Psalm 150: Created to Praise
Notes
Transcript
We were created to praise God
We were created to praise God
The last 5 Psalms make up what is known at the final Hallelujah Psalms.
The compilers of the Psalms ended each book/section of the Psalms with Psalms of praise/hallelujah and so it is quite fitting that the whole of the collection (the playlist) would end in Praise.
Psalm 150 is the shortest of the final 5 Psalms and there is no real argument the Psalmist is making, no real explanation or description, and no real teaching.
There is only 1 verb used throughout the Psalm and it is used 13 times—the Hebrew word “Heellel” which we translate at “Praise”
It means to admire, to celebrate, and to boast about something or someone.
13 times in 6 verses the Psalmist implores us to PRAISE.
He doesn’t argue a point though.
He isn’t teaching or explaining.
He is just exhorting us to Praise.
For 149 songs we have gone on a journey full of teaching, lamenting, remembering, learning, explaining, crying out for help, thanking, pondering, questioning, and, yes, praising.
So Psalm 150 is a fitting way to bring this journey to a close.
The culmination of all the Psalms is a call to praise.
In these 6 verses the Psalmist is clearly and compellingly making the case that the purpose, posture, and priority of our lives is to PRAISE.
To praise the one who created us, who sustains us, to protects us, who disciplines us, who provides for us, who judges us, who forgives us, who saves us, who is our shepherd, our guide, our strong tower, our hope, our defender, our Lord…and so much more.
In EVERY circumstance of life, every trial, every victory, every stumble, every step, every painful season, and every happy season, we are to praise God.
There is no bigger or more vital purpose and priority for our lives then to PRAISE our God.
And the Psalmist does a wonderful job guiding us through this life of praise by answering for questions for us.
1) WHERE do we praise?
1) WHERE do we praise?
1 Praise the Lord! Praise God in his sanctuary; praise him in his mighty heavens!
Two places are named in verse 1 for where we are to praise the Lord.
“In His sanctuary”- meaning in the place He has set aside for us to praise Him.
In the OT this was the tabernacle or the temple.
The place that God met with His people, gave them ways to atone for their sin, and focus on Him.
They were the gathering places for God’s people.
Today we have no temple, there is no “holy place”, there is not “house of God”
But His Sanctuary is His people, His Church, His assembled saints.
God has always held the gathering together of His people to praise His name corporately as vital and necessary to life.
Throughout the entire biblical history there has been an expression of God’s people physically gathering together to praise His name.
We have experienced first hand over the past year how the disruption of this rhythm of life affects us.
There is a need in all of us that we cannot hide, we cannot deny, and we cannot ignore to be connected in community, to sing praises to our King TOGETHER.
But that isn’t the only place he names. “Praise Him in His MIGHTY EXPANSE.”
This is a poetic way of saying, praise Him everywhere.
The interesting thing is that the Psalmist specifically mentions the sanctuary and then mentions everywhere else.
Obviously there is intention there, but there is also the reality that we have the tendency to only put praise into one compartment of our lives and thus it only happens in that space and time.
The Psalmist is saying “Praise God together on Sundays and when you gather, but don’t stop there. Praise Him at home, at work, at baseball games, at Walmart, in traffic, at school, when you are mowing the yard, cleaning the house, or anywhere/where ever you may be.
Praise is the purpose, posture and priority of our lives.
2) WHY do we praise?
2) WHY do we praise?
2 Praise him for his mighty deeds; praise him according to his excellent greatness!
As there are two places named to praise God, there are now two reasons given to praise Him.
First, because of what He has done.
Reading through the OT the first part of the year has highlighted to me the importance God places on remembering.
It seems multiple times in each book God draws His people back to the ways He has taken care of them, saved them, and sustained them through hard times.
He points to His faithfulness, His power, His love, His providence, His patience, and so many more things as He continually reminds the people to remember His deeds.
When we remember all that He has done our trust in Him grows ever more.
When we remember all that He has done we are more prompted to praise Him and focus our attention on Him.
remember what He has done and Praise Him for it.
Secondly, we are called to praise Him for His abundant greatness.
