Praise Explored
Notes
Transcript
Introduction
Introduction
We will be kicking off a 31 days of Prayer focus Sunday, January 12 by praying for our Church.
This week we have the following prayer requests:
- Please pray for unity
- Pray for our leadership
- Pray for our students as they prepare to return to Champaign
- Pray for our community groups to effectively encourage each other and to reach the people around them.
Thank you note from Garner’s-
Here's a thank you note we'd love for you to share with the church-
“Thank you so much for the Christmas gifts that you sent to our family! When we are overseas during the holidays, we can easily feel disconnected from our church family in the States. But your prayers, thoughtfulness, and gifts made us feel seen and remembered! Thank you for being so generous. You truly are a blessing to our family. We are grateful for Cornerstone Church!”
In Luke 1-2, we saw a lot of PRAISING GOD! We saw ZECHARIAH, ELIZABETH, MARY, THE SHEPHERDS, SIMEON, ANNA, and more praising God! It would be fair for us to say that PRAISING GOD IS A THEME OF LUKE 1-2! And as we went through that short series, God really put it on my heart that we should take a week to TALK ABOUT PRAISING GOD!
And as I prayed about this, there was one passage in particular that stood out to me. That passage is Psalm 150. Psalm 150 is one of my FAVORITE psalms. I think in part because it has such a clear focus.
As I was preparing for today, I was reading a commentary and it tried to argue that there was no central purpose or central point of Psalm 150, but I would disagree.
This psalm is a doxology or a declaration of Praise! Psalm 150 is all about declaring how our God is worthy of Praise!
Throughout Psalm 150 we are going to see 13(!) commands to PRAISE GOD, or to GIVE PRAISE TO GOD!
Every time that we see the word praise, it is an IMPERATIVE VERB- in other words, it is a COMMAND!
To simplify this- Praising God isn’t optional, it’s mission CRITICAL!
Main Point: Praise the Lord
Main Point: Praise the Lord
Body
Body
Where Should We Praise God?
Where Should We Praise God?
As we jump into Psalm 150 today let’s start with the context of it.
The context of Psalm 150 is pretty interesting- there is NO INFORMATION GIVEN!
The title doesn’t give us context, the subtitle doesn’t give us context and there is not a single phrase in the psalm that helps us determine the context of this psalm.
We don’t know the author, or the occasion, or what led the psalmist to writing this, but we do know what’s on THEIR MIND!
This psalm is all about PRAISING GOD AND TEACHING US TO PRAISE GOD! The Psalmist had PRAISING GOD ON THEIR MIND!
Psalm 150:1 starts off by teaching us WHERE we should praise God!
1 Hallelujah!
Praise God in his sanctuary.
Praise him in his mighty expanse.
Immediately the first word we see sets the ton of this psalm- the first word we read is “Hallelujah!”
Hallelujah is a compound word coming from the word “HALLA” meaning “Shout in Joy, or Shout for Joy” and “Yah” which is short for “YAHWEH.”
This full phrase could be translated “Shout for JOY TO THE LORD!” or “SHOUT IN JOY TO THE LORD!”
This really sets the stage for this psalm. What should we be doing? We should be SHOUTING IN JOY TO THE LORD!
And where? Where should we shout for joy?
That’s what the second phrase starts to tell us.
We are to PRAISE GOD IN HIS SANCTUARY AND IN HIS MIGHTY EXPANSE!
God’s Sanctuary is literally translated “God’s HOLINESS” or in GOD’S HOLY PRESENCE!
So this is referring to the temple.
THE ISRAELITES WERE TO PRAISE GOD IN HIS TEMPLE IN THE PRESENCE OF GOD!
God chooses in the OT to have HIS PRESENCE DWELL IN THE TEMPLE!
So the people of Israel go to the temple to WORSHIP GOD!
For us though it is a little different. We have the Holy Spirit already!
God has made us the temple as we read in 1 Corinthians 6:19-20
19 Don’t you know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit who is in you, whom you have from God? You are not your own, 20 for you were bought at a price. So glorify God with your body.
So, then we don’t need to go TO A BUILDING TO PRAISE GOD, so what does this mean for us?
