03_03_2019_psa150_donruhl-1Download

Where, Why, and How to Praise the Lord 

Psalm 150 

Don Ruhl • Savage Street, Grants Pass, Oregon • March 3, In the year of our Lord Christ, 2019 

Prelude: 

  1. What would be the best way to end the Book of Psalms? 
    1. What should be the grand finale? 
      1. Knowing the nature of the Book of Psalms, 
      2. what do you think would be most appropriate for the closing psalm? 
    2. I think Psalm 150 fits perfectly as the last psalm. 
      1. Every line speaks of praising the Lord. 
      2. Listen to these commentators speak of its appropriateness:

        “A massed chorus is gathered in God’s sanctuary on earth and is joined by angelic voices in his mighty firmament. With the help of a full orchestra it shakes the rafters of the universe with the sound of music. Nothing more is necessary to motivate this thunderous outburst of acclaim than to call attention to God’s mighty deeds and his exceeding greatness.”
        – Walter R. Roehrs, page 407, Emphasis in original

        “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!”
        – Warren W. Wiersbe, The Wiersbe Bible Commentary: Old Testament, page 1050, Emphasis in original

        “In view of all the sacred volume discloses about God and man—God’s power, man’s frailty; God’s eagerness to help, man’s need of assistance—it is highly appropriate that it ends with an expressive laudation of the majesty of God. After all it says about man’s trials, conflicts, persecutions, bondages, temptations, sicknesses, disappointments, sorrows, sufferings, troubles, tears, defeats, steps of faith, glorious victories, overflowing joys and beckoning hopes—all that accompanied their chequered and eventful lives—it is proper that the Book of Psalms concludes with exuberant praise, rejoicings and Hallelujahs.”
        – Leroy Brownlow, Living with the Psalms, December 31
  2. Let’s look for ourselves at Psalm 150 to see what these commentators meant. 

Persuasion: 

  1. 150.1a | What We Are to Do

    1 Praise the LORD!
    1. How many times have you heard “Praise the Lord,” in the Book of Psalms? 
      1. Just since last Lord’s Day, 
      2. you have heard the majority. 
        1. Eighteen times last Lord’s Day, Psalm 148 and 149, and 
        2. tonight I will add 13 more. 
    2. What do you think you are going to say in heaven? 
      1. Undoubtedly, “Praise the Lord” will be one of those things. 
      2. Why not start doing it now? 
        1. Do you know any reasons for praising the Lord? 
        2. Why keep silent about those reasons? 
          1. The psalmists did not and 
          2. the Holy Spirit included their words in Scripture! 
            1. The Holy Spirit will not preserve our words in Scripture, but 
            2. He will preserve them in heaven. 
  2. 150.1bc | Where to Praise the Lord

    Praise God in His sanctuary;
    Praise Him in His mighty firmament!
    1. Praise God in His sanctuary. 
      1. Solomon’s Temple would have been foremost in the psalmist’s mind. 
        1. How would you liked to have gone there and praise God? 
        2. You can’t go there but you can go somewhere else? 
      2. The Church is His sanctuary.

        16 Do you not know that you are the temple of God and that the Spirit of God dwells in you? (1 Corinthians 3.16).
        1. When you assemble with the church, 
        2. praise Him in song, prayer, communion, the contribution. 
      3. Your Body is the temple of the Holy Spirit.

        19 Or do you not know that your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit who is in you, whom you have from God, and you are not your own? (1 Corinthians 6.19).
        1. Praise Him in your heart. 
        2. Praise Him with your life. 
      4. Praise Him in His mighty firmament. 
        1. When you see the heavens, praise Him. 
        2. You stand in awe of His mighty firmament; stand in awe of its Creator. 
  3. 150.2 | Why Praise the Lord

    2 Praise Him for His mighty acts;
    Praise Him according to His excellent greatness!
    1. Praise Him for His mighty acts. 
      1. Praise Him for His mighty acts in Scripture. 
      2. Praise Him for His mighty acts in creation. 
      3. Praise Him for His mighty acts in history. 
      4. Praise Him for His mighty acts in your life. 
    2. Praise Him according to His excellent greatness. 
      1. Let your praise of Him, 
        1. as much as it is possible, 
        2. match the nature of His excellent greatness. 
      2. Truly, nothing we could ever do 
        1. would match God’s supreme greatness. 
        2. What I mean is that our praise of Him 
          1. should be done with whatever excellent greatness we have. 
          2. Do it with zeal. 
      3. Let His excellent greatness move you to praise Him. 
        1. Praise Him for His ability to create from nothing. 
        2. Praise Him for His power: 
          1. to create, 
          2. to renew, 
          3. to forgive, 
          4. for anything you can imagine. 
        3. Praise Him for each of His attributes: 
          1. His Love, 
          2. His Knowledge, 
          3. His Grace, etc. 
  4. 150.3–5 | How to Praise the Lord

    3 Praise Him with the sound of the trumpet;
    Praise Him with the lute and harp!
    4 Praise Him with the timbrel and dance;
    Praise Him with stringed instruments and flutes!
    5 Praise Him with loud cymbals;
    Praise Him with clashing cymbals!
    1. God likes music. 
      1. What kind of music does He write, and play, and sing? 
      2. What does His singing voice sound like? 
    2. During this time, 
      1. the children of Israel created instruments for praising the Lord. 
      2. First Chronicle 23 shows what David did. 
        1. He set apart some Levites for a purpose:

          5 …four thousand praised the LORD with musical instruments, “which I made,” said David, “for giving praise” (1 Chronicles 23.5).
        2. The point of Christianity is that the Lord restores things as He wants. 
          1. That is why He offers us forgiveness. 
          2. Jesus put marriage back to Genesis. 
          3. He has done this with music:

            19 …speaking to one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody in your heart to the Lord… (Ephesians 5.19).
            1. Instruments, like David’s, men create. 
            2. Now the Lord wants to hear the instrument He created. 
              1. He wants to hear the human voice. 
              2. He wants to hear the melody we create. 
  5. 150.6a | Who We Praise

    6 Let everything that has breath praise the LORD.
    1. Praise Him with music. 
    2. Anything or anyone who can voice praise, 
      1. should praise Jehovah. 
      2. Psalm 148 included all of heaven and earth. 
        1. Nothing in God’s natural creation should excel the praise we give God. 
        2. Since we are in His image, our praise can match what He truly is. 
    3. If we do not use our breath to praise the Lord, 
      1. why do we even breathe? 
      2. Should not our breaths then be praising the Lord? 
  6. 150.6b | Say It Again

    Praise the LORD!
    1. Praise the Lord again and again. 
      1. Is there any reason to stop praising the Lord? 
      2. The psalmists praised the Lord under every life situation. 
    2. Let us be like the most prolific psalmist, David, and 
      1. praise the Lord when we’re young, 
      2. praise Him when we’re old, 
      3. praise Him when we’re ill, 
      4. praise Him when we’re healthy, 
      5. praise Him when enemies are after us, 
      6. praise Him at work, 
        1. you name it, 
        2. use your life situation 
          1. to praise Him somehow 
          2. in someway. 
    3. What have the Psalms taught you? 

Exhortation: 

  1. Roy Deaver:

    “FUNDAMENTAL MESSAGE: Let all things—at all times, in all places, in all circumstances—PRAISE JEHOVAH!”
    – Roy Deaver, Psalms, Volume II, page 294