We praise you, God

Appetiser

There are a few ways this psalm could be legitimately divided. You may have noticed that it ends as it begins: in praise to God. But there is a difference. In v1, and actually all the way to v8, the focus is on corporate praise. Then, v9 beings “As for me, I...”: so the focus comes on the psalmist, and that’s where it stays for the last two verses. And what says there flows out of v1-8.

So this is how we are going to look at this psalm: what we do in church becomes the heartbeat of our personal life with God.

Main Course

Corporate praise, TITLE-v8

Looking at the TITLE, it reveals that this once again is a psalm, a song that was sung corporately, when God’s people gathered for worship: “For the director of music.” So it is not a primarily personal one, like, for instance, Psalm 3 is. Though, as I point out above, there is personal reflection in it. But they all reflected personally together: v9-10 becomes therefore the worshippers’ plea, to live the psalm.

We also know that it is “To the tune of ‘Do Not Destroy’.”—which is somewhat interpretive, as all the Hebrew says is “Do not destroy”; so it’s not necessarily a tune, but I think it expresses something of the background to this psalm: it seems to be fit to an occasion when that’s exactly what you want to cry out: “Do not destroy!” In other words, in a time when the world seems to be collapsing (see v3a), this is the kind of song you want God’s people to have in their heart.

What is it that God’s people were singing about at this particular worship service?

God’s Name is revealed in His deeds for the good of His people, v1

This verse sets the theme of the entire psalm. You can view v2-8 as an expansion and implications of this theme. They celebrate God, their God, Who does wonderful things for the good of His people. They “praise” or “give thanks” (NIV84) to Him: the Hebrew word can be translated either way, and praise and thanksgiving are of course closely related concepts. You can praise God when you are thankful; unthankful hearts tend to grumble.

This verse is what we are going to look at today, and move on with the rest of the psalm next time.

God’s Name is near=His personal presence is with His people.

Praise Him for Who He is: “We praise you, God”.

They praise God for Who He is. The word “God” is the most “basic” word for God: it tells us Who He is. The Creator, One True God, to be worshipped and feared and thanked for all things. The One above all. God. To worship and praise Him is all creation’s duty, but He truly is worthy to be worshipped. He is awe-inspiring. He is God.

We can and should meditate on Who God is within Himself, and praise Him for Who He is. He is the proper subject, and the ultimate objective of theology. Doctrine should lead to devotion, or we’ve done something wrong. “Theo-” comes from the Greek word that means “God”, and “-logy” from the Greek word which means “word, message”. So “Theology” means “The word about God, the message about God”. It is the most glorious thing we can do with our brains and hearts: to praise God for who He is in Himself. True theology is meditating and delighting in the One True God, and when we truly get Who He is, we cannot but worship, praise Him and give Him thanks.

By nature, we do not see God. It’s not that we are unaware of Him, but that “The person without the Spirit does not accept the things that come from the Spirit of God but considers them foolishness, and cannot understand them because they are discerned only through the Spirit.” (1 Corinthians 2:14) Because of our sinfulness, God’s true character is hidden from our eyes. We do not see God. But as God’s people, we can say: “We praise you, God”, because He has revealed Himself to us as God. And so with us this is a very personal thing:

Praise Him for Who He is to His people: “your Name is near”.

This is theology made personal. When God appeared to Moses, He appeared to Him in a bush on fire that was not burning up. God was in the bush, and so the bush and the fire did together what they would not normally do: it was a miracle, a wonder. And from there God called to Moses, and sent Him on a mission to rescue Israel from Egypt. When Moses asked God, in Exodus 3:13

Exodus 3:13 NIV (Anglicised, 2011)

Moses said to God, ‘Suppose I go to the Israelites and say to them, “The God of your fathers has sent me to you,” and they ask me, “What is his name?” Then what shall I tell them?’

he really was given two answers. On the one hand, as we read in Exodus 3:14,

Exodus 3:14 NIV (Anglicised, 2011)

God said to Moses, ‘I am who I am. This is what you are to say to the Israelites: “I am has sent me to you.” ’

This is God in His essence: the One Who give meaning to the word “to be”, because He is the eternally being One; everybody else is His creature. This is why we say, “we praise you, God”. But Moses also had another part of the answer: Exodus 3:15,

Exodus 3:15 NIV (Anglicised, 2011)

God also said to Moses, ‘Say to the Israelites, “The Lord, the God of your fathers—the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac and the God of Jacob—has sent me to you.” ‘This is my name for ever, the name you shall call me from generation to generation.

This God is “the LORD”, which speaks of Who God is to His people: “the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac and the God of Jacob”, and now He says to these Israelites: “This is my name for ever, the name you shall call me from generation to generation.”

In other words, the God of the universe has chosen you to be His people, and has decreed to be your God. As Israel will later hear in this very spot, Exodus 19:5-6, “Although the whole earth is mine, you will be for me a kingdom of priests and a holy nation.”

We worship Him as our God; we know Him by name, because He revealed Himself to us in a way He has not revealed Himself to the rest of Humanity. He is not just one of the many gods; He is holy, He is unique. There is no other God to us. We have bread to eat that the world knows nothing about, refreshing water that the world has never heard of. For God has become all these things to us, having drawn near to us, as He is not near to the rest of mankind.

