Giving Thanks - Praise the Lord. Psalm 146

Intro

I don’t know how many of you follow the news and what is happening nationally.

This week was election week and while we did not have anything here locally, there were a number of things that happened across the country.

For an off year election cycle, no Senate, House, or presidential candidates, there were some significant things that happened.

In looking at results from this week, it appears that for the most part, liberal values won the day.

Now I must say, conservative values are not all necessarily Christian values, but many of them do align.

I’m not here to offer political commentary, but I use this information for a purpose.

For those with a conservative mindset, it feel as though the country is being ripped away.

It can be hard to be thankful.

What does one do in this situation?

The key I believe comes in realizing where we put our trust.

We are going to take this week and next as we prepare for thanksgiving to do just that.

To remember in whom we trust.

To remember to be thankful.

The Bible is full of wonderful examples of thankfulness.

One place that we can turn to in order to find examples is the Psalms.

Psalms 146-150 are and example of some that praise the Lord.

They are referred to as the Halel psalms because each one begins and ends with the Hebrew word Hallelujah.

Which as we see is translated - Praise the Lord!

Warren Wiersbe writes of these Psalms

Be Exultant Psalm 146

These five psalms are a short course in worship, and God’s people today would do well to heed their message. Sanctuaries are turning into religious theaters and “worship” is becoming more and more entertainment. The author of this psalm understood that God was not just a part of life but the heart of life.

We will focus this morning on Psalm 146.

Psalm 146 ESV

1 Praise the Lord! Praise the Lord, O my soul! 2 I will praise the Lord as long as I live; I will sing praises to my God while I have my being. 3 Put not your trust in princes, in a son of man, in whom there is no salvation. 4 When his breath departs, he returns to the earth; on that very day his plans perish. 5 Blessed is he whose help is the God of Jacob, whose hope is in the Lord his God, 6 who made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that is in them, who keeps faith forever; 7 who executes justice for the oppressed, who gives food to the hungry. The Lord sets the prisoners free; 8 the Lord opens the eyes of the blind. The Lord lifts up those who are bowed down; the Lord loves the righteous. 9 The Lord watches over the sojourners; he upholds the widow and the fatherless, but the way of the wicked he brings to ruin. 10 The Lord will reign forever, your God, O Zion, to all generations. Praise the Lord!

We don’t know who wrote this Psalm, as it is not ascribed in the title to a specific author.

This psalm (and each of Psalms 147-150), begins and ends with the exhortation, “Praise the Lord” (“Hallelujah”).

We should not use hallelujah loosely, lest we be guilty of taking the Lord’s name in vain.

It should be a genuine expression of praise to the Lord.

What does that mean though?

What does it mean to praise the Lord?

Praising the Lord often involves expressing adoration and worship.

We worship a God who is all-powerful, all-knowing, and in control of the universe.

Praising the Lord may include expressions of gratitude and thanksgiving for the blessings and goodness.

As believers we may thank the Lord for life, health, provisions, and other aspects of our existence.

We can praise because we have a direct and personal connection with God through Jesus Christ.

Our psalmist doesn’t leave it at praising the Lord, the second half of verse one goes on praise the Lord, O my soul!

The term "soul" refers to the inner, spiritual essence of an individual.

In Genesis, the Hebrew word for soul refers to the finished created individual, embodied and breathing.

Genesis 2:7 ESV

7 then the Lord God formed the man of dust from the ground and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, and the man became a living creature.

Living creature in that verse is the same word used for soul.

God gives life, not just physical life, but spiritual life.

The outer and the inner being.

Praising the Lord with your soul involves a profound, heartfelt connection with God.

Praising the Lord with your soul suggests a genuine and authentic expression of worship.

It's not just about going through the motions or reciting words; it involves a sincere and earnest connection.

The soul is often associated with emotions and feelings.

Praising the Lord with your soul involves engaging your emotions in worship—

expressing joy, gratitude, awe, reverence, and other deep emotions that arise from a profound connection with God

Praising the Lord with your soul implies a conscious effort to connect with God on a spiritual level, a desire to connect with our innermost being.

