Prayer and Praise by A. J. BRISTOL

Review and Herald Publishing Association · Takoma Park Station, Washington, D. C. · Dec 26, 1907

Prayer and Praise

By A. J. BRISTOL

A. J. BRISTOL

“O COME, let us sing unto Jehovah; Let us make a joyful noise to the rock of our salvation. Let us come before his presence with thanksgiving; Let us make a joyful noise unto him with psalms. For Jehovah is a great God, And a great king above all gods. . . . O come, let us worship and bow down; Let us kneel before Jehovah our Maker: For he is our God, And we are the people of his pasture, and the sheep of his hand, To-day, O that ye would hear his voice!”

At this season when our minds are especially exercised in reference to drawing near the Lord, it is well that we consider the scripture quoted above, and others which so clearly teach that thanksgiving is one of the means of approach to God.

While it could doubtless be as truly said of many of the Lord’s people in this time as it was of old, that “your iniquities have separated between you and your God, and your sins have hid his face from you, that he will not hear;” and equally applicable to us would be the admonition to “wash you, make you clean; put away the evil of your doings from before mine eyes; cease to do evil; learn to do well,” yet we should bear in mind that it is “the goodness of God [that] leadeth thee to repentance.” As we gratefully recall the tender mercy of the Lord in his dealings with us, our hearts will be melted to tenderness, and we shall truly repent of having wandered so far from our loving Father.

Failing to praise, we forget to pray, and we begin the course of the heathen, of whom the apostle wrote “that, knowing God, they glorified him not as God, neither gave thanks; . . . and even as they refused to have God in their knowledge, God gave them up unto a reprobate mind; . . . being filled with all unrighteousness.” And then follows the long dark catalogue of sins of which they became guilty, and it seems to include every unclean and hateful thing. All this is the result of not giving thanks to God. If, upon examination, we find any of these things in our hearts, let us without delay begin to recount the mercies of God. Thank him that you are alive, and have been permitted to see your peril; thank him that it is not too late to be forgiven; and above all, thank him for the “Way” out of every difficulty.

Anciently the people of God were directed to erect monuments of the special experiences in which God wrought for them, and repeatedly the admonition is given to “beware that thou forget not the Lord thy God, in not keeping his commandments” in times of material prosperity. That these things might be kept in mind, the instruction was given to “talk of them when thou sittest in thine house, and when thou walkest by the way, and when thou liest down, and when thou risest up.” “Thou shalt teach them diligently unto thy children.”

We are often reminded from the pulpit and by the printed page of our duty to pray, but not much is said or written of our duty to praise, and yet, if we carefully note in reading the Bible, we shall find the exhortation to praise is more frequent than is the one to pray. Frequently the two are mentioned together: “Rejoice always; pray without ceasing; in everything give thanks.” “Continue steadfastly in prayer, watching therein with thanksgiving.” “Rejoice in the Lord always: and again I will say, Rejoice. . . . The Lord is at hand. In nothing be anxious; but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known unto God.” “We need to praise God more ‘for his goodness, and for his wonderful works to the children of men.’ Our devotional exercises should not consist wholly in asking and receiving. Let us not be always thinking of our wants, and never of the benefits we receive. We do not pray any too much, but we are too sparing of giving thanks. We are the constant recipients of God’s mercies, and yet how little gratitude we express, how little we praise him for what he has done for us.”

While conditions in the world and our relation to them as bearers of the last message of mercy are such that we have felt constrained to observe a day of solemn fasting and prayer, if we have been faithful in putting away the evils which the fast has revealed, we may find confidence and courage to persevere by recounting the unmistakable evidences that this is the Lord’s work, and that “hitherto hath Jehovah helped us.” Having yielded our hearts fully to the Lord, and our lives to his service, it is our privilege to “look up” and rejoice.

“Serve Jehovah with gladness: Come before his presence with singing. Know ye that Jehovah, he is God; It is he that hath made us, and we are his; We are his people, and the sheep of his pasture. Enter into his gates with thanksgiving, And into his courts with praise: Give thanks unto him, and bless his name. For Jehovah is good; his loving-kindness endureth forever, And his faithfulness unto all generations.”

“Ascribe unto Jehovah the glory due unto his name; Bring an offering, and come into his courts.”

Takoma Park, D. C.