Psalm 150-The Grand Finale of Praise

Key Elements

In Psalm 150, the Psalmist concluded the Book of Psalms with a grand finale of praise, communicating that all the themes of life that are expressed in Psalms-grief, lament, sorrow, and celebration-find their resolution at the doorstep of praise of his great God.

Main idea of the message: No matter what we face in life-in joy or sorrow, strength or weakness-every situation leads us to the praise of our great God who is always worthy and always with us.

I want my audience to be moved to praise in all circumstances realizing that worship isn’t reserved for when life is easy, but is the calling and purpose of every breath in every situation.

Intro

In this room today, there are two categories that we all fall into: we are either optimists or pessimists. For those who are optimists, you see the good in everything. It doesn’t matter what the situation is like or how bad it may appear to be, you are going to find the good and the positive aspect in the situation and bring that to the surface. Now, optimists have a tendency to get on everyone’s nerves at times because there are times in life, depending on what the situation is, that you just don’t want to hear what’s positive. You just don’t want to be told what good can come out of the situation you’re in. So some of us are optimists. And then there are the pessimists. For you, you don’t see the good in any situation. If the situation is bad or appears to be bad, you’re going to point that out and you’re going usually tell us how that situation can get worse. And then, the worst part of that situation you pointed out usually happens. You’re like Debbie Downer on SNL. Always bringing to the forefront and expose the worse that can happen. And pessimists have a tendency to get on your nerves as well because when you’re in a difficult spot the last thing you want to hear is how it can get more difficult. And only you know which one describes you.

So, if someone asked our friends and family, the people who know us well, if we were an optimist or a pessimist, what would they say? If we were to pull up your social media this morning on this screen and scroll through your posts, what conclusion would we come to? Would all of that indicate and point to optimism or pessimism? You see, the truth is most of us probably drift back and forth between both. And when we find ourselves drifting towards pessimism in our lives, there's a cure for that. The Biblical solution to the problem of pessimism is to be God-centered in our lives. And that doesn’t mean that we deny the problems we are facing or we pretend that life is great. What it means is that we view our problems and the situations we are facing from God’s perspective. And as we begin to focus on God in every situation, we will begin to become people who are characterized by praise. Because praise is the solution to pessimism in our lives.

And that is what Psalm 150 is all about today. It’s all about praise. As we come to this final Psalm today-the grand finale of this entire collection-and as we conclude our Anthem sermon series that we have been walking through this summer, we find a clear and powerful call: “Let everything that breathes praise the Lord.” And this isn’t just a poetic ending to this incredible book; it’s a purposeful conclusion. After all the highs and the lows, the lament and the celebration, the struggles and the victories we’ve seen in the Psalms, the final word, the resolution it has all led to is praise. And that’s not just the conclusion of the book, it’s the call on the life of every follower of Jesus. No matter what we’ve been through, God calls us to a life where every moment, every setting, and every breath becomes an offering of worship to Him. Psalm 150 shows us how to live that Kind of life.

Message

So, here’s the main idea of the message from Psalm 150 today: No matter what we face in life-in joy or sorrow, strength or weakness-every situation leads us to the praise of our great God who is always worthy and always with us.

And this morning, as we look at this incredible Psalm of praise, we want to focus in on the question What does it look like to live a life of praise? That’s the question that Psalm 150 answers for us today. For it’s here in this Psalm that we see three clear truths that show us what a life of praise looks like.

1. A life of praise recognizes that God is present and constant. (vs. 1)

Now, we touched on this truth last week and explored it pretty thoroughly that God is always with us. We said that God is omnipresent. God is everywhere all the time. There’s no place that you and I can go to get away from God, God is always there. And for those who are followers of Jesus and have surrendered our hearts and lives to Jesus Christ, God by His Holy Spirit lives inside of us. And, like we said last week, that’s good news for us. And God always being with us means that He is present and He is constant. And that is a huge reason to praise the Lord.

