Psalm Week 2 Sermon - Learning to Praise God

Intro/Welcome

Series: Learning to Talk With God

We are in week 2 of a series called: Psalms - Learning to Talk with God

Why do a series on talking with God?

God has something to say to you. (many things)

God has an assignment for you (and for us as a church)

God will walk with us all along the way

If we are going to become the church God desires us to be then we need to hear from Him.

If you are going to be there person God created and has called you to be with Him, it will only come through a conversational relationship with Him

Psalms

psalms as a model and method to talk with God

Last week we looked at Psalm 1 and I said that

God is speaking today

The key to hearing Him is the Word of God

Though he speaks outside of his word, he will never speak contrary to it.

As we learn to talk with God:

God’s Word is our first importance, foundation, filter and final authority.

Learning to Praise

Today we will look at one of the foundations for a flourishing conversational relationship with God

That foundation is Praising God

The Psalms regularly tell us to Praise God

and they teach us how

they give us words

Categories of Psalms:

About 30% (27%) of the book of Psalms are Psalm of Praise

About 40% are psalms of Lament

The other 30% are Hymns, Royal, Wisdom, Thanksgiving and Psalms of Trust

Nearly every Psalm, except 1 (Ps 88) includes elements of praise.

Praise is a way that we talk with God.

Cs Lewis says:

God communicates his presence to us through our praise of Him.

through joy — to enjoy God is to glorify God

Praising God then is foundational to a thriving/flourishing relationship with God

Praising God tunes our hearts to hear His Voice

Praise as Health Indicator

CS Lewis says something profound about praising God:

Praise as an indication of spiritual health.

CS Lewis

“Praise as inner health made audible”

When healthy we can find something to praise about almost anything, even the most imperfect, while unhealthy critics and cynics can find something bad in almost anything, even the most perfect.

“The bad ones continually narrowed the list of books we might be allowed to read.

The healthy and unaffected man, even if luxuriously brought up and widely experienced in good cookery, could praise a very modest meal:

the dyspeptic (bad-tempered) and the snob found fault with all. Except where intolerably adverse circumstances interfere, praise almost seems to be inner health made audible.

Perhaps you struggle with cynicism, criticism and negativity

Praises God is a remedy to our batter souls.

Today

We are going to look at Psalm 145 today

Psalm 145 is a psalm of Praise

In it we find nearly every word for how to praise Him

and in 21 verses 22 different reasons to praise God

The last five psalms in the book are psalms of Praise

Go there in your Bible.

My name is

Welcome the Church // Online

Pray (6:45)

Luke 4:18–19 (CSB)

18 The Spirit of the Lord is on me, because he has anointed me to preach good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim release to the captives and recovery of sight to the blind, to set free the oppressed, 19 to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor.

Isaiah 61:1–3 (CSB)

1 The Spirit of the Lord God is on me, because the Lord has anointed me to bring good news to the poor. He has sent me to heal the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives and freedom to the prisoners; 2 to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor, and the day of our God’s vengeance; to comfort all who mourn, 3 to provide for those who mourn in Zion; to give them a crown of beauty instead of ashes, festive oil instead of mourning, and splendid clothes instead of despair. And they will be called righteous trees, planted by the Lord to glorify him.

What does it mean to Praise?

meditating on this psalm: Pause and Refelct, Paraphrase, and Pray

[ANNOTATION]

Psalm 145:1–2 (CSB)

1 I exalt you, my God the King, and bless your name forever and ever.

2 I will bless you every day; I will praise your name forever and ever.

Observations

Right here in the first two verse we have three different words for Praise.

Exalt: To lift high

Praise: to praise, cheer (halel = hallelujah)

Bless: to bless, commend

It is as if the psalms wants to express all dimensions of praise, utilizing all the words at his disposal.

What does it actually mean to praise something?

C.S. Lewis is extremely helpful here in a short chapter in his book “Reflecting on the Psalms”

CS Lewis on Praise.

1. Praise is Natural

We naturally praise what we value

Praise is the natural and spontaneous response to something we admire, appreciate, value, find worth in.

Think of a beautiful sunset, a great story/move, a shiny new car, finding your dream home, a moving song.

Praise is the natural and spontaneous response to something we find worthy/enjoyable

much in the same way that laughter overflows from a good joke or something humorous.

We all praise what we value.

We all know how to praise things, the world rings of it:

Lovers of their significant other

Readers their favorite books

Players their game

Movies, shows, stories, art, music.

praise of weather, wines, dishes, actors, motors, horses, colleges, countries, historical personages, children, flowers, mountains, rare stamps, rare beetles, even sometimes politicians or scholars.

