Sermon Central
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The Doxology Of Discipleship
Contributed by Stephen E. Trail on Apr 28, 2024 (message contributor)
Summary: How to practice praise in your life and in the church.
“The Doxology of Discipleship”
1Praise 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 everything that hath breath praise the Lord. Praise ye the Lord.
First: "PRAISE THE LORD" AND "AMEN"
Story has it that there was a preacher that was trying to sell his horse. One day a potential buyer came to the church for a test ride. The preacher said, "Before you start, you should know that this horse only responds to church talk." Go is 'praise the lord' and stop is 'amen.'" So the man gets on the horse and says, "Praise the lord," and the horse starts to trot. The man again says "Praise the lord," and the horse starts to gallop. Suddenly there is a cliff right in front of the horse and the man yells "Amen!!!" The horse stops just at the edge of the cliff. The man wipes the sweat from his brow and says, "Praise the Lord."
Introduction: First…Probably one of the most misunderstood teachings of the church is the question, “What does it mean to praise the Lord?”
There are multiple words in Hebrew and Greek translated as “praise” in our English Bibles. In essence, to praise is to express adoration or approval. We praise the Lord for His traits, His works, and His character. Praise includes the acts of blessing, commending, honoring, thanking, celebrating, and rejoicing. We praise the Lord because He is worthy of all our praise. He is worthy of all adoration and approval.
David wrote this part of scripture to lead us in lifting high the name of our King. He calls every one of us to recognize the Lord’s splendor that outshines anything we know. Praising Him never gets old because there’s always more to discover about His mighty acts and steadfast love. The very same verse stirs hearts today just as it did for C.H. Spurgeon who promised to honor God forevermore.
It invites us into a lifetime journey of awe, where each step unearths more reasons to voice our thanksgiving for the King above all kings’ boundless excellence.
I. The Object of Our Praise v 1-2
a. The Person of Praise – The Lord
Whom do we praise? Psalm 148:13 Let them praise the name of the LORD: for his name alone is excellent; his glory is above the earth and heaven.
b. The Places of Praise – Sanctuary & firmament
"Praise the LORD. Sing to the LORD a new song, his praise in the assembly of his faithful people."
"Enter his gates with thanksgiving and his courts with praise; give thanks to him and praise his name."
c. The Parameters of Praise – His mighty works & His excellent greatness.
1. His actions – mighty works
2. His attributes – excellent greatness
"Yours, LORD, is the greatness and the power and the glory and the majesty and the splendor, for everything in heaven and earth is yours. Yours, LORD, is the kingdom; you are exalted as head over all."
II. The Operation of Our Praise vs 3-4
"Come, let us sing for joy to the LORD; let us shout aloud to the Rock of our salvation. Let us come before him with thanksgiving and extol him with music and song."
a. The essence of Praise
PRAISE AND GRATITUDE
After one of the terrible battles of the Civil War, a dying Confederate soldier asked to see the chaplain. When the chaplain arrived, he supposed the young man would wish him to ask God for his recovery; but it was very different.
First the soldier asked him to cut off a lock of his hair for is mother, and then he asked him to kneel down and thank God.
"What for?" asked the surprised chaplain.
"For giving me such a mother. Thank God that I am a Christian. And thank God for giving me grace to die with. And thank God for the home He has promised me over there."
And so the chaplain knelt down by the dying man, and in his prayer he had not a single petition to offer, but only praise and gratitude.
Source: Christian Herald
b. The expressions of Praise
How do we praise Him? With singing (Psalm 149:1), with dancing (verse 2), with musical instruments (Psalm 150:3), with our words (Psalm 35:28), with our actions (Colossians 3:17), with our uprightness (Psalm 119:7), and with all our hearts (Psalm 86:12). When should we praise the Lord? All the time (Psalm 34:1). We should express our adoration, approval, thanksgiving, and celebration to the One who created and redeemed us. “How good it is to sing praises to our God, how pleasant and fitting to praise him!” (Psalm 147:1).