There’s two things that this means for us- first, we can and should PRAISE GOD ANYWHERE AND EVERYWHERE!
Secondly, we can look at this and apply it to a congregational setting.
See, the Israelite people congregationally praised GOD TOGETHER AT THE TEMPLE!
In God’s SANCTUARY THEY GATHERED WITH OTHERS TO WORSHIP GOD!
In the same way, we could say, “PRAISE GOD WHEN WE GATHER TOGETHER AS A CHURCH!” That’s our equivalent!
We should CORPORATELY PRAISE GOD AS A CONGREGATION WHEN WE ARE GATHERED TOGETHER ON SUNDAY’S!
Our time together is fundamentally about PRAISING GOD AND GLORIFYING GOD AS WE ARE EQUIPPED FOR MINISTRY- Ephesians 4:12
12 to equip the saints for the work of ministry, to build up the body of Christ,
Then the psalmist says something else.
The psalmist tells us to “PRAISE GOD IN HIS MIGHTY EXPANSE!”
The phrase “Mighty expanse” might remind us of something- it is GENESIS 1 language! It mirrors language found specifically in Genesis 1:6, 14!
This is an imperative command to PRAISE GOD IN GOD’S CREATION- and we know that GOD CREATED THE HEAVENS AND THE EARTH- SO PRAISE GOD EVERYWHERE!
Verse 1 tells us to PRAISE GOD IN THE TEMPLE, PRAISE GOD IN GOD’S CREATION, ANYWHERE THAT YOU ARE, PRAISE GOD! WHATEVER YOU ARE DOING- PRAISE GOD!
So hear that this morning- no matter where you are- if you are here, or joining us online- PRAISE GOD!
Where should you praise God?
EVERYWHERE! EVERYWHERE THAT YOU GO PRAISE GOD!
This morning, at lunch today, this afternoon, at work, at home, with family, at the DOCTOR’S OFFICE- PRAISE GOD!
Now, let’s look at WHY WE PRAISE GOD!
Why Should We Praise God?
Why Should We Praise God?
2 Praise him for his powerful acts;
praise him for his abundant greatness.
Verse 2 gives us 2 specific reasons to praise God. I want to be clear- there’s infinite reasons to praise God!
I mean, we can praise God for creating us, we can praise God for salvation, we can praise God for provision, we can praise God for HIS HOLINESS, we can praise God for HS CHARACTER!
The psalmist gives us two specific things here.
First- we praise God for God’s powerful acts.
Remember, this is an imperative verb! That means this is a command! WE NEED TO PRAISE GOD FOR HIS POWERFUL ACTS!
And God has done many POWERFUL ACTS!
Some of these powerful acts:
Creation
Delivering Israel from Egypt- in a similar way, God delivered us from sin
Providing for us!
And then secondly- we PRAISE GOD FOR GOD’S ABUNDANT GREATNESS!
There are two other ways to translate this- PRAISE GOD FOR GOD’S MULTITUDE OF GREATNESS or my personal favorite- GOD’S GREAT GREATNESS!
This is some Luke 1-2 language!
Throughout Luke 1-2 we see people PRAISING GOD OVER AND OVER AND HERE WE SEE SOME SIMILAR LANGUAGE!
Let me explain- in Luke 1 we saw that Jesus WAS GREAT WITHOUT LIMIT!
JESUS’S GREATNESS WAS GREAT!
In Luke 2, we saw that there was a “MULTITUDE” or a crowd of ANGELS that filled the sky as they appeared to the shepherds!
That’s how great our God is!
Our God is so great that his GREATNESS IS BIGGER THAN ANYTHING ESLSE!
GOD’S GREATNESS HAS NO LIMIT! IT FILLS OUR FULL ATTENTION!
So why do we praise God?
WE SPECIFICALLY PRAISE GOD BECAUSE OF HIS POWER AND HIS GREATNESS!
Isn’t it a comfort to worship a GOD THAT WE CANNOT EXAGGERATE?- Francis Chan
And there’s something very tangible that our GOD DID THAT SHOWED US HIS GREATNESS AND HIS POWER- and that is WHEN HE SENT HIS SON JESUS! (GOSPEL-BRIEF)
How Do We Praise God?
