“I will greatly rejoice in the Lord; my soul shall exult in my God, for he has clothed me with the garments of salvation; he has covered me with the robe of righteousness.”
— Isaiah 61:10
“The delight is incomplete until it is expressed.”
—C.S. Lewis
THE INVITATION
This past week I was reminded of one of my favorite quotes by C.S. Lewis.
Before his conversion, Lewis wrestled deeply with the idea of worship. It bothered him that the God of the universe would command His creation to praise Him. Wouldn’t an all-powerful, self-sufficient God be beyond the need for worship from something as small and fractured as humanity?
But as Lewis came to faith, he revisited that question through the Psalms, and he discovered something profound. He stated:
“I think we delight to praise what we enjoy because the praise not merely expresses but completes the enjoyment; it is its appointed consummation. It is not out of compliment that lovers keep on telling one another how beautiful they are; the delight is incomplete till it is expressed. It is frustrating to have discovered a new author and not to be able to tell anyone how good he is; to come suddenly, at the turn of the road, upon some mountain valley of unexpected grandeur and then to have to keep silent because the people with you care for it no more than for a tin can in the ditch; to hear a good joke and find no one to share it with. . . . The Scotch catechism says that man’s chief end is ‘to glorify God and enjoy Him forever.’ But we shall then know that these are the same thing. Fully to enjoy is to glorify. In commanding us to glorify Him, God is inviting us to enjoy Him.”
Praise isn’t a forced duty, it’s the natural overflow of joy. We know this instinctively. When you find a new restaurant, you reach out to friends about it. When you watch a film that hits you deeply, you can’t stop talking about it. When you hear a great joke, you immediately want someone else to laugh with you.
The enjoyment is incomplete until it’s shared. This is how God wired us. Not because He needs our praise…But because we do.
THE IMPORTANCE OF PRAISE
If I’m being honest, these past few weeks haven’t been easy. There have been moments of discouragement. Moments where I’ve quietly wondered, why keep pressing on? Why keep standing in the gap? Why keep pushing to be a faithful man in a broken world?
And that’s exactly when the Lord nudged my heart. Not with a solution. Not with a lightning bolt of clarity. But with an invitation: Complete the praise.
Not because I felt like it, candidly, I didn’t. But because I needed it. Because praising Him especially when it costs something, reminds my soul of what’s true.
In Isaiah 61:10, the prophet bursts into song saying:
“I will greatly rejoice in the Lord; my soul shall exult in my God…”
What follows is a beautiful image of being clothed in salvation and righteousness. But don’t miss the context here. This is not a praise birthed from a place of luxury and ease. It’s a declaration in the midst of rebuilding.
Isaiah 61 is a vision for restoration after ruin. And yet… he rejoices.
Why?
Because praise is not just an emotional response, it’s a weapon. Praise is how we wage war on despair. Praise is how we remind our own hearts who God is. Praise is how we say, “Even here. Even now. He is still worthy.”
In seasons of weariness, praise feels unnatural… and it very well may be. It pushes against our flesh and the inertia of apathy. But when we complete the praise, what we find is that we recover joy.
THE GOSPEL ISN'T SILENT
Lewis wrote,
“It is frustrating to have discovered a new author and not to be able to tell anyone how good he is… Fully to enjoy is to glorify.”
This is where the expression of our praise comes in. Sharing about the God that we love and serve is not an obligation, it’s an invitation to finish the sentence.
To not let your experience of grace end in your own heart.
When we sit on the goodness of God without proclaiming it, it’s like watching a sunrise and refusing to tell anyone of it’s beauty. And over time, our silence becomes stagnation. You were made to share Him.
Not just in church. Not just on mission trips. But in the moments of your actual life: your home, your gym, your neighborhood, your job. Because praise is only complete when it’s proclaimed.
WORSHIP AS WITNESS
One of the most powerful witnesses in a cynical world is a Christian who still finds joy in Jesus.
Not because everything is going right, but because the Source of joy hasn’t changed. When we proclaim His goodness, not with platitudes, but with honest gratitude, we reframe the narrative for those watching.
People aren’t hungry for perfect theology. They’re hungry for someone whose God is still beautiful even when life is broken.
That kind of worship turns heads. It softens hearts. It plants seeds. And it forms your soul in the process.
A FINAL CHARGE
So this week I hope that you will complete the praise.
Don’t let it terminate in your mind.
Proclaim it.
Thank God out loud. Tell someone about what He’s done. Share the gospel. Encourage your kids. Call your friend. Speak hope to a coworker.
Let your joy be loud. Let your gratitude ring out. Don’t let your praise die in silence. Don’t let your worship stop at the edge of your own comfort.
You were made for this.
You were made to glorify God and enjoy Him forever. And in doing one, you complete the other. So complete the praise.
And watch as joy fills the room.
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