Heart of Worship: 30 Days to Deeper PraiseSample

It’s Matt Maher and today we are reading in Psalm 75:1 (NIV):

“We praise you, God, we praise you, for your Name is near; people tell of your wonderful deeds.”

My family and I recently attended an event in Rome, Italy, where we had the opportunity to meet with the Pope. Now, a meeting like that is quite formal, similar to visiting a state official. There were several groups of people, and so when we all lined up, my nine-year-old son, Callum, was first in our family. So when the Pope came around, he shook his hand, saying, "Hello. My name is Callum. My dad is Matt Maher."

Now the point wasn't if my name would or wouldn't be known to the people he was meeting. It's that to my son, it was. He invoked my name as a way of communicating, "This is who I am. You might have an idea of who I am, because you might know who my dad is, and I'm his son. But more importantly, I know that he's here."

There are a million reasons to praise God. The nearness, or closeness of His name, might seem a bit odd or redundant at first glance...but I think that's why names are important. Names bring things or people to the forefront of our hearts and minds. God's name is a reminder that He is not distant from us. He didn't just create the universe, set it all in motion, and say, "good luck!" As followers of Jesus, we know that when He says, “For where two or three gather in my name, there am I with them,” - He's near in His word (Matthew 18:20 NIV). He answers prayers. He responds to the cries of the poor and needy, the mournful, the penitent and the joyful alike. As Acts 17:28 (KJV) says, “In Him we live and move and have our being." He is wherever His name is called, but in and through the cross of Christ and the gift of the Holy Spirit, He is always with us, even until the end of this age (Matthew 28:20).

So we praise Him for holiness, and we praise Him for His mighty deeds. We praise Him for His goodness and faithfulness, and patient, loving mercy. But in all of those acts of praise, we say His name. Therefore, we can also praise Him for holding everything together, trusting He knows the seasons and times of things far beyond us, telling of what He has done in our lives.