Praise Ye the Lord

Praise Ye the Lord

Psalm 150:1-6

 1 ¶  Praise ye the LORD. Praise God in his sanctuary: praise him in the firmament of his power.

2  Praise him for his mighty acts: praise him according to his excellent greatness.

3  Praise him with the sound of the trumpet: praise him with the psaltery and harp.

4  Praise him with the timbrel and dance: praise him with stringed instruments and organs.

5  Praise him upon the loud cymbals: praise him upon the high sounding cymbals.

6  Let every thing that hath breath praise the LORD. Praise ye the LORD.

1. The COMMAND – To Praise God:
   1. In All CIRCUMSTANCES – It is easy to praise God when things are to our liking, when our health is good, our finances are good and our prospects are bright.  It’s more difficult when we’re sick or as my grandmother used to say “the wolf is at the door” and the future seems bleak.  But whether we are abasing or abounding we are to be content in God’s will and praise Him for all that He has done and will do for us.  If it is our lot to suffer some dread disease or be martyred for His name we are still to praise Him.  How many have died painful deaths with the praise of God on their lips!  We should all read the stories of the heroes of the faith.  They serve to encourage and inspire us to be faithful.  No matter how difficult the road we travel here it will end in Heaven! 
   2. With all our CAPABILITIES – The repeated exhortation to praise God impart the understanding that with all our being we are to praise God.  With all of our:
      1. Talents – I have always admired those who are talented in music.  What a thrilling experience to hear beautiful music performed in the praise of our Saviour.  But everyone has some talent.   Once on the TV show “The Waltons” I heard my particular talent described.  One of the sons was complaining because his brothers and sisters were going to competitions in music or other arts and he was assigned the task of helping to cut timber.  When he asked why the reply was your talent is a weak mind and a strong back!  if your talent is in music use it to praise God.  If your talent is in business use it to praise God.  If your talent lies elsewhere whatever it may be, use it to praise God.   
2. The CONNOTATIONS (meaning) of some of the words here
   1. PRAISE – This word carries the meaning of bragging on the Lord.  He is worthy of all the praise that we could ever give and much more.  Human language is limited and God’s glory is infinite.  The best we can do is present a mere shadow of the true glory of God’s character.  The world spends much time and money on things to laud their idols.  We should expend our very being in praise of our Lord and Saviour.  The creation and all that’s in it has been made for the praise of the Creator.  Man is the pinnacle of the creation and should give the highest praise.                                                                                                                 
   2. SANCTUARY – this word gives the sense of a place that is:
      1. Consecrated that is made for a specific purpose.  It is the place where God’s presence is manifested in a special way.  It is beyond our ability to conceive what is the reality of Heaven.  1 Corinthians 2:9  But as it is written, Eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, neither have entered into the heart of man, the things which God hath prepared for them that love him.  The most glorious, amazing, beautiful, majestic and awe-inspiring will pale in comparison with the reality when we see Heaven.  The awe will be the glory of God which we will be able to see in our glorified bodies.  If we were exposed the the full glory of God in these fragile bodies we would be consumed.   
   3. FIRMAMENT conveys the concept of greatness or a grand expanse.  People are stunned by the size of the ocean when they first experience it.  Perhaps the extent of the the great plains or the breath taking scenes of the great mountains.  Surely God’s place of abode is far greater in scope and majesty than anything in the creation which is under the curse imposed upon it due to Adam’s sin.  It amuses me to read the estimates that the ‘scientists’ publish of the origin, size, age and so on of the universe.  It is convenient that it is not possible to test most of these theories, either by testimony or by experiment.  The truth that God is infinite and therefore with our finite minds we find it impossible to comprehend God is a frustration to man.  The old sinful nature of the unregenerate man rebels against God because man doesn’t want to recognize that there is one greater than himself.  We will not truly understand the grandeur of God until we are with Him in Heaven.
