Re-discovering God’s Worthiness

It is a good thing to praise and worship the Lord. it is always a good thing. In praising Him, though, we often make statements like, “When I think of all that God has done for me, I know that God is worthy of my praise“.

While that sounds good, it is faulty. Brothers and sisters, we cannot praise God on a faulty foundation. Let us examine this subject some more.

The Holiness of God
God, by nature, exists separate from all things and independent of all things. He depends on nothing, relies on nothing, and draws His value from nothing other than Himself. This is what holiness means. He is separate.

When we say that God is holy, we are saying that God is. We are recognising Him as the I Am, the one who is totally separate from all else. That’s God’s holiness. That is God’s unique attribute. No-one else, nothing else, is like that. That’s why Scriptures repeatedly extols His holiness. He alone is completely separate from and independent of everything else.

Do we get that? If we do, we can move on.

Once we understand the concept of God’s holiness, everything changes. Literally.

God does not derive His worth or worthiness from anything. Not from what He has done or will do. Not from what we or anyone else thinks. He is simply worthy because He is.

Before God created the heavens and earth, he was worthy. After He did, His worthiness did not jump up a scale; it stayed the same. He was as independent and self-sustaining as He was before creation.

Before God sent Jesus Christ to redeem us, He was worthy. After He did, he was just as worthy.

Remember Job? Remember how He praised God even when things went downhill for him? He could do that because he understood God’s holiness and God’s worthiness. He knew that God was God regardless of whether or not He acted on your behalf.

If God hadn’t lifted a finger to save man from sin, He would still be worthy of praise. If God didn’t put food on your table, He would still be as worthy of praise. God’s worth and/or worthiness is unchanging because it has to do with His inherent nature, not His actions or inactions.

How about Thanksgiving?
Oh, giving of thanks is another kettle of fish entirely. We give thanks for acts of goodness and kindness done to us. This has nothing to do with the worth of the doer. We don’t necesarilly have to esteem someone to say thanks when the person does us good.

Now, this is where much of the professing Church is stuck today. Our music, our words, our services revolve around thanksgiving. That is not surprising, seeing that the vast majority are in church circles for selfish and self-centred reasons. We are a Gimme, gimmeee! generation.

As such, we give thanks for food, for finances, for God’s protection, etc. There would be nothing wrong with that if we included it as part of a balanced diet in our relationship with God. As a matter of fact, the Bible commands us to be full of thanks. Unfortunately, by and large, the diet is far from balanced.

When Jesus taught the disciples to pray, the phrase “Hallowed be your Name” was a pointer to appreciating and praising the worthiness of God. God’s name is holy. God’s name is I Am. It is so fundamental to our relationship with Him, yet it has been retired to a back burner.

God is worthy of praise regardless of whether or not He has acted on your behalf in a certain way. Don’t forget it.

So, what shall we do? We shall give thanks for the blessings and benefits that God has bestowed on us, but we must spend more time praising Him and hallowing His name simply because He is. We must spend more time in awe of His holiness.

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