their land as an inheritance, a special possession to his people Israel. Your name, O Lord, endures forever; your fame, O Lord, is known to every generation. For the Lord will give justice to his people and have compassion on his servants. The idols of the nations are merely things of silver and gold, shaped by human hands. They have mouths but cannot speak, and eyes but cannot see. They have ears but cannot hear, and mouths but cannot breathe. And those who make idols are just like them, as are all who trust in them. O Israel, praise the Lord! O priests—descendants of Aaron—praise the Lord! O Levites, praise the Lord! All you who fear the Lord, praise the Lord! The Lord be praised from Zion, for he lives here in Jerusalem. Praise the Lord!”
Psalms 135:1-21 NLT
God is not sacred, he is holy. He is not simply someone we worship because of a sincere fondness, or respect. It is not merely because of the way in which he has taken care of us, or because of his awesome and fearsome might. He is not merely a special relationship worthy of praise because of the nature of the relationship itself. We do not value him simply because of our relational tie to him, the way one values their family or their romances. God is holy because he is ontologically different. His nature is undefinable. It can only be revealed. The psalmist knows that God does only what he wants to. Moreover and specifically, he does this wherever he wants to because he wants to and there is no king, nation or god of that nation that has the power to give him pause. His power is not relegated to a location or an element of nature. These things are found in his presence, they do not define. This is why we those who worship him can be at peace at all times in all places. It is also why those who don’t are constantly warring against him and his followers. But to him, they are ontologically no different than a piece of wood or metal. Their significance is only what he gives them. They cannot make it, or steal it. This is why we praise him.
JOSH McGARY.COM 