Praise God

Intro

Daniel Webster Whittle was born on November 22, 1840 He was raised in a religious family. His mother was very religious and a very prayerful woman. In his youth he followed his parents faith, but walked away from it later on in his youth. He joined the military and would rise to the rank of Major. In the 1861 he was deployed to fight in the American civil war. During the war he was seriously injured and captured as a prisoner of war. he had to have his arm amputated above the arm. Coming from a religious family one would have expected these incidents to have made him to seek the Lord, that is not what happened to him at least initially. Fortunately for him, his mother packed a new testament bible in one of his bags. By God’s grace, while in hospital he came across this bible and began to read it. He read all the books from Matthew to Revelation many times. But for some reason he did not feel like giving his life to Jesus yet. Then one day a nurse came over with a request for him to come and pray for a dying soldier. The soldier had been pleading with the nurse to pray for him before he died. The dying soldier had no relationship with him but wanted to come back to Christ. Daniel Webster Whittle told the nurse that he too was not religious and was therefore not the right person to pray for the young man. The nurse was surprised as she had seen Daniel Webster Whittle reading the bible and he was also the only one she had seen who did not use cuss words or any unkind words. Finally Daniel Webster Whittle decided to go and pray with this young man. He found a young man of about seventeen years old and the young man pleaded with him. “‘Oh, pray for me! Pray for me! I am dying. I was a good boy at home in Maine. My mother and father are members of the Church, and I went to Sunday School and tried to be a good boy. But since I became a soldier I have learned to be wicked. I drank, and swore, and gambled, and went with bad men. And now I am dying, and I am not fit to die! Oh, ask God to forgive me! Pray for me. Ask Christ to save me!’” He knelt besides the bed of his young man and first of all confessed his own sins and accepted Jesus as his own personal savior. And then holding the young man’s hand he prayed with him for God to forgive the dying soldier Later on in life he penned this beautiful song, I Know Whom I have Believed as an expression of his faith and trust in the Lord. 2 Timothy 1:12 “12 and that is why I suffer these things. But I am not ashamed, because I know whom I have believed and am persuaded that he is able to guard what has been entrusted to me until that day.”

Daniel learned who God was and because of that he praised God. He worked with D L. Moody and went around as an evangelist writing songs. Because of who God is and what he ha done, Daniel learned to praise God. I love reading stories like that,to see how God has worked in peoples lives. it would not seem like that man would have much reasons to praise God. Even some of the Psalms that we ahve read through would appear that we also do not have much reason to praise God.

But we look at what the Lord has done for us, who he is and what he has done and it should cause us therefore to praise the Lord with Joy. What are some reasons you praise God in your daily life?”

HBI - All of us must learn praise the name of God for we can know for sure what He has done and who He is.

Praise God - 1-4

I believe that this is a fitting place to end our series on the book of Psalms for this summer. This was a community Praise Psalm, something they said together as a body of believers reflecting on the wonder and the glory of God. Because sometimes as we come to the Lord God in prayer, we need to be reminded why it is that we worship and praise God.

Life gets difficult, sin has wrecked the world. 1 Peter talks about how we need not be surprised when trials come our way as if it where some new thing but rather when they do happen we still need to glorify God. So this Psalm is a good reminder for us as a body of believers that we are to praise God in all that we do. We need reminding sometimes.

Psalm 135:1 CSB

1 Hallelujah! Praise the name of the Lord. Give praise, you servants of the Lord

I know not everyone like word studies but I couldnt help myself this time.

How many of you have heard the word Halal. You see halal prepared meat in the store a lot these days. Honestly it is a little cheaper then the rest often. Halal meat is prepared according to Islamic dietary laws, which require that animals be slaughtered in a specific manner to ensure their meat is permissible for consumption.

But it also has a meaning in Hebrew, which is where we get the word Hallelujah from.

Halal - To praise/extol the greatness of a deity.

