Commanded To Praise
Psalms 100:1-100:5
1Make a joyful shout to the LORD, all you lands! 2Serve the LORD with gladness; Come before His presence with singing. 3Know that the LORD, He is God; It is He who has made us, and £not we ourselves; We are His people and the sheep of His pasture. 4Enter into His gates with Thanksgiving, And into His courts with praise. Be thankful to Him, and bless His name. 5For the LORD is good; His mercy is everlasting, And His truth endures to all generations.
The Jewish Feast of Tabernacles, Booths, or Sukkot, is a Harvest Celebration similar in nature to our American Thanksgiving. 2009 is the year 5770 in the Jewish calendar, and Sukkot this year was observed between October 6th and 13th. It celebrates both God’s protection over the Israelites as they wondered through the Wilderness for 40 years and the end of the long harvest season when the farmers harvested their cereal crops and grapes. Jews were to come to the Temple in Jerusalem with their offerings from the harvest and joyfully worship God in giving Him thanks and praise. Perhaps Psalm 100 was written for this glad Day of Thanksgiving Worship in the Temple. Therefore, Psalm 100 is a most appropriate text for our observance of our own Thanksgiving this year.
The Temple of Jesus’ Day was surrounded by four courtyards, each enclosed by walls on each side. Each courtyard in turn was entered through various gates, or doorways in the surrounding wall enclosures. The Outer Courtyard was the Court of the Gentiles into which people of all nationalities had access. The second court was the Court of the Women, and all Jews whether they be men, women, or children could enter. Next came the Court of Israel into which only Jewish men could come and worship. The inner court that surrounded the Holy Place and the Holy of Holies was the Court of the Priests, and only the priests could enter this courtyard for the purpose of ministry.
The Day of Sukkot or Thanksgiving would find God’s people processing to the Temple for joyful worship, and so the Psalmist calls upon them to come into the presence of God by “entering His gates with thanksgiving and His courts with praise.”
INTRODUCTION
Today I want to talk to you about the reasons why we should praise God and then we are going to look at the ways we are to praise God.
There are some who do not enter into worship.
I’m sure there are others that enter in out of routine.
There are many places, in the Bible, where we are commanded to praise the Lord.
The word praise means to express approval or commendation; to give applause.
BODY
Reasons to Praise God
1. Almighty God is worthy of our praise and worship.
Ps 18:3 I will call upon the LORD, who is worthy to be praised.
Rev 5:11-12 Then I looked, and I heard the voice of many angels around the throne, the living creatures, and the elders; and the number of them was ten thousand times ten thousand, and thousands of thousands, saying with a loud voice: Worthy is the Lamb who was slain to receive power and riches and wisdom, and strength and honor and glory and blessing!
Who God is - Worship
What God has done - Praise
What God has done for you - Thanksgiving
Praise and thanksgiving - is verbalized faith.
If you thank God after the fact, that’s gratitude. If you thank God before it happens, that’s faith.
If you don’t know how, begin to praise from the Psalms. It is a book telling us how to praise God.
2. We are called to praise and worship God.
1 Peter 2:5, 9 You also, as living stones, are being built up a spiritual house, a holy priesthood, to offer up spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ. But you are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, His own special people, that you may proclaim the praises of Him who called you out of darkness into His marvelous light.
Ps 150:6 Let everything that has breath praise the LORD.
3. Worship changes us.
Jer 2:5 NIV They followed worthless idols and became worthless themselves.
You become like what you worship.
Worship superficial things, your life becomes superficial.
Worship perverted things your life becomes perverted.
Worship evil things your life becomes evil.
Worship the true God you become godly.
PRAISE TURNS YOUR FOCUS
A. We have a tendency to focus on ourselves first and
foremost. Our praying often becomes nothing more than
complaining.
B. Especially In times of trouble, we need to praise the
Lord
1.Praise turns our attention away from ourselves and our problems, and turns us toward God.
I heard one preacher say, “The praising person is not talking to God about his problems, he is talking to his problems about God!”
2.This is a way of saying that the praising person is standing on the promises of God, no matter how the circumstances of life are looking.
Philippians 4:4-7 is a wonderful passages that speak of the power of praise. In the end, the passage says that the praising person will have a peace that surpasses understanding.
4 Rejoice in the Lord alway: and again I say, Rejoice. 5Let your gentleness be known to all men. The Lord is at hand. 6Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God; 7and the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus.
3.When your focus is on your troubles, your headed for a depressed, stressed out condition,
4. but when your focus is on the One who is the solution to every problem you’ve got, you’re headed for joy, peace and a victorious life.
