MAY GOD BE GRACIOUS TO US AND BLESS US

Proclamation:

“May God be gracious to us and bless us and make His face shine on us; so that Your ways may be known on earth, Your salvation among all nations.  May the peoples praise You, God; may all the peoples praise You.  May the nations be glad and sing for joy, for You rule the peoples with equity and guide the nations of the earth.”  Psalm 67:1-4 (NIV)

Explanation:

This psalm of praise and thanksgiving was written by an unknown human author under the influence of The Holy Spirit of God.  The psalmist begins this song by, asking The Lord God to bless us with His unmerited mercy, through the riches of His grace let the face of Jesus, The Christ, shine on us and grant us His gracious presence and His love. (Psalm 67:1)   He asks that God’s way, His method of salvation, the way for sinners to Him through Christ, the way, the truth, and the life, (John 14:6) the way of the gospel, be known throughout all of the earth. (Psalm 67:2)  Let all of the people in all of the nations of the world praise The Lord. (Psalm 67:3)  Let all of the people rejoice and be glad.  Lead us and guide us as a shepherd does His sheep. (Psalm 23:1-3)

Application:

This psalm is a song and a prayer, a prayer that we should pray for all of the believers in the world.  We should pray that The Lord God would be gracious to us, show us His loving kindness, and grant us His mercy and unmerited favor.  We should thank God for His Son Jesus, The Christ, who made a way for us to receive salvation and eternal life.  For this we should rejoice and praise His holy name.

GOD IS FULL OF COMPASSION

Proclamation:

“The Lord is gracious and righteous; our God is full of compassion.”  Psalm 116:5 (NIV)

Explanation:

Although the human author of this psalm is unknown, it was clearly written under the influence of The Holy Spirit of God.  The psalmist loves The Lord because He heard his cry for mercy. (Psalm 116:1-2)  He was overcome by distress and sorrow (Psalm 116:3) and The Lord saved him. (Psalm 116:6)  Then he asked the rhetorical question, “What shall I return to The Lord for all His goodness to me?” (Psalm 116:12)  He answers his own question by saying, “I will fulfill my vows to The Lord in the presence of all His people.” (Psalm 116:14 and 18) 

Application:

The sentence that begins with the phrase “God is …” can be completed in so many ways.  The Bible offers hundreds of statements which include that phrase.  However, God has only revealed a small part of who He is in The Bible.  We only know some of His attributes.  Our limited human capacity for understanding cannot fully comprehend all of who God is.  We know that He is all knowing, all powerful, and everywhere all at the same time but we do not fully appreciate that.  We cannot even adequately express all that He is to us or all that He has done for us.  We know that He is always with us, even though we don’t act like it.  We know that He is our refuge and strength and is our help in times of trouble. (Psalm 46:1)  We know that He is full of compassion and love for us because before we loved Him, while we were lost in sin, He sent His only Son to die for us so that we might have the choice of salvation. (John 3:16 and Romans 5:8)  We should praise God publicly for that if for nothing else.  As the song says, “God is the joy and the strength of my life … God is my all and all.”

THE LORD IS WORTHY OF OUR PRAISE

Proclamation:

"Praise The LORD.  How good it is to sing praises to our God, how pleasant and fitting to praise Him!"  Psalms 147:1 (NIV)

Explanation:

While there is no agreement as to the human author of this psalm, it is clear that it was written under the inspiration of The Holy Spirit of God.  The psalmist told the people of God that it is good to praise The Lord, and it is good to sing praises to Him.  He said that it is good, fitting, and appropriate to praise The Lord.  After making this statement, he goes on to give a number of reasons to justify why they should praise The Lord. (Psalm 147:2-20)

Application:
The Word of God exhorts us to praise The Lord often and continually. (Psalms 34:1 and 145:2)  We should praise Him where ever we are, in church (Psalms 107:42, Psalms 150:1, and Hebrew 2:12), in our homes (Joshua 24:15), alone and among the people. (Psalms 35:18)  We should also praise The Lord in all that we do. (1 Peter 4:11)  We should not have to be told to praise The Lord, we should do it spontaneously on our own.  He created the sun, the moon, the stars, the earth and everything therein. (Genesis 1:14-16 and 24-25)  He crated each of us from the union of two cells. (Psalm 139:13-16)  He heals the brokenhearted and physical wounds.  He makes the clouds to form and supplies the earth with rain.  He is omnipotent, omniscient, and is everywhere all at the same time.  He is worthy of all glory and praise. (2 Samuel 22:4, Psalms 18:3, and Revelation 5:12)  Our God is great and awesome.

