O Lord, thou art my God; I will exalt thee, I will praise thy name; for thou hast done wonderful things; thy counsels of old are faithfulness and truth. Isaiah 25:1 KJV
It is always personal. There is room for corporate worship and congregational praise but what happens in public is an outflow of your private devotion. You can pretend and go through the motions in public, but you cannot get away with pretence in your private moments. That is the foundation of today's extract.
The writer knew God as a personal God. Does God know you as His own? Am I good at speaking about God but with little or no idea of his ways? And of course, it is my knowledge and personal experience of God that guide my appreciation of Him. He is already lifted up, whether I acknowledge Him or not; He is worthy of all praise, whether I want to or not. It is therefore a privilege that I am called to praise and exalt Him. Nothing I do or refuse to do can belittle or reduce His greatness and glory.
Reasons are given for the writer's response to God's greatness: he has done marvellous and wonderful things, and He has been faithful and true. Actually, faithfulness and truth are not concepts; these speak to His nature. He is called the Faithful and True Witness in at least 4 passages in Revelation. No matter the generation you apply Him to or the pressure in any generation to compromise, His standards remain the same and will not bend for anyone.
From generation to generation, God has always made clear His purpose and will. Man will always want to test God's limits but if there is any takeaway from today's extract, it is that man CANNOT outlive God. We do our bit, live for Him and pass on to glory. Who is your God? Who are you living for at the moment? His time of favour is here.
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