The Psalmist begins in vs. 1 by proclaiming, by shouting Hallelujah! And that one word sets the tone for the entire psalm and carries with it so much meaning. In fact, this word bookends the entire psalm. Psalm 150 begins and ends with praise and praise flows all throughout. Hallelujah means “praise Yahweh.” Yah is the shortened form of the name Yahweh which is the personal, covenant name of the God of Israel. Now, you’re probably thinking “why are you telling us this?” Here’s why it’s important for us to see and know stuff like this, the Psalmist is telling us from the very beginning that worship and praise is about God and God alone. From the very first word to the very last word of this psalm, the focus and attention is not on us or worship style or song selection, the focus is on God and God alone because worship is about Him. And this glorious and powerful God loves us so much that He has covenanted with us to save us, to keep us, and care for us through the sacrifice of His Son Jesus Christ on the cross. The psalmist uses this language intentionally to encourage us to praise the Lord with whom we have a personal and intimate relationship. This God who is present and constant in our lives is worthy of praise and a life of praise recognizes that. And because God is present and constant that means our...

a. Worship is not confined to a place.

The Psalmist gets a little more specific in vs. 1, He says, “praise God in His sanctuary.” This word “sanctuary” is used specifically to refer to the presence of God that dwelt in the Temple in Jerusalem and the Tabernacle before that. This was the place where the Jewish people met with God and worshipped Him. It assumes a sacredness, a holiness, a set apartness, if you will. It was the specific place set apart for the Jewish people to commune with the presence of God. In our day and time, this place comes to mind for us. This worship center is where we gather weekly to worship God and meet with Him. In the OT, God’s presence dwelt in the Holy of Holies in the tabernacle and the Temple. But in the new covenant established by the death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus Christ the Son of God, God’s sanctuary is no longer confined to a place. The presence of God now dwells in the hearts and lives of those who are followers of Jesus. In 2 Corinthians 6:16, it says that Jesus makes His sanctuary among His people collectively. In 1 Corinthians 3:16, it says that Jesus makes His sanctuary in us as believers. And in Revelation 21:22, it tells us that ultimately Jesus Himself will be the sanctuary of God among His people. So, yes, it is important to gather every Sunday and worship together and give praise to our God. Yes, this place that we are worshipping in today is a sacred space that we have designated as a place to meet with God corporately. But when we leave this place, we don’t leave God behind and we don’t leave our worship of Him behind. If you’re a follower of Jesus, the presence of God goes with you and worship, for you, is not just something you do on Sunday, it is the way you live your life. Because God is not confined to a place and because His presence is always with us that means that our worship is not confined to a place as well.

Because God is constant and present that means also that our...

b. Worship is not limited by a space.

He continues in vs. 1, He says “Praise Him in His mighty expanse.”

When we go back to the book of Genesis, the first book of the Bible, and we read the creation account, we see something amazing. And we talked about this a little last week. Everything we can see and even the things that are beyond the ability of our human eyes to see, God created it all. In Genesis 1, God created the heavens or the firmament to separate the waters above the earth from the waters below the earth. He placed lights in the heavens to separate the day from the night and to give light to the earth. The heavens are the expanse of space where the sun, moon, and stars dwell. This is what the psalmist is specifically talking about here. Everything in creation from the earth to the heavens is created to worship God and give Him praise. Jesus even proclaimed in Luke 19, during His triumphal entry, when being rebuked by the Pharisees who were telling Him to keep His disciples quiet, He said that if they kept silent “the rocks would cry out.” Everything in heaven and on earth is in constant and perpetual worship of it’s creator. Which means that we should be worshipping our creator as well. We, as followers of Jesus, join in with creation in the worship of our great God. It’s the perfect harmony of heaven and earth in praise of the only One who is worthy.

And when we recognize that God is present and constant and we live a life of worship and praise to Him, it causes us to remember that our worship of God should be limitless. And as that perspective of worship and praise overwhelms our lives, we begin to see God present and constant in all situations and in all places. We see Him in the ordinary things of everyday life as well as the sacred moments. And it causes us to move from circumstantial praise-only worshipping Him when life is good-to a life that gives Him glory no matter the circumstance.

What does it look like to live a life of praise? A life of praise recognizes that God is present and constant and that our worship of Him should be limitless.

A second truth we see about a life of praise is...

2. A life of praise recognizes that God alone is deserving and worthy. (vs. 2)

Now we’ve all watched award shows such as the Oscars or the Grammys or the Espys or the CMA’s. It’s been years since we’ve watched any of those but we used to watch those shows all the time. And in all of those shows, the pattern is the same. There’s always that moment when the winner of whatever award is being presented is announced and everyone just erupts in applause. The person that won that award is being recognized as the most worthy recipient in that category. But here’s what’s interesting about that fame and recognition, it’s just temporary. Eventually, it is going to fade because next year someone else is going to win that same award.

