Y'ALL PRAISE THE GOD
SUMMER IN THE PSALM • Sermon • Submitted
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Praise the Lord! Praise God in his sanctuary; praise him in his mighty heavens!
Praise him for his mighty deeds; praise him according to his excellent greatness!
Praise him with trumpet sound; praise him with lute and harp!
Praise him with tambourine and dance; praise him with strings and pipe!
Praise him with sounding cymbals; praise him with loud clashing cymbals!
Let everything that has breath praise the Lord! Praise the Lord!
God’s people should be caught up with praising Him.
Psalm 150 gives us the where, why, how, and who of praise. When we’re talking about praising God we are not talking about repeating “Praise the Lord” over and over. We are talking about thinking and/or speaking well of God’s perfect attributes or great acts.
God’s people should be caught up with praising Him.
Praise can be expressed through singing and music (including clapping, dancing, lifting our hands, kneeling, lying prostrate, etc.), through testimony and thanksgiving, prayer, sacrificial service, and giving. If we want praise to characterize our lives, the psalmist would have us understand ...
THE PERSON OF WORSHIP
Praise the Lord! Praise God in his sanctuary; praise him in his mighty heavens!
HALLELUJAH
It’s two words in Hebrew: halal, which means to praise or boast; and Yaw, – a shortened form of Jehovah – which is the proper name of the one true God. Joined together. The translation is “HALLELUJAH” or “PRAISE THE LORD.”“
HALLELUJAH
Hallelujah is a plural imperative which if translated into the Southern vernacular would sound like this “Y’all praise the Lord!” It is a summons not primarily to the individual reader or hearer, but to a whole community. Indeed, it is a summons to “everything that has breath” (150:6): Praise the Lord!
HALLELUJAH
It is a command from the Lord himself saying, “You there! Yes, you! Grab an instrument, open your mouth, and get going! Praise the Lord! I mean it! Move! Sing! Dance! Now!
THE PERSON OF WORSHIP
Yahweh is the covenant name of the Lord. It reminds us that He loves us and has covenanted to save us, keep us, care for us, and eventually glorify us, because of the sacrifice of Jesus Christ. The new covenant was not sealed by the blood of animal sacrifices but by the precious blood of Christ.
Worship is not about the worshiper or their needs; it is about God’s.
THE PERSON OF WORSHIP
We are commanded to praise God thirteen times in six short verses. In fact, the command to praise God begins every line of this psalm, except verse 6 which says, “Let everything that has breath praise the Lord.”
THE PERSON OF WORSHIP
The first Psalm begins with God blessing man and ends with man blessing God. Psalm 150 is so preoccupied with commands to praise the Lord that there is no place in this psalm that directly mentions the worshipers who receive these commands.
THE PERSON OF WORSHIP
Verses 3-5 record the most detailed list of musical instruments in scripture. Yet the worshipers who are to play these instruments are not mentioned. The worshipers are just lumped together in verse 6 with every other living thing God has created.
THE PERSON OF WORSHIP
This repeated emphasis on God as the Subject and Object of worship, and the total absence of any reference to any human being or earthy group, is divinely intended to confront us with the most essential principle of worship: God is the centerpiece of true worship.
THE PLACE OF WORSHIP - EVERYWHERE
Verse 1 say:
Praise the Lord! Praise God in his sanctuary; praise him in his mighty heavens!
THE PLACE OF WORSHIP
Sanctuary denotes apartness, holiness, or sacredness, refers to the holy presence of God that dwelt in the meeting place.
THE PLACE OF WORSHIP
The Jews viewed the temple as the earthly place of communion with God – his sanctuary. So, the psalm commands that God be worshiped in his sanctuary. But he also commands us to worship God in his mighty heavens.
THE PLACE OF WORSHIP
These two poetic phrases teach us that God is to be worshiped in all of his creation. Literally, God is to be praised everywhere. There is no place where worship is out of place. Wherever you are, praise the Lord.
