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CornerStone Baptist Church

Praise The Lord

Worship

Praise the Lord

Psalm 150

  1. Worship...WHY?  There is no right way to worship God if there is no right reason to worship God.
    1. Psalm 95...the call to worship.
    2. Psalm 96...the cure for boring worship.
    3. Psalm 145...learn to worship by looking at David's beautiful pic of God.

                                                              i.      God's position

                                                            ii.      God's personality

                                                          iii.      God's provision.

  1. Cliché’s...there are a lot of cliché’s out there
    1. A cliché is really an overused metaphor that doesn't really mean anything, nor does it help anyone.

                                                              i.      Time will tell…No news is good news…Live and let live…What goes around comes around

                                                            ii.      One step at a time…When at first you don't succeed, try try again…Don't worry, be happy.

  1. Sayings that don't really mean anything and really rarely help anyone.
  2. We have cliché’s  in our Christian language too...saying that are used far too often.

                                                              i.      While many of the things we say represent a truth...we use religious jargon and cliché’s all the time...terms and saying such as:

  1. Fellowship
  2. I'm Praying for you
  3. God's will
  4. Amen
  5. And even the phrase "Praise the Lord" can lose its impact because it is over used.

                                                            ii.      But the last 5 Psalms all called for Israel to "Praise the Lord."...LOOK AT THEM.

  1. Especially...psalm 150...the psalm we are looking at today...READ 150.
    1. Every verse starts with Praise the Lord.

                                                          iii.      Praise comes from a Latin word which means to prize

  1. When we praise, we are expressing our approval by value something or someone who has worth or merit.
  2. The word also means to "shine" or "make a show by raving and celebrating."
    1. To praise the Lord is to prize Him and rave about Him as the only one worthy of glory and honor.
  3. Obviously we are to praise the Lord...but what does that mean...used so much do we really know what it means...is it helpful to us to say we are to "Praise the Lord"?

                                                              i.      One group defines it as a jubilant celebration.

                                                            ii.      Another may define it as just singing...or another as quite time of prayer.

  1. It has become a cliché...a Christian cliché...that doesn’t really mean anything and is not helpful at all to say.
  2. What then, do we do with the directive in really Psalm 146-150...to Praise the Lord? This psalm helps us by answering some questions.
    1. a.      Where to praise...vs. 1 begins with a bang...READ.

                                                              i.      LORD...the self-existing and eternal one....that is the focus...who.

                                                            ii.      We are to praise the eternal one...the almighty God in "His sanctuary" which is a reference to the temple...where God used to dwell.

  1. Since Jesus died and rose again, God now "tabernacles" within His people...choosing not to dwell in a building.
  2. We are his temple...his sanctuary...He dwells within his people... and we would therefore live out the implications of what that means.

Romans 8:9, "But you are not controlled by your sinful nature. You are controlled by the Spirit of God living in you. (And remember that those who do not have the Spirit of Christ living in them to not belong to him at all.)"

  1. He lives within us...and that means that he is with us all the time...we are to be praising Him all the time...we are the temple...so where is in every area of our lives we should be letting God shine...we should be raving about him.
  2. In our families...our workplace...our recreation.
    1. Praise the Lord, Praise God in his sanctuary

Matthew 18:20, "For where two or three gather together as my followers, I am there among them."

                                                          iii.      God dwells within us and as we gather...Jesus said He is here among us...because he is here we should praise...so we should not only praise him in our lives...we should praise him here as a body too.

                                                           iv.      But the Psalmist also said to praise him in His mighty heavens...basically praise God in heaven and on earth.

  1. Where are we to praise Him...we are to do it everywhere...here in this place...in our own personal lives...we are to praise the Lord.
  2. b.      Why we praise...vs. 2...we are called to rave about God for at least two reasons.

                                                              i.      First, we praise Him for what he does.

  1. Acts of power...in the world...history
    1. Acts of power in our own personal lives.

                                                                                                                                      i.      Restore a relationship

                                                                                                                                    ii.      give you victory over a sin

                                                                                                                                  iii.      renew your health

                                                                                                                                   iv.      answered a specific prayer

  1. We should be praising God...raving about him...because of his acts of power in our lives.

                                                            ii.      But we are also to praise Him for who he is...vs. 2b...His unequaled greatness.

  1. Ps 145:3
  2. Ps 147:5
    1. When we praise God for who he is...we are recognizing his surpassing greatness.

                                                          iii.      This is a good reminder...more important on how we praise God is why we praise Him...because of what he has done for us in our lives and for who he is.

  1. c.       How we praise...vs. 3-5.

                                                              i.      If you look at how Israel praised God...many of us would be unsettled

  1. There music was loud and boisterous...in fact this passage describes an incredible praise band...and the instruments in the orchestra sounded out their praise to God.
    1. Just look:...3-5

                                                                                                                                      i.      Ram's horn...trumpet

                                                                                                                                    ii.      Harp and lyre

                                                                                                                                  iii.      Tambourine and dancing

                                                                                                                                   iv.      Strings and flutes

                                                                                                                                     v.      Crashing cymbals

Spurgeon said concerning this psalm, "Let the clash of the loudest music be the Lord's: let he joyful clang of the loftiest notes be all for Him. Praise has beaten the tambourine, swept the harp, and sounded the trumpet, and now for a last effort, awakening the most heavy of slumbers, and startling the most indifferent of onlookers, she clashes together the disks of brass, and with sounds both loud and high proclaims the glories of the Lord”

                                                                                                                                   vi.      Everything that has breath…PRAISE THE LORD

  1. It wasn’t just the priests and the Levites who were to praise the Lord.
    1. The Congregation.
    2. Every living creatures are included
    3. Take a way’s from this Psalm for us today?
      1. a.      All of our faculties…US…are to be engaged in praising God…self and body

                                                              i.      The breath is used to blow the trumpet and flute

                                                            ii.      The fingers are used with the harp and the strings.

                                                          iii.      The whole hand hits the tambourine

                                                           iv.      The feet move in rhythm

                                                             v.      And the Arms are used to clash the cymbals together.

  1. Corporate worship is not meant to be a passive entertaining event.
  2. We are all to be fully engaged in active worship…lifting our praise unto God by engaging our head, our heart, and our hands.
  3. b.      WE should understand that the number and variety of instrumentation gives us freedom to worship God in different ways.

                                                              i.      There is not just one way or method to worship God…musical style...order of services.

  1. Jesus said those that worship God must do so in spirit and in truth…but there are many ways to worship God.
    1. Singing…prayer…preaching…fellowship…dancing…shouting…ect
    2. Praising the Lord…not just a cliché’…but a command.
      1. We are to praise Him here and within our selves…We are to praise God because he is God…We are to praise Him with all our faculties…We are to praise the Lord.

                                                              i.      Stand…READ Psalm 150

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