Psalm 117: The Meat in the Middle (10)

The late Rev Dr Robert Alexander Laws was one of the great preachers of Brooklyn, NY, along with his neighbors down the street -Sandy F. Ray and Gardner C. Taylor. As you can imagine, whenever I was at my friend Roberta Laws’ home, I expected to hear pearls of wisdom. One such time, we were sitting with her Dad in the breakfast nook talking. Daddy Laws was about to bless his food so we shut up, bowed our heads, and prepared for a sermon in prayer. “Most gracious Father, thank you for this ham sandwich, Amen,” and he began to eat. As our mouths dropped open in amazement, he said, “Whaaaat? I AM thankful!” Like that 5 second grace, is the shortest chapter in the Bible; and yet like the ham in the middle of that sandwich, it is the meat in the middle of the Word teaching us to declare God’s everlasting love and faithfulness through our praise. I. Praise - hil [“he-lel] an act of worship, is an active verb meaning to boast, admire, eulogize-praise highly in speech or writing.

Praise enthusiastically: Girl, guess what the Lord did for me today?!

Wax lyrical about: Oh Lord, our Lord, how excellent is Thy name in all the earth!

Sing the praises of, praise to the skies: Great is the Lord and greatly to be praised!

Rave about, rhapsodize, gush over: I love you, I love you, I love you Lord today!

Express delight over, acclaim, exclaim Hallelujah-give the highest praise. his is The Lord - the one and only God we’re talking about, so you’ve got to give God all you’ve got. When I think of the goodness of Jesus...my soul cries out Hallelujah! Holy holy holy! Lord God Almighty. Heaven and earth are full of your glory! Who gives the praise? All = “koi” everybody, every kind of, every, any, total, totality, collective, mass; completely! You nations- every person - nation - cultural, physical, geographical, clan; every uncultured, pagan, heathen, Everybody! Extol God is a command that comes out of you internally; an intentional worship coming from out of the depth of your gut. Extol - declare the Lord! Ex In the game, I declare war you lay out your cards on the table and go to battle to win. I declare God is God is God! As for me and MY house - we will serve the Lord! Period. Exclamation point! You peoples = um-mim [“ooh-Mah”] is both masculine and plural. Men, praise the Lord. Lead your family in praising the Lord. Ex Clap your hands, everybody! Everybody, clap your hands! I just asked you to clap your hands and you did it. But I have done nothing for you! I did not watch over you as you slept last night, wake you up this morning, breathe the breath of life in you. I did not heal you, give you a job, send you your loved one, give you back your peace of mind! But GOD Almighty did! Give God an active intentional praise! Everybody! Is there Anybody here who loves my Jesus? Anybody here who loves my Lord? Anybody here who Loves my Jesus? I want to know if you love my Lord?! II. Why do we give God praise? Here’s the meat in the sandwich. For great = gbr = [“gah Vahr”] - huge, overwhelming - not just gigantic in size - but strong, mighty, overcoming, prevailing, confirming - “I AM the greatest!”, superior, better than anybody else... Great! For great is His Love! Love = hasd = (high- sehd). This “hasd” love is not hot and cold, whimpy, or based upon the moment. This love is loyal, unconditional, faithful, good, kind, gracious, unfailing. This is love that obligates to love. For great is His Love toward us. We are the beneficiaries of that superior, prevailing overcoming love. God chooses to love me and you. “This is how we know what love is: Jesus Christ laid down his life for us.” “But God commendeth his love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.” ( KJV) God loved us before we loved ourselves. And that brings us to the 2nd reason we praise God: “The faithfulness of the Lord” Faithfulness = emet [“eh-MET”] - the trustworthiness, constantly, the truth, duration, dependability - you can bank on that! - firmness - not going anywhere, solid, honesty. That is the faithfulness of the Lord! says You knit me together in my mother’s womb. You know me- you know when I sit and when I rise, you know my thoughts, my ways, my tongue... And with all that, “when I awake, I am still with you!” “And the faithfulness of the Lord endures forever.” Forever = olam [“oh LAhm”] from antiquity to futurity, for eternity, an unending time forever and ever, and ever and ever. (KJV) What can separate us