I hate it when worship songs emphasize the value of "my praise" and "my worship"... As if it really has any value especially compared to what the object of our worship, adoration, and praise is worthy of. There are many things "worthy" of my priase, but the fact of the matter is, God is worthy of ALL my worship plus more. That's why He deserves all my praise, not because nothing else is worthy, but because He deserves everything I could possibly muster to give.
There is nothing significant or spectacular about my worship because there is nothing significant or spectacular about me.
I wrote the above two paragraphs during church on Sunday while we were singing songs that emphasized the fact that God is alone worthy of our praise. I've never really heard anyone one object to those songs, and maybe I'm just crazy, but during those songs, I always feel like the emphasis and value is placed on the wrong thing. I'm not saying we should give other people, things, or other creation praise and worship creation as if it were the Creator, but I am saying that God alone isn't worthy of our praise because our praise is that valuable. He is worthy of all of it because He is God. He is sovereign and holy, and BIG! Much bigger than I can ever comprehend. He alone is worthy of my praise because he deserves all of it plus more that I cannot give.
In my head, I've likened this issue to a cell, or a bacterium in my body singing praises to me. (It's not a great analogy, I know, but it gets the idea across.) That organism is praising me, big deal, I can get praise from other things. Better things. But the organism keeps praising me and me alone because I deserve all it's measly praise, and then even more on top of it. Like I said, a horrible, terrible analogy (and I promise I'm not as narcissistic as the analogy might make it seem!), but the idea is, I'm small, and insignificant compared to God. My worship and adoration is nothing of value to God, but I continue to praise Him because He deserves all I can give.
The point is, my worship has no real value, so saying "You alone are worthy of my praise..." or something like that, makes my worship, or me seem more important than I am. I think a better wording of songs/hymns that say that would be something along the lines of "...my praise is nothing, but it's Yours because you deserve everything I can give and more..." (Maybe that'll be the next Reality Calls song!) (Reality Calls is my band, just fyi.) "...I give it to you not because it's special but because it's all I have to give..."
I feel like I'm saying the same thing over and over again without making any real progress... Anyway, those are just my thoughts from last Sunday and every other Sunday we sing songs that emphasize the value of my praise.
I've never really thought about that distinction, but I can see where you are coming from. Initially, I don't think those songs (if I knew what they were) are trying to accentuate ourselves as the human race.
ReplyDelete"...my worship has no real value, so saying 'You alone are worthy of my praise...' or something like that, makes my worship, or me seem more important than I am."
I think there is some historicity for phrasing things this way both in the modern church as well as ancient. (pardon my NIV references below from biblegateway.com).
2 Samuel 22:4 (NIV)
4 I call to the LORD, who is worthy of praise,
and I am saved from my enemies.
Psalm 18:3 (NIV)
3 I call to the LORD, who is worthy of praise,
and I am saved from my enemies.
Psalms in general seems to be laced with this idea.
Revelation 4:11 (NIV)
11"You are worthy, our Lord and God,
to receive glory and honor and power,
for you created all things,
and by your will they were created
and have their being."
Perhaps where the difference is between the worship songs you are referring to and the above verses (among others), is in the one word: MY. Those verses don't explicitly render the English word 'MY' though maybe it could be implied for those up on their Greek.
Okay, wow, BibleGateway.com DOES have ESV now? Maybe they have always had it? Here is a rendering of the Psalm passage:
Psalm 18:3 (ESV)
3I call upon the LORD, who is(A) worthy to be praised, and I am saved from my enemies.
In each example from scripture that I have seen, the English rendering doesn't show 'MY' or 'ME'as any emphasis, but primarily the fact that God is worthy of praise.
Perhaps this could mean that God is worthy of praise from ALL created things, his creation.
All this being said, I don't really have a problem using 'my praise' or 'my worship', because that's what it is, mine given to God. And that person there and over there also can give their 'praise' to God. If all creation gives (or can give) praise to God, then each one could also give it on behalf of themselves.
The important distinction perhaps is that this praise given by the creation is quite small in comparison to the Creator and thus the ability to praise or the act of praising shouldn't be the key, but the object of praise in and of itself.