Uniting Our Praises Universally

 1. What worldly course is not needed to learn to praise him?

SUPPOSE now, having considered the foregoing facts dealing with the importance of praising God at this end of the world, you earnestly desire to seek God and strive for the salvation and blessings he has promised. What shall you do? Shall you enroll in a religious seminary and undertake a difficult course of study, consuming years of time, in order to prepare yourself to serve God in a manner that will merit his salvation? Must you first produce a certificate signifying high educational achievement in schools of this world before you can hope to make confession of praise to God? If so, then not many men could hope to qualify for the salvation that God promises. And if only a few are capable and qualified to sing God’s praises in the right manner, then how can we understand these words of Jesus? “And this gospel of the kingdom shall be preached in the whole inhabited earth for a testimony unto all the nations; and then shall the end come.” (Matt. 24:14, Am. Stan. Ver., margin) How possibly could such a testimony be given to all nations in this very generation, as Jesus said it would, unless there were many, many persons singing God’s praises? No, such high worldly educational achievement is not necessary for you to serve God. That is why it is possible for Jehovah to call forth a “great multitude” from all nations in these last days.

 2, 3. How was this exemplified in Jesus’ case?

² Consulting the Bible record we find that Jesus himself had not studied at the feet of Doctor of Laws Gamaliel in Jerusalem, nor is there any record of his having had extended training in any college or school as a prerequisite to commencing the preaching work ordained for him by God his Father. Jehovah God knew what the people needed: they needed the truth concerning himself and his kingdom of salvation. They needed this message in a pure and unadulterated form, without worldly embellishments, unbeclouded by any wisdom of man. So when Jesus appeared at the Nazareth synagogue he was not known to the people as a learned doctor of divinity, nor as a doctor of letters, but as a carpenter was he known, the son of a carpenter. That did not hold Jesus back from declaring his intention to praise God by becoming a preacher of Jehovah’s Word, did it? Certainly not, for he picked up the Holy Scriptures and read his commission from the book of the prophet Isaiah: “The spirit of the Lord [Jehovah] is on me, because he has anointed me to proclaim glad tidings to the poor; he has sent me to publish a release to the captives, and recovery of sight to the blind; to dispense freedom to the oppressed; to proclaim an era of acceptance with the Lord.”—Luke 4:16-21, Diaglott.

³ Yes, it caused a stir among the people for Jesus to do this, especially because they knew he was not qualified according to the standards of men at that time. “The Jews therefore marvelled, saying, How knoweth this man letters, having never learned?” (John 7:15, Am. Stan. Ver.) Perhaps Jesus was not learned in all the wisdom of his time, but he did have the truth, which is the Word of God. (John 17:17) He knew it was the truth that would make the people free and enable them to join in praising God unto salvation, and with this truth from God’s Word he had filled his heart. (John 8:32) So Jesus could not refrain from doing that which he knew was to the highest good of humankind and, more importantly, to the eternal glory of God and the vindication of Jehovah’s name. The desire to praise God was like a burning fire within him and he could not keep still. Jeremiah felt the same way, for he said: “But his word was in mine heart as a burning fire shut up in my bones, and I was weary with forbearing, and I could not stay.” (Jer. 20:9) Jesus did not make an effort to withhold his praise. Rather, as it is written, “And it occurred afterwards that he traveled through every city and village, publishing and proclaiming the glad tidings of the kingdom of God; and the twelve were with him.”—Luke 8:1, Diaglott.

 4. How was this exemplified in the case of the apostles?

⁴ And what about the twelve that were with him? They, too, became praisers of God by preaching his Word and telling of his good works. They looked for God’s salvation, even as we look for it now in these last days when it is so near. How did they qualify to praise God? They did not spend years getting ready to tell others about the glorious gospel of the Kingdom. With the exception of Paul, they were not men of worldly education, yet that did not stop them from confessing with their mouths. For example, take Peter and John. Although uneducated according to the standards of the day, they praised God so mightily in declaring his way of salvation that they caused great wonderment among the high officials of Jerusalem. “Now when they saw the boldness of Peter and John, and perceived that they were unlearned and ignorant men, they marvelled; and they took knowledge of them, that they had been with Jesus.” “Unlearned and ignorant” though they were considered to be, they had hearts filled with the desire to praise God because of what they had heard from Jesus. “Out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaketh”; so they spoke words of praise to Jehovah. These early Christians were joined by many more who heard the truth from their lips, and they formed a great company of gospel-preachers. They had a treasure of knowledge concerning God and his kingdom, and they brought forth good things in behalf of all the people. For “the good man out of his good treasure bringeth forth good things: and the evil man out of evil treasure bringeth forth evil things. . . . For by thy words thou shalt be justified, and by thy words thou shalt be condemned”. (Matt. 12:34-37, Am. Stan. Ver.) They stood apart from the religious scribes and Pharisees whom Jesus condemned as bringers of evil upon the people.—Matthew 23.

