Prayer
by Rev. Albert Rung
E-5 PRAISE
Prayer of praise is an unaffected outburst of man's admiration of God's magnificence. There are times when man in calm contemplation of God's grand works is unconsciously impelled to express his admiration of God's beauty, goodness and power. The better we know God, the greater is our wonderment of His attributes and perfections, and there is only one step between the realization of His grandeur and the praise which naturally gushes from the heart in consequence. Were men only inclined calmly to think of God and to study His perfections, how much more would the prayer of praise be upon their lips. It would prompt men, like the prophet David, to call upon all the elements, all creatures, the animate and the inanimate, upon men and angels, to praise the Lord. All creatures fulfill their duty of praising the Lord by virtue of their creation, man and the angels excepted, who lone have the freedom to refuse it. But because of their freedom, the voluntary acts of praise of the Almighty by man and the angels are most pleasing to God. The glorious inhabitants of heaven, says the Apocalypse, never cease their song of praise; "Holy, holy, holy Lord of Hosts." What a privilege, therefore, for us poor mortals to join in the universal chorus of praise, coming from every being created by God! The prayer of praise affords the opportunity. A new impetus is given to prayer, and the heart is warmed with fervor, when from time to time our prayer takes on a character solely of praise of the Lord. "Praise the Lord, O my soul, in my life I will praise the Lord; I will sing to my God as long as I shall be."