Shout for joy in the Lord, O you righteous!
Praise befits the upright.
Psalm 33:1
Portions of Psalm 33 will serve as our call to worship this week. The call to worship is designed so that we hear God call us to respond to who he is and what he has done. Psalm 33 explicitly says that praise from God’s people, the upright, is fitting. The word could also be translated, comely or beautiful. The psalmist is telling us that praise is the appropriate response for the righteous. Is this not what we saw last Sunday in Romans 12:1? “I appeal you therefore, brothers, by the mercies of God [by which you have been made righteous] to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your [reasonable service].” Or as the Psalmist puts it, “Praise befits the upright.”
We’re given word pictures other places in the Old Testament where this word befit is used. In the Proverbs, we are shown that there are actions that are not befitting the fool, or the wise.
“It is not fitting for a fool to live in luxury, much less for a slave to rule over princes.”
Proverbs 19:10
“Fine speech is not becoming to a fool; still less is false speech to a prince.”
Proverbs 17:7
“Like snow in summer or rain in harvest, so honor is not fitting for a fool.”
Proverbs 26:1
These images in the Proverbs demonstrate that there is a kind of behavior that is fitting for each kind of person, the fool and the wise. What Psalm 33:1 and Romans 12:1 are telling us is that the only fitting response for those who have been graciously made right with God through Christ is praise. John Calvin commenting on this passage said this:
“It is, no doubt…that God creates for himself a church in the world by gracious adoption, for the express purpose, that his name may be duly praised by witnesses suitable for such a work. But the real meaning of the clause, Praise is comely for the upright, is, that there is no exercise in which they can be better employed. And, assuredly, since God by his daily benefits furnishes them with such matter for celebrating his glory, and since his boundless goodness…is laid up as a peculiar treasure for them, it were disgraceful and utterly unreasonable for them to be silent in the praises of God.”
John Calvin
Catch that last sentence again. God’s grace where he has made us righteous is so astounding that it would be “disgraceful and utterly unreasonable for [us] to be silent in the praises of God.” As we grasp this reality, our lives will be changed, and our corporate worship will be changed. As we grasp that our lives are to be lives of praise to God, and that it is the only fitting response, then our hearts will resound with “Loud praise to Christ our King” for “Praise is his gracious choice.”
Come, Christians, join to sing
Alleluia! Amen
Loud praise to Christ our King
Alleluia! Amen
Let all, with heart and voice
Before His throne rejoice
Praise is His gracious choice
Alleluia! Amen