The typical call to praise in the psalms is a universal call. The psalmists want everyone to know and celebrate the goodness of God. This is what praise means in its best sense: to celebrate God with those around us. It means telling others about how good God is. The prophetic writings frequently expound a vision of all the peoples of the earth coming to God’s dwelling place to meet with God (Isaiah 55:5). That dwelling place now is the church (Ephesians 2:21, 22). The church exists to be a habitation of God’s presence in and for the world at large. Jesus came to seek and save the lost (Luke 19:10) and that should always be the preoccupation of the church. One of the healthiest things for a church community is to have a constant inflow of non-Christians who are exploring faith and connecting with God for the first time. Without this we are in danger of becoming an enclave. After a while we will begin to speak a theological dialect that only we can understand. And gradually our talk will become meaningless even to us. This is because the message contained in our theology is a message designed to be spoken outwardly to the world around us. If we are not translating it constantly into the lives of outsiders, it will become stale. Whenever I pray for God to put people in my life who I can share my faith with, he always answers. But I must be walking with God myself, otherwise I have nothing to bear witness to. Don’t preach at people, praise God to people.
Ask God to give you opportunities to share your faith.
Read Psalm 148
