A Prince Worthy of Praise
Psalms • Sermon • Submitted
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· 19 viewsThe Lord alone is worthy of all our worship, and any praise that is directed otherwise will surely lead to great disappointment.
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Transcript
1 Praise the Lord!
Praise the Lord, O my soul!
2 I will praise the Lord as long as I live;
I will sing praises to my God while I have my being.
3 Put not your trust in princes,
in a son of man, in whom there is no salvation.
4 When his breath departs, he returns to the earth;
on that very day his plans perish.
5 Blessed is he whose help is the God of Jacob,
whose hope is in the Lord his God,
6 who made heaven and earth,
the sea, and all that is in them,
who keeps faith forever;
7 who executes justice for the oppressed,
who gives food to the hungry.
The Lord sets the prisoners free;
8 the Lord opens the eyes of the blind.
The Lord lifts up those who are bowed down;
the Lord loves the righteous.
9 The Lord watches over the sojourners;
he upholds the widow and the fatherless,
but the way of the wicked he brings to ruin.
10 The Lord will reign forever,
your God, O Zion, to all generations.
Praise the Lord!
Let’s pray.
Praise comes naturally to every person. Men and women, young and old, we naturally give praise to that which we deem to be praiseworthy.
When we get a view of Mt Hood on a clear and sunny day - we might give praise
When we enjoy an amazing bite of food - we give praise
And most notably, when our team scores - we give praise
Grown men
Shy children
Praise come naturally to all of us when we experience something that is worthy of our praise. And if there was ever something, or better yet, someone who was worthy of our praise, it would be the Lord.
This morning’s psalm opens with such praise,
1 Praise the Lord!
Praise the Lord, O my soul!
The three word phrase at the top of the psalm is only one word in Hebrew. Though most of us don’t speak Hebrew, most of know this Hebrew word. The word here is Hallelujah. Hallelujah means - praise the LORD! You might even recognize the final syllable of ‘hallelujah’ - YAH” is an abbreviated form of the personal name of God.
So praise the LORD! This is not a suggestion… the Scripture isn’t saying that you should praise the LORD… this is a command to give praise to the LORD.
And it’s not enough to simply tell the congregation to give praise to the LORD, but the Psalmist even commands himself to give praise to God when he says;
Praise the LORD, O my soul!
What an embarrassment it is when the preacher instructs the people to give praise to Lord, only for him to not be a participant in very act praising the LORD. And so the psalmist commands his own soul to praise the LORD alongside the congregation.
So it is of each of us, we must command our souls to praise our God. if we are sluggish in giving praise to God, then we ought to preach to ourselves… “Praise the LORD, O my soul!”
And does praise look like?
Well, consider what praise is like when our eyes see the beautify of a sunset. Simply seeing the sunset isn’t the act of praise. Rather, praise happens when we open our mouth and express aww of the view. Or again, when we take that bite of dinner, and the taste of it is registered in our minds, our mouths can’t help but express our delight in what we are tasting - the expression of such delight is the act of praise. Praise is not just seeing, and savoring something. But praise is the expression of delight in something that is praiseworthy. With this in mind, let’s consider what is being commanded of us all this morning.
1 Praise the Lord!
Praise the Lord, O my soul!
2 I will praise the Lord as long as I live;
I will sing praises to my God while I have my being.
The expression praise to God is demonstrated through singing.
So to all you sermon junkies who like to slip into service after the singing, and then slip out at the end of the sermon… or to those who prefer listen to sermon podcasts from home, but never open their mouth to sing… consider what it means to praise the LORD this morning;
Do you hear my voice this morning… it’s hardly good for singing. But I will sing and give praise to the Lord all the same, not because my voice sounds good, but because the Lord is good and he is worthy to be praised.
I want you to know, my aim isn’t simply to engage your mind so that you can learn something new… my aim is to engage our minds of the wonders of God in such a way that would cause our hearts to explode with passion for the Lord such that we would open our mouths to praise the Lord.
When the truth of the gospel goes beyond the mind and into the heart, the effect of it will be praise to God!
And notice the duration of the psalmists praise;
“I will praise the LORD, AS LONG AS I LIVE;
I will sing praises to my God WHILE I HAVE MY BEING.