How Do We Praise God?
Between verses 3-6 we are going to see 9 ways that we should praise God! Each one of these has its own significance and its own meaning.
3 Praise him with the blast of a trumpet;
praise him with harp and lyre.
4 Praise him with tambourine and dance;
praise him with strings and flute.
5 Praise him with resounding cymbals;
praise him with clashing cymbals.
Let’s talk about the 9 different ways that we should praise God and what these mean.
First, the psalmist tells us to PRAISE GOD WITH THE BLAST OF A TRUMPET/ Ram’s horn!
This is referring to the blast of a ram’s horn known as a SHOFAR! Psalm 98:6 tells us how these are used!
6 With trumpets and the blast of the trumpet
shout triumphantly
in the presence of the Lord, our King.
The shofar is a sound of celebration! It’s an instrument that is used to DECREE THAT THE KING WAS WON!
And not just any king- notice the wording in Psalm 98:6- the shofar is blown for KING GOD!
This instrument was blown as A WAY TO PRAISE GOD FOR BEING VICTORIOUS AND TRIUMPHANT!
Secondly, we are instructed to PRAISE GOD IWTH THE HARP- this is closely linked to the third command- PRAISE GOD WITH THE LYRE!
Psalm 33:2 talks about these two stringed instruments!
2 Praise the Lord with the lyre;
make music to him with a ten-stringed harp.
David is a great example of this- He was commissioned to play the harp and lyre for Saul in 1 Samuel 16. Saul was oppressed by demonic spirits, but David’s playing and singing of praise to God helped.
Psalm 149:3 also references this and is a reminder that we can PRAISE GOD EVEN WITH THE SIMPLEST INSTRUMENTS!
3 Let them praise his name with dancing
and make music to him with tambourine and lyre.
Our praise doesn’t have to be complicated!
Some of my favorite times of praising God have come with a guitar and a box drum, or djembe!
It doesn’t have to be fancy or complicated. OUR PRAISE TO GOD COMES FROM OUR HEART BECAUSE OF WHO GOD IS, NOT BECAUSE OF OUR TALENT OR HIGH LEVELS OF TECHNOLOGY!
Fourth, we are instructed to PRAISE GOD WITH TAMBOURINES!
This is a direct reference to Exodus 15:20-21. Do you remember how I said that all of these ways of praising God have significance? Here’s a good example. Exodus 14 tells us how God led the Israelites through the Red Sea!
Exodus 15 is their song of praise! Exodus 15:20-21 say:
20 Then the prophetess Miriam, Aaron’s sister, took a tambourine in her hand, and all the women came out following her with tambourines and dancing. 21 Miriam sang to them:
Sing to the Lord,
for he is highly exalted;
he has thrown the horse
and its rider into the sea.
See- as the psalmist tells us how to praise, WE ARE ALSO REMINDED OF EXAMPLES OF GOD’S GREATNESS AND GOD’S POWERFUL ACTS!
Here’s a great example of it! The women of Israel PRAISE GOD WITH TAMBOURINE AND DANCE AFTER GOD POWERFULLY SAVES THEM!
And that carries into the fifth instruction we receive.
The fifth instruction is to PRAISE GOD WITH DANCING!
David is such a good example of this! 2 Samuel 6:5 tells us how Israel celebrates the ark of the covenant being moved to Jerusalem!
5 David and the whole house of Israel were dancing before the Lord with all kinds of fir wood instruments, lyres, harps, tambourines, sistrums, and cymbals.
We read later on in 2 Samuel 6 that David’s wife Michal judges him for his dancing and looks down on him! But David doesn’t care- because PRAISE ISN’T ABOUT OTHER PEOPLE, it is ABOUT GOD!
Psalm 30:11-12 shows another example of dancing before God. Psalm 30:11-12
11 You turned my lament into dancing;
you removed my sackcloth
and clothed me with gladness,
12 so that I can sing to you and not be silent.
Lord my God, I will praise you forever.