 5. What are the requirements to be able to preach and praise?

⁵ So neither education nor lack of education can prevent anyone from singing praises to God; nor is one’s qualification to preach determined by his social or financial standing. He must have an honest heart, desiring truth and righteousness. That does not mean to say it is not necessary for a man today to study God’s Word, for as the disciples had to learn from Jesus, so we today must learn from the Bible. It would be impossible to answer any man concerning God’s works and the hope you have in God’s promises unless you apply yourself to study of what God has written concerning himself. You must always be ready to give an answer for the hope that you have in order to stir up faith in others. (1 Pet. 3:15) Paul admonished Timothy on this point, saying: “Study to shew thyself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth.” (2 Tim. 2:15) Timothy needed to be equipped, and we need to be equipped today.

 6. Why is study necessary?

⁶ The mouth cannot speak good things of praise to God unless the heart is ready to supply the message from its abundance. So, then, “the heart of the righteous studieth to answer.” (Prov. 15:28) Study, then! That is what you must do in order to serve God in the right way; and as you learn you must put your knowledge to work by telling others. This will strengthen your faith, “a basis of things hoped for, a conviction of things unseen,” and you will be better able to commend to others the good works of God. Through personal study you will gain an insight of God’s omnipotence; you will hear of his wondrous acts in times past in behalf of men of good-will, and you will see what he promises for this day and for the new world now at hand. Paul says that “faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the word of God”. (Rom. 10:17) So you must study the Word of God, which requires merely the ability to hear and read in your own native tongue.

 7. So, with limited time available, what is it needful to do?

⁷ But you say that you must work at your job for eight hours a day, five or six days a week, with only week-ends and a few evenings free for other activity of your own choosing. True, and the great majority of people in every nation have to do the same. Yet it is to them and to you that the glorious gospel of Christ is being preached, and you have the same opportunity of hearing, believing and praising God unto salvation. God is not making a mistake in having the gospel preached to you and to like people in all the world, because there are people in all the world who will praise God and be saved. God knows you have the problems of life that are common to all men and that you must, by the sweat of your brow, wrest a living from the earth. Yet he knows, too, that you have sufficient time to hear his message and act in harmony with it in giving him praise that is due; otherwise he would not bother to have the gospel preached. Therefore to those of honest heart in this evil world he gives some good advice, namely: “Look therefore carefully how ye walk, not as unwise, but as wise; redeeming the time [buying up the opportunity, margin], because the days are evil. Wherefore be ye not foolish, but understand what the will of the Lord is.” (Eph. 5:15-17, Am. Stan. Ver.) It is possible for you to devote a little time each week to a consideration of God’s Word as it applies to these times; and it is possible for you to set aside some time for the giving of praise to God. But there must be the desire on your part and the determination to take the God-approved course, by his grace.

 8. How is the practical possibility of this attested to?

⁸ The practicalness of this conclusion is attested to by the record of Jehovah’s anointed witnesses and that great multitude of persons now with them in praising Jehovah God in all the earth. Most of these people are just like you. They are factory workers, farmers, professional men, laborers, skilled tradesmen, housewives—in fact, they come from every walk of life. Many of them have families to care for and they work for their daily bread. They have household chores to perform; they get sick now and then; they come home from work late sometimes; and very often they are tired from the long hours of work they must perform in order to realize a reasonably comfortable existence. All the problems of life that you must daily face, they contend with also; and yet they study God’s Word to gain better understanding, and they devote some time to singing Jehovah’s praises. They are looking for the salvation that God has promised, with its eternal blessings. Therefore they understand that not all one’s effort must be devoted to securing comforts in this present evil world, nor should one strive to lay up treasure as a protection against the future. While they work for their daily living, they keep in mind Jesus’ words: “Lay not up for yourselves treasures upon earth, where moth and rust doth corrupt, and where thieves break through and steal: but lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust doth corrupt, and where thieves do not break through nor steal.” (Matt. 6:19, 20) They strive to lay up these treasures with God in heaven by praising him here on earth, with the assurance that such heavenly treasure will be available to them in full measure.

