“He fulfills the desires of those who fear him; he hears their cry for help and saves them.” (v. 19)

Have you ever heard someone say something like this?

I won’t worship a God who won’t or doesn’t or hasn’t answered my prayers.

A lot of folks stay on the outside of faith because, on the way there, they haven’t experienced the blessing they’ve hoped for. They feel that God has withheld what they want, so they withhold their worship.

And that is fundamentally out of order.

Psalm 145 reminds us that every blessing—desires fulfilled, hope given, salvation assured—follows worship, and not the other way around. The rightly ordered life puts things in the right order: We worship God for who God is, and, in worshiping, we come to know His blessings.

The next time someone balks at the God who hasn’t blessed them yet, don’t invite them to pray harder. Invite them to worship.

— Tyler