Lets Just Praise Him!

Lets Just Praise Him!

PSALMS 103:1

PREACHED BY

REV. W. D. SCOTT, SR.

@

Pleasant Grove Baptist Church

HELLO, MY BROTHERS AND SISTERS IN CHRIST! HAVE YOU COME TO PRAISE HIM TODAY? I HAVE, AND I’M GLAD YOU HAVE COME TO JOIN IN OUR PRAISES! OUR SERMONIC TEXT TODAY CHANLLENGES US AND CONFRONTS US WITH AN ADMONITION FROM THE HOLY WRIT TO PRAISE THE LORD. WE FIND DAVID, COMMUNING WITH HIS OWN HEART. FOR HE IS SUGGESTING TO US THAT OUR RELIGIOUS PERFORMANCES MEAN NOTHING IF IT IS NOT HEART WORK, FOR IT IS OUT OF THE HEART THAT FLOW THE ISSUES OF LIFE. ALL THAT IS WITHIN US MUST BE ENGAGED IN OUR PRAISE OF AN ALMIGHTY GOD. CAN YOU FIND SOMETHING TO PRAISE GOD FOR THIS DAY? THERE ARE MANY WORDS OF ENCOURAGEMENT IN THE PSALMS. IN THE PSALMS THERE ARE:

150 DIVISIONS

2461 VERSES

43,743 WORDS

2027 VERSES OF HISTORY

164 QUESTIONS ARE ASKED AND ANSWERED

413 COMMANDS ARE GIVEN

338 ACTS OF GOD

124 VOWS

174 STATEMENTS OF PRAISE

118 COMPLAINTS, BUT ALL OF THEM HAVE REMEDY

865 FACTS ABOUT WHO GOD IS

235 STATEMENTS ABOUT GOD’S WORD

182 TESTOMINIES

97 PROMISES

128 FACTS ABOUT THE MESSIAH.

BUT THE RHETORICAL QUESTION TODAY IS CAN WE FIND REASON TO PRAISE THE LORD. AFTER ALL, WE WERE CREATED TO PRAISE HIM. WHAT SHOULD PRAISE MEAN TO A CHILD OF GOD. LET ME SUGGEST TO YOU THAT PRAISE IS:

THE LIFE BLOOD OF THE SAINTS

THE EXPERIENCE OF BEING IN TUNE WITH GOD

PRAISE BRINGS US CLOSER TO THE TEARING DOWN OF THAT STRONGHOLD CALLED ‘SELF’ AND THE BUILDING UP OF OUR SOULS IN THE SPIRIT

PRAISE BRINGS US INTO INTIMATE FELLOWSHIP WITH GOD (PSALMS 100)

WE OFTEN CONFESS IN OUR CHURCHES THAT WHEN THE “PRAISES” GO UP, THE “BLESSINGS” COME DOWN! OUR PRAISES CREATE A SPIRITUALLY CHARGED ENVIRONMENT OF INTIMACY.

PRAISES WILL CHANGE OUR DEMEANOR, AND GOD GETS THE GLORY

PRAISE DRIVES AWAY DEMONIC FORCES THAT WOULD DESTROY US

BRINGS A CHURCH INTO ONE ACCORD WORLD OF THANKSGIVING AND JOY

OUR PRAISES BRING US INTO THE LIGHT OF GOD’S ETHEREAL AMBIANCE WITHOUT DELAY BECAUSE WHEN YOU PRAISE HIM OUR MINDS ARE “STAYED ON HIM”...(THERE’S SOMETHING ABOUT PRAISING GOD THAT LIFTS OUR HOPES).

OUR PRAISES PROVIDE SUBSTANCE TO OUR HOPE AS WE LOOK TO THE HILLS FROM WHICH COMETH OUR HELP.

