Hebrews 11:1 sums up our attitudes as Christians. “Faith is being sure of what we hope for and certain of what we do not see.” That is faith. It is certainty, conviction, absolute belief in those things that we may not be able to see with our physical eyes or touch with our hands. Faith is belief in those things we hope for – the hope that the resurrection of Jesus actually did take place. We are saved from sin and death and hopelessness through the sacrifice of Jesus.
And with this faith we have a joy that wells up inside us. We are convinced of those things we have not witnessed with our mortal eyes but which we see with our soul and spirit. We know in our hearts and in our souls that God is real and that His love for us is real.
And with that knowledge, that conviction, we can raise our hearts and our voices in praise of the eternal love that God has for us. What does the psalmist encourage us to do? Why do we praise God?
There are no words in this psalm that speak of the tangible essence of God. It does not bear witness to how God looks or any other description of His physical appearance. Instead it speaks of where God exists and what God has done.
God exists in his sanctuary. This may be the heavenly realms where God resides or it may be the places where we gather to worship Him, in a church, in a home, in the beauty of nature.
We are urged to offer praise to God for His acts of power. We do not see the hand that causes the miracles of life and creation but we see the results. We see God in all that He has made and all that He does in our lives.
We should praise Him for His surpassing greatness. Again, this is nothing that can be identified as a physical attribute of God. This is the mighty movement of God in the world. When we see His mercy, when we feel His comfort, when we witness His love displayed in life we should give praise to the unseen God whose work is made real and visible in the world.
We cannot see the physical being of God but we can see God in our belief. When we believe in God and believe in His love exhibited through the sacrificial act of Christ we see Him in our heart and our lives. We see God in the beauty of the world and the acts of love shown by many.
DAILY CHALLENGE: What helps you to know God is real?