GOD IS ABLE

Proclamation:

"Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego replied to the king, "O Nebuchadnezzar, we do not need to defend ourselves before you in this matter.  If we are thrown into the blazing furnace, The God we serve is able to save us from it, and He will rescue us from your hand, O king.  But even if He does not, we want you to know, O king, that we will not serve your gods or worship the image of gold you have set up." Daniel 3:16-18 (NIV)

Explanation:

These words were written under the influence of The Holy Spirit of God by the prophet Daniel himself.  The first six chapters of this Bible Book are historical in nature and the remainder is prophetic.  Here, after King Nebuchadnezzar had a ninety foot gold statue of himself made (Daniel 3:1) and the decreed that at the sound of the horns, flutes, or whatever music, everyone was to fall down and worship the image.  These three Hebrew boys refused to do so and were brought before the king for punishment.  They told the king that God is able to save them, and even if He does not, He can.  They were thrown into the fiery furnace and God did save them.

Application

Most of us only have a little faith in God.  Most of us would not be willing to die to put our faith to the test.  God can save us from whatever situation we are in.  God is able to do it.  God is omnipotent (all powerful), omniscient (all knowing), and omnipresent (everywhere at the same time), God is able.  He can and He will do whatever He wants to do.  Saving us from our little problem situations would be easy for Him if He chose to do so.  He can, but even if He doesn't, God is able.  We praise Him, even if He doesn’t do another thing for us, we know that God is able.

Don't Praise Yourself

"Let another praise you, and not your own mouth; someone else, and not your own lips."  Proverbs 27:2 (NIV)

These words were written by King Solomon, the wisest man to ever live.  Under the guidance and direction of The Holy Spirit of God, he told the people not to praise themselves.  Let others praise them.

Pride and boasting are different forms of the same root word in Hebrew.  A proud and boastful person is not pleasing to The Lord God.  Self praise is a sin. (Proverbs 21:4)  As believers, we are to praise God, and not to praise ourselves. (Psalms 34:1)  It is okay for someone else to praise us and life us up. (James 4:10)  However, it is better for us to give all praise, honor, and glory to The Lord.

Praise The Lord

"Praise The LORD, O my soul; all my inmost being, praise His holy name.  Praise The LORD, O my soul, and forget not all His benefits; who forgives all your sins and heals all your diseases, who redeems your life from the pit and crowns you with love and compassion, who satisfies your desires with good things so that your youth is renewed like the eagle's."  Psalms 103:1-5 (NIV)

In this psalm, King David was talking to himself and telling himself to praise The Lord with all of his innermost being because of all of the blessings which The Lord had bestowed upon him.  He stated that The Lord forgave his sins, healed his diseases, redeemed his life from the pit, crowned him with love and compassion, and blessed him with the good things that he desired.

We should praise The Lord fervently and frequently for all that He has blessed us with.  He has blessed us with a home and home-life, a reasonable portion of health, happiness and joy, a good heritage, and hope for the future.  We should praise God and we should thank Him for all that He has done for us.  Then we should pray that The Lord God will continue to be gracious to us and continue to bless us. (Psalms 67:1)  

Do Not Let The Rocks Speak For You

"Some of the Pharisees in the crowd said to Jesus, 'Teacher, rebuke Your disciples!'  'I tell you,' He replied, 'if they keep quiet, the stones will cry out.' "  Luke 19:39-40 (NIV)

In the gospel according to Luke, the physician, these words were recorded which Jesus spoke to the Pharisees in the crowd of His disciples.  As Jesus was going up to Jerusalem, (Luke 19:28), riding on the young colt, (Luke 19:33-35), the crowd began to shout praises unto Him. (Luke 19:37-38)  Some of the Pharisees in the crowd told Jesus to rebuke them, and tell them to be quiet. (Luke 19:39)  Jesus responded to them by saying "If they keep quiet, the stones will cry out." 

As believers, we should praise The Lord God loudly and often. (Psalms 34:1, Psalms 35:27, and Psalms 100:1)  In fact, we are encouraged to praise Him continually.  For He is worthy of all glory, honor, and praise. (Psalms 18:3, Proverbs 3:9, Romans 15:6, and Revelation 19:1)  He does not need us to give Him praise, but He will be praised.  If we do not praise Him, then the rocks will praise Him. (Luke 19:40)  Let us praise Him so that the rocks will not have to speak for us.  The Lord God is truly worthy to be praised.

Let The Light Of God Shine Within You

"In the same way, let your light shine before men, that they may see your good deeds and praise your Father in heaven."  Matthew 5:16 (NIV)

At the beginning of His Sermon on the Mount, after giving them the Beatitudes, Jesus, The Christ, told His disciples and the surrounding crowd to let the light of God which was within them shine so that men might see it in their good works and then give praise and glory to God in heaven.  They were to behave in such a way that their good deeds would give God glory.

