The Impact of Worship - Clover Sites
The Power of Praise
Psalms 145:1-21 June 3, 2012
As we continue in our series on worship, we’ve focused on why we worship, we’ve seen an example of a Godly woman who worshiped, from Psalm 95 we learned that biblical worship involves both rejoicing and reverence and is always followed by a response. Additionally, as we discovered last week from Ephesians 5 and from Acts true worship is the work of the Holy Spirit in our lives. This morning, as we take a look at Psalm 145, we will see that worship is designed to radically impact our very lives. Praise is powerful. It will influence your life in a very positive way. Praise will bless you now and for eternity.
Background
Before we jump into the text, I want to give you some background.
1. This Psalm is an alphabetical acrostic. What this means is that David begins each verse with a different letter of the Hebrew alphabet.
2. This psalm could be considered the “new song” of Psalm 96:1. We are to break out into fresh expressions of God’s creative beauty and awesome character: “Sing to the Lord a new song; sing to the Lord, all the earth.” This psalm does that. It’s bright and dazzling in its structure and message.
3. This is really David’s crown jewel of praise. This is the last psalm that has David’s name associated with it and the title, “A psalm of praise” is used only of this one. This holy hymn is characterized by praise - not thanksgiving or even prayer. It’s set apart for a specific purpose, much like Psalm 86 is referred to as “A prayer of David.” It is magnificent in its beauty and almost breathtaking in its grandeur.
4. This psalm has a special blessing associated with it. According to the ancient Israelites, who recited this psalm twice in the morning and once in the evening, a person who sang this psalm out loud three different times during the day would be “happy.” Perhaps we should follow this same suggestion today. I don’t doubt that we’d become much more joyful if we read this psalm three times a day for a month.
I see 7 different truths, or doctrinal certainties in this psalm. As we go through each one, I want to also give an application related to each point. It will work like this: Because of this truth…I will therefore do this.
1. God’s Position
Let’s begin by looking at verses 1-2: “I will exalt you, my God the King; I will praise your name for ever and ever. Every day I will praise you and extol your name for ever and ever.”
The first truth is God’s Position. David as God’s king adores Almighty God as his king above all kings. To “exalt” is to set on high above all others, it’s the expression of the greatest possible admiration. The phrase “for ever” means that David’s praise has no end, but when he adds another “ever” to it he forbids all idea of a close to his praise. Our praise of God shall be as eternal as the God we praise.
Praise is the only activity that we’re called to do now that we’ll continue doing in eternity. We pray now, but there will be a time when our prayers will no longer be needed. We believe, but there shall be a time when our faith will be lost in sight when we see Him face to face. We hope but a time is coming when what we hope for will come to glorious fruition. But, praise is with us now and will continue in heaven.
We are to praise Him “every day” regardless of how our day looks. When we’re up and everything looks good, we’re to praise Him. And, when we’re down and things look dark, we’re still to praise Him. Every day is a new opportunity to praise Him.
C.S. Lewis says, “We praise what we enjoy because the praise not merely expresses but completes the enjoyment. It is not out of compliment that lovers keep on telling one another how beautiful they are; the delight is incomplete till it is expressed.”
> And so, because of God’s Position, we are to Praise Him daily.
2. God’s Power
The second truth that David expresses is God’s Power. We see this in verses 3-6: “Great is the Lord and most worthy of praise; His greatness no one can fathom. One generation will commend your works to another; they will tell of your mighty acts. They will speak of the
glorious splendor of your majesty, and I will meditate on your wonderful works. They will tell of the power of your awesome works, and I will proclaim your great deeds.”
Our worship should be in some ways like the object of our worship - great praise for a great God. There is no part of God’s greatness which is not worthy of great praise. No song or hymn is too loud, no band or orchestra too large, no psalm too lofty for the lauding of the Lord of Hosts.
While God is great, David recognizes that “no one can fathom” his great power completely. When we contemplate the immensity of our Triune God, we find ourselves surrounded by unknowable wonders. Paul put it this way in Romans 11:33: “Oh, the depth of the riches of the wisdom and knowledge of God! How unsearchable his judgments, and his paths beyond tracing out.”
When we understand what we can, we’re challenged to pass along what we know to the next generation. Specifically, we’re to tell those who are younger about God’s works and mighty acts. As parents we are to praise God before our children and remind them of the ways that we’ve seen God at work in the past. Each generation is to catch the praises from the last and pass them along to the next.
