Fools, Rush In!

My soul will be satisfied as with the richest of foods; with singing lips my mouth will praise you. -Ps 63:5 (NIV)

The Hebrew translation for the word, "praise," in the verse above, is "halal," which means to be clamorously foolish. It's an apt description of how a child should be with a parent.

Once I drove a fellow pastor to fetch his daughter from day care. When we arrived at the center, the daughter, all of 5 years and 3 feet, was waiting patiently at the gate. Yet, when she saw her dad, she squealed, "Daddy!," ran to the car, jumped on his lap, kissed him all over his face and began talking animatedly about her day in school, stopping only a few moments to greet me.

How clamorously foolish! Yet, this is the way we should be with our heavenly father; not stiff, not uncomfortable, not fearful. He loves us with an everlasting love. He delights in hearing how our day went. He delights in our kissing him. The New Testament word for worship (John 4:23-24) comes from the Greek, "proskuneo," which means "to kiss".

Praise, therefore, is an expression of gladness, trust and anticipation of being in the presence of God. If it causes you to be foolish before him, never mind. It's the kind of foolishness you need not ask forgiveness for.