Jah - Jehovah

essentially it means to praise the name of God for all that we have done.

the second line says the same thing. Praise the name of the Lord. So when we say or sing or pray hallelujah it we are saying praise God, praise the name of God.

Psalm 135:2–3 CSB

2 who stand in the house of the Lord, in the courts of the house of our God. 3 Praise the Lord, for the Lord is good; sing praise to his name, for it is delightful.

We are then told who all is supposed to praise the name of God, who this is written to.

Those who stand in the house of the Lord. We talked a little about this last week, what this means. It says that all those who stand in the house of the Lord in the courts of God are to praise the name if the lord. But things have changed. we are told that as followers of Jesus that we are all now the dwelling place of God.

1 Corinthians 3:16 CSB

16 Don’t you yourselves know that you are God’s temple and that the Spirit of God lives in you?

God’s presence used to dwell in the midst of the temple amongst the people of Israel, when Jesus died on the cross, the curtain to the temple was torn signifying access to the holy of holies, the presence of the glory of God.

But we are now the temple of God, He dwells in us as His followers. This as you may know is through the work and indwelling of the HS. So as the followers of Jesus it is our opportunity to praise the Lord God, He desires our praise.

the other reason why we are to praise God goes back to the people of Israel. I believe that the Bible speaks of God choosing the people of Israel as His chosen people, His treasured possession. The gospel was first to them then to the rest of us. Not that we are inferior but that they where given the responsibility of spreading the gospel. to those around them, it is just sometimes they failed.

We have been grafted into the family of God, We are not less important but have been given a different role to play.

We praise God Because...

There are many reasons why it is important to praise God, why we should be reminded to praise His name. when times start to get difficult to remember why it is that we praise God. After all we need to be reminded sometimes when times get tough.

Psalm 135:5 CSB

5 For I know that the Lord is great; our Lord is greater than all gods.

take for example when the ark of the covenant was taken from the Israelite's. The place where the stone tablets of the 10 commandments dwelt, the dwelling seat of the Lord God. it was put in the foreign countries temple in front of their idols and false gods. But the problem was in the presence of the Lord God the idols kept falling down prostrate. There is no other God. and for that we praise Him.

I know, we can know that God is Good, we can know for sure who God is and what He has done. I know God’s wondrous deeds and that he saved a wretch like me. I know whom I have believed and am persuaded that He is able to give us what we need to share the gospel, to live in this world until such a time as we are called back Home.

We can be fully convinced that God is who he says He is, are you fully convinced, or are you still on the fence. We can be sure God is who He says that he is.

Psalm 135:6–7 CSB

6 The Lord does whatever he pleases in heaven and on earth, in the seas and all the depths. 7 He causes the clouds to rise from the ends of the earth. He makes lightning for the rain and brings the wind from his storehouses.

This is not just poetry but a reminder that the Lord God is in control of the world. We are promised that there are going to be a lot of things going on wars, rumors of wars what people call natural disasters all to point people back to the fact that God is in control and trying to get people attention.

Praise the name of the Lord God for He is coming back again some day, he is giving us a chance to turn to Him, He is being patient. there is none like Him.

We praise God because of His wondrous acts.

Psalm 135:8–10 CSB

8 He struck down the firstborn of Egypt, both people and animals. 9 He sent signs and wonders against you, Egypt, against Pharaoh and all his officials. 10 He struck down many nations and slaughtered mighty kings:

We praise God because of the wonderful acts of God through creation and history. We are taken through a stroll in the history of Israel.

There is great danger in unhitching the OT from the NT as some people claim. There are a few pastor’s treading down a dangerous path. Some that claim that the OT laws are still applicable for us today and need to be followed and some that have gone in the other direction. This is a quote from a sermon from one of them.

Jesus’ new covenant, His covenant with the nations, His covenant with you, His covenant with us, can stand on its own two nail-scarred resurrection feet. It does not need propping up by the Jewish scriptures.

