If you were to come to my house, you would follow the walkway across the front lawn to my front porch, across the porch, to the front door. This is a security door, which we keep locked. Inside you enter a small foyer, where you would be confronted with another door, leading into our living area. This door is also kept locked.
Now, imagine, for the sake of illustration, that I have taken you in as family. I have given you free reign to that which is mine. I have also given you the keys to the entrances of my home. You may come in any time, with the use of the keys.
OK, now watch this:
Ps 100:4* Enter into his gates with thanksgiving, and into his courts with praise: be thankful unto him, and bless his name.
We, as God's children, have been given all that is His. We have free entrance into His house. He has given us the keys to His outer door, and His inner door! The key to the gate, or security door, is thanksgiving! A humble, thankful heart will open that gate! The key to the inner door, which leads to His courts, is praise! Praise, which can be simply defined as a song of adoration, thanksgiving, and glory to God. Praise is the key to God's house!
Back to the illustration. What joy one would have upon entering the house of someone that has given them refuge. A place of safety, shelter, and rest. The soul of man cries out for these things. Man devotes his life to attaining them. And yet, God has freely given them to him!
This is why joyful praise is an element of each Verticalink chapter. We want to be sure that each person knows how to receive and to use the keys to God's courts. Without this heart-knowledge, life is certainly lacking! Just think of it. In Acts 16:25, Paul and Silas were sitting in the darkness of a prison cell, incriminated for their faith. They couldn't sleep. The anticipation of what awaited them must have been overwhelming. Then they used the keys! They offered prayers of thanksgiving unto God, and then they sang praises. Two tired, dirty, burly men sang in the darkness to God! Their singing woke the other prisoners, and it put the prison guard into a deep sleep. Then the doors sprang open, and they were free! Refuge, safety, and rest were theirs because they used the keys!
Worship is a little different than praise. You can have worship without praise, but you cannot give true praise without worship. You see, worship is reverence. It is bowing down before God. It is kissing the hand of God, so to speak. I like to think of it like this. Worship is giving myself over to God, with all of my attention going towards Him. He is exalted, then, in my life. This is done moment by moment. It is an act of my will toward my God. When I pay attention to God, I am engaged in worship. When I am quiet and thoughtful toward Him, it is worship.
We want to understand praise and worship more and more, and we want to help others to understand them as well.
Come worship and praise with us!
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