HOW DO SO?

 9. How does the Yearbook show his witnesses did this in 1949?

⁹ How do Jehovah’s witnesses and their companions praise God? By preaching the gospel of the Kingdom. Referring to the 1950 Yearbook we find a record of great world-wide activity in offering this praise to God. More than 317,000 different individuals devoted approximately 53,700,000 hours to the service of preaching in 1949. They conducted more than 167,000 free Bible studies in the homes of the people weekly, singing praises of God to those who wanted to hear. As they walked from house to house encouraging the people to give heed to the gospel message, they left more than 15,000,000 Bibles, books and booklets in the homes of the people, in scores of languages. Additionally, more than 13,000,000 copies of magazines bearing the “good news” were obtained from them by persons who wanted to know more about this “time of the end”, to be followed by a new world of righteousness. They found it necessary to arrange for more than 174,000 public Bible lectures during 1949 and they advertised these meetings widely. The interest manifest by the people who heard compelled these preachers to revisit homes more than 15,800,000 times during the year. All of this work was done in 104 different nations, colonies, isles of the sea and territories of nations. How did Jehovah’s witnesses do it? By going “through every city and village, publishing and proclaiming the glad tidings of the kingdom of God”, as Jesus did it. And, mind you, most of this work was done by people who have families, jobs, and all the other responsibilities that are common to all men. But they set aside a little time each week for praising God, endeavoring to be “filled with the fruits of righteousness, which are by Jesus Christ, unto the glory and praise of God”.—Phil. 1:11.

10. By what course do they help people study? On what terms?

¹⁰ Jehovah’s witnesses, working under the direction of the Watch Tower Society, are prepared to aid any seeking person in his study of the Bible. They have a systematic and orderly course of study in Bible matters, designed to fit into the busy routine of the man or woman who must work for his daily bread. This study course is based upon a time period of one hour each week, that hour to be of your choice. Right in your own home you can in a few months’ time gain more knowledge of the Bible and its present-day application than you ever dreamed you could have in a lifetime. What does it cost you? Absolutely nothing, except your time and the small effort you put forth. Yes, Jehovah’s witnesses, many of whom themselves learned Bible truths in the very same manner, are willing to come to your home for one hour each week and help you grasp what the Bible says and what it means today; and they will not charge you a penny for this Bible-study service. This is in keeping with the invitation that God himself sends forth to everyone: “Let him that heareth say, Come. And let him that is athirst come. And whosoever will, let him take the water of life freely.” (Rev. 22:17) Moreover, when Jesus sent the twelve out to preach “The kingdom of heaven is at hand” he reminded them that they had not paid anything for the good truth they received from him. So he said to them, “Freely ye have received, freely give.” This brings praise to God because it is an unselfish devotion to helping others learn of Him.—Matt. 10:7, 8.

11. What knowledge is thus gained? By what study arrangement?

¹¹ Using a textbook provided by the Watch Tower Society you take up Bible study according to a topical arrangement. Within a year’s time you will have covered many subjects. You will know who Jehovah God really is; why he sent his Son Christ Jesus to the earth and what Jesus did; how a disobedient cherub became Satan the Devil, God’s opponent, and why he seeks to devour all men. Hell, the “trinity”, the Lord’s return, resurrection, the end of the world, judgment day, images, sabbath, prayer, the Kingdom, the “new earth”, consecration—all these and many other subjects will come under your examination in a year’s time and you will understand what the Bible has to say on all of them. How much of this have you learned through religion in many years? You will have a good basic knowledge of what the Bible teaches, and you will have read the Scripture texts yourself out of your own Bible. No man will have deceived you with cunningly devised fables, but you will have rightly divided the Word of truth. Your whole outlook on world conditions will change and you will have new hope, because now God has revealed to you through his Word the reason for present-day troubles. But you will not be satisfied to stop here, for you will want to go on increasing in knowledge and understanding. You will join the psalmist in his prayer to God, saying: “Make me to understand the way of thy precepts: so shall I talk of thy wondrous works.”—Ps. 119:27.

