Praise to the Lord, the Almighty

Good morning and welcome to NHCC. Please open your Bibles to Psalm 150.

Joakim Neander- “Praise to the Lord, the Almighty, the King of creation! O my soul, praise him, for he is your health and salvation! Come, all who hear; now to his temple draw near, join me in glad adoration.”

A hymn that focuses on praising God.

What text of Scripture could such a song be based on? Where do we see the highest and greatest instructions for praise?

Read Psalm 150- “Praise the Lord! Praise God in his sanctuary; praise him in his mighty heavens! Praise him for his mighty deeds; praise him according to his excellent greatness! Praise him with trumpet sound; praise him with lute and harp! Praise him with tambourine and dance; praise him with strings and pipe! Praise him with sounding cymbals; praise him with loud clashing cymbals! Let everything that has breath praise the Lord! Praise the Lord!”

Pray.

A psalm that closes the psalter and focuses on praising God.

What does it mean to praise something?

Praising is a way of communicating great value.

To make much of something. To regularly speak and live according to the greatness of something.

Screens. We know you are always thinking about them.

1. Who should praise God?

Psalm 150:1- “Praise the Lord! Praise God in his sanctuary; praise him in his mighty heavens!”

Draws attention to the inhabitants of these locations.

Those who are in His sanctuary.

This is the presence of God on earth. The building that was built as God’s house.

When we ask who- those who worship in the temple- the Jewish people.

God’s people- God is their God, and as a result, they are to praise and worship and honor God.

Those who are in the heavens.

Again, those who belong to God, whether earthly or heavenly beings.

But notice where the text goes by the end of the psalm.

Psalm 150:6- “Let everything that has breath praise the Lord! Praise the Lord!”

Everything that has breath.

John Calvin- “As yet the Psalmist has addressed himself in his exhortations to the people who were conversant with the ceremonies under the law, now he turns to men in general, tacitly intimating that a time was coming when the same songs which were then only heard in Judea, would resound in every quarter of the globe. And in this prediction we have been joined in the same symphony with the Jews, that we may worship God with constant sacrifices of praise, until being gathered into the kingdom of heaven, we sing with elect angels an eternal hallelujah.”

Psalm 150 is a call to missions. From the temple to the ends of the earth.

Our desire is to see God rightly worshiped and praise.

Parenting- What is the highest goal that you have for your kids? That they would praise God.

So we praise God, and we teach our kids how to praise God.

The greatest problems in our world today is that people don’t praise God, so we seek to make Him known.

We praise God, we live a life of praise, and we make disciples that praise.

Appreciate all of the prayer requests last week for those who don’t know Jesus.

“Tell the world of the treasure you’ve found.”

2. Where should God be praised?

Psalm 150:1- “Praise the Lord! Praise God in his sanctuary; praise him in his mighty heavens!”

In the sanctuary, in the temple.

Also in the heavens.

Points us back to Genesis- In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth- meaning, all of existence.

We are called to praise God everywhere.

The implications here are huge! We don’t simply praise God in the church building. Or around our dining room table. All of life is meant to be an avenue for praising, or making much of God. Recognizing Him for who He truly is.

Praise- communicating that which is of great value.

We all live praising something. What is it?

The psalmist writes that all of heaven and earth ought to be filled with the praises of God.

3. Why should God be praised?

Psalm 150:2- “Praise him for his mighty deeds; praise him according to his excellent greatness!”

The Psalmist gives a couple of reasons that we should praise God- both are of vital importance.

Answers the question- What will cause us to praise when we don’t much feel like praising God?

First- praise God for his mighty deeds.

Joachim Neander- “Have you not seen all that is needful has been, sent by His gracious ordaining.”

Love the question- Haven’t you seen, haven’t you heard?

Identifying well with Israel- I’ve forgotten how to obey or worship or praise God because I’ve not remembered all He has done for me.

Call to remember- If I don’t feel much like praising God, have I forgotten his mighty deeds?

Consider all that God has done on your behalf. And not just in your own life, but in the history of creation and existence.

Make a list. Five things.

Second- praise God according to His excellent greatness.

Not just what God has done, but who God is.

Joachim Neander- “Ponder anew what the Almighty can do, if with His love He befriends you.”

Strip away all of what God has done and simply consider who He is. This deserves your praise.

This is difficult. Praise God when He seems to have done nothing for you lately.

Praise God when He feels distant. Praise God in your doubt.

The psalmist reminds us that God is eternally worthy of our praise, not just for what He has done, but for who He is.

4. How should God be praised?

Psalm 150:3-5- “Praise him with trumpet sound; praise him with lute and harp! Praise him with tambourine and dance; praise him with strings and pipe! Praise him with sounding cymbals; praise him with loud clashing cymbals!”

Take what you have and redirect it towards the praise and worship of God.

As we work through the list of instruments, we find some that were likely not used in congregational worship.

Military instruments, etc.

Our psalmist says that we ought to take what we use for any area of life and direct it at the praise and worship of our God.

Begs the question- what are the tools that we have for our praise and worship of God?

How do we take all that we possess- our house, our families, our friendships, our cars, our bank accounts, things that typically are not seen as related to godly worship in any way, and redirect them towards praise, much like ordinary instruments in the psalm?

Perhaps this seems a bit extreme.

William Plumer- “The righteous set no bounds to their praise of the Most High. There is no danger that any creature will speak of God in terms too exalted; but rather that in our highest services we will fall below the glory of the theme.”

The psalmist reminds us that praising God invades every aspect and possession of our lives.

5. What does this mean for us?

We live a life of growth.

We grow in praise.

We learn to trust God and praise him through even the worst of circumstances.

Consider the psalter as a whole- begins with Psalm 1- Blessed is the man who finds himself in God’s presence rather than in the presence of evil.

Psalms continue and there are some highs and some lows.

Psalm 42 and Psalm 88- the difficulties of life and faith.

In the end- praise.

Has your life been a progression of praise?

Matthew Henry- “The nearer good Christians come to their end, the fuller they should be of the praises of God.”

This is a fascinating idea. We don’t merely grow in godliness, we grow in our desire to see God praised by all of creation.

What is my life becoming? In what direction do I intend to accelerate? Toward a life of praising God in all circumstances.

Joachim Neander- “Praise to the Lord! O let all that is in me adore Him! All that has life and breath, come now with praises before Him. Let the Amen sound from His people again; gladly forever adore Him.”