Is God Vain?

"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." -C S Lewis

For years, I have struggled with scriptures and people who speak of God commanding us to praise Him, specifically because I thought they portrayed God as vain. Hopefully, none of you have had the same struggles, and I know that the answer is obvious for some. But for me, I don't think I fully understood these passages until I read C S Lewis' book, Notes on the Psalms.

"Whoever offers praise glorifies Me", Psalm 50:23. As lewis says, "it was hideously like God wanted to be told that He was good and great." For me, it seemed like God's only reason for having anything to do with humanity was so that He would be told that He is good and great. Even worse, the Psalmists bargain with Him worship in exchange for favors. He seemed to punish those who did not worship Him, and reward those who did. In Psalm 31:9, the author is begging God to save his life, but only for the reason that there would be no one to praise Him if he dies. "What profit is there in my blood, when I go down to the pit? Will the dust praise You? Will it declare Your truth?"

Just to be clear, I don't think the issue is a lack of love for God. It is a fair question to look at what we are reading and ask if it is portraying God as vain, frivolous, and manipulative towards humans. That is both a distressing thought and inconsistent with the loving Father who would sacrifice His Son for us. If we love God, then we should be appalled by any accusation against His character and goodness.

Most people respond to this question by saying that God has a "right" to be praised. Since He alone is worthy, He has the right to demand worship. Lewis points out that this is correct, but a horrible way of putting it. I think it still gives the impression that His only reason for having anything to do with man is to fill up His praise tank, or to have all His right praise buttons pushed.

The response is twofold. First, God clearly is not vain. He is a God who is jealous of our worship, just as any husband is jealous of his wife's love. But if God wanted to be praised, then do you really think that He would come to US, sinful, tone-deaf, and squeaking human beings, to fill His praise tank? "I will not take a bull from your house, nor goats out of your fields. For every beast of the forest is Mine, And the cattle on a thousand hills.... If I were hungry, I would not tell you; for the world is Mine, and all its fullness." (Psalm 50). The greater the being who is praising, the greater the praise. If some small boy off the street told you that you were a nice person, it wouldn't mean much to you. But if the president of the US came, knocked on your door, and broke into song about how amazing you are, then you would be completely floored. Similarly, if God wanted great and fantastic praise, then He would create some beautifully magnificent and powerful archangel to worship Him. But as Lewis says, "I don't want my dog to bark in approval of my books."

Secondly, why does God command humans to praise Him? Lewis starts with the analogy of a painting. What do we mean when we say that a picture is admirable? We do not mean that it deserves something in the sense that you (hopefully) deserve the wages you earn at your job. Instead, we mean that praise is the appropriate and natural response to a beautiful painting. I hadn't ever fully appreciated this until I moved to the UK. In August, I moved into a smaller English Medieval town called Guildford to take courses at the University of Surrey. Guildford is beautiful, quaint, and full of history. During my first week, I took some time to explore the town, visit the castle, and "appreciate" the beauty of the place where God has brought me. As I stood there under the shadow of a 13th century Norman castle next to a river with beautiful gardens, I wanted so desperately to exclaim to the person next to me how amazing it is. But I was alone. There was no one with me to hear my praise of the castle, or the quant town, or the old-fashioned pubs. Living in Europe is incredible for an American, and yet the worst thing about it is not being able to rejoice in it's beauty and history with other people. The pleasure involved with simply observing something beautiful on your own is nothing compared with the pleasure of praising it to others. "I think we delight to praise what we enjoy because the praise not merely expresses but completes the enjoyment."

Praising true beauty is pleasant because it is the natural (or designed) response. As I pointed out in the last post, we are happiest when we follow the natural design of the human heart. We are designed to praise things that are beautiful, and as a result, "The world rings with praise: lovers praising their mistresses, readers their favorite poet, walkers praising the countryside... I had not noticed how the humblest, and at the same time most balanced and capacious minds praised most, while the cranks, misfits and malcontents praised least."

Now think how great and glorious Our Lord is, who created all these things that we enjoy. Lewis takes the limit as God's greatness goes to infinity: "If it were possible for a created soul fully (I mean, up to the full measure conceivable in a finite being) to appreciate, that is to love and delight in, the worthiest object of all, and simultaneously at every moment to give this delight perfect expression, then that soul would be in supreme beautitude." This is our final destination, our end to which Christ is guiding us. Until then, we are just tuning ourselves as the Body and Bride of Christ in preparation for the Great Praise.