12. How does such knowledge acquired and appreciated affect us?

¹² You will find that you cannot hold back from telling to others the good news that you have learned. It fills your heart and burns within you, and you get great joy out of speaking the truth to your friends and neighbors. Truly, “it is more blessed to give than to receive,” so you will want to follow the example of Christ Jesus, telling publicly that “the kingdom is at hand”. You will, even with what you think is your limited knowledge, feel like the prophet Isaiah did, who said, “The Lord GOD has given me a tongue for teaching.” (Isa. 50:4, An Amer. Trans.) You will want to teach others so they may praise God also. The prophet Zechariah knew beforehand what you and others like you would do in these last days, and so he declared: “These are the things that ye shall do: Speak ye every man the truth with his neighbor.” (Zech. 8:16, Am. Stan. Ver.) And you will be doing that, secure in the knowledge that it is the approved way of praising God and that you have his favor and blessing. You are now actively fulfilling the primary purpose of Christianity, which is to give witness in favor of Jehovah and his kingdom by Jesus the Messiah. Because of your newly found vision of God and the kingdom by his Christ, “your heart shall rejoice, and your joy no man taketh from you.”—John 16:22.

IN HELPFUL ASSOCIATION

13. Why does responsibility to associate fall on us?

¹³ There are other responsibilities that fall upon those who undertake the praising of God’s name. Individually, each one has toward God the obligation of using his tongue to sing God’s praises to others. But, because now he is a part of God’s family of “chosen people” upon whom Jehovah bestows his spirit and blessing in their faithful service to Him, the new publisher of the Kingdom must not keep himself apart from others who are similarly worshiping God. In the days of Christ Jesus and the apostles the truth spread out over a wide area of the then known world as a result of their preaching. Many people heard, believed, exercised faith and began to join in offering praise to God, just as they are doing today. Because these believers were in a world generally hostile to the truth they were, on the basis of their common belief and faith, naturally drawn together. Thus we find that early Christians were associated in congregations or companies, which the Bible calls “churches”.—Rev. 1:4; 1 Cor. 16:1.

14. How was this need to associate shown in the early church?

¹⁴ The evidence shows that the early praisers of God were associated together in these “churches” or groups, and the “churches” were in contact with the headquarters at Jerusalem, where there were many of the apostles and older brothers. In like manner all of Jehovah’s witnesses throughout the world today have contact with the central headquarters through association with the local congregations. This association together is very beneficial to the individual and has God’s blessing, for we read concerning the ministry of Paul and Timothy: “And as they went on their way through the cities, they delivered them the decrees to keep which had been ordained of the apostles and elders that were at Jerusalem. So the churches were strengthened in the faith, and increased in number daily.” (Acts 16:4, 5, Am. Stan. Ver.) Moreover, God deemed it advisable to have entire letters of the Greek Scriptures addressed to various churches or congregations, giving instruction, admonition and correction to the entire group of worshipers. Thus the congregations received the encouragement and assistance that the headquarters body was able to provide, and this strengthened them in the faith and aided in fostering an increase among the associated praisers.

15. Why can we not afford to neglect such association together?

¹⁵ What was true in the days of the apostles is more true at this time as we see the day of Armageddon’s trouble fast approaching. No one today who wants to serve God acceptably can afford to ignore the injunction at Hebrews 10:25 (An Amer. Trans.): “Let us not neglect meeting together as some do, but let us encourage one another, all the more as you can see that the great Day is coming nearer.” It pleases God for us to meet together for joint study of his Word and for combined activity in the field service, and his blessing is seen in the great increase in the numbers of persons praising him in every nation. We cannot afford to remain away from the meetings of Jehovah’s witnesses where our brethren receive instruction and plan their organized praise. God’s favor is plainly upon the group activity and the arrangements for the weekly Watchtower study, service meeting and course in Theocratic ministry, which are held in the local Kingdom Halls of Jehovah’s witnesses everywhere throughout the earth. Each one has the responsibility of contributing toward these meetings for the general good of the congregation and for his own spiritual welfare. To neglect these congregational activities when they are available to us indicates a lack of appreciation for God’s arrangement to aid us in maintaining our praise to him, thus assuring us of salvation. Such neglect may lead to worse despisings on our part and we may ultimately fall from the ranks of praisers.