If God’s glory fills the universe, and it does, then His praise must do no less.
THE PURPOSE OF WORSHIP
After he tells them who and where to worship in verse 1 he tells them why they should worship in verse 2.
Praise him for his mighty deeds; praise him according to his excellent greatness!
THE PURPOSE OF WORSHIP
This verse reminds us that the fundamental, primary, and overall reason why we worship God is because God is worthy of our worship. If we were never commanded to praise the Lord, we would still be morally obligated to do it, because God deserves our praise.
PRAISE HIM FOR WHAT HE HAS DONE.
The A part of the verse says praise Him for His mighty deeds. The mighty acts of God that surround us call on us to give genuine and grateful praise to God.
PRAISE FOR WHO HE IS.
The b part of verse 2 says: Praise him according to his excellent greatness. Excellent greatness refers to the nature, person, and character of God. God deserves to be praised just because of who he is.
GOD’S GREATNESS IS UNSEARCHABLE
The Bible says that God's greatness is too wonderful for man's heart. His greatness is incomprehensible by our finite minds. Even when we think we've turned the corner of our understanding, we should realize that we haven't even come close to being in the same state - much less the same street - of God's unsearchable awesomeness.
God is limitless in All He Knows.
We call this omniscience. There is nothing that He doesn't already know. He's never needed counsel or lacked for wisdom. No one has ever been able to say they gave advice to God.
God is limitless in All He Knows.
He knows the answer to every question we ask; He even knows the questions we will ask before we ask them. Really, God is so great that He knows the questions we should have asked when we didn't ask anything.
God is measureless in All He Does.
We call this omnipotence. There is nothing that God cannot do. He's not limited in his ability in any aspect. He has no Achilles heel. He's never felt threatened.
God is measureless in All He Does.
God's never gotten better because He's always been as good as He can get. We don't always understand His ways, but we can be assured that He is still trustworthy.
God is ceaseless in All He Is.
We call this omnipresence. God is God everywhere at all times. He is 100% present here and there, and He's not spread too thin. He's never taken a day off from being God - never needed one!
God is ceaseless in All He Is.
He doesn't have to stop listening to my prayers in order to help you with yours. He multitasks and loses no productivity. He's never changed because He needs no change.
God’s Greatness is Untouchable
God is awesome because He is sinless and endless. Stuff in this world exists according to a timeline. Things we buy new come with warranties because even the manufacturers know they will eventually wear out, deteriorate, fall apart, and break down. But not God.
God’s Greatness is Untouchable!
He is without the element of corruption: He is without sin. He will never tire, never faint, never falter, never fail. Things of this earth have an expiration date, they go bad, they rot, rust, and need renewed. But not God! He is eternal. He never had a beginning and will never see an end. He is entirely incorruptible and untouchable.
God’s Greatness is Unmatchable
God is great, his position is peerless and his power is priceless. Ask yourself: “Who but God?” Who but God could beautifully design this creation? Who but God could spread out the enormity of space? Who but God could set in motion the events of your life?
God’s Greatness is Unmatchable
Who but God would love sinners so much to send His only Son? Who but God is beyond our limits, our measure, our understanding in every way? Who but God would use His ultimate and absolute power for the good of His people and not for His own greedy gain? Who but God?
PRAISE FOR WHO HE IS.
Our God is a great God. And we should praise him for his excellent greatness. In fact, the text says, “Praise him according to his excellent greatness.” That is, praise him in agreement with, to the degree of, and in proportion with his greatness. This is what it means to give God the highest praise.
PRAISE FOR WHO HE IS.
Real worship is not singing “How Great is Our God” on Sunday and then living the remaining 6 days as though your circumstances are greater than your God.
MANUEL SCOTT, JR. says: “We come to church and shout about a dynamite God, but then we go home to live firecracker lives.”
God receives the highest praise when those of us who worship his greatness also walk in his greatness. The Lord is magnified and glorified when our lips, lives, and loves declare that . . . God is greater than our problems, sickness, needs, and desires.
