FOR HIS NAME ALONE IS TO BE EXALTED

Proclamation:

“Praise The Lord from the earth, you … young men and women, old men and children.  Let them praise the name of The Lord, for His name alone is exalted; His splendor is above the earth and the heavens.”  Psalm 148:7-13 (NIV)

Explanation:

The words of this psalm are also thought to have been written by King David.  Regardless of who the human author is, it is clear that it was written under the influence of The Holy Spirit of God.  This psalm is another one of the “Hallelujah” psalms.  It encourages all things heavenly (Psalm 148:1-6) and earthly (Psalm 148:7-12) to praise The Lord.  This will be the ultimate hallelujah chorus when all of His creations sing praises unto Him. 

Application:

One day, everything that The Lord God created will praise His name for He is worthy of all praise.  His name is to be exalted high above every name. (Philippians 2:9)  Every knee will bow and every tongue will confess that He is Lord. (Romans 14:11)  His glory is great. (Psalm 21:5)  His glory is above the heavens. (Psalm 113:4 and 148:13)  He is worthy to be praised. (Psalm 18:3 and Revelation 5:12)  Praise The Lord.

WE SHOULD PRAISE THE LORD GOD EVERY DAY

Proclamation:

“I will exalt You, my God The King; I will praise Your name for ever and ever.  Every day I will praise You and extol Your name for ever and ever.”  Psalm 145:1-2 (NIV)

Explanation:

The words of this psalm were written by King David under the influence of The Holy Spirit of God.  This psalm is a psalm of praise, one of the “Hallelujah” psalms.  It is also acrostic, meaning that each verse begins with one of the letters of the Hebrew alphabet, only the letter “nun” is missing.  The reason for that omission is still being debated by Bible scholars.  David begins by saying that he will lift up and praise the name of The Lord God every day. (Psalm 145:1-2)  Then he states that each generation of believers will tell the next generation of His great works, His mighty acts, and His goodness. (Psalm 145:3-7)  After that he proceeds to glorify God’s kingdom and recounts some of the reasons that The Lord God is worthy of all this praise. (Psalm 145:8-20)

Application:

As believers we are to praise The Lord God for who he is and not just for what He has done or can do for us.  We should also praise Him every day of the week and not just on Sunday when we go to church to worship.  We should not forget to praise the redemptive work of Jesus, The Christ, on Calvary, which He did for our salvation.  Nothing that we do is more important than our prayer, praise, and worship.  Maybe we should read one of the Hallelujah psalms each day. (Psalms 112 to 118 and 145 to 150)  Maybe this would help us in our praise without petitions.  We should not approach The Lord God only when we want something from Him.  Some of the time we ought to just praise Him and say thank you.

THE LORD GOD DOES WHATEVER HE PLEASES

Proclamation:

“The Lord does whatever pleases Him, in the heavens and on the earth, in the seas and all their depths.  He makes clouds rise from the ends of the earth; He sends lightning with the rain and brings out the wind from His storehouses.”  Psalm 135:6-7 (NIV)

Explanation:

This psalm was written under the influence of The Holy Spirit of God by an unknown human author.  It is thought to have been written by King David because the beginning is similar to Psalm 134, and it begins and ends with “hallelujah” like Psalm 113.  This is another one of the hallelujah psalms, a song of praise.  After exhorting the saints to praise The Lord and presenting the justification for doing so, (Psalm 135:3-5) the psalmist presents the awesomeness of God. And His power. (Psalm 135:6-7)  He follows this with several examples of things which The Lord God did. (Psalm 135:8-12)  Then he repeats the description of the idol gods and the people who worship them. (Psalm 115:4-11 and 135:15-18)  He ends the psalm by encouraging the people of God to praise The Lord. (Psalm 135:19-21)

Application:

Believers are encouraged to praise The Lord for He is good and He is great. (Psalm 135:3 and 5)  It is He who controls the weather and not Mother Nature. (Psalm 135:6-7)  Do not give credit which belongs to Him to anyone or anything.  This world is His, He made it. (Genesis 1:1)  We should not put anything ahead of God.  Nothing should be more important to us than The Lord God.  Most of us spend more time watching television than we do praising The Lord.  He is all powerful and deserves our praise and worship.