His “never-getting-to-the-end” greatness.
Now we’re talking about His character, His person.
Praise Him for His sovereignty, His immutability, His omniscience, His omnipotence, His omnipresence, His almighty power, His grace, His mercy, His goodness, His kindness, His holiness, His faithfulness, His justice, His wisdom – and on and on and on you go.
Praise Him because there is an endless list of things we ought to praise Him for.
The posture of our lives is Praise because He is worthy of it all.
3) HOW should we praise?
3) HOW should we praise?
3 Praise him with trumpet sound; praise him with lute and harp! 4 Praise him with tambourine and dance; praise him with strings and pipe! 5 Praise him with sounding cymbals; praise him with loud clashing cymbals!
We often equate the word “Praise” with music, and this Psalm seems to support that idea.
It isn’t incorrect to make that association, music has a unique way of connecting our knowledge and beliefs with our emotions.
We go beyond just believing to expressing our belief in music.
But the Psalmist’s intent isn’t to say that praise is only expressed in music.
The instruments mentioned in 3-5 are significant in that they are diverse and used in a variety of different occasions.
Stringed instruments, wind instruments, and percussion. All used in a variety of occasions and for a variety of purposes.
The Psalmist isn’t saying “worship God with music and instruments.” He is saying “worship God with everything you have available to you.”
This isn’t a prescriptive verse, telling us to use those particular instruments to sing and play music to God as worship.
It is a call to pick up what we have in order to honor, glorify, and praise our glorious king.
But music is important for the connection that it makes.
That is why we sing and play every week.
But there is a mention of dance, to which many of you cringe at.
The idea of dancing is just too much for us at times.
I look around the room, a whole lot of you don’t even sing the words, let alone dance.
But God calls us to get uncomfortable and to really praise Him with all we have.
you might not be able to pray music or sing well or dance well, but that isn’t the point.
Praise is a posture and a priority that we can and must take seriously.
Loosen up then!
4)WHO should praise?
4)WHO should praise?
6 Let everything that has breath praise the Lord! Praise the Lord!
Obviously if the purpose of life is to Praise the Lord in all things, then the answer to our question of WHO should praise is easy to come to…everyone.
The only requirement for praise is to have breath in your lungs.
We read this as a command, and it is, but it is also an invitation.
God gave us breath and so we are to use that breath to praise Him as long as we have breath.
But perhaps the more fitting way to understand this is as an invitation.
He invites anyone who has breath to praise Him.
Praise again is admiring, celebrating, and boasting about the Lord.
He invites us to know Him in such a way that we are drawn into admiration, appreciation, and awe.
He invites us to experience Him in such a way that we are drawn to celebrate who He is and what He has done and is doing.
He invites us to discover more and more about Him that we are drawn to boast about Him as we are struck by how big, mighty, powerful, real, and good He is.
Ask Deacons to come forward.
We are going to end our time together with a unique, yet simple expression of our worship.
The Lord’s Supper teaches us how to use simple elements and simple daily pieces of our life to praise the Lord.
A simple meal and a simple time together sharing a meal is an opportunity to praise the Lord in a clear and powerful way.
Lord’s Supper
Lord’s Supper
23 For I received from the Lord what I also delivered to you, that the Lord Jesus on the night when he was betrayed took bread, 24 and when he had given thanks, he broke it, and said, “This is my body, which is for you. Do this in remembrance of me.” 25 In the same way also he took the cup, after supper, saying, “This cup is the new covenant in my blood. Do this, as often as you drink it, in remembrance of me.” 26 For as often as you eat this bread and drink the cup, you proclaim the Lord’s death until he comes.
this is an opportunity to praise God for His most important work, the death of Christ for our sin.
For anyone who has trusted Christ is invited to participate as a way to remember and a call to praise.
If you haven’t trusted Christ and received Him as Lord and Savior, we would ask you refrain from taking the Supper.
Until you have received the salvation Christ attained by His blood through your faith in Him, this ordinance means nothing to you.
But for those who are in Christ, this body and blood are the hope and joy of our lives.
Let us receive it together as an reason to Praise.
And then let us sing once more together as we dismiss.