Theologians like to use the term “attributes” of God. It just mean who God is.
If I were telling my wife I love her, I could say “I love you because you are kind to me. I love you because you are good to me. I love you because you cook me meals. I love you because you never interrupt me.”
This kind of praise would probably not win me many points with my wife. It’s all about what she does for me. I am more the center of this kind of praise than my wife is. She might get the impression that I would love any woman, so long as she treated me well.
But if I really wanted to praise my wife. I might say. “I love you because you are beautiful, you are smart, you are funny, you are a good cook, you have nice eyes” and so on. This would be a better way to praise my wife. Those are her attributes. They are the unique things that make her her.
The essence of praise is the acknowledgement of Gods’ attributes, especially his greatness, power, and love. The whole Bible reveals God’s nature to us.
We can discover what the God’s attributes by looking at the Scriptures, at Gods’ creation, at Scriptures, at others and even inside our selves. All things were made by Him, so everything may reveal to us some aspect of His nature. All things are made by Him and point to Him, so looking anywhere will lead us to see some aspect of His divine nature.
Psalm 8.
LORD, our Lord, how majestic is your name in all the earth!
You have set your glory above the heavens.
From the lips of children and infants you have ordained praise
because of your enemies, to silence the foe and the avenger.
When I consider your heavens, the work of your fingers,
the moon and the stars, which you have set in place,
what is man that you are mindful of him, the son of man that you care for him?
You made him a little lower than the heavenly beings and crowned him with glory and honor.
You made him ruler over the works of your hands;
you put everything under his feet: all flocks and herds,
and the beasts of the field, the birds of the air, and the fish of the sea, all that swim the paths of the seas.
O LORD, our Lord,how majestic is your name in all the earth!
Can you look at this passage and find six attributes of God the Psalmist reveals”
How will these attributes make a difference to you as you live your life today?
God, I praise you for who you are. You are all that I would ever want a God to be and more. You have created a good world for me to live in, and given me a purpose to follow. You are greater than all your creation, and all your creation points directly to you. Help me to see You today, your divine attributes, in the world around me, in the Bible before me, in the people beside me, and in your presence within me. Open my eyes that I can see You better.
In Jesus’ name,
Amen.
SONGS OF PRAISE
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