C.S.Lewis, in reflecting on the Psalms, explains that "in the central act of our worship, it is God who gives and we who receive" and that "God does not in any sense need or crave our worship like a vain woman wanting compliments." This is also clearly stated in Psalm 49:12: "Were I hungry, I would not tell you.". He does not need the praise of lowly creatures like us. It is we who need to praise, to complete the delight and enjoyment, the perfect bliss we find in the Lord which overflows into praise and glorifying of the Lord. "Fully to enjoy is to glorify", says C. S. Lewis.

This helps us to understand what Hosea says in the First Reading: What I want is love, not sacrifice; knowledge of God, not holocausts." (6:6). This, too, Jesus emphasizes in refuting the objections of the Pharisees to His dining with the tax-collectors and sinners. Both Hosea's "knowledge of God' and Jesus' "learning the meaning of the words" (v.12) require that, to have an authentic spirituality, there should be no division between faith and social justice. Loving, knowing, enjoying and glorifying God involves loving and glorifying our fellow creatures as well.

St. Paul as well, in writing to the Romans, gave Abraham's faith in God as an example of the faith that justifies. Abraham's life was based on the practice of a praise-filled faith that sought justice, and a faith that worshipped God in truth.