Unconditional Praise

Unconditional Praise

May 16, 2020

Scripture: Psalm 116; Romans 8:38-39; 1 Thessalonians 5:16-18.

The psalms in the Bible are full of praise to God, with God often referred to as “the Lord,” that is, as Yahweh. Psalmists express it many times. Psalm 116 is a good example. It says:

I love the Lord, because he has

          heard

     my voice and my supplications.

Because he inclined his ear to me,

     therefore I will call on him as

          long as I live. Psalm 116:1-2.

The psalmist so loves the Lord and promises to call on him as long as he lives because

The snares of death

          encompassed me;

     the pangs of Sheol laid hold

          on me;

     I suffered distress and anguish. Psalm 116:3

In his distress he called on the Lord to save him, and the Lord did save him. So he promises to offer the Lord praise and sacrifices of thanksgiving:

I will pay my vows to the Lord

     in the presence of all his

          people,

in the courts of the house of

          the Lord,

     in your midst, O Jerusalem.

Praise the Lord! Psalm 116:18-19.

The psalmist gives praise to his God because, he believes, his God answered his prayer and saved his life.

Now, giving God thanks and praise in situations like that is perfectly appropriate. There’s no problem there. It often happens with me however that a biblical passage which isn’t in itself a problem nonetheless raises a problem. Psalm 116 does that. The problem it raises for me is this: Isn’t the psalmist’s  love of God here conditional? He says “I love the Lord because he heard my voice.” He’s going to offer God thanksgiving because when his life was at risk God saved him. But what if God hadn’t saved him? All of us have times in our lives when it sure can seem like God hasn’t saved us. The psalmist of Psalm 116 escaped death—for now. Yet he was as mortal as the rest of us. He didn’t die in whatever the situation was that threatened his life and led him to write Psalm 116, but God rescuing him from death then didn’t make him immortal. It didn’t mean he wouldn’t some day suffer the misery of illness and pass away. How did he respond to God when he suffered? How did he respond to God as he died? We don’t know, but those questions sure get me thinking about how to respond to God in the bad times as well as in the good. Here’s what some of my recent thinking on the matter has been.

I start with a proposition that is at the core of my Christian faith. God’s grace for every single person is completely unconditional. Perhaps St. Paul said it best:

For I am convinced that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor rulers, not things present, nor things to come, nor powers, nor height, nor depth, nor anything else in all creation will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord. Romans 8:38-39.

Nothing separates us from God’s love. Nothing we do or don’t do. Nothing we say or don’t say. Nothing we believe or don’t believe. Absolutely nothing separates us  from God’s love. God’s grace is God’s love in action. If nothing can separate us from it, then it is completely unconditional.

God’s grace doesn’t depend in any way on us, but it does call for a response from us. God’s unconditional grace calls us to do God’s work in the world, but it also calls for our praise and thanksgiving to be as unconditional as God’s grace is. Again perhaps St. Paul said it best: “Rejoice always, pray without ceasing, give thanks in all circumstances….” 1 Thessalonians 5:16-18. Notice: Not give thanks for all circumstances but give thanks in all circumstances. The psalmist of Psalm 116 give thanks for a particular circumstance, but Paul’s understanding of prayer and how we should respond to God’s grace is much deeper than that. Pray without ceasing, he says, not pray only in the good times. Give thanks in all circumstances, he says, not give thanks only in the good circumstances. God’s grace is unconditional. Our response should be unconditional too.

Of course it’s easier to give God praise and thanks when things are going well for us. It’s harder when things are tough. Many people around the world today are facing tough times because of an unusual circumstance, the COVID-19 pandemic. Yet we know that God is with us, holding us and loving us, no matter what our circumstances may be. So let our love of God be as unconditional as God’s love for us. It’s isn’t easy. It is God call. Amen.