All who have accepted Christ as their personal Savior, have the indwelling of The Holy Spirit and therefore have God within them. (Ezekiel 36:27 and Luke 17:21)  We need to keep our mind and our bodies clean because The Spirit of God will not dwell in an unclean temple. (1 Corinthians 6:19-20)  If we focus on obeying The Word of God, then our behavior will more Christ-like, and those around us will see The Spirit of God shining within us, and we will be able to give God the glory for our good deeds and words. (Isaiah 60:1, 2 Corinthians 4:6 and Revelation 14:7)  By submitting to The Word of God which abides within us, we can overcome the devil. (James 4:7 and 1 John 2:14)  To God be the glory!!!

Praise The Lord For He Is Worthy

 "Praise be to The LORD, for He showed His wonderful love to me when I was in a besieged city."  Psalms 31:21 (NIV)

King David told the people that he praised The Lord because He showed His wonderful love to him many times in the past when he was in trouble.

David was grateful for God's marvelous loving kindness which He had shown to him in the past, and because God had shown him favor and taken care of him in the past, he was confident that God would continue to do so in the future.  We should praise The Lord for the same reasons.  We should praise The Lord because He is good. (Psalms 106:1, Psalms 135:3, and Jeremiah 33:11)  We should praise The Lord for the great things that He has done. (Deuteronomy 11:7, 1 Samuel 12:24, Psalms 126:3, and Luke 1:49)  We should praise The Lord for His mighty acts. (Psalms 106:2 and Psalms 150:2)  We should praise The Lord because He alone is worthy of praise. (1 Chronicles 16:25, Psalms 48:1, Psalms 96:4, and Psalms 145:3)  We should praise The Lord because He loves us, and there is no greater love than His love for us. (Psalms 117:2)   Praise The Lord!!!

How Often Should We Praise God

"Seven times a day I praise you for your righteous laws."  Psalms 119:164 (NIV)

The author of this psalm stated that he praised The Lord seven times each day.  Some Bible scholars take this literally to mean seven times a day.  While others suggest that the number seven is used here as a statement of perfection or completion, and therefore it means an attitude of continual praise.

How often should we praise The Lord?  The Prophet Ezra stated that The Lord should be praised every morning and every evening. (1 Chronicles 23:30)  King David said that he would praise The Lord "at all times" and then he said that he would continually speak praise unto The Lord. (Psalms 34:1)  An unknown author said that we should praise The Lord from this time forth and for evermore. (Psalms 115:18)  Another unknown author said that he would praise The Lord as long as he was alive. (Psalms 146:2)  It is my belief that most believers praise The Lord twice a day, in the morning upon waking and in the evening just before bedtime.  It is also my firm belief that most believers do not praise Him seven times each day.  It is also my belief that very few of us, if any of us, praise The Lord continually, all day long.  The Bible says that The Lord is to be praised from sun rise until sun set, literally all day long, or every waking moment of every day. (Psalms 113:3)  All of us fall short of this.  We all need to praise The Lord more often.  We need to get ready and practice praising Him, because that is what we will spend eternity doing in heaven. (Revelation 5:13)

Praise God From Sunrise To Sunset

"From the rising of the sun to the place where it sets, the name of The LORD is to be praised."  Psalms 113:3 (NIV)

This psalm of praise was sung was normally sung before the Passover meal.  The author is unknown.  The message, however, is quite clear, The Lord God is to be praised from the beginning of each day until the end of each day.

This verse literally says that we should praise God from sunrise to sunset.  However, some Bible scholars would say that it means that all who enjoy the benefit of a sunrise or a sunset should praise God. (Matthew Henry)  While other Bible scholars say that it means that we should praise God continually. (William MacDonald)  Still others say that we should praise God "from the first moment of consciousness in the morning to the last waking moment before sleep." (John MacArthur)  It is clear that we should praise God, and we should praise Him multiple times during each day, and not just during the daylight hours.  

The Lord Is To Be Praised

"From the rising of the sun to the place where it sets, the name of The LORD is to be praised."  Psalms 113:3 (NIV)

The psalmist states that God is to be praised from sunrise until sunset, literally all day long.  This implies that Christians ought to be continually praising God.

We are to praise God all from the first thing in the morning until the last thing at night.  Some of us wake up before the sun rises, and most of us stay up long after the sun sets.  So, we are to spend every waking moment praising The Lord.  We should strive to live in such a way that all we think, say, and do will give God glory.  If we could do that, we would live a perfect life.  However, due to our sinful nature, such is not humanly possible.  But just because that kind of perfection is not possible to attain, does not mean that it is not a goal that is well worth striving for.  We should all want to sing the song "Praise Is What I Do" and mean it.  Let's praise The Lord everyday, multiple times each day, and not just on Sundays.  Praising God is not just an action, it is an attitude, a way of life.  We should also sing "Praise Is Who I am" and mean that too.