Pala Praise

I have always enjoyed corporate worship. I love to lift my voice with others in praise to a Magnificent God. I love when God responds to our praise by descending on a congregation in such a sweet and even tangible way. To bask in His Presence is like no other feeling in this world. Where else can one experience such unimagineable love and sweet peace? Unfortunately, I do not experience this sweet escape everytime I enter the doors of my local church.

There have been many times when I've entered into corporate worship and my mind is far from Him. In those times, the worship my voice sends up doesn't result in a sweet experience with Him. Afterward, I walk away unchanged and empty-handed. I have discovered that an extraordinary encounter with God almost always begins with my sacrifice of extraordinary praise. According to John Kohlenberger's A Concise Dictionary of Hebrew, pala is a word that means "to separate, distinguish, to be wonderful; wondrous things." In scripture, pala is used primarily of God to denote the fact that He does things that are beyond the bounds of human powers or expectations. However, it can also be used to describe the actions and attitudes of man. If I long to encounter God in a life-changing way, I have to be willing to demonstrate pala praise.

I must be willing to separate myself solely unto Him; pushing all the cares of life from my focus until He is all I see. When I am able to accomplish this, the praise coming from my heart is a truly wondrous thing. But how is it that these moments of purest worship seem to be scattered in between so many times of mediocrity? It is because other things become the object of my infatuation. I obsess over earthly things and forget that I belong to a kingdom that is not of this world. During those times, Jesus subtly slips from my adoration to an obligation. When this happens, my worship becomes more of a struggle and less of an experience.

My Redeemer has already proven Himself to be Wondrous. The earth abounds with wonderful things He has created. I am a living example of His love and mercy; two unexplainable and wonderful things. Although He continues to bestow blessings on me, it is He alone who is worthy of wonderful and distinguished things! He deserves more of me than I have yet to give him. Who am I to dare approach this King with words that are spoken absentmindedly and without pure intent? Lord help me to always come before You with a pure heart, full of gratitude, and with a willingness to give you pala praise.

O LORD GOD Almighty, who is like you? You are mighty, O LORD, and your faithfulness surrounds you.
Psalm 89:8