It is an experience of enjoyment

2. Praise must be expressed to be experienced fully

Praise is not complete until expressed

CS Lewis:

“I think we delight to praise what we enjoy because the praise not merely expresses but completes the enjoyment; it is its appointed consummation...the delight is incomplete till it is expressed.

It is frustrating to have discovered a new author and not to be able to tell anyone how good he is;

to come suddenly, at the turn of the road, upon some mountain valley of unexpected grandeur and then to have to keep silent because the people with you care for it no more than for a tin can in the ditch;

to hear a good joke and find no one to share it with

In Psalm 145 we have 7 different Hebrew words on how to express our praise:

“Proclaim” (v. 4: to speak highly of God); cf.

“declare” (synonyms in vv. 4, 6),

“meditate” (v. 5),

“speak” (v. 6),

“pour forth” (v. 7),

“sing aloud” (v. 7), and

“give thanks” (v. 10).

3. Praise is communal

Praise Invites Others to Join / It is communal

We also invite others to praise what we value in hopes that they too will experience enjoyment.

Remember the psalms were sung as a community in Ancient Israel

and in the church throughout Church History

It is the reason we sing songs of worship to God here on Sundays

Singing is a form of praising God

It is a way that we express what we value as a community

In summary, we all praise naturally, expressively and communally.

But there is another important point here in the first two verses.

We must choose to Praise

Because of Sin, we must intentionally choose to pray

If we could all see God clearly as He is, we would praise him naturally, expressively and communally

and we will do this for all eternity.

But sin has veiled our view of God’s glory

so we must choose to praise God.

[ANNOTATION]

Psalm 145:1–2 (CSB)

1 I exalt you, my God the King, and bless your name forever and ever.

2 I will bless you every day; I will praise your name forever and ever.

Notice the “I wills”

It is a decision that the psalmist makes

The “I will” is an act of the Will — the volition.

We must choose to Praise God, even when, perhaps especially when we don’t feel like it.

the psalms give us not just words to express our emotions, but by expressing them in faith, the psalms can shape our emotions.

It is the inherent power in the Word of God — that it will not return void. (Isa 55 11)

Lyrics

Even when my strength is lost I'll praise You Even when I have no song I'll praise You Even when it's hard to find the words Louder then I'll sing Your praise I will only sing Your praise

Practically

Does this mean you just muster up the will and praise God — to say the words?

maybe, sometimes, but I suspect not most of the time.

What it means is that we must find time to praise him.

very seldom will be able to praise God in a moment of frustration or in the face of tragedy.

It means, finding time, taking time to ‘meditate’ on his Word

Pausing, reflecting on Who God is.

This may be:

A quiet time you can take in your home, maybe in the morning, maybe late at night

These are usually the only two times I have

It may mean getting out a walking around your block or a park

taking time to breathe, process, talk with God

It may mean jumping in your car and just blasting worship music

or to just talk to Him

I’ve done this many times

It may mean getting out into nature and marveling at his creation

Maybe that’s going to the beach

or the springs or a trail

It is taking the time to praise Him.

This is what I mean by intentionally choosing to praise him.

We must intentionally choose to Praise God because there are barriers.

Barriers to Praising:

Distraction

We have so many things vying for our attention, some good and some bad

Demands (Busyness)

Similar to the first, we are all so busy all the time.

This lack of rest, lack of movement is a barrier to praising God

b/c we are filled with such anxieties

Despair/Depression

We are so weighed down by life that we don’t have the energy to praise

Devils

We have and enemy bent on keeping us busy and distracted

The Devil hates when we praise God

you want the devil to flee form you: Start Praising God

Fake

We think that if we praise God it will be fake

Our words will be empty

But what we fail to see in all of these is the power of God’s Word to shape us.

Remedy’s to Praise (15mn)

That is why we have to be intentional about praising

Look again at what the psalmist says

[ANNOTATION]

Psalm 145:1–2 (CSB)

1 I exalt you, my God the King, and bless your name forever and ever.

2 I will bless you every day; I will praise your name forever and ever.

He says two things:

I will bless God daily

I will Praise God forever and ever.

isn’t that interesting.

1. Daily

We must build the habit of praising God every day.

Like a muscle.

and the more we do it, the easier it will become

the less we do it, the harder it will become.

2. Forever

The psalmist knows we will praise forever and ever

And in the New Heavens and the New Earth — it will be the most glorious chorus of praise

CS Lewis again captures it perfectly:

CS LEWIS

Heaven is the consummated fulfillment of our souls desire and created intent. Unceasing worship.

Praise today is akin to tuning for an orchestral performance.

“The tuning up of the orchestra can be itself delightful, but only to those who can in some measure, however little, anticipate the symphony.

