Praising God for the Paradox

Psalm 145:14

“The LORD sustains all who fall and raises up all who are bowed down.”

Do you know what the word “paradox” means? According to the online Merriam-Webster dictionary a paradox is “a statement that is seemingly contradictory or opposed to common sense and yet is perhaps true.” In Psalm 145, we find a statement that seems to contradict itself but, in reality, is true and important for us to learn. 

The everyday call to live the Christ-life is a paradox. Let me show you what I mean. In Luke 18:14 we find this phrase, “for everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, but he humbles himself will be exalted.” The philosophy of the world tells us to exalt ourselves, to boast of our successes, to honor our own lives, but the truth of scripture tells us that to be exalted, we must humble ourselves. This is a great example of a paradox in scripture. But it is not the only one. 

Consider this example from Matthew 16:25, “For whoever wishes to save his life will lose it; but whoever loses his life for My sake will find it.” Here is the paradox: the way to save my life is to lose it to Jesus, to surrender and give Him total control. Trying to save my life on my own only causes me to lose it. Throughout the Bible, we find that the Christ-life is a life of paradox. There is an old Puritan prayer called The Valley of Vision. It captures well the idea of the paradox of the Christian life. 

LORD, HIGH AND HOLY, MEEK AND LOWLY

Thou hast brought me to the valley of vision, where I live in the depths but see thee in the heights; hemmed in by mountains of sin I behold thy glory.

Let me learn by paradox
that the way down is the way up, 
that to be low is to he high,
that the broken heart is the healed heart, 
that the contrite spirit is the rejoicing spirit,
that the repenting soul is the victorious soul,
that to have nothing is to possess all,
that to bear the cross is to wear the crown,
that to give is to receive,
that the valley is the place of vision.

Lord, in the daytime, stars can be seen from the deepest wells, and the deeper the wells the brighter thy stars shine; 

Let me find thy light in my darkness, 
thy life in my death,
thy joy in my sorrow, 
thy grace in my sin,
thy riches in my poverty,
thy glory in my valley.

There is a paradox found in Psalm 145, a psalm of highest praise! It begins in vs. 1 with “I will extol You, my God, O King, and I will bless Your name forever and ever.” And it ends in vs. 21 with, “My mouth will speak the praise of the LORD, and all flesh will bless His holy name forever and ever.” From the beginning to the end, it is a psalm of praise to God. David, the writer of this psalm, praises God for His greatness, His majesty, His works, His acts, His grace, His mercy, His goodness, His glory, His power, His provisions, His righteousness and His nearness. And then we come to the paradox in vs. 14, “The LORD sustains all who fall and raises up all who are bowed down.” 

The Christ-life is to be lived bowing down, not raising up. We are to bow down before God in praise and worship. According to this verse, that is the life that God upholds and sustains. And it is so opposite of what the vain philosophies of culture tell us to do. The world, or today’s culture, tells us to lift up ourselves, to boast of who we are, to make much of us. It is communicated all over the news. It is glamorized all over the sports and entertainment industry. And sadly, it is even promoted in many pulpits today. Culture, which has clearly slipped into the church and into lives of Christ followers, tells us to praise ourselves and receive the honor we are due. 

But that is not the way of Christ, and that is not the way of Christ followers. We are to praise Jesus, glorify Jesus, and honor His name. Our mouth, according to vs. 21, is to “speak the praise of the LORD.”

As we come to the end of this blog today, I want to ask you two things. First, would you check the words of your mouth? Are you speaking words of praise to God, or do your words speak of you? Do you honor and glorify Jesus or yourself? 

The second request is for prayer. For the last several weeks we have been meeting God each week in the Psalms. I love the Psalms and could stay here forever. But soon we will move on. In a couple of weeks we will leave the Psalms (we may come back to them later) and venture into a new series. I am burdened with this matter of how we as believers in Christ are to navigate our lives against a culture that is hostile toward Jesus, the Church, and Christian principles. As this comes together I would appreciate your prayers. 

Blessings today as you live in the paradox of Christian living!