Glorifying God - as individuals

 

Verses thirteen through twenty speak of our individual praise to God. The focus shifts from group worship and praise to the one-on-one of our bringing glory to Him.

I will come to your temple with burnt offerings
    and fulfill my vows to you—
14 vows my lips promised and my mouth spoke
    when I was in trouble.
15 I will sacrifice fat animals to you
    and an offering of rams;
    I will offer bulls and goats. (Psalm 66:13-15)

It's said that there are no atheists in foxholes. I guess a lot of people today raise their eyebrows at the word and say, "What's a foxhole?" Old codgers like me know that in infantry warfare, men need to seek cover from the bullets coming from the other side, so they learn to quickly dig a hole just big enough to shelter them: a foxhole. When a depression in the ground and the tiny pile of dirt in front of it are all that protects a soldier from the enemy, we can be sure that he is probably praying that he won't be hit.

In the same way, when trouble hits, many people can be heard to say, "Oh my God!" These are people who live their lives without a thought or a care regarding Almighty God, but when something huge or distressing happens, the words pop out.

Lastly, we humans are great negotiators, aren't we? How many times have people prayed and told God "if You please can just help me," and then laid out something that they think would satisfy God in return for His help?

Now, how many humans actually follow through on those prayers and vows?

When the psalmist was in dire straits, he vowed to offer sacrifices to God if He would deliver him. Now, he's been delivered by the mercy of God, so the psalmist is following through.

There were different types of offerings in the Law. Many times, thank offerings included a portion that was burned on the altar and a portion that could be shared by the worshiper and their family and friends. These were sacrifices that emphasized the exuberant joy of thankfulness and the happiness of shared fellowship, at the same time that they offered thanksgiving to God.

The sacrifices mentioned here are more focused on God. EVERYTHING would be consumed on the altar. Kinda makes us think of a total dedication to God. The kind of gratitude that you feel when a huge and serious burden or threat has been lifted. The kind of thankfulness for when we feel totally, deeply, in debt to our faithful Father. The totality and lavishness of these gifts underlines the point that the whole list of sacrifices in the Law would not do justice to the gratitude this individual was feeling.

To apply this to our own lives, let's look at this in New Testament terms. Jesus Christ is our God-ordained, acceptable sacrifice for our sin; that's what keeps us apart from our holy Creator God. Jesus's body on the cross is the once-and-for-all sacrifice for our sins. He is the only way we can approach God, and we can only worship in spirit and truth after we have trusted in Christ's shed blood. 

But there is another way that we can make His praise glorious. We should come into God's presence totally dedicated to Him.

Paul describes it this way:

Therefore, I urge you, brothers and sisters, in view of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God—this is your true and proper worship. (Romans 12:1)

In other words, God's great mercy toward us should move us to be totally dedicated to Him. We will present our bodies, our minds, our spirits to Him as a worship and praise sacrifice. Paul goes on in Romans to say that this means we will not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of our minds. 

True worship, true praise flows out of our giving ourselves totally to God.