Thought of the Day May 6, 2018 Praise elicits joy
Yes, Praise brings joy to the heart of those who utter
it.
Here's how C.S. Lewis puts it in Reflections on the
Psalms:
I had never noticed that all enjoyment
spontaneously overflows into praise…. The world rings with praise—lovers
praising their mistresses, readers their favourite poet, walkers praising the
countryside, players praising their favourite game…. I had not noticed either
that just as men spontaneously praise whatever they value, so they
spontaneously urge us to join them in praising it: 'Isn't she lovely? Wasn't it
glorious? Don't you think that magnificent?' The Psalmists in telling everyone
to praise God are doing what all men do when they speak of what they care
about. My whole, more general, difficulty about the praise of God depended on
my absurdly denying to us, as regards the supremely Valuable, what we delight
to do, what indeed we can't help doing, about everything else we value. I think
we delight to praise what we enjoy because the praise not merely expresses but
completes the enjoyment; it is its appointed consummation. It is not out of
compliment that lovers keep on telling one another how beautiful they are; the
delight is incomplete till it is expressed.
The more our praise flows from the reality of our relationship with God, the more the relationship brings joy within us. The more free and spontaneous our praise of God is, the more joy becomes a obvious feeling within us. Praise, thus, elicits joy.
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