But how did He do that?

For one, and fundamentally, He reveals Himself not only objectively in the Scriptures (He also does that to unbelievers who read His Word), but He makes those Scriptures speak directly to us. As Jesus said to His disciples: “the knowledge of the secrets of the kingdom of heaven has been given to you, but not to them.” (Matthew 13:11)

But the Psalm takes our eyes to another aspect of God’s drawing near to His people:

God’s acts reveal that He is with His people: “people tell of your wonderful deeds.”

I take “people” to refer to others, maybe previous generations of God’s people. That was one of the charges the Lord has given them, that they will pass down the accounts of His mighty deeds from generation to generation; we see this in the Psalms, and actually, in profound sense, that’s what the Bible is about. We are told of His wonderful deeds.

The word “wonderful” has become a bit of a synonym for “lovely” in modern talk; but that’s not the idea of the word, either in English or in Hebrew. It speaks of acts that are wonders; stuff only God can do.

Like creation: making the world out of nothing by the sheer power of His Word. Upholding the world every second of its existence, by the same power He created it with, providing rain, warmth, gravity and air.

But also, salvation.

The Old Testament believer the great event of salvation was God rescuing them from Egypt—how?

By mighty acts. Listen to God’s promise in Exodus 3:20, and His people’s praise in Exodus 15:11,

Exodus 3:20 NIV (Anglicised, 2011)

So I will stretch out my hand and strike the Egyptians with all the wonders that I will perform among them. After that, he will let you go.

Exodus 15:11 NIV (Anglicised, 2011)

Who among the gods is like you, Lord? Who is like you— majestic in holiness, awesome in glory, working wonders?

These wonders were at the same time acts of judgment on Egypt for keeping God’s people as their slaves, and the acts of salvation that led to His people’s rescue. Through them, God revealed Himself to Egyptian and Israelite alike; “I am the LORD”, Exodus 6:6-7, 7:5.

The same God is our God today. We won’t look at these now, but this is why Psalm 75:2-8 magnifies God for His sovereignty, justice, faithfulness to His people, and the blessing they can look forward to. For God continues to be their God. He has not deserted them.

As New Testament believers, we look to the work of Christ for our “salvation event”

We were saved by Christ. Let me draw your attention to what happened at 12 noon when Jesus died; Luke 23:44-46:

Luke 23:44–46 NIV (Anglicised, 2011)

It was now about noon, and darkness came over the whole land until three in the afternoon, for the sun stopped shining. And the curtain of the temple was torn in two. Jesus called out with a loud voice, ‘Father, into your hands I commit my spirit.’ When he had said this, he breathed his last.

This reminds us of the last two plagues on Egypt: darkness for three days (Exodus 10:21-29) and the death of the firstborn (Exodus 11:1-12:31).

In the latter, God made provision for the Israelites: they were to sacrifice a lamb per household, put its blood on their doorposts, and eat the lamb. Where God saw the blood, He accepted the lamb’s death in place of the firstborn. And so on the cross, Christ, the only begotten Son of God, took upon Himself the punishment of God: His life for our life. He took upon Himself the curse of God, shrouded in supernatural darkness, that we might be liberated from under it: “Look, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world!” (John 1:29). When God looks at a believer in Christ, He sees the blood.

But unlike that lamb, Christ, the Lamb of God did not stay dead: at dawn on the first day of the week, Christ rose from the dead; from the darkness, He came to light: and so just as the Israelite could enjoy light while Egypt was still in darkness, we who are His people, can enjoy the light of God. The darkness of judgment that is to come on the world will not fall on us, for we have been rescued not from Egypt, but from the world, by the mighty acts of God. We no longer live in darkness, but see God.

We are preserved in Christ. This is how we became His people. The Creator God became our God, making us His people through His wonderful act of salvation. He will never leave us, desert us, forsake us, but will keep us by His grace. If you are God’s child, you have everything, even if you have nothing. Conversely, unless God is your God, you have nothing, even if you have everything.

God’s child, are you thankful to God that you are His, and He is your God? That He has rescued you from the coming judgment? That you will not perish with the world? That you can know Him? You know, this is why you can say “Do not destroy”, in other words: have mercy on me, Oh, God. For in Christ He has. He is with you, near you, Believer. And all that you undergo is not meant to destroy you, but to purify, bless, and refine you.

Pudding

Allow me to read the words of this hymn by George Keith to you, in closing (anglicised):

1 “How firm a foundation, you saints of the Lord, is laid for your faith in his excellent Word! What more can he say than to you he has said, to you who for refuge to Jesus have fled?

2 “Fear not, I am with you; O be not dismayed, for I am your God, and will still give you aid. I’ll strengthen you, help you, and cause you to stand, upheld by my righteous, omnipotent hand.

3 “When through the deep waters I call you to go, the rivers of sorrow shall not overflow, for I will be with you, your troubles to bless, and sanctify to you the deepest distress.

4 “When through fiery trials your pathway shall lie, my grace, all sufficient, shall be your supply. The flames shall not hurt you. I only design your dross to consume, and your gold to refine.

5 “The soul that on Jesus still leans for repose, I will not, I will not desert to its foes. That soul, though all hell should endeavour to shake, I’ll never, no never, no never forsake!”