Today’s Bible reading from the Five Day Bible Reading Plan: Exodus 35-37, Psalm 26, Philippians 4

When one truly worships the triune God, having that incredible, awesome encounter with
him, one cannot help but articulate this from Psalm 26: “proclaiming thanksgiving aloud, and telling of all your wonderful deeds.” Charles Spurgeon struggled with much in his life (physical ailments, depression, a liberal drift in his Baptist denomination, etc.). In an 1886 sermon, when all of these issues were coming together, preached a sermon called, “The Happy Duty of Daily Praise.” Here’s how he started it off:

IF I were to put to you the question, “Do you pray?” the answer would be very quickly given by every Christian person, “Of course I do.” Suppose I then added, “And do you pray every day?” the prompt reply would be, “Yes; many times in the day. I could not live without prayer.” This is no more than I expect, and I will not put the question. But let me change the enquiry, and say, “Do you bless God every day? Is praise as certain and constant a practice with you as prayer?” I am not sure that the answer would be quite so certain, so general, or so prompt You would have to stop a little while before you gave the reply; and I fear, in some cases, when the
reply did come, it would be, “I am afraid I have been negligent in praise.” Well, then, dear friend, have you not been wrong? Should we omit praise any more than we omit prayer? And should not praise come daily and as many times in the day as prayer does? It strikes me that to fail in praise is as unjustifiable as to fail in prayer.

The one who vindicates is the one worthy of our praise. Do you praise God every day? Or do
you only see the negative in everything and everyone? As broken as this world is due to the
curse of sin, it’s amazing anything good happens at all. But praise be to God, good things
happen–and nothing is ‘gooder’ than the saving work of Christ!

We must address verse 8. “O Lord, I love the habitation of your house, and the place where
your glory dwells.” In the OT, the Temple was His “house.” Yet, God makes it clear in the NT
that his glory dwells in another “house,” in Christ and His people. No longer does God’s
glory dwell in a stationary, geographical place–but it now dwells in the New Temple. “And
the Word became flesh and dwelt among us–and we beheld His glory, the only glory from
the Father, full of grace and truth.” And with the Word as the foundation, Christ being the
cornerstone, 1 Peter 2:4-5:

As you come to him, a living stone rejected by men but in the sight of God chosen
and precious, you yourselves like living stones are being built up as a spiritual
house, to be a holy priesthood, to offer spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through
Jesus Christ.

The Church is that Temple, a spiritual Temple that will never be destroyed! No wonder that
old hymn says,

My hope is built on nothing less that Jesus’ blood and righteousness,
I dare not trust the sweetest frame but wholly lean on Jesus’ name
On Christ, the solid rock I stand–all other ground is sinking sand.