Our whole life is to be occupied with the activity of giving praise to God. But this doesn’t mean life will always have happy circumstances… As one reads through the psalms, they will quickly notice that they are not all happy songs… for there are psalms of lament as well as psalms of praise… but here at the end of the Psalter, we hear the repeated refrain of hallelujah. The last five psalms, ps 146-150 all begin and end with the command to praise the Lord. It’s as if to say, in all of life’s blessings troubles, in both the highs and the lows… I will praise the Lord.
So, are you downcast, depressed, and given to disparity? Then join the psalmist in preaching to yourself… “Praise the LORD, O my soul… as long as you are living, you ought to give yourself to this very act.
And even on your death bead, so long as you are alive and have breath left in your lungs, you ought to praise the LORD. For there is no more fitting activity for dying saints than singing praises to their God. This is because even in eternity we will continue to sing praises to our God forevermore.
1. The Lord is worthy of all our praise.
1. The Lord is worthy of all our praise.
Let’s get to the doxology and sing praises to God-Sermon done right? Actually, it’s not…
for one, we haven’t even gazed upon the glory of God that makes authentic praise to God possible… Just as one cannot give praise for a good meal until it has been tasted. So too we cannot praise God until we get a tasted and seen the goodness of God. So we must first get glimpse of God’s glory before our mouths can rightly give praise. The Psalmist will give himself to this activity in v 5-10.
Furthermore, seeing the glory of God and responding in praise isn’t automatic… for not everyone will recognize the glory of Lord and therefore, not all people give him praise.
While giving general praise comes naturally to us all, praising God does not come naturally to any of us. This is owning to the fact that we are sinners.
Paul said it this way of those who have not recieved salvation,
4 In their case the god of this world has blinded the minds of the unbelievers, to keep them from seeing the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God.
What keeps the natural man from praising God? Answer: He is blind. This is not a physical blindness, but a spiritual blindness. And as such he is unable to see the beauty of the gospel of the glory of Christ. And if he cannot see the glory of God, then he will not praise to the LORD.
When men cannot see the glory of God, they then turn their praise to the glory of man. This is where the psalmist turns his attention to.
3 Put not your trust in princes,
in a son of man, in whom there is no salvation.
4 When his breath departs, he returns to the earth;
on that very day his plans perish.
Notice what kind of man we are inclined to put our trust in? Men do not place their trust in peasants. We don’t trust those who are in a low estate. Rather men place their trust in princes. We trust those who are strong, those who are rich, those who are handsome, those who are head and shoulders above the rest.
We trust in princes, because we believe that they have power the power to save us.
Even as God’s people who have seen the glory of God, we must be watchful of our own tendency to place our trust in princes.
Even those who saw God’s glory in the days of old turned to such princes.
4 Then all the elders of Israel gathered together and came to Samuel at Ramah 5 and said to him, “Behold, you are old and your sons do not walk in your ways. Now appoint for us a king to judge us like all the nations.” 6 But the thing displeased Samuel when they said, “Give us a king to judge us.” And Samuel prayed to the Lord. 7 And the Lord said to Samuel, “Obey the voice of the people in all that they say to you, for they have not rejected you, but they have rejected me from being king over them. 8 According to all the deeds that they have done, from the day I brought them up out of Egypt even to this day, forsaking me and serving other gods, so they are also doing to you. 9 Now then, obey their voice; only you shall solemnly warn them and show them the ways of the king who shall reign over them.”
It is so easy for the people of God to forget about the glory of God and turn instead to the facade of the glory of man.
We do it when we turn to presidents and governors… how often we hope for one man to deliver us from another. And when our guy loses we come undone and give way to disparity.
But what is a prince? What is a prince if he is no longer royalty… what is a prince underneath all of his pomp? The Psalmist tells us
3 Put not your trust in princes,
in a son of man, in whom there is no salvation.
4 When his breath departs, he returns to the earth;
on that very day his plans perish.
A prince is nothing more than a son of man… Literally, he is a son of Adam…
This means princes are just like you, and just like me, and we are all just like Adam.
Princes make lofty promises to gain the people’s praise… but don’t be fooled by their hollow promises… they promise salvation, but they can no more save you than they can save themselves
Because like Adam, every prince will die.
and when his breath departs, his plans and all his promises will go with him.
Even the godly princes die… So we ought not to put so much hope in a prince… or any person for that matter.