THE PRACTICE OF WORSHIP
In verse 1, God tells us who and where to worship. In verse 2, God tells us why we should worship. And in verses 3-5, God tells us how to worship:
Praise him with trumpet sound; praise him with lute and harp!
Praise him with tambourine and dance; praise him with strings and pipe!
Praise him with sounding cymbals; praise him with loud clashing cymbals!
THE PRACTICE OF WORSHIP
Here God orders the practice of worship and the first truth we learn from this detailed list of musical instruments is that our worship is meant to please God not us.
THE PRACTICE OF WORSHIP
Our thoughts about worship can so easily become irreverent, man-centered, narcissistic, unbiblical, and outright sinful. Genuine worship seeks to exalt the unequalled greatness of God, rather than meet our needs, satisfy our tastes, or accomplish our agenda.
THE PRACTICE OF WORSHIP
God is the SUBJECT of worship, which means our worship is about him. God is also the OBJECT of worship, which means our worship is for him. Every aspect of our worship – the music, the scripture readings, the prayers, the music, the sermon, and even the offering – is to be rendered as unto the Lord.
THE PRACTICE OF WORSHIP
God orders the practice of worship. And Psalm 150 teaches us that God likes to be praised with music. God likes orchestra music. God likes instrumental music. God likes vocal music. God likes beautiful music. God likes loud music. God likes energetic music. God even likes music you can dance to! God likes music.
THE PRACTICE OF WORSHIP
Don’t let anybody bluff you; God does not like all music. The fact that the conjunction “with” is used six times in verses 3-5 reminds us that music itself is not worship. It is accompaniment to worship.
THE PRACTICE OF WORSHIP
In other words, as God is listening to the music, he’s also looking at the heart. That’s why Ephesians 5:19 mentions spiritual singing as evidence of Spirit-infilling. So the point of the text is not found in the musical instruments themselves. It’s found in the implications of them.
THE PRACTICE OF WORSHIP
In mentioning everything from a shepherd’s horn to loud, clanging cymbals, God is ordering worship that is joyous, uninhibited, and whole-hearted. Think about it.
THE PRACTICE OF WORSHIP
God lists these musical instruments – from winds, to strings, to percussion's – as a way of commanding us to give him total praise. We should praise God by all means. Our minds, our bodies, our voices, our talents, our emotions, our wills – all that we are and all that we have should be fully offered to the Lord as a sacrifice of praise.
THE PRACTICE OF WORSHIP
Mark 14:3-9 tells of a woman who crashed a party Jesus was attending. She was carrying a bottle of spikenard, a rare perfume that that was worthy 300 denarii. A denarius was the daily wage of the typical agricultural worker in the Ancient Near East.
THE PRACTICE OF WORSHIP
So this woman crashes the party with a bottle of perfume that was worth what most men made in a year. But she broke the bottle and began to anoint the head of Jesus with the perfume. And some who were present said “What a waste!”
WHAT A WASTE!
And I declare that the world still says “What a waste!” when they see those who love Jesus express their devotion to him. Even carnal minded church folk will say, “What a waste!” Now, the world doesn’t think it’s a waste to get excited about music, money, cars, houses, or the American Flag. But if you get excited about Jesus someone will say, “What a waste.”
The Lord remembers those who express their devotion to him freely, extravagantly, and sacrificially.
But I love how Jesus responded: “Let her alone. She has done a good work for me.” He even promised that her devotion would be memorialized wherever the Gospel is preached. The Lord remembers of those who express their devotion to him freely, extravagantly, and sacrificially. So pour it on!
POUR ON THE PRAISE
Don’t worry about what others may think. If God is your Father, Jesus your Lord, and the Spirit your guide,then pour on the praise.
THE PARTICIPANTS OF WORSHIP
In verse 1, God tells us who and where to worship. In verse 2, God tells us why we should worship. In verse 3-5, God tells us how to worship. And in verse 6, God tells us who should worship.
