Finally, in Psalm 50:23 God says, “Whoever offers a sacrifice of thanksgiving glorifies Me.” Here, the word thanksgiving can also be translated as praise. The Lord is waiting for our praises. Nothing can glorify our God as praises can. One day, all the prayers, works, prophesying, and labor will be over. But on that day our praises will be more than today’s. Praise will last for eternity; it will never cease. When we reach heaven and arrive at our final home, our praises will swell even higher. Today we have the opportunity to learn the best lesson; we can learn to praise God even today.
Today is still the time when we see in a mirror obscurely (1 Cor. 13:12). Although we can see a little of many things, we cannot understand the meaning behind them. We can only feel the pain of all the inward wounds and outward trials that we have encountered and experienced. We cannot comprehend the significance behind them. This is why we do not praise. We believe that praises will abound in heaven because there will be full knowledge in heaven. The fuller the knowledge, the fuller the praise. Everything will be clear when we go before the Lord on that day. The things that are unclear to us today will be clear to us on that day. On that day we will see the Lord’s excellent will in every step of the Spirit’s discipline. Had there been no discipline of the Spirit, we cannot imagine how much we would have fallen! If some of our footsteps had not been stopped by the Holy Spirit, we cannot imagine how pitiful our fall would have been! Many things, thousands and even millions of things which we do not see today, will become clear to us on that day. When we see everything on that day, we will bow our head and praise Him, saying, “Lord, You were never wrong.” Every step of the Spirit’s discipline is God’s work in us. Had we not become sick that one time, what would have become of us? Had we not failed that one time, what would have become of us? What we faced may have been a problem, but through facing that problem we may have avoided greater problems. What we encountered may have been a misfortune, but through that encounter we may have avoided greater misfortunes. On that day we will see why the Lord allowed all these things to happen to us. Today the Lord is leading us on, every step of the way. On that day we will bow our heads and say, “Lord, I was a fool, because I did not praise You that day. I was a fool, because I did not give thanks to You that day.” When our eyes are opened and we become clear on that day, how very shameful we will be when we recall our murmurings. Therefore, today we must learn to say, “Lord, I cannot understand what You are doing, but I know that You cannot be wrong.” We have to learn to believe and to praise. If we do, we will say on that day, “Lord! I thank You for Your grace which saved me from unnecessary complaints and murmurings. Lord! I thank You for the grace which kept me from murmuring during those days.” For many things, the more knowledge we have, the greater will our praises be. We have a desire to praise the Lord because He is good (Psa. 25:8; 100:5). We need to always say, “The Lord is good.” Today we have to learn to believe that the Lord is good and that He is never wrong, even though we cannot always understand what He is doing. If we believe, we will praise. Our praises are His glory. To praise is to glorify God. God is worthy of all glory. May God gain abundant praises from His children.
(Praising, Chapter 1, by Watchman Nee)