In fact, we can go further and say don’t put your trust in pastors… for they too only sons of Adam in whom there is no salvation.
- let me clarify- When I say ‘do not put your trust in pastors’ I’m not saying pastors shouldn’t be trustworthy… and I’m not saying that we should just leave the church and not submit to the leaders who are watching over our souls
What I am saying is that you shouldn’t put your trust and hope in any man, and this includes pastors. I was talking to Tait about this yesterday, and he reminded me of all those who were given to despair when they found out Ravi Zacharias was not the man that we all thought he was.
But I want to be even handed here and even point the finger at myself… don’t even put your trust in me! I too am only a man who has been redeemed by grace.
Even more, as we search for a new pastor, I find myself placing far too much hope and trust in a new teaching pastor thinking that he will make everything around here better. Such a weight cannot be placed on any man.
I’m reminded of a lesson that another pastor and dear friend has taught me. He said that he was no more able to save sinners, or make them holy, than he is able to go to a cemetery and raise the dead.
Salvation does not come from man, for salvation belongs to the Lord.
3 Put not your trust in princes,
in a son of man, in whom there is no salvation.
4 When his breath departs, he returns to the earth;
on that very day his plans perish.
5 Blessed is he whose help is the God of Jacob,
whose hope is in the Lord his God,
While placing our trust in men is sure to lead to disappointment, placing our hope in God will lead to great joy.
But it’s not just trusting in any god that will lead to joy… as if a person simply needs religion in order to be happy. But they need to trust the one true God, that is the God of Jacob who’s name is the LORD. So put your hope in the Lord your God, and you will be sure to find great joy in him.
Because,
2. God is a better king than any man.
2. God is a better king than any man.
This is what the psalmist will walk through in the remaining verses of this Psalm. And as we reflect upon the greatness of our God… may it give us great joy so that the result of seeing his glory will lead to genuine and passionate praise.
So let’s consider who our King is.
Psalm 146:5–6 (ESV)
5 Blessed is he whose help is the God of Jacob,
whose hope is in the Lord his God,
6 who made heaven and earth,
the sea, and all that is in them,
First of all, Let us consider this, our God is the one who made the heavens, the earth and the sea…
Human princes have a kind of sovereignty as they rule over a portion of land. But consider the limit of their sovereignty.
A prince of a nation only has authority in his land. But when he leaves his kingdom, he is just another man who has no jurisdiction. And not only is man’s sovereignty limited by political boundaries… but more than this, he isn’t even in control of the land itself… princes cannot prevent the world from giving way… so when we call a prince a sovereign, we should recognize that is a very limited sovereignty.
But God is the one who made all the space that there is… God is the creator of the heavens, the earth, and the sea. And as the Creator of all things, there is not one speck of dust, drip of water, or molecule in the air that isn’t under God’s constant rule and reign.
And what of the inhabitance of the land?
Princes cannot control people… they may try to, but any kingdom that comes under attack is only proof of that a prince has a very limited limited control over the will of others.
But this isn’t so of our God.For God isn’t just the maker of the heavens the earth and the sea, but the Psalmist says that the Lord is the maker of all that is in them. God is our maker, and if he decides to give us breath he will do so. And if by his good and righteous will he decides to take our breath, then he will do so as well. If he wants us to move right, we will move us to the right. And if he wants us to move left, he will do that as well.
What prince is there to compare to the Lord our God?
6 who made heaven and earth,
the sea, and all that is in them,
who keeps faith forever;
Many princes make promises, most of them don’t live up to their word. Princes have promised to make the nation great again, but their rule comes and goes, and their promises go on unfulfilled.
But our God keeps faith forever… God keeps his word. Every promise God made either has, or will come to pass. When God speaks, it is as if he has already done it.
What prince is there to compare to the Lord our God?
7 who executes justice for the oppressed,
who gives food to the hungry.
The Lord sets the prisoners free;
Here in this threefold list, we see the duties of every prince. But as we have already said, princes, even those who are godly, are hardly sovereign. Many princes strive to bring justice for those who are oppressed. Many do try to seek the welfare of the people by giving food to those who are hungry and by freeing those who are enslaved. But a man can only do so much. And furthermore, remember, they are the sons of Adam. They are sinners, and as such even their best ambitions are none the less tainted by sin. Such rulers were rebuked in Micah;
1 And I said:
Hear, you heads of Jacob
and rulers of the house of Israel!