I’m not saying that you have to start dancing at this moment- in fact, this wasn’t a part of temple worship for the original audience of this psalm- but it IS A REMINDER that we are to GIVE PRAISE IN EVERYTHING AND TO NOT WORRY ABOUT WHAT ANYONE ELSE THINGS!
SING LOUD, RAISE YOUR HANDS, PRAISE IS BETWEEN YOU AND GOD!
Sixth, we see that we should PRAISE GOD WITH STRINGS!
Isaiah 38 tells us how God healed King Hezekiah! And after that, HEZEKIAH PRAISES GOD! Isaiah 38:20 says
20 The Lord is ready to save me;
we will play stringed instruments
all the days of our lives
at the house of the Lord.
As part of praising God, Hezekiah says that HE and PEOPLE WITH HIM, will PLAY STRINGED INSTRUMENTS!
Seventh, we see flutes referenced!
These are talked about in the intro to Psalm 5 amongst other places- it’s seen as a simple instrument.
there’s a trend that we need to see- ANYTHING CAN AND SHOULD BE USED TO PRAISE GOD!
This psalm is less about the makeup of our worship team and is REALLY TALKING ABOUT HOW WE SHOULD USE ANYTHING AND EVERYTHING THAT WE HAVE TO PRAISE GOD!
A simple tambourine? A simple flute? A lyre? USE IT TO PRAISE GOD!
The 8th and 9th items can sound similar, but there’s a difference. First, we are to PRAISE GOD WITH RESOUNDING CYMBALS!
Resounding cymbals were a sign of worship.
In Ezra 3-4 which recounts part of what Haggai talks about, the Levites take resounding cymbals to play them before singing and giving thanks to God!
In rabbinical writings, they are also talked about as being used to call people to attention before God’s Word was read and proclaimed!
To say this another way- the resounding cymbals remind us that worship is NOT JUST singing, worship is also HEARING THE WORD OF GOD PREACHED!
When we preach the WORD OF GOD- like we are right now- GOD IS WORSHIPPED!
To add to this- preaching God’s Word is a form of worship and it is also an act of discipleship- which challenges us that DISCIPLESHIP, or helping others follow GOD MORE CLOSELY is an act of WORSHIP!
Cornerstone Family, one thing I hope you’re seeing today is that PRAISING GOD IS SO MUCH MORE THAN JUST PLAYING A SONG ON AN INSTRUMENT!
There’s one last instrument mentioned- THE CLASHING CYMBAL!
Another way to translate this would be- “Praise GOD WITH CYMBALS AND A SHOUT!” This mirrors also the instruction of HALLELUJAH!
In other words- SHOUT YOUR PRAISE TO GOD! MUCH LIKE WHAT THE LEVITES DO IN EZRA 3-4, SHOUT YOUR PRIASE TO GOD!
Don’t hold back, don’t worry about what you sound like, or what someone else might think; SHOUT OUT YOUR PRAISE!
This 9th command is a command to FREELY GIVE PRAISE to GOD!
Who Praises God?
Who Praises God?
Our final section in this Psalm addresses WHO SHOULD PRAISE GOD!
Look at this- “Let everything that breathes praise the LORD!”
Who should praise God?
EVERYONE! EVERYTHING SHOULD PRAISE GOD!
It’s like Luke 19:40
40 He answered, “I tell you, if they were to keep silent, the stones would cry out.”
EVERYTHING WILL PRAISE GOD AND EVERYTHING SHOULD PRAISE GOD!
When CHRIST RETURNS, ALL THINGS WILL PRAISE THE LORD! EVERY KNEE WILL BOW AND EVERY TONGUE WILL CONFESS THAT JESUS IS LORD!
AND WE SHOULD PRAISE GOD!
This Psalm then ends with the same declaration that it begins with- HALLELUJAH!
SHOUT IN JOY TO THE LORD! SHOUT FOR JOY TO THE GOD WHO MADE US, WHO FORMED US, WHO LOVED US, WHO SAVED US!
EVERY SINGLE ONE OF US- WE NEED TO SHOUT FOR JOY!
Application
Application
Respond to God
Respond to God
GOD IS WORTHY OF PRAISE! RESPOND TO GOD’S GREATNESS TODAY!