But as we move into Psalm 150:2, that’s not what we see. We don’t see a greatness or fame that fades, no, we see a God who is eternally worthy. We see a God whose praise never ends and who alone is deserving of all glory. What does the Psalmist say in vs. 2....

This verse really presents us with a tension that exists in our praise to God. And this is something that I really have always struggled with in my life. It’s that tension between praising God for what He has done and praising God for who He is. But here in Psalm 150, we find that that tension doesn’t exist. Because the Psalmist points us to both. And ultimately, the truth the Psalmist is proclaiming is that the primary reason we worship God is because He is deserving and He is worthy.

I love what Pastor HB Charles, Jr. says about this, he says, “Yes, God demands our praise. But if we were never commanded to praise the Lord, we would still be morally obligated to do it, because God deserves our praise.” (The Imperatives of God Centered Worship)

If the first truth points us to the “where” of praise to God, this truth points us to the “why” of praise to God. Because He is deserving and He is worthy.

a. He’s deserving because of what He has done.

The Psalmist characterizes the things he is talking about here as “powerful acts.” The psalmist would have particularly been thinking about God’s deliverance of the children of Israel from bondage and slavery in Egypt, he would have recalled how God empowered them to conquer the Promised Land, he would have been pointing to how God brought them back from captivity in Babylon, and how God restored their nation. He is not just referring to everyday acts of God but he is emphasizing the supernatural power that sets God apart from all other worshipped beings. Over and over again God had proven Himself mighty and powerful and worthy of the worship and praise of His people.

As we move into the NT, we see the “powerful acts” of God as well. We think of God sending His Son Jesus to be born of a virgin, we think of the miracles and the mighty ministry of Jesus, we think of His sacrificial death on the cross for our sins, we think of His resurrection from the grave-conquering sin, and death and hell, and we look to the fact that one day He is coming back victorious once and for all.

One pastor sums all of this up for us:

“Jesus stood before God with all our sin upon Him so that we, through faith, might stand before God with none of our sin on us.

He who was righteous was judged before God as unrighteous, that we who are unrighteous could be judged before God as righteous.

At Calvary, Jesus paid a debt He did not owe because we owed a debt that we could not pay.

And on the cross, God treated Jesus as if He had committed all of our sins so that He could treat us as if we had practiced all of the righteousness of Christ.” (HB Charles, Jr.)

And as amazing as all of that is, that is just a few examples of the powerful acts of God. That is just a sliver of what God has done. But here’s the deal, if that was all we could proclaim about Jesus, that would be more than enough to prove that He is deserving of praise because of what He has done for us.

And this doesn’t even include all of our testimonies of God’s “powerful acts” in our lives. How God has moved in powerful and mighty and miraculous ways in us and our families. If we took the opportunity to let everyone testify about how God has worked in our lives, we’d be here all week. Our glorious God is deserving and worthy because of what He has done.

But let’s not forget that...

b. He’s deserving because of who He is.

And this is where we really have to pay attention. Because I would say most of our praise to God is generated because of what He has done in our lives. It is easy for you and me to think about all God has done and praise Him. But listen to me this morning, if God had never done anything for us, He is still worthy of praise.

I liken that truth to a person that I highly respect. Think of the person in your life that you respect the most. Now, think about why you respect that person. It’s not because of what they do for you, it’s because of who they are. It’s their character and the way they live. It’s the attributes you see in their lives. We respect them because of who they are.

Now, lets apply that same principle to God. He is worthy and deserving of praise because of who He is. And that’s what the psalmist proclaims in the second part of vs. 2, he says....

He’s talking about God’s character, His nature, independent of what He has done. This is who God is. He is worthy of our worship and praise because He is God and God alone. What the psalmist is really saying here is “praise God in proportion with His greatness.” In other words, it’s not just a Sunday thing to praise God. You see, what happens, and we are all guilty of this, is we come in here on Sunday and we worship God with all we have. We give Him everything and then we leave this place and we live life as if what we are facing out there is greater than our God. But if we really believe He is who He says He is. If we really believe that He is as great as the Bible proclaims Him to be, then we will live every day in proportion to that truth. We’ll live like we believe God is deserving of our praise simply because He is great.