It's an acknowledgment that, at a fundamental level, your spirit recognizes the authority and sovereignty of God.

It's about contemplating the depth of God's love, mercy, and grace and responding with gratitude and adoration.

Praising the Lord with your soul extends beyond formal worship settings.

It involves living a life that reflects your commitment to God's teachings and values,

recognizing that worship is not confined to a specific time or place but permeates every aspect of your existence.

Praising with the soul often includes a longing and seeking for God's presence.

It involves a desire to experience a deep and ongoing relationship with Him

Recognizing that the soul finds its ultimate fulfillment in communion with God.

Praising God every day as long as you live won’t happen naturally or because you have a cheery disposition.

It requires a God-ward focus, where you see every blessing and trial coming from His loving hand.

Also, the psalmist has to make this determined resolve to praise God as long as he is alive because, as he clearly shows (in verses 7-9), the Lord’s people are not exempt from difficult trials.

They are oppressed, hungry, imprisoned, blind, bowed down, strangers, fatherless, and widowed. There are wicked people in the world who persecute them (v. 9c).

English Standard Version Psalm 146

I will sing praises to my God while I have my being.

Christian Standard Bible Psalm 146

I will sing to my God as long as I live.

New Living Translation Psalm 146

I will sing praises to my God with my dying breath.

The apostle Paul gives a similar list

Romans 8:35 ESV

35 Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or danger, or sword?

Then he adds

Romans 8:37 ESV

37 No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us.

We can’t base our praise for the Lord on happy circumstances or on the mood of the moment.

Praising the Lord always doesn’t rest on having an upbeat, happy personality.

Rather, it must be the determined choice of those who know God’s love through Jesus Christ.

The same is true for our earthly relationships.

Many earthly relationships fail because people fail to chose to love.

In whatever trials or joys we may find ourselves, we must join the psalmist in preaching to ourselves, “Praise the Lord, O my soul!”

We must join Paul, who from prison wrote (Phil. 4:4), “Rejoice in the Lord always; again, I will say, rejoice!”

Charles Spurgeon put it this way.

“We cannot be too firm in the holy resolve to praise God, for it is the chief end of our living and being that we should glorify God and enjoy Him forever.”

And, if we all will live that way each day during the week, when we gather to worship on the Lord’s Day, God’s praises will flood this place.

As we continue in the Psalm

At first glance, verse 3 seems disjointed from verses 1 & 2.

Psalm 146:3 ESV

3 Put not your trust in princes, in a son of man, in whom there is no salvation.

What is the connection between praising the Lord and not trusting in princes (or, in modern terms, influential people)?

The connection is, you will praise the one whom you trust if he helps you.

I can think a number of people in whom we might put our trust.

Our employer financial advisor Pastor spouse parents children siblings friends The government Social Security The church

Not that any of these are bad in themselves.

Trusting in influential people is misplaced, because they are mortal and any help that they may give is short-lived.

In verse 4 he supports his case: The powerful man in whom you trust is one breath away from the grave, where he will be no help at all.

Woe to those who look to others to come to their rescue.

Blessed are those who turn to the Lord.

That’s what the psalmist would have us to do—turn to the Lord—

lean on his everlasting arms—

trust God to order and provide—

know that God will give you grace sufficient for the need in every situation.

That is why he writes

Psalm 146:5–9 ESV

5 Blessed is he whose help is the God of Jacob, whose hope is in the Lord his God, 6 who made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that is in them, who keeps faith forever; 7 who executes justice for the oppressed, who gives food to the hungry. The Lord sets the prisoners free; 8 the Lord opens the eyes of the blind. The Lord lifts up those who are bowed down; the Lord loves the righteous. 9 The Lord watches over the sojourners; he upholds the widow and the fatherless, but the way of the wicked he brings to ruin.

Spurgeon said

The Lord pours most into those who are most empty of self. Those who have least of their own shall have the most of God’s.

The psalmist makes four points here:

We can praise and trust in the Lord because he is the almighty creator of heaven and earth.

Look at the beginning of 6 again.