Is it not for you to know justice?—
2 you who hate the good and love the evil,
who tear the skin from off my people
and their flesh from off their bones,
3 who eat the flesh of my people,
and flay their skin from off them,
and break their bones in pieces
and chop them up like meat in a pot,
like flesh in a cauldron.
Men simply do not make for good princes.
But this is not so of the Lord our God.
7 who executes justice for the oppressed,
who gives food to the hungry.
The Lord sets the prisoners free;
hear the Exodus language here…
God brought justice when his people were oppressed in Egypt
He fed them mana in the wilderness
And he freed them from their captivity.
The Lord did these things for Israel in the past, and he continues to do these works today. And if these things have yet not come to pass, be patient and wait on the Lord. For he will be your provider in your hour of need.
8 the Lord opens the eyes of the blind.
The Lord lifts up those who are bowed down;
the Lord loves the righteous.
Opens the eyes of the blind… princes just can’t do this.
Modern medicine might make us think we have more control than we do, but when we take off our glasses… or when the computers are turned off… the blind remain as they were. But our God, is able to give sight to those who’s eyes have never been opened.
The Lord Lifts up those who are bowed down…
Again, princes don’t do this. Princes make men bow on their knees. This is the very thing that distinguishes a prince from other people… princes don’t bow, peasants do.
But the Lord lifts those who are bowed down. He exults the humble.
And he loves the righteous.
9 The Lord watches over the sojourners;
he upholds the widow and the fatherless,
but the way of the wicked he brings to ruin.
Now look at this final list here… the sojourners, the widows, and the fatherless. These represent those who are in lowest positions in society. And princes don’t typically care to help these people much, because those of such lowly estate offer princes little honor or praise to augment their status before other men.
But our God has so much honor in his name that he has no need of honor for the sake of making his name great. For he is great in and of himself and his being makes him worthy of all praise.
And the way of the wicked he brings to ruin.
While God loves the righteous (v8), he does not love those who are wicked. The Lord is an impartial judge to all.
Princes might be afraid to punish those who do evil, for if they do execute justice against such men, those who are wicked may even plot evil against the prince.
But God will not turn a blind eye towards those who do evil. Rather, ever sin will be accounted for, and every work of wickedness will be judged with equity. Even the greatest kings of the earth will face the wrath of God. The Lord has done it in the past with men like Pharoah, King Saul, Harod, and Nebuchadnezzar just to name a few.
10 The Lord will reign forever,
your God, O Zion, to all generations.
Praise the Lord!
You see, quite unlike princes who’s reign will soon end, our God will reign forever. Of his kingdom, there will be no end. So don’t put your trust princes who are nothing more than mere men, but instead place your hope in the Lord your God who is the King of kings and the Lord of lords.
So praise the LORD!
Now that we have gotten a glimpse of the glory of God… are we ready to sing praises now? NO
Now up until now, I’ve given you nothing but a synagogue sermon. By this, I mean every Jew who fears the Lord would agree with just about everything that I have said up to this point because I have yet to preach Christ and him crucified. But Christ is not preached, then I haven’t preached a Christian sermon. And if Christ is not preached, then we have nothing to rejoice in, because we are all wicked. Remember, the Lord will bring the wicked to ruin in v 9. If we do not have Christ, then we do not have the love of God that is for the righteous from v 8, for no one is righteous, no not one. If Christ is not preached, then we will have no hope.
So let me preach Christ, so that we may get a fuller view of the glory of God, so that we might give God louder praise!
We know that the Jews took offense at Jesus because they believed that Jesus was only a man who was making himself equal with God. To add to their confusion, Jesus referred to himself most often as the Son of Man. This is a confusing title in to be sure, because it’s used throughout the OT to refer to mere men. Our text today said
3 Put not your trust in princes,
in a son of man, in whom there is no salvation.
So if Jesus was just a man, then the Jews would have been right to label him as one who blasphemed against God.
But there is prophesy from Daniel that should have caused the Jews to pause and ponder what God was up to.
13 “I saw in the night visions,
and behold, with the clouds of heaven
there came one like a son of man,
and he came to the Ancient of Days
and was presented before him.