MAY MY LIPS AND MY MOUTH PRAISE THE LORD GOD

Proclamation:

“May my lips overflow with praise, for You teach me Your decrees.  May my tongue sing of Your word, for all Your commands are righteous.  May Your hand be ready to help me, for I have chosen Your precepts.”  Psalm 119:171-173 (NIV)

Explanation:

The words of this psalm were written by King David under the influence of The Holy Spirit of God.  This is the twenty-second and last part, Taw, of this twenty-two part psalm.  David ends this conversation with The Lord God with a series of personal requests.  He asks that God would hear his cry, give him understanding, hear his supplications, and deliver him according to His promises. (Psalm 119:169-170)  Then he asks that The Lord would help him praise God, that his lips would overflow with praise and that his mouth would sing songs of praise. (Psalm 119:171-172)  Then, recognizing that he would need help, he asks that The Lord God would be ready to help him to follow His word. (Psalm 119:173)  He asks that God would let him live so that he could give Him praise. (Psalm 119:175)     

Application:

David essentially ends a very long prayer by asking The Lord to help him praise God.  As believers we know that we need God’s help in all that we do.  However, if we are honest with ourselves, we also know that we do not pray, praise God, or thank Him enough or as often as we should.  He has done so much for each of us, most of which we take for granted and we appear to be ungrateful.  We should not need to be told to praise and thank The Lord.  In Psalm 107 the words “O that men would praise The Lord for His goodness and His wonderful works to the children of men” are repeated three times. (Psalm 107:15, 21, and 31)  Let us pray that He will help us to praise Him and to thank Him more often that we are presently doing.  Every breath, every heartbeat, every movement, and the fact that we are aware of who we are, where we are, and that we can respond to those around us, are all blessings that we sometimes take for granted.  Let us remember to praise Him and thank Him for all that He has done.

PRAISE THE LORD FROM THE RISING OF THE SUN UNTIL

Proclamation:                                                                                                       

“Let the name of The Lord be praised, both now and forevermore.  From the rising of the sun to the place where it sets, the name of The Lord is to be praised.”  Psalm 113:2-3 (NIV)

Explanation:

Although the name of the human author of the words of this psalm is unknown, it is clear that it was written under the influence of The Holy Spirit of God.  This is the first of the “Hallelujah psalms”, (psalm 112 through 118) which were sung at the Feast of the Passover, the Feast of Pentecost, the Feast of Tabernacles, and probably at all of the feasts of Israel.  This is a psalm of praise for the redemption of the people by Christ.  It is a shortened version of the song which Hannah sang after the birth and dedication of her son Samuel. (1 Samuel 2:1-10)  Here, all saints are encouraged to praise The Lord (Psalm 113:1) not just in the morning and in the evening, but to continually praise Him throughout the day.

Application:

The people of God know Him best, we know what He has done, and we have the most reasons to thank and praise The Lord.  We praise The Lord daily, and probably do it several times a day.  However, we do not spend our entire day in continual praise, from sunrise to sunset, all day long.  It does not matter how many times we pray and praise The Lord, there is more that could be said, sung, and done.  In all four corners of the world and by all of the people of the world, He is worthy of all praise.

PRAISE THE LORD

Proclamation:

"Shout for joy to The Lord, all the earth.  Worship The Lord with gladness; come before Him with joyful songs ... Enter His gates with thanksgiving and His courts with praise;  For The Lord is good and His love endures forever;  His faithfulness continues through all generations."  Psalms 100:1-5 (NIV)

Explanation:

This psalm was penned by an unknown human author but it was clearly written under the influence of The Holy Spirit of God.  The author encourages all of the people of the earth to shout praises unto The Lord.  They are exhorted to sing songs of praise and to worship The Lord with joy.  They should enter into His presence with a spirit of thanksgiving and praise.  The author’s point was that The Lord God deserves all glory, honor, praise, and worship.

Application:

The Bible repeatedly encourages believers to praise The Lord.  "Young men and maidens, old men and children.  Let them praise the name of The Lord, for His name alone is exalted; His splendor is above the earth and the heavens." (Psalms 148:12-13)  Praising The Lord is a good thing to do. (Psalm 147:1)  There are many ways that we can praise Him but here we are encouraged to shout and make a joyful noise unto The Lord. (Psalm 100:1)  We are also encouraged to sing songs of praise.  Your singing may be off key, like mine is, but as long as we are making a “joyful noise unto The Lord” we are okay.  So, "Let the saints rejoice in this honor and sing for joy..." (Psalms 149:5)  I don’t know about you but I will praise The Lord for the rest of my life, for as long as I live. (Psalm 146:1-2)  We all should be truly thankful for all of the things that The Lord has brought us through.  We should praise Him for all that He has done, is doing, and will do.  "Let everything that has breath praise The Lord.  Praise The Lord." (Psalms 150:6)  The angels in heaven praise Him by shouting “Hallelujah”, which is the highest form of praise. (Rev 19:1)  We should praise Him now while we are able.  Let’s not wait until we get to heaven to praise Him.  Praise His holy and righteous name.  Hallelujah!!!  Praise The Lord.