I understand what the pastor was trying to get across but it is a dangerous path to follow. You see the Ot and the NT are tied together. We learn in the OT of the Glory of God and the wonder of His acts in all of creation. He sent plagues on the Egyptians to show His glory to the nations.

Psalm 135:13–14 CSB

13 Lord, your name endures forever, your reputation, Lord, through all generations. 14 For the Lord will vindicate his people and have compassion on his servants.

We know the Lord because He has revealed Himself through his acts throughout history and even as we see him working now. If the Lord is going to vindicate His people, if we really know for sure He is who He says that he is then we must praise Him, we must live for Him.

Nothing else measures up

Nothing else measures up to our Lord God. This idea is echoed from earlier on in the chapter.

Psalm 135:15–18 CSB

15 The idols of the nations are of silver and gold, made by human hands. 16 They have mouths but cannot speak, eyes, but cannot see. 17 They have ears but cannot hear; indeed, there is no breath in their mouths. 18 Those who make them are just like them, as are all who trust in them.

We worship many things in this world, money, power, sometimes nothing, people athletes. But the scriptures tell us that nothing measures up to God. The people with all the money say that money cant buy happiness. And everyone tells them, of course you say that, you have all the money.

But take it from someone who knows, none of that measures up. When you learn to find peace and contentment from the Lord God and realize THE TRUTH IN THE WORD OF God THE ONLY REACTION LEFT IS TO PRAISE god TOGETHER.

We end the same way we began.

Psalm 135:19–21 CSB

19 House of Israel, bless the Lord! House of Aaron, bless the Lord! 20 House of Levi, bless the Lord! You who revere the Lord, bless the Lord! 21 Blessed be the Lord from Zion; he dwells in Jerusalem. Hallelujah!

I like this. It does mention at the beginning that Israel is the chosen people of God, they where originally given the task of spreading the message of God. Gentiles where added in, though we are not any lesser in value. (not everyone agrees with this view).

What I like about these verses is it reminds us that everyone is to bless the Lord and praise His name for all He has done. It goes through first Israel and then ends with everyone, all who revere the Lord praise His name.

We need to end with a few things here.

Let us Praise God together

This is meant to be a communal praise Psalm. We come to God on our knees remembering who God is and what He has done. Our response is to praise God together as the body of Christ. This does not just mean here at church but with our whole lives we are to work together, to spread the message of the gospel together, we are to praise God together. But we also need to learn to pray together for God to work in our midst. What are we doing to praise God together as the Body of Christ for all He has done.

We can be fully convinced that God is who He says He is

I know and am persuaded that God is able to do all the He says He is going to do to accomplish His will. After all it has already been done. Did you know that a young earth creation when looked at through the lens of scripture actually makes sense. did you know that there has been know archaeological evidence found to disprove the bible. All that they dig up in the land of Israel only goes to prove that what happened in the word of God actually happened.

I know God is able to accomplish His plan, He already has yet there is still some to come. So let us praise God together so all who see us will learn the gospel and will join us in praising the Lord.

Heavenly Father, We come before You with hearts full of praise, just as Psalm 135 calls us to do. You are great, and there is none like You. We thank You for Your mighty works, for You are the Creator of the heavens and the earth, the One who controls the winds and waters, and who makes all things by the power of Your word. You alone are worthy of our adoration and praise. Lord, we remember Your faithfulness to Your people, how You delivered Israel from slavery and guided them through every trial. We know that in the same way, You deliver us from our struggles and lead us with Your loving hand. Help us to trust in Your sovereignty, knowing that You are in control of all things, both in heaven and on earth. Father, we acknowledge that idols cannot compare to You. Forgive us when we place our trust in things that are powerless and lifeless. Help us to put our full faith in You alone, for You are the living God who hears and answers our prayers. May our lives be filled with gratitude for Your grace and mercy. Teach us to bless Your name in all we do, to honor You with our words, actions, and hearts. As we go through each day, remind us that we belong to You and that Your love endures forever. In Jesus’ mighty name, we pray. Amen.