Praise God Alone

BY Erin Davis

Book II
The collection of psalms in Book II express lament and distress about present circumstances and conditions while looking to the faithfulness of God. 

In the climax of the classic children’s book, Horton Hears a Who!, the people of Whoville, who are so small their entire world is built on a speck, make their voices heard to the wider world by singing together. In the movie version (which my kids love), everyone in Whoville begins singing just as the citizens of the Jungle of Nool start boiling a batch of Beezle-nut oil to drown them in. They didn’t believe there was a city on the speck. Their very idea seemed dangerously silly to them. 

So, the citizens of Whoville banged on every pot. They blew every horn. They stomped every foot. And they declared, “We are here! We are here! We are here!” until their enemies could no longer ignore them. Their unified voices pierced through the fog of unbelief. Whoville was saved. 

As followers of Jesus, we’re not citizens of Whoville, but we do call an invisible city home (Philippians 1:27). Since it’s a place we can’t see yet, there are plenty who dismiss it as a foolish fairy tale. Like the skeptics of Nool, they conclude that since they cannot hear God with human ears, see God with human eyes, and touch God with human hands, He must be a figment of our overactive imaginations. 

But He isn’t. Like Horton who had ears to hear the tiny people of Whoville, we know God is real. We have heard His voice speak to us through His Word and His Spirit. We have seen Him do things that cannot be explained by human effort. We have felt Him move in our hearts, in our homes, in our churches. What can we do to convince a world headed straight for the pot of Beezle-nut oil that He is worthy of their lives? 

We can praise. 

Today’s psalms are a call to celebrate God together (Psalm 66:1, 67:5, 68:32). 

Our singular praise joins the chorus that has been singing since before the earth began. The rocks of the earth worship Him (Luke 19:40). The mountains are shouting His praise (Isaiah 55:12). The trees of the forest are singing for joy (1Chronicles 16:33). 

Though seemingly insignificant, our praise draws the lost toward their King. It declares to a dying world that abundant life is available through Jesus Christ. As we worship Jesus, “foolish fairy tales” become sight. Our unified voices declare there is another realm worth living for. 

Sisters, let us bang every pot, stomp every foot, raise every hand, and engage every vocal cord. Ours is not the chorus of Whoville. Our goal is not to draw attention to ourselves. Instead through unified praise, may we declare:

He is real!
He is real!
He is real!