   4. POWER – This has manifold meanings.  Let’s look at some of these.  Consider:
      1. Might or ability is one aspect of the power of God.  One of the characteristics of God is ‘omnipotence’ that is is having all power.  There is nothing beyond the ability of God.  I have heard all the sophomoric questions such as “if God can’t lie then can He really do anything?”  This is akin to the question “where did Cain get his wife?”  This is usually to avoid the real questions which pertain to  eternal destiny.  In the heart of every man is the knowledge of his weakness.  When we consider the power of God displayed in nature it should make one realize how weak and helpless we are in the face of the vagaries of life.  How much less are our abilities to deal with the sin that is the controlling factor in the life of the unregenerate man.  God is the one who is capable and willing to deal with sin.  How true is the statement in Psalm 2 1 ¶  Why do the heathen rage, and the people imagine a vain thing?  2  The kings of the earth set themselves, and the rulers take counsel together, against the LORD, and against his anointed, [saying], 3  Let us break their bands asunder, and cast away their cords from us.  4  He that sitteth in the heavens shall laugh: the Lord shall have them in derision.  How foolish of the creature to compare his might against that of the Creator!
   5. MUSIC – Music is an important part of the worship of God.  That being said, it must be music that is fundamentally sound in its style and doctrinally sound in its message.  Much of the music today is shallow or teaches anti-Biblical doctrines.  The message of music is not confined to the lyrics alone.  The instrumental component conveys a strong message in itself.  When one hears a familiar song it will invoke an emotional response.  When the song Taps is heard the response is a sense of loss or finality.  When a military march is played it is recognizable as a tune to inspire martial feeling in the hearer.  While teaching on this theme in the country of Peru, during a time of conflict with Ecuador, I asked if we sang the words of the Peruvian national anthem but with the tune to the Ecuadorian national anthem what would the reaction be?  To say the least it was not a popular idea.  Why then should God accept praise of words, but with music that is carnal or even satanic?  As a preacher once said “be wary of music that gets to your foot before it gets to your heart.”  Most of the music of every age will be soon forgotten.  In the worship in our local congregation we tend to use older hymns.  The reason is that it has stood the test of time.  We find some of the new songs to be Biblically sound and uplifting but as in the past much of that which is now in fashion will soon be forgotten.  The music used to praise God should be chosen with the same care as the preaching in the pulpit  
   6. DANCE – The references in the Bible indicates a feeling of praise and joy that is expressed in an outward display.  It would never be done in the sensuous manner seen in most contemporary dance.  Whatever is done whether it is song, word or dance should direct the attention to the Lord and not to the performer.  The problem with much of the music is the same as with anything called dance, it puts the spotlight on the performer denying God the glory that is due Him.
   7. BREATH – The purpose of the creation is to praise God.  When the Bible says Let every thing that hath breath praise the LORD.  It’s clear that all people are to praise God, but even the animals give God glory, perhaps we cannot understand their language, but their very existence is a glory to God.  In a certain manner even plants ‘breath’ and therefore their beauty is a praise to God.  If plants and dumb animals can praise God how much more should man do so!
3. The COMMENSURATE Joy that is ours – The truth is God is so mighty, holy and praise-worthy.  The Psalmist exclaims What is man, that thou art mindful of him? and the son of man, that thou visitest him?   Psalm 8:4.  People get excited if some celebrity speaks to them.  We have the attention, love, protection and provision of the Creator of all things.  He manifested His great love for us on the Cross of Calvary!  John 15:13  Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends.   Such love is a source of great joy, a joy that cannot be contained.  We will find that we share the feeling of Jeremiah when he said   Then I said, I will not make mention of him, nor speak any more in his name. But his word was in mine heart as a burning fire shut up in my bones, and I was weary with forbearing, and I could not stay.  Jeremiah 20:9  In the language of the rural South Jeremiah had a case of the “can’t help its.”  If the joy of God is in you it will come out!