16. How must we bear our responsibility? To compare with whom?

¹⁶ As we work with a congregation, cooperating in doing the field work of preaching, “everyone will have to bear his own load of responsibility.” (Gal. 6:5, Moff.) That is to say, each publisher of the Kingdom message is directly responsible to the Great Judge for the work he does or does not do in and with the congregation. God requires a “reasonable service” of praise from each one, which the individual ought to do according to a convenient schedule. If, by God’s grace, he is able to do much in Kingdom service, he will not compare his record with that of another person who is perhaps able to do less, seizing upon the occasion as an opportunity to boast among his brethren. He will realize that “every man ought to test his own work, and then whatever satisfaction he has will be with reference to himself, and not in comparison with someone else”. (Gal. 6:4, An Amer. Trans.) If you must compare yourself with others, take Jesus as your measuring rod and see how you line up with his example. That will eliminate any spirit of competition from the congregation and the consequent feeling of dejection, inferiority or discouragement that is prone to occur to those who are, for one reason or another, able to perform less service than others. For real satisfaction from your service, you must follow the spiritual advice that Paul gave to the Colossians, namely: “Whatever you are doing, let your hearts be in your work, as a thing done for the Lord and not for men. For you know that it is from the Lord you will receive the inheritance as your reward. . . . The man who perpetrates a wrong will find the wrong repaid to him.”—Col. 3:23-25, Weymouth (Fifth Edition); 1 Cor. 10:31.

17. How can we bear one another’s burdens, and those of the weak?

¹⁷ While each must bear his own load before God, he does at the same time have a responsibility toward others in the congregation having the same faith and who are also striving to praise God. Paul indicates this when he says, “Bear ye one another’s burdens, and so fulfil the law of Christ.” This shows that, as we praise God ourselves, we cannot be unmindful of those who are associated with us in running the race of faith. If we have first in mind the vindication of Jehovah’s name and his universal sovereignty, then we will appreciate that the faithful, constant service of our fellow workers will contribute as much toward the honoring of Jehovah’s name as will our own confession of praise. Contrariwise, the failure of any will bring reproach upon God’s cause. So if we are strong in the Lord and in the power of his might and bear our own burdens well, perhaps also being better situated materially to do this, we must fulfill an obligation toward those who may be having a more difficult time continuing with us in God’s service. Because we are strong, we cannot become impatient with those among us who are weak, nor can we brush them aside as of little importance in God’s arrangement. If we do so, then we are going expressly contrary to the Lord’s instruction given through the apostle Paul. He says: “We who are strong ought to bear the burdens that the weak make for themselves and us. We are not to please ourselves; each of us must please his neighbour, doing him good by building up his faith. Christ certainly did not please himself, but, as it is written, The reproaches of those who denounced Thee have fallen upon me.—All such words were written of old for our instruction.”—Rom. 15:1-4, Moff.

FACILITATING OUR PRAISING TOGETHER

18. In our association by what spirit must we be guided? How?

¹⁸ This means, really, that in our association together as a group of God’s people we are not to be governed by the standards or spirit governing those outside of the faith in the world. The world operates on the principle of selfishness, and a man is acclaimed for his achievements no matter whom he hurts or offends in the process. “Survival of the fittest” is the motto of this evil world, and so in their struggle to get to the top men of the world bite and devour one another, they bicker and strive, they indulge in quarrelings and bitter rivalries. Frequently they assume the attitude that “the end justifies the means” and they steamroller over anything that gets in their way. Not so among God’s people, however, because they know that those who practice such things will not inherit the kingdom of God. (Gal. 5:21) Anyone seeking to praise Jehovah must be guided by the spirit of God. “Now I say, Walk by the spirit, and fulfil not the desire of the flesh. For the flesh desires the contrary of the spirit, and the spirit the contrary of the flesh; for these are opposed to each other; so that you do not perform the things which you wish.” (Gal. 5:16, 17, Diag.) Being guided by the spirit of God, his servants in their association together must walk by the spirit and show forth the fruits of the spirit. “But the fruit of the spirit is love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, fidelity, meekness, self-control; against such like things there is no law.” (Gal. 5:22, 23, Diag.) There is no law that prohibits a Christian from superabounding in these good fruits of the spirit, and in doing so he is a blessing to those with whom he associates. That means we will not be acting immorally, getting drunk, indulging in pleasures to excess as the world in general does, but we will be soberly giving first attention to spiritual things.

19. Why must we not be touchy, sensitive, quick to retaliate?

¹⁹ Looking to the direction of God’s spirit we will not conduct ourselves in the company of God’s people as though we had a chip on our shoulder. It is not good to be so touchy and sensitive that we seize upon every remark or utterance as an assault upon our person and attempt to retaliate in kind. We must not permit prejudice to build up within us against another brother or sister in the company organization, so that we cannot speak to her or hear him speak without being overbalanced adversely to the extent of closing our mind to the good things from God’s Word that he may be imparting to the congregation relative to our mutual service. This will have a tendency to sour our mental disposition and distort our thoughts, and the resulting mental upset will not permit us to benefit from attendance at meetings. Instead of fixing our mind on the important things of God’s service, the united service is forgotten in favor of personal selfish inclinations. There is danger, too, that this attitude, as a cancerous growth, may spread to others of the congregation and thus inflict spiritual damage to more than ourselves. We must strive to counter such imperfect inclinations by exercising love and forbearance.