It is the biblical duty of every generation of Christians to see to it that the next generation hears about the mighty acts of God. God does not just drop a Bible from heaven on every generation. He intends for the older saints to teach the newer ones to think and trust and obey and rejoice. I want you to notice that verse 4 does not say that we are to merely “teach” his works. It says, “Commend your works to another.” That means that we pass along our praise to them by commending the attractiveness of God. We must not only aim at education, but also focus on exaltation. If teachers and parents do not exalt God in their teaching, they cannot pass it along to the next generation. Dry, unemotional, indifferent teaching about God - whether at home or at church - does damage to our kids. It says one thing about God and portrays another. It’s inconsistent because it says that God is great but teaches as if He’s not.
The aim of all education is exultation. My passion is that all of our young people would be radically surrendered to Jesus and radically committed to His cause of world evangelization. What we want from the next generation are not just heads filled with the right facts about the works of God; we want heads full of biblical truths and hearts that burn with the fire of love and intensity of full devotion to Christ which explodes into unbridled and ecstatic praise.
I want to personally thank those of you who influence and impact kids for Christ. Whether it’s in your home, in a class setting, or in a youth activity, you are a difference maker for Christ and His kingdom. And, I might add, if you are looking for a way to serve and make a difference in the spiritual growth of the next generation, may I encourage you to get involved in and help out with our children’s ministry, or our youth ministry?
> The application: Because of God’s Power, we are to disciple our kids.
3. God’s Personality
The third truth is God’s Personality and is found in verses 7-9 and verse 17: “They will celebrate your abundant goodness and joyfully sing of your righteousness. The Lord is gracious and compassionate, slow to anger and rich in love. The Lord is good to all; He has compassion on all He has made…The Lord is righteous in all His ways and loving toward all He has made.”
In this section of the Psalm, David describes the multi-faceted beauty of God’s personality. Listen to the words he uses: “goodness,” “righteousness,” “gracious,” “compassionate,” “slow to anger,” “rich in love,” “good to all,” “righteous,” and “loving.” These attributes help us see what kind of God He is and how He deals with people.
God’s grace and goodness and righteousness and love and compassion are jarring and controversial. The world doesn’t want to accept grace. The world wants to do something to earn their good status. But God delights in us, even when our sin stained exterior is ugly because our beauty is found not in us, but in Him. He looks down at us and sees the covering of righteousness given by His perfect Son, Jesus.
Friends, because this is how God deals with us, verse 7 tells us to celebrate and joyfully sing praise to Him because of who He is.
> Because of God’s Personality, we are to celebrate His attributes.
4. God’s Preeminence
The fourth element is God’s preeminence from verses 10-13: “All you have made will praise you, O Lord; your saints will extol you. They will tell of the glory of your kingdom and speak of your might, so that all men may know of your mighty acts and the glorious splendor of your kingdom. Your kingdom is an everlasting kingdom, and your dominion endures through all generations. The Lord is faithful to all His promises and loving toward all He has made.”
The main point in this section is not that God is important or even prominent - it’s that He’s preeminent. He’s over all because He made everything. All of creation will praise Him and His saints - that’s you and I - will extol Him as number one in our lives. God has no rivals. He is the King of Kings and Lord of Lords - and we should live in light of this fact. As we praise Him for His works around us, we will go on to bless Him for his works within us.
And once we praise Him for His preeminence in our lives, we will want to tell others about the glory of His kingdom. When we speak freely of God’s might, “all men may know of your mighty acts and the glorious splendor of your kingdom.”
David is saying that there is a direct link between our heart and our tongue. We speak about what is in our heart. Overflow with whatever it is that we are filled up with. If you want to know what someone holds dear, just listen to what they talk about. Proverbs 16:23 puts it this way: “A wise man’s heart guides his mouth, and his lips promote instruction.” If our hearts are set on wisdom and praise, our mouths will speak accordingly; if our hearts are set on other things that will come out as well. That’s why Proverbs 4:23 challenges us to “guard your heart, for it is the wellspring of life.”
If our hearts were full of God, then our tongues wouldn’t be able to stop talking about Him to others. If we truly want verse 12 to be fulfilled and “have all men know of His mighty acts,” then it’s imperative that we cultivate a lifestyle of protracted praise and devoted adoration. Then, when we bump into others, our words will flow and our hearts will spill over with His love and grace. Someone has said, “If Christians praised God more, the world would doubt Him less.”