(God’s Holiness confronts us as we worship Him and we then REPENT!)
In scripture when we see praise, we also see REPENTANCE- David is a great example of that in so many of his psalms and Paul talks to us about it when he tells us how to remember communion!
I want us to talk about what repentance means. (CONFESS AND TURN AWAY! IT MEANS TO STOP SINNING! IT DOESN’T MEAN TO SAY YOU’RE SORRY BUT TO KEEP DOING THE SAME THING; it means to STOP!)
OUR RESPONSE TO GOD IN PRAISE STARTS WITH REPENTANCE! (REPENT OF YOUR SIN, REPENT OF OUR NATIONS SIN AS WE SEE MODELED IN SCRIPTURE) But repentance isn’t just bad news; it also leads us to the BEST NEWS!
THE GOSPEL!
CALL TO RESPONSE! (GET SAVED! IF YOU ARE SAVED, THEN TAKE TIME EACH WEEK AND EVEN BEFORE WE SING AGAIN TO REPENT AND TO PREPARE YOUR HEART TO WORSHIP TOGETHER!)
If you were to run a marathon you’d train, you’d prepare. WE ARE RUNNING A MARATHON! WE NEED TO TRAIN AND PREPARE ALSO! PART OF THAT PREPARATION IS PRAISE AND PART OF IT IS REPENTANCE! EMBRACE THEM!
Praise God
Praise God
(God’s Holiness confronts us as we worship Him and we then REPENT!)?
When should we praise GOD? IMMEDIATELY! (Individual)
Simply put, as individuals, our response to Psalm 150 is simple- PRAISE GOD!
IN WHATEVER YOU DO, PRAISE GOD!
IN WHATEVER YOU SAY, PRAISE GOD!
IN EVERY SITUATION, PRAISE GOD!
Throughout Psalm 150 we saw 9 different ways to praise God.
I’m not telling you to go buy a shofar- in fact, I’d highly recommend that you DO NOT!
But, I am going to tell you- consider what we talked about today- each one of these instruments is different, but their purpose is the same- their purpose is to PRAISE GOD!
And the call for us is just that- PRAISE GOD!
It’s that simple! This week, whatever you do, whoever you are with, let yourself PRAISE GOD!
FOR THE GOOD THINGs, EVEN FOR THE HARD THINGs; PRAISE GOD!
PRACTICAL- today as we go out, let’s not stop praising God! Our praise as we’ve established isn’t just singing- our praise is everything that we do, or say that brings glory to God! Let’s live that out this week! In how you treat the staff at lunch- PRAISE GOD! In how you live today- PRAISE GOD!
A Foundation of Praise
A Foundation of Praise
Praise SHOULD SHAPE OUR CHURCH!
Regardless of background, appearance, anything else- we are united by our shared love of God! (Not meetings, etc, we are united by God!)
We praise God as a Church when we keep our focus on God rather than preferences
We praise God as a Church when we worship HIM rather than our opinions
We praise God as a Church when we GO TO THE WORLD rather than hoping that the world comes to us!
Let’s be a LIGHT IN A DARK WORLD, a CITY ON THE HILL AND BRING THE GOSPEL AND THE TRUTH ABOUT GOD TO THE WORLD AROUND US THAT DESPERATELY NEEDS THIS TRUTH!
“God directs his people not simply to worship but to sing his praises ‘before the nations.’ We are called not simply to communicate the gospel to nonbelievers; we must also intentionally celebrate the gospel before them.”—Timothy J. Keller
PRACTICAL: As we gather together, let’s encourage one another to PRAISE GOD! Let’s come prepared and ready to PRAISE GOD! (AND THEN, let’s PRAISE GOD WITH NO WORRIES ABOUT WHAT WE LOOK LIKE, SOUND LIKE, etc.)
Let me pray for us this morning
We will be kicking off a 31 days of Prayer focus Sunday, January 12 by praying for our Church.
This week we have the following prayer requests:
- Please pray for unity
- Pray for our leadership
- Pray for our students as they prepare to return to Champaign
- Pray for our community groups to effectively encourage each other and to reach the people around them.