20. Why not gloat over but try to help those who have misstepped?

²⁰ Being guided by God’s spirit we will never become cocky, high-minded and proud, thinking we have progressed to a point where it is impossible for us to commit a trespass or be overcome by the adversary. “Let him that thinketh he standeth take heed lest he fall.” (1 Cor. 10:12) Realizing that we are all subject to temptation, we will not feel any inward satisfaction over a misstep of another brother in the congregation. Having love, kindness and self-control, we will be anxious to help that brother up from his unfortunate condition. We will not increase his burden by going to others in the congregation and whispering to them just what his difficulties are and wherein he has erred, not if we love him and want to help him as one of God’s “sheep”. We will try to visualize ourselves in the same position and then we will act toward him as we would want to be dealt with if we made the same mistake. This is the gist of the apostle’s advice at Galatians 6:1 (Am. Stan. Ver.): “Even if a man be overtaken in any trespass, ye who are spiritual, restore such a one in a spirit of gentleness; looking to thyself, lest thou also be tempted.”

21. How do we avoid disturbing a company over personal wrongs?

²¹ Suppose a brother commits a wrong of some kind against us, perhaps unsuspectingly. What shall we do? Shall we hold a grudge and be unyielding in our attitude, waiting for him to come beaten and penitent at our feet? Shall we insist on a public apology before we attempt any move at reconciliation? No; we can go to him and settle the matter privately, avoiding publicity that might embarrass him. In a spirit of gentleness we will approach him in the way Jesus directed, striving for a settlement of the matter with the least possible disturbance. If he will not hear us, then we can lay the matter before the representative members of the congregation so that they, quietly and in a spirit of gentleness, might remonstrate with the one who has offended us. (Matt. 18:15-17) We must not let slip from our mind the general good and welfare of the congregation, and our efforts at settlement of any dispute should be put forth having first in mind the peace and unity of the company, so that God’s service of praise is not interfered with. In this way we endeavor to safeguard God’s organization, and at the same time hold onto those who are our brethren, and not merely preach to others outside of the organization in order to bring new ones into the fold of God. All of this imposes a burden upon us, but we must willingly bear it to help others with their load.

22. Why should we be merciful and also not abuse others’ mercy”?

²² We must remember that Jesus did not spare himself, but he ‘laid down his life for his friends’. He was surely walking by the spirit of God when he unselfishly took upon himself our great burden of sin, while at the same time bearing the reproaches that fell upon God. He was reflecting in our behalf the great mercy that God himself exercises, and so he was praising Jehovah God. We must be willing to extend the same mercy to our brethren who commit faults and make mistakes. Do not forget the divine law: “Blessed are the merciful, for they will be shown mercy!” (Matt. 5:7, An Amer. Trans.) We are going to make mistakes, too, at one time or another, and we shall want forgiveness and restoration “in a spirit of gentleness”. But we must always try to show improvement, else such mercy is wasted on us.

23. Why must we praise God during this interval before Armageddon?

²³ Today all of us who have heard the truth, by God’s mercy and loving-kindness, must be constantly aware of the fact that Jehovah is allowing this brief interval of time between the enthroning of his King and the violent outbreak of Armageddon so that “this gospel of the kingdom” may be preached. Already thirty-six years have passed and the opportunity to praise God grows more fleeting with each succeeding year. Urgently the command falls upon us with increasing force: “Praise ye Jehovah. Praise God in his sanctuary: praise him in the firmament of his power. Praise him for his mighty acts: praise him according to his excellent greatness. . . . Let everything that hath breath praise Jehovah. Praise ye Jehovah.” (Ps. 150:1-6, Am. Stan. Ver.) This is no local call to praise God; it is a universal appeal to all creation to join in singing Jehovah’s praises. All men that know Jehovah must praise him now, so that maximum opportunity is afforded others of goodwill to learn of him and join in the praising. Every available instrument must be pressed into service to sound out Jehovah’s glories. No one must shirk his privilege of joining in the “Hallelujah” chorus, for the only creation that will survive to all eternity will be that which renders unceasing praise to Jehovah in this “day of Jehovah” and forever beyond its terrible climax.