ILL: Aunt Sadie’s Blanket
“Aunt Sadie”, the Church matriarch, was given to “fits of excitement”. Whenever something happened that blessed her soul, she would stand up; wave her hankie in the air and shout at the top of her voice, “WELL! PRAISE THE LORD!!!”. These “outbursts” began to distract the minister and make him lose his train of thought. “Plus”, he told Aunt Sadie, “it disrupts the liturgy and dignity of our worship experience.” The pastor told her if she would refrain he would buy her an electric blanket. She needed the blanket so she agreed to give it a try. She did well for several months until a guest speaker came and began to preach about the love of God that sent Jesus to the cross to pay the penalty for our sins. Aunt Sadie could stand it no longer. She stood, raised her hankie and shouted, “BLANKET OR NO BLANKET, PRAISE THE LORD!!” Halleujah
2 Cor 3:18 TLB And as the Spirit of the Lord works within us, we
become more and more like him.
Isa 61:3 The garment of praise for the spirit of heaviness.
4. Praise and worship ushers in the manifested
presence of God.
Ps 22:3 (KJV) “But thou art holy, O thou that inhabitest the praises of Israel.”
Ps 22:3 But You are holy, enthroned in the praises of Israel.
5. Praise defeats our enemy.
Ps 8:2 NIV From the lips of children and infants you have ordained praise because of your enemies, to silence the foe and the avenger.
Ps 149:5-6 Let the saints be joyful in glory; Let them sing aloud on their beds. Let the high praises of God be in their mouth, And a two-edged sword in their hand.
Our praise puts evil to flight.
In 2 Chronicles 20:21-22, singers were appointed to go before the army of Israel into battle. They went forth, praising God, saying, “Praise the Lord, for His mercy endures forever,” and when they did, their enemies were ambushed by God Himself!
2 Chronicles 20:21-22,
22Now when they began to sing and to praise, the LORD set ambushes against the people of Ammon, Moab, and Mount Seir, who had come against Judah; and they were defeated.
24So when Judah came to a place overlooking the wilderness, they looked toward the multitude; and there were their dead bodies, fallen on the earth. No one had escaped.
25When Jehoshaphat and his people came to take away their spoil, they found among them an abundance of valuables on the £dead bodies, and precious jewelry, which they stripped off for themselves, more than they could carry away; and they were three days gathering the spoil because there was so much
How to Praise God
1. With my voice.
Ps 63:3 Because Your lovingkindness is better than life, my lips shall praise You.
Acts 16:25 But at midnight Paul and Silas were praying and singing hymns to God, and the prisoners were listening to them.¡¨
2. With my body.
Ps 63:4 Thus I will bless You while I live; I will lift up my hands in Your name.¨
Ps 95:6 Oh come, let us worship and bow down; let us kneel before the LORD our Maker.
3. With music.
Ps 150:3-5 Praise Him with the sound of the trumpet; praise Him with the lute and harp! Praise Him with the timbrel and dance; praise Him with stringed instruments and flutes! Praise Him with loud cymbals; praise Him with clashing cymbals!
4. With my emotions.
Ps 47:1 Oh, clap your hands, all you peoples! Shout to God with the voice of triumph!
5. With my life.
1 Cor 10:31 Therefore, whether you eat or drink, or whatever you do, do all to the glory of God.
SOMETIMES EVEN IN THE MIDST OF YOUR PRAISE, YOU’VE GOT TO FIGHT TO GET FREE
1.Free from Distraction…
2.Free from Disruption…
3.Free From Disappointment
D. Here is the reason why PRAISE is so important in
the Life of a believer
E. The Word says that, “We wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this age, against spiritual hosts of wickedness in heavenly places…”
Our enemies are Spiritual Enemies!! That is why we have to rely on the Lord to FIGHT THEM FOR US!!!!!
Praise is our pipeline—our connection—our way that we connect directly to our God-Son-Spirit!
Paul said this: “The weapons of our warfare are not carnal (or the weapons that this world uses)…But mighty in God for 4 Things:
1.Pulling down (demolishing) strongholds
2.Casting down (getting rid of) arguments
3. Casting down every high thing that exalts itself against the knowledge of God..means to overthrow arrogant thinking-talking)
4.Bringing every thought into captivity to the obedience of Christ. (2 Cor 10:4-5)
Praise is the WEAPON we use to get through the hell that satan throws at us.
I Will Praise the Lord because
Because He’s Almighty…
He Blessed Me…
He Cares for me
Because He Delivered me…
He Heard my cry…
He Kept me…
He Loves me…
Because of His Mercy
He Paid the price
Because He Took my place at Calvary…
He Erased the penalty of sin
Because He Forgave me…
He Loves me…
He Gave me eternal life…
