Though I sang it many times last night, "be lifted up, be lifted higher," I now realize I cannot lift God up any higher than He already is.
When we think of kings on earth, we think of an authority that is ascribed to them by men. We can venerate, elevate, and even magnify the person on the throne, only because he is a human being. He was born of dust just as we were, and therefore, we can raise his status. Perhaps he was born into a royal bloodline and was already born into position: this is only possible because at some time his blood ancestors were given that right by others.
When we think of government, as the Western culture, we think of democracy. We think of our leaders as being in a position that was voted upon by men. Of perhaps we think of corporate giants having power and authority because they have money. We think of leaders as being in authority because they had some sort of quality that leadership needs, otherwise, we will seek out a better, more qualified leader. Those men can be taken out of leadership whether legally or illegally.
In any case, leadership on earth is ascribed by men. In the strictest sense, we put those people in position. And if it was possible to have authority ascribed to a person by God (a.k.a. King Saul and David), it was only because the people asked God for it. God put them in position as a response to the peoples' groaning. They wanted a king like other cultures had. Saul was killed, David was attacked, and new kings took their place.
Contemplate God's actual position--his kingship--over the universe. It is static. It is an authority not ascribed by men. He is king whether we acknowledge that fact or not. And He is at the highest point any being can be. There is none higher than Him in the physical sense, and in the figurative sense. To "lift Him higher" is to what? It is no more possible for an ant to lift me higher than I myself can stand, or even jump. Or perhaps on a flat plane a million ants together can lift me up... But that analogy breaks down because it is an attempt to understand a God that inhabits dimensions we cannot even comprehend. How can we lift up a God we cannot physically perceive? And how can we lift Him up in a spiritual sense if our essence is one with Him?
Perhaps then, I should look at it differently. Perhaps by singing, "be lifted up," I am only referring to our perception of Him; in a way saying, "let our perception of you be lifted up," or, "let your authority be more evident to us, or more important to us," or, "let us value you more." In that case, I can contend with it... But then it would be better for me to just say those things instead.
To say, "be lifted up," is misleading because it gives the impression that we ourselves can lift God to a higher position by praising Him. It implies that we have a part in giving Him authority.
And though it would not be wrong to say, "let me value you more, God," there is a danger that I might think His actual ability to work in my life depends on me, or how much I allow Him. BUT, His authority in my personal life does not depend on how much I allow Him to have. He has authority despite me. It is better to contemplate Him in the reality of His character than to contemplate Him in relation to me. When I only do the latter, I am diminishing His value in my mind already. How? By thinking that His authority depends on my allowance of it!
I may be asking Him to help me value Him more, but I am already defeating my own purpose if I think I am in control of His authority in my own life. That is not trust/faith. It is self-reliance.
The good thing is that if I am unknowingly in that state, He can show me the way out of it.
His exercising of authority does not depend on me, but He allows me to engage in it with Him because He is loving. He allows me to have a say because He is a gentle God and wants relationship with me. He values my relationship with Him more than He values my perception of Him (though if you read the Bible, you will see that He wants to be perceived [Hosea 6:6], and is the reason why He manifested Himself in human form as Jesus on Earth). When I see Him in that light, my appreciation for Him is intensified because I know what He is capable of, and yet I know He wouldn't harm me because I know how He feels about me. That understanding makes me feel loved and appreciated and it draws me to Him. Because of His restraint, He is irresistible to me. His power sustains all of life, and His glory is fierce and dangerous, yet in His heart is where I am safe. Because of that, I feel infinitely valued, and utterly fulfilled.
I am in a state of ecstasy when I contemplate Him in His reality as opposed to contemplating Him in relation to my abilities.
Men who have the ability to harm, yet show restraint have always been the most attractive to me and I realize now it is because that is the character of God.
The moment we think we have control over when and where He can operate, God begins to lose His appeal [in our minds]. It becomes a one-way relationship because His actions on earth now depend on us. We become the only one who initiates any interaction. Then after a while we get tired of it, bored, even. We are always the one who must make an effort to engage in the relationship. That is burdensome. God seems uninterested in us. We lose motivation and then our devotion time becomes an obligation, which sucks out all intimacy and life (the same can be applied to marriage). That's when it becomes a religion. Then we see everything in terms of what we are doing as opposed to what God is doing. "Look! I prayed out of desperation as a last resort, and God answered my prayer! Faith means taking action... I took action by saying a simple sentence." The focus is on the fact that you prayed, and not on the fact that God did something. You're now trusting the prayer you prayed--the fact that you said a prayer "that worked"--rather than actually trusting in God. In a sense, you're learning how to "manipulate God" (not that He can be manipulated).
See it for what it is: God loves you as His child and wants to give you whatever you want as long as it doesn't harm your soul. See God's grace in the event, not your effort. But now I am getting off track...
Now that I've said all of this, I must make a disclaimer: I have not said it is wrong to sing, "be lifted up." [I myself sang it wholeheartedly] I have also NOT said that people who sing this are totally misled in their thinking. I am merely pointing out the dangers of what can be perceived and how those perceptions affect us.
Let us desire to know who God is. And may He reveal that to us more fully than ever before.
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