English Standard Version Psalm 146

who made heaven and earth,

the sea, and all that is in them,

We have seen this theme repeatedly in the psalms. You can trust in God because, in contrast to the mortal “helpers” of verses 3-4, the Lord is the almighty Creator.

The sea, for the Hebrews, often connotes that which is dark and threatening.

But, God made it, too, and thus He controls it.

He is Lord of heaven and earth.

We can praise and trust in the Lord because he is faithful forever.

He “keeps faith forever.” He never goes back on His covenant promises.

Hebrews 10:23 ESV

23 Let us hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering, for he who promised is faithful.

We can praise and trust in the Lord because he delights in helping the poor and needy.

Look at 7-9 again.

Oppressed, hungry, prisoners, blind, those who are bowed down (this is a person who is in distress, humiliation), the sojourners (people in a foreign land), widows, fatherless.

The Lord sustains each of these people.

We qualify in at least one of those categories.

We are all sojourners.

This world is not our home!

The Lord executes justice,

gives food,

sets prisoners free,

Do you thank God that he has freed you from sin?

Sin guilt is like an undertow that drags us back out into the ocean of sin.

Do you know that your sin, all of it (past, present, and future), has been fully dealt with at the cross?

And do you know that your guilt was entirely removed through Jesus’ death on the cross and resurrection from the dead?

It is true.

And think of this: if your guilt is gone the “undertow” is gone!

Thank you Lord!

opens the eyes,

lifts up,

Whatever your burden, cast it upon the Lord and He will lift you up. Even if you are bowed down with sin and guilt, bring it to the cross and plead the blood of Jesus. He is the friend of sinners!

loves the righteous,

Why is this in the midst of a list of people with overwhelming problems?

Because the righteous are often oppressed and persecuted because they follow the Lord. But as Jesus said

Matthew 5:10 ESV

10 “Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness’ sake, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.

watches over,

As I said, we are all sojourners.

Often, those who are foreigners are shunned or ridiculed or discriminated against.

I don’t know about you, but I feel that building here in our country, not in our town, but go down the road to Missoula.

We may begin to feel lonely and as if no one cares.

But the Lord cares for and protects.

upholds,

the psalmist’s point is that when we are weak and needy, we should trust in the Lord to bless us.

The psalmist in this section has said,

(1), that the Lord is able to bless you because He is the almighty Creator;

(2), He is forever faithful;

(3), He delights to sustain the weak and needy.

What other reason do we need to give thanks to the Lord!

And he provides so many more!

In doing all of this he brings the wicked to ruin.

And as 10 says the Lord will reign forever!

He is God to all generations!

Therefore Praise the Lord!

In his Reflections on the Psalms,” C. S. Lewis writes about how he long struggled to understand why the Psalms constantly called us to praise God as though God somehow depended on our approval until he noticed how much we delight to offer praise.

The Psalmists, in telling everyone to praise God, are doing what all men do when they speak of what they care about. My whole, more general, difficulty about the praise of God depended on my absurdly denying to us, as regards the supremely Valuable, what we delight to do, what we indeed can’t help doing, about everything else we value….

I think we delight to praise what we enjoy because the praise not merely expresses but completes the enjoyment; it is its appointed consummation. It is not out of compliment that lovers keep on telling one another how beautiful they are; the delight is incomplete till it is expressed. It is frustrating to have discovered a new author and not to be able to tell anyone how good he is; to come suddenly, at the turn of the road, upon some mountain valley of unexpected grandeur and then to have to keep silent because the people with you care for it no more than for a tin can in the ditch; to hear a good joke and find no one to share it with. . . . The Scotch catechism says that man’s chief end is ‘to glorify God and enjoy Him forever.’ But we shall then know that these are the same thing. Fully to enjoy is to glorify. In commanding us to glorify Him, God is inviting us to enjoy Him.”

Do you want God’s blessing in your life?

If so, always praise Him and always trust Him. We especially learn to praise and trust Him when He brings us into overwhelming situations that are beyond our ability.

Five loaves and two fish to feed 5,000 hungry men, plus women and children?

No way—unless you give your little to the Lord and ask Him to bless it.

Then you’ll praise Him and He even makes sure that you carry away a full basket of leftovers!