READ Psalm 66:1–5. 1 Shout for joy to God, all the earth! 2 Sing the glory of his name; make his praise glorious! 3 Say to God, “How awesome are your deeds! So great is your power that your enemies cringe before you. 4 All the earth bows down to you; they sing praise to you, they sing the praises of your name.” 5 Come and see what God has done, his awesome deeds for mankind!
MAKE HIS PRAISE GLORIOUS. Everyone is called to praise God (verse 1). The content of this praise is God’s name (verse 2)—all the things he is and has done. The character of this praise is to be glorious (verse 2). What is glorious praise? “Glory” has connotations of weightiness, dignity, magnificence, and beauty. Glorious worship is exuberant, never halfhearted. It is attractive, not off-putting. It is awesome, never sentimental. It is brilliant, not careless. It points to God, not to the speakers. It fits its great object—it seeks to be as glorious as the one it praises. So worship should be “never trivial, never pretentious.”48 There is nothing more evangelistic, nothing that will win the world more than glorious worship (Psalm 100, 105:1–2).
Prayer: Lord, so much of the public worship of your church is indeed trivial and pretentious. Let my church—and churches across the world—begin to praise you “in Spirit and in truth” (John 4:24). Grant us anointed worship—so beautiful that it attracts even those whose hearts are hardened toward you. Amen.