> Application: Because of God’s preeminence, we will tell others about Him.
5. God’s Provision
The next facet of this psalm is God’s Provision from verses 14-16: “The Lord upholds all those who fall and lifts up all who are bowed down. The eyes of all look to you, and you give them their food at the proper time. You open your hand and satisfy the desires of every living thing.”
This section follows the unlimited power and preeminence of God with its emphasis upon His provision. While God is extremely powerful and awesome, He is also tender and locked into the needs of His people. Have you fallen recently? Are you bowed down with the weight of problems and difficulties? If so, turn you eyes to Jesus and He will provide what you need. He will uphold you when you fall and lift you up when you’re overwhelmed. The key is to look up. I love the word picture in Matthew 12:20 when Jesus, referring to how he deals with hurting people, quotes from Isaiah and says, “A bruised reed he will not break, and a smoldering wick he will not snuff out.”
God does not willingly withhold any good thing from His children. David praises Him for His open hand that satisfies the desires of every living thing. This is also a wonderful picture, isn’t it? Instead of giving grudgingly or a little at a time, God takes his hand and opens it completely to us.! God has His hands full of good things for us. When we’re wiped out, stressed out, or maxed out, He wants us to look to Him. He won’t stomp on us when we’re down but will instead treat us tenderly and give us exactly what we need. Will you give your problems and yourself to Him right now?
> Because of God’s Provision, we can trust Him with our problems.
6. God’s Presence
The next truth we can hold on to is God’s Presence in verses 18-19: “The Lord is near to all who call on Him, to all who call on Him in truth. He fulfills the desires of those who fear Him; He hears their cry and saves them.”
While God is the King of the Universe, He is also very near to us. When you’re feeling alone, David reminds you that you are never alone. Notice that He is near to “all,” not just to a special few. Some of you may feel that God is mad at you or that you’ve been disqualified from His grace and presence because of your sins. That’s not true. He is near to all with one qualifier, however. He’s near to all who call on Him in truth.
To call on Him in truth is to recognize that the only way to God the Father is through His Son. If you have been born again, you have called on Him in truth. If you are a member of the family of God through conversion, you enjoy the privileges of that relationship with a loving Father who will always be near to you.
To call on Him in truth means that you are willing to be honest and open with Him. It means that you’re not living a lie or just going through the motions in your spiritual life. When you call on Him in truth, He will fulfill your desires and hear your cries for help. No one has ever cried out to Jesus and not been heard or delivered.
> Because of God’s Presence, we can pray to Him.
7. God’s Preservation
The final truth that impacts David from this psalm of praise is God’s Preservation. We see this in the last two verses: “The Lord watches over all who love Him, but all the wicked He will destroy. My mouth will speak in praise of the Lord. Let every creature praise His holy name for ever and ever.”
God preserves those who are saved and will judge those who are not. This is both comforting and frightening, isn’t it? If you have been saved from your sins, if you are a born again believer, you can have the confidence that God will watch over you and usher you into His presence when you die. You can be assured of your salvation as 1 John 5:13 states: “I write these things to you who believe in the name of the Son of God so that you may know that you have eternal life.”
I don’t know about you but it is saddening to me that God will destroy those who insist on going their own way. That’s hell. That gives me great motivation to tell people about Jesus. And, if you’re here this morning, and have never received the gift of forgiveness and salvation, then this verse is a warning to you.
The final verse of this canticle of praise repeats the opening chorus: “Let every creature praise His holy name for ever and ever.” David longs for every living person to praise his holy name always.
> Because of God’s Preservation, we are called to a lifestyle of praise.
Summary and Application
Now, let me summarize these seven points. As I go through them, I want you to pick one and make it your action step for this week.
• Because of God’s Position, I will praise Him daily.
• Because of God’s Power, I will disciple my kids.
• Because of God’s Personality, I will celebrate His attributes.
• Because of God’s Preeminence, I will tell others about Him.
• Because of God’s Provision, I will trust Him with my problems.
• Because of God’s Presence, I will pray on a regular basis.
• Because of God’s Preservation, I will cultivate a lifestyle of praise.
The overriding message of this series is this: Praise God with everything you have, get passionate God and dedicate your life to worship him.
“Let every creature praise His holy name for ever and ever!” Amen.
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