And when we recognize that God is deserving and worthy, here’s what it does for us, it causes us to be less focuses on what God can do for us and more focused on who He is. It draws us closer to Him in that intimate relationship with Him. It changes the way we pray because we spend more time worshipping God for who He is and lest time asking God to do stuff for us. And it creates a deeper relationship with God instead of a religious routine.

What does it look like to live a life of praise? A life of praise recognizes that God alone is deserving and worthy.

A final truth we see about a life of praise is...

3. A life of praise recognizes that worship requires engagement and focus. (vs. 3-6)

So many times when it comes to worship like the actual worship service, we have a tendency to drift towards preference. Some of us prefer hymns, some of us prefer contemporary worship songs, preference usually dominates our attention. And we are all guilty of that.

But I love what the psalmist does here in vs. 3-6, he basically points us and his readers to the truth that God is the point of worship. He is the focus not the style or the songs or the instruments, those are all tools that are used to point us to the focus of praise and that focus is God and the worship of Him.

Look at what He says in vs. 3-6...

Now, there’s something interesting here that the psalmist does. Notice in vs. 3-6 that he uses the word “with” six times. (read the “with” and the instruments) And I think there’s a reason for that. He’s reminding us that music itself is not worship. The instruments in these verses are secondary. The focus of worship is the praise of our God. And the praise of our God stems from the engagement and the focus of our hearts. You see,...

a. Worship requires all we have. (vs. 3-5)

The instruments here point to one truth and that is that God is worthy of worship with all that we have. Our worship of Him requires total and complete focus on Him. And sometimes that’s difficult even in here on Sundays. Because life can be so distracting. We’ll be worshipping and all of a sudden distracting thoughts enter our minds. And then it becomes a battle for focus on God. And it’s at that point that we have to sacrifice our preferences, our thoughts, our emotions on the altar of praise and ask God to bring our focus back to Him. And not just on Sunday’s, every day. We have to begin our day with our thoughts focused on Him. And that’s something that God is teaching me right now. We have to take “every thought captive” every day and allow our minds to focus on Him before any other thought has a chance to take hold of us.

Worship requires all we have, and...

b. Worship requires all we are. (vs. 6)

How does he end? He says in vs. 6...

We are back where we started. The ultimate purpose of all of God’s creation is to bring worship and praise to God. His glory is the end to which all of us should be in pursuit. Everyday, when we wake up and our feet hit the floor, the God who deserves all praise should be the whole focus of our lives. In fact, the fact that we are still here is reason enough to give God praise.

And living a life of worship and praise giving God all we have and all we are means we live with purpose every day. Every day we wake up and pursue the purpose God has for us. With everything we have we live a life that brings Him glory because He is so worthy.

Closing

This week as I was studying, I was watching a video by the late Pastor Tim Keller. He was reflecting on Psalm 150 and he quoted theologian Eugene Peterson and his thoughts on Psalm 150 and I want to leave us with this today:

He says, “Psalm 150 does not stand alone. Four more psalms are inserted in front of it so that it becomes the fifth of five psalms that conclude the Psalter. These five hallelujah psalms are extroadinarily robust. This means no matter how much we suffer, no matter how much our doubts, no matter how angry we get, no matter how many times we have asked God in desperation, prayer always develops finally into praise. Everything finds it’s way to the doorstep of praise. This is not to say that other prayers are inferior to praise only that all prayer pursued far enough becomes praise. Don’t rush it, it may take years, decades even before certain prayers arrive at the hallelujah’s of Psalm 150. Not every prayer is capped off with praise, in fact most prayers of Psalms do not end in praise. But prayer is always reaching towards praise and will finally arrive there so our lives will be filled out in goodness. Earth and heaven eventually meet in an extrodinary conjunction clashing cymbals announce the glory, blessing, amen, hallelujah.” (Eugene Peterson)

What does a life of praise look like? It’s a life that recognizes God is present and constant, that God alone is deserving and worthy, and that worship requires all we have and all we are. May we live lives of worship and praise that glorify our God who is the only one who is worthy.