The Farmville herald. (Farmville, Va.) 1957-current, 1963-06-28
Praise The Lord
Lesson for June 30, 1863

Lesson for June 30, 1863
There used to be a children S
game that went Like this: the
first child would say, Il love my
love with an A because she S
Attractive and the next would
say. Il love my love with a B
because she's Beautiful"
and so on down the alphabet.
Grown people can play at the
same game. But it becomes
serious when you are grown up.
There's a curious thing about
love. though: at the moment you
/ feel most enthusiastic and CRATE
full about one you love, you
don't need reasons. Yet there
are reasons. or ought to be. To
love without thinking of reasons
is good; to love against all rea-
son and common sense, is bad
Praise the Lord, Because
1t is so in religion. When you
are in the mood to praise God.
you are not figuring out reasons
for doing so: You just praise
Him out of a full and overflow
ing heart But there are the best
of reasons for praising the God
we love. The unknown poet who
wrote the l46th Psalm does not
put in the word because" any
where. He begins the psalm with
Praise the Lord!" and he ends
it in the same words. ("Halle-
lujah' means literally Praise
the Lord Between these two
shots of praise. however, he
says a number of things about
God, and they all add up to
reasons why we ought to do this
We should never praise Him
from a feeling of duty. That
would be like man who would
kiss his wife every morning at
7:30 sharp because his memoir
andum book had in it the line
1880 am. Kiss Wife. But pliase
is not SenSelesS. it is emotional
but emotion-with- a-reason. In the
high moments of worship we are
not doping out reasons why; but
in quiet moments when we have
time to think, we can think OF
reasons in plenty, and we know
we were not carried away by
mere sheer emotion when we
sang our Hallelujahs.
The Source of all Good
God is the source of all good
this is the belief of all Christians
and Jews. and certainly is the
teaching of the Bible. why this
is so, the reader may figure out
for himself This means that
God does not simply discover
good that is, goodness. beauty
and truth in any of their mani
fold forms-GOd does not latch
on TO what He discovers and
claim the credit Himself. He is
the Originator, the Palmer, the
Creator. the Rewarder. Of what
is good. Consider the matters
for which the Psalmist wishes
God TO be remembered and
thanked. First of all is Creation
itself; then he mentions God S
faithfufnesS. and His justice, and
His providential care for the
forgotten man." the hungry
and the oppressed. When a pris-
oner is set free; when the blind
are enabled to see; when the
mourner is comforted when a
man becomes a righteous char
acter; when the helpless are
cared for widows, orphans and
travelling strangers were the
most forlorn people in the world
OF that day., when a wicked
man like Hitler for example is
brought to ruin; this calls for
praise to the Lord who reigns
forever.
Two Questions
The skeptic has a question to
ask at this point. two in fact.
One is this. Hasn't the Psalmist
let his imagination run away
with him? If he knew what kind
of world this is, he would realize
that widows and orphans are not
always helped. justice is not al
ways done, most blind people
stay blind. And as for the world
the skies. earth and seas land
AL that is in them are we to
believe that God created disease
germs and parasites, are we
obliged to believe that God per-
sonally makes volcanoes Kill
thousands of helpless people?
If God is the source of all good,
must He not also take the blame
for all the evil?
These questions can be an
swered together. though this
calls for much discussion. To be
sure. it is seldom = some would
say never. that God directly
does these things. In virtually
all cases He works through per.
sons. And that is the answer to
the first question; if good is not
done, it is not that God has for
gotten. 1t is we who have failed
to let Him work through us for
good.
BASED on outlines copyrighted
by the Division Of Christian Edu.
cation, National Council Of the
Churches Of Christ in the U.S.A.
Released by Community Press