THE PARTICIPANTS OF WORSHIP
The only qualification for praising God is that you breathe. The most striking feature of this psalm is the fact that in six short verses we are commanded to praise God no less than 13 times!
THE PARTICIPANTS OF WORSHIP
In the Hebrew, the greatest number of words between any two “Hallelujahs” is four, and that only once; in every other instance, there are just two words between one Hallelujah and the next. Every third word is a command to praise God!
THE PARTICIPANTS OF WORSHIP
The fact that God can command us to praise Him means that praise is not just a feeling based upon your mood or circumstances. Praise is in part a feeling, but it is not at its heart a feeling.
THE PARTICIPANTS OF WORSHIP
Praise is a matter of obedience to our great God. It stems from deliberately focusing on Him. It is the result of being willfully God-centered in your thinking. If you are breathing, praising God is not an option; it is your responsibility.
THE PARTICIPANTS OF WORSHIP
Even if shirk our responsibility the Lord will not be without His praise. If that which breathes will not praise Him that which has no breath will. Psalm 148:7-9 says:
Praise the Lord from the earth, you great sea creatures and all deeps,
fire and hail, snow and mist, stormy wind fulfilling his word!
Mountains and all hills, fruit trees and all cedars!
THE PARTICIPANTS OF WORSHIP
At His Triumphal Entry Jesus told the Pharisees who wanted Him to rebuke the crowd for saying “Blessed is the King who comes in the name of the Lord!”
He answered, “I tell you, if these were silent, the very stones would cry out.”
Do you know why the non-breathing creation praises its Creator?
By the word of the Lord the heavens were made, and by the breath of his mouth all their host.
Who does the command to worship bind itself? Everything that not only has breath but everything that was made by God breath.
If things that do not have breath can praise the Lord it is only fitting that God would be praised by everything that breathes. If you've got breath in your lungs, you have received the gift of life from God himself. The very act of breathing proves that you've come from the workshop of a Master Craftsman--the one who breathed into Adam's nostrils in the beginning and who has now done the same for you.
For by him all things were created, in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities—all things were created through him and for him.
And he is before all things, and in him all things hold together.
“Praise is Lord” is not an escape from the realities of life but the exercise of faith.
“Praise the Lord” is not a refusal to face the truth but a resting in the Lord’s truth.
“Praise the Lord” is not as a denial of lament but a declaration of love.
THE PARTICIPANTS OF WORSHIP
When you read and study the psalms, you meet with joys and sorrows, tears and trials, pains and pleasures, but the book of Psalms closes on the highest note of praise! Like the book of Revelation that closes the New Testament, this final psalm says to God’s people, “Don’t worry—this is the way the story will end. We shall all be praising the Lord!”
THE PARTICIPANTS OF WORSHIP
You don’t need a big house, new car, fancy clothes, or good circumstances to praise God. If you are breathing, you have sufficient reason to praise the Lord. The fact that you are still here means God is worthy to be praised. So praise him no matter what.
PRAISE THE LORD
At the beginning and ending of everyday and every circumstance of life there ought to be a Praise the Lord in your mouth. That means when you wake up in the morning and your feet touch the floor and God has allowed you to see one more day you ought to say Praise the Lord.
PRAISE THE LORD
That means when you get in your car to go to work and you pull up in the parking lot and before you go in to work that job you dread you ought to Praise the Lord. And when you leave that afternoon at 5 and you look back at your job in the rear view mirror you ought to say Praise the Lord.
PRAISE THE LORD
When you go to the doctor’s office and before they saying anything you ought to sit down and calm your heart and remind yourself to Praise the Lord. And when you leave the doctor’s office thankful that you got some insurance and a doctor to look over you, you ought to shout Praise the Lord.
PRAISE THE LORD
And before you go to bed at night let the last thing that comes off your lips be Praise the Lord.