14 And to him was given dominion
and glory and a kingdom,
that all peoples, nations, and languages
should serve him;
his dominion is an everlasting dominion,
which shall not pass away,
and his kingdom one
that shall not be destroyed.
You see, this vision from Daniel is of a prince who appears to be a man… but he isn’t a man. v 13 says he is LIKE a son of man… So by appearance, he looks like he has come from Adam… but this is only an appearance. Where did this figure from Daniel come from? He came from heaven. And further, he was given dominion and glory and a kingdom over all peoples and nations and languages… and his dominion wasn’t like men’s that is here today and gone tomorrow, but his dominion would be an eternal one that would never pass away…
So who is this prince who comes from heaven in the form of a man? I’ll tell you who he is. He is the Lord Jesus Christ.
3. The Lord Jesus Christ, the Son of Man, is not a mere man.
3. The Lord Jesus Christ, the Son of Man, is not a mere man.
Yes Jesus Christ is fully man. But this is only because he emptied himself into human flesh. But by becoming flesh, Jesus did not cease to be God. And if the Jews would have simply stopped and looked at the works that Jesus did, they would have had to come to this conclusion.
This was certainly the conclusion that Peter came to.
13 Now when Jesus came into the district of Caesarea Philippi, he asked his disciples, “Who do people say that the Son of Man is?” 14 And they said, “Some say John the Baptist, others say Elijah, and others Jeremiah or one of the prophets.” 15 He said to them, “But who do you say that I am?” 16 Simon Peter replied, “You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.”
Anyone who has eyes to see, can hardly help but see what is plain in our Psalm today as we read v 5-10. That is this; Jesus rules with of power of God.
Can we not see all the ways in which Jesus ruled with God’s power?
Let’s read this again and in the place of the Lord we should be able to place Jesus’ name…
5 Blessed is he whose help is the God of Jacob,
whose hope is in the Lord his God,
Was Jesus Jacob’s help. He was, andJesus goes further back that Jacob… in fact he goes back even before his Jacob’s grandfather Abraham…
58 Jesus said to them, “Truly, truly, I say to you, before Abraham was, I am.”
How much further back from Abraham are we talking?
1 In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. 2 He was in the beginning with God. 3 All things were made through him, and without him was not any thing made that was made.
So when the Psalmist says of the Lord,
6 who made heaven and earth,
the sea, and all that is in them,
who keeps faith forever;
We must understand that Jesus is the Lord our God, for he made the heavens and the earth, and all that is in them.
But more than this, Jesus is a promise keeper. Remember, God made a promise that a son would be born from Eve to crush the serpent, so too Jesus came from Mary’s womb, but in the most incredible way… for he came not from the seed of Adam, because Jesus came from God.
The Psalmist continues;
7 who executes justice for the oppressed,
who gives food to the hungry.
The Lord sets the prisoners free;
8 the Lord opens the eyes of the blind.
The Lord lifts up those who are bowed down;
the Lord loves the righteous.
9 The Lord watches over the sojourners;
he upholds the widow and the fatherless,
but the way of the wicked he brings to ruin.
Could this really describe Jesus?
John the Baptist had his doubts, and so he inquired of Jesus this very thing.
John said,
3 and said to him, “Are you the one who is to come, or shall we look for another?” 4 And Jesus answered them, “Go and tell John what you hear and see: 5 the blind receive their sight and the lame walk, lepers are cleansed and the deaf hear, and the dead are raised up, and the poor have good news preached to them. 6 And blessed is the one who is not offended by me.”
Oh, but the Jews were offended by Jesus… So they sought to kill him and bring his reign through the cross. But their efforts were stopped, for who can kill the King who reigns forever?
10 The Lord will reign forever,
your God, O Zion, to all generations.
Praise the Lord!
Certainly Jesus Christ reigns. For he the grave couldn’t not keep him.
9 Therefore God has highly exalted him and bestowed on him the name that is above every name, 10 so that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, 11 and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.
Jesus is alive… and he is ruling over all creation. Jesus Christ will reign forever. So put not your trust in princes, but instead give all praise to the Lord, yes praise the Lord Jesus Christ oh my soul. For he alone is worthy of all praise. Let rejoice and let us sing praises to our King who’s glory has been revealed in Jesus Christ.