The Symphony is forever in heaven, we get little glimpses of that today, but it is the mere tuning for the grand eternal performance

Transition

So then, how do we praise?

or rather Who is it we are praising?

How do we Praise God

This begins with Who we are Praising.

Let’s look again at vv. 1&2

Who we Praise

I promise we are going to move beyond the first two verses

[ANNOTATION]

Psalm 145:1–2 (CSB)

1 I exalt you, my God the King, and bless your name forever and ever.

2 I will bless you every day; I will praise your name forever and ever.

My God and King

There is a relationship here.

This is a personal relationship

This God — he is ‘my God’

and he is ‘my true king’

But now verse 3. (see, I promised)

[ANNOTATION]

Psalm 145:3 (CSB)

3 The Lord is great and is highly praised; his greatness is unsearchable.

We often miss this, but you can see it in your translations

It is the personal name of God “Yahweh”

It is usually in all caps in your english bibles.

It is used 7x in this psalms

This is Yahweh — “I am that I am”

The God of persons

— Abraham, Isaac and Jacob

The God who revealed himself to Moses

The God who rescued his people from Egypt

The God of Isreal and Judah

This isn’t just some impersonal distant God

but it is the God who has intervened in History

who has called a people for himself.

He is not some absentee landlord

but he is available to you — all the time.

We praise a God who is Personal and we are on a first name basis with

what are we praising about him?

What we Praise: His greatness

[ANNOTATION]

Psalm 145:3 (CSB)

3 The Lord is great and is highly praised; his greatness is unsearchable.

In short the GREATNESS of the Lord — of who he is

His greatness which is unsearchable — cannot be fathomed, expounded or exhausted

Romans 11:33–36 (CSB)

33 Oh, the depth of the riches and the wisdom and the knowledge of God! How unsearchable his judgments and untraceable his ways!

34 For who has known the mind of the Lord? Or who has been his counselor? 35 And who has ever given to God, that he should be repaid?

36 For from him and through him and to him are all things. To him be the glory forever. Amen.

We are simply praising his essential nature

What God has revealed in visions and appearances

and in his very words.

1. His Glory

Psalm 145:5–6 (CSB)

5 I will speak of your splendor and glorious majesty and your wondrous works.

6 They will proclaim the power of your awe-inspiring acts, and I will declare your greatness.

Isaiah saw the glory of the Lord in his vision in Isaiah 6.

The Israelites saw the glory of God at Mt. Sinai

One day we too, will see the Lord!

2. His very Nature

Psalm 145:8–9 (CSB)

8 The Lord is gracious and compassionate, slow to anger and great in faithful love.

9 The Lord is good to everyone; his compassion rests on all he has made.

This is the very name that God revealed to Moses on the mountainside

Exodus 34:6–7 (CSB)

6 The Lord passed in front of him and proclaimed: The Lord—the Lord is a compassionate and gracious God, slow to anger and abounding in faithful love and truth, 7 maintaining faithful love to a thousand generations, forgiving iniquity, rebellion, and sin. But he will not leave the guilty unpunished, bringing the consequences of the fathers’ iniquity on the children and grandchildren to the third and fourth generation.

This is the essential nature, the core of who God is as revealed to us by His very words.

but notice what the psalmist says in vv. 4-7

[ANNOTATION]

Psalm 145:4–7 (CSB)

4 One generation will declare your works to the next and will proclaim your mighty acts.

5 I will speak of your splendor and glorious majesty and your wondrous works.

6 They will proclaim the power of your awe-inspiring acts, and I will declare your greatness.

7 They will give a testimony of your great goodness and will joyfully sing of your righteousness.

God’s glory and splendor is revealed in his mighty acts!

We don’t just have to philosophize who God is

We don’t have to praise abstract qualities

God has entered into human history time and time again and demontrated his GLORY through his might acts

We worship a concrete God

A God that interacts with time and space

His Creation (Psalm 19)

His provision to Israel (Psalm 78)

His Salvation of Israel from Pharoah (Psalm 78)

His constant provision

And we praise him because of his mightiest act!

The incarnation, atonement and resurrection

Praising His Greatest Work

He demonstrates his great love for us

He sent his only and only son, to bear our sins

to bridge the gap

to bring us back

to reconcile our relationship to the father

so that we could enjoy Him and all the benefits of being in the family of God.

This is the majesty and splendor and glory of God — Jesus Chrsit

The God who dwelt amongst us

John 1:1 (CSB)

1 In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.

John 1:14 (CSB)

14 The Word became flesh and dwelt among us. We observed his glory, the glory as the one and only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth.