THERE ARE MANY CHRISTIANS WHO FIND IT DIFFICULT TO THINK ABOUT THE PRIVILEGE OF PRAYER WITHOUT DOING SO IN TERMS OF ASKING FOR SOMETHING OR COMPLAINING TO GOD ABOUT SOME LIFE THREATENING SITUATION. OF COURSE, PETITIONARY PRAYING IS A PART OF OUR COMMUNICATION WITH GOD. WE ARE EXHORTED IN NUMEROUS PLACES IN SCRIPTURE TO BRING OUR NEEDS TO GOD IN PRAYER. IN FACT, JAMES SAYS THAT "YE HAVE NOT, BECAUSE YE ASK NOT" JAMES 4:2. AT THE SAME TIME. HOWEVER, THE WORD OF GOD ALSO ENJOINS US TO PRAISE THE LORD, TO EXPRESS OUR GRATITUDE, MORE OFTEN THAN IT TELLS US TO ASK GOD FOR THINGS. WHY, INDEED, SHOULD WE EXPRESS PRAISE AND THANKSGIVING TO GOD? WHEN WE CULTIVATE THE HABIT OF PRAISING GOD, WE ENLARGE OUR CAPACITY TO APPRECIATE THE GREATNESS AND GLORY OF GOD, AND WE DIMINISH OUR OWN SELF CENTEREDNESS. IN SHORT WE "GROW UP" SPIRITUALLY AND ONE OF THE MANIFESTATIONS IF THE FOCUSING OF OUR FAITH IN PRAISE!

PSALMS 103 IS A PURE SONG OF PRAISE WITH NOT ONE SINGLE PETITION IN IT. THERE IS A PROGRESSION IN THE DESIGN OF THE PSALM. FIRST, DAVID ADDRESSES HIMSELF, DRIVING HOME THE NEED FOR BLESSING THE LORD, OR PRAISING GOD. THEN HE TURNS TO HIS PEOPLE, ISRAEL. HE EXPRESSES AMAZEMENT THAT GOD WOULD EVEN CONSIDER THESE CREATURES OF CLAY. AND FINALLY HE BUILDS TO A CRESCENDO OF PRAISE AS HE ADDRESSES THE ENTIRE UNIVERSE,CALLING ON EVERYONE AND EVERYTHING TO GIVE PRAISE TO GOD.

I. ENCOURAGE YOURSELF TO PRAISE HIM!(VV. 1-5)

DAVID BEGINS HIS PSALM BY TALKING TO HIMSELF. IN EXAMINING HIS OWN LIFE, HE HAS DISCOVERED A NEED FOR GENUINE INTROSPECTION. TO HIS CHAGRIN, HE FINDS THAT THE WINSOME BLOSSOM OF PRAISE AND THANKSGIVING IS MISSING FROM THE GARDEN OF HIS HEART. SO HE ADDRESSES HIMSELF: "BLESS THE LORD, O MY SOUL: AND ALL THAT IS WITHIN ME, BLESS HIS HOLY NAME (V.1). THE SOUL IS THE TOTAL PERSONALITY, THAT UNIQUE ENTITY THAT MAKES US WHAT WE ARE. IT IS THE WHOLE PERSON. BUT DAVID DOESN’T STOP THERE, HE ADDS, ALL THAT IS WITHIN ME" HE IS SAYING, "EVERYTHING INSIDE ME THAT MAKES UP MY SOUL NEEDS TO PRAISE THE LORD!" HE LIFTS UP HIS WHOLE BEING IN GRATITUDE TO GOD. IN VERSE 2, DAVID REMINDS HIMSELF TO "FORGET NOT ALL HIS BENEFITS". WHILE HE WAS PRAISING GOD FROM THE INNNERMOST RECESES OF HIS BEING, HE WAS NOT TO OVERLOOK THE SPECIFICS OF GOD’S UNMERITED GRACE AND MERCY. DAVID KNEW THAT HE COULD NOT REMEMBER ALL OF GOD’[S BLESSINGS; ON THE OTHER HAND, HE MUST NOT FORGET THEM ALL. IN OTHER WORDS, HE WAS NOT TO TAKE FOR GRANTED GOD’S EXPRESSIONS OF GOODNESS AN BLESSING TO HIM. BEGINNING WITH VERSE 3