The God who now dwells in us who believe

Galatians 2:20 (CSB)

20 I have been crucified with Christ, and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. The life I now live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.

The God who will return to take us Home with Him

John 14:2–3 (CSB)

2 In my Father’s house are many rooms. If it were not so, would I have told you that I am going to prepare a place for you? 3 If I go away and prepare a place for you, I will come again and take you to myself, so that where I am you may be also.

It is in Jesus that the greatest, the mightiest act of God’s love was done.

John 3:16 (CSB)

16 For God loved the world in this way: He gave his one and only Son, so that everyone who believes in him will not perish but have eternal life.

It is in Jesus that we see Psalm 145:8-9 have their fullest expression

Psalm 145:8–9 (CSB)

8 The Lord is gracious and compassionate, slow to anger and great in faithful love. 9 The Lord is good to everyone; his compassion rests on all he has made.

Love of God is the greatest expression of our praise

We love becuase he first loved us

1 John 4:9–11 (CSB)

9 God’s love was revealed among us in this way: God sent his one and only Son into the world so that we might live through him. 10 Love consists in this: not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son to be the atoning sacrifice for our sins. 11 Dear friends, if God loved us in this way, we also must love one another.

Jesus life, death and resurrection is the greatest act of God’s love

and it brings us into this kind of relationship with Him

our response is to praise Him

For what he has done

but also what he is doing

and what he has promised to do.

Connecting with the Promises of God

Listen to the psalmist praising the promises of God

Psalm 145:10–12 (CSB)

10 All you have made will thank you, Lord; the faithful will bless you.

11 They will speak of the glory of your kingdom and will declare your might, 12 informing all people of your mighty acts and of the glorious splendor of your kingdom.

Psalm 145:13 (CSB)

13 Your kingdom is an everlasting kingdom; your rule is for all generations.

The Lord is faithful in all his words and gracious in all his actions.

You might say his promises

Psalm 145:14–20 (CSB)

14 The Lord helps all who fall; he raises up all who are oppressed.

Psalm 145:14 (ESV)

14 The Lord upholds all who are falling and raises up all who are bowed down.

Psalm 145:15–20 (CSB)

15 All eyes look to you, and you give them their food at the proper time.

16 You open your hand and satisfy the desire of every living thing.

17 The Lord is righteous in all his ways and faithful in all his acts.

18 The Lord is near all who call out to him, all who call out to him with integrity.

19 He fulfills the desires of those who fear him; he hears their cry for help and saves them.

20 The Lord guards all those who love him, but he destroys all the wicked.

Meditating on these

These are great promises

And these very words have been a great encouragment in my life, time and time again.

Pause & Reflect

Paraphrase

Pray & Praise

Praying this text. Clinging to these promises

God is near — God is faithful — God is for us in Christ Jesus

When you are feeling down, depressed oppressed:

[ANNOTATION]

Psalm 145:14 (CSB) 14 The Lord helps all who fall; he raises up all who are oppressed.

When you are not sure if God will provide

[ANNOTATION]

Psalm 145:15 (CSB)

All eyes look to you, and you give them their food at the proper time.

When you are feeling dissatisfied, discontent

[ANNOTATION]

Psalm 145:16 (CSB) 16 You open your hand and satisfy the desire of every living thing.

When you are unsure if you can trust the Lord

[ANNOTATION]

Psalm 145:17 (CSB) 17 The Lord is righteous in all his ways and faithful in all his acts.

When you feel like he is not there

[ANNOTATION]

Psalm 145:18 (CSB) 18 The Lord is near all who call out to him, all who call out to him with integrity/in truth

When you are crying out for Justice

[ANNOTATION]

Psalm 145:19–20 (CSB) 19 He fulfills the desires of those who fear him; he hears their cry for help and saves them. 2

0 The Lord guards all those who love him, but he destroys all the wicked.

Talking with God

Now we are talking with God

We are praising Him

Praising his promises

connecting to Him.

Our hearts are tuned to Him

We are being shaped by these words — we appropriate them to our life

we pray them.

Will you praise God?

The psalmist ends where he began

Psalm 145:21 (CSB)

21 My mouth will declare the Lord’s praise; let every living thing bless his holy name forever and ever.

The question for us is:

Will we choose to praise God.

to recognize both Who he is (revealed in Scripture)

and what He has done for us

And what he is still doing

And what he has promised to do

Praising God tunes our hearts to hear His Voice

it is the foundation for a flourishing conversational relationship with God

God communicates his presence to us when we are praising Him.

Action:

choose to praise God

Taking time to do this

Read a Psalm a day — reading plan

if you do this:

you will hear God more clearly

You will live more fully

Closing Prayer