IF WE BELIEVE THEN THE LORD GOD IS WITH US

Proclamation:

“With my mouth I will greatly extol The Lord; in the great throng of worshipers I will praise Him.  For He stands at the right hand of the needy, to save their lives from those who would condemn them.”  Psalm 109:30-31 (NIV)

Explanation:

The words of this psalm were written by King David under the influence of The Holy Spirit of God.  In the first half of this psalm he addressed what his enemies had done to him, and what he would like to have happen to them. (Psalm 109:1-20)  Then he described himself (Psalm 109:22-25) before stating what he would like for The Lord God to do. (Psalm 109:26-29)  Then David ended the psalm by stating that would praise The Lord and declare His greatness before the congregation of believers.   His last statement in this psalm was that The Lord God would stand beside the needy and protect them from those who would harm them. (Psalm 109:30-31)

Application:

We should praise The Lord God privately and publicly.  We are all in need of something which only He can provide or supply.  He is our refuge and strength, and He is always present in both good times and times of trouble. (Psalm 46:1)  With The Lord by our side, we will not be moved or defeated. (Psalm 16:8)  He is our keeper and our protector. (Psalm 121:5)  He will never leave us or neglect us. (Hebrews 13:5)  He is worthy of all of our praise.

LET US LET THE SOUND OF HIS PRAISE BE HEARD

Proclamation:

“Praise our God, all peoples, let the sound of His praise be heard; He has preserved our lives and kept our feet from slipping.  For You, God, tested us; You refined us like silver.  You brought us into prison and laid burdens on our backs.  You let people ride over our heads; we went through fire and water, but You brought us to a place of abundance.”  Psalm 66:8-12 (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 by encouraging group praise, (Psalm 66:1-4) then he presents evidence of God’s previous faithfulness to His people, (Psalm 66:5-7) and then he addresses God’s continual protection. (Psalm 66:8-12)  This is followed by individual personal praise and a personal testimony regarding answered prayer. (Psalm 66:13-20)  The psalmist invites people to “come and see” (Psalm 66:5) what The Lord has done and then he invites them to “come and hear” his personal testimony. (Psalm 66:16-17)

Application:

We should praise and thank The Lord God publicly and privately for who He is and for all that he has done in each of our lives.  God has allowed the golden moments of our lives to keep rolling on and not let us slip into death.  He has brought us through purifying trials of fire and suffering which made us stronger.  He has never forsaken us and He brought us to the place where we are now in life, enjoying the abundance of His grace and blessings.  The promises that we made to Him during our times of affliction should be honored. (Psalm 66:13-14)  When others hear our testimony they will also praise The Lord and be glad. (Psalm 34:2)

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.”

PRAY AND PRAISE GOD MORNING AND NIGHT

Proclamation:

“It is good to praise The Lord … proclaiming your love in the morning and your faithfulness at night …” Psalm 92:1-2 (NIV)

Explanation:

Most Bible scholars, but not all of them, attribute this psalm to King David.  This is a song for the Sabbath day which was written under the influence of The Holy Spirit of God.  Here the psalmist expounds upon the virtues and benefits of praising The Lord.  The benefits are that: "The righteous shall flourish like the palm tree; he shall grow like a cedar in Lebanon.  Those that be planted in the house of The Lord shall flourish in the courts of our God.  They shall bring forth fruit in old age; they shall be fat and flourishing ..." (Psalms 92:12-14)  He clearly states that the people ought to praise The Lord more than once each day, i.e. morning and night. 

Application:

These verses were recorded in a psalm for the Sabbath day.  Unfortunately, some of us only praise The Lord on Sunday when we attend worship services.  We breath every day, we eat every day, our hearts beat every day, and we should thank God and praise Him every day.  As believers we should give thanks and praise to The Lord in prayer the first thing in the morning and the last thing at night.  Doing this several additional times during the day would not be a bad idea either.  In fact, it would be good to praise Him all day long. (Psalm 34:1)  He is worthy of all of our praise. No one can comprehend the extent of His greatness. (Psalm 145:3)  Regularly and repeatedly praising The Lord will lead to the blessings of a long, productive, and fruitful life, even into one's old age.  “Praise The Lord…Let everything that has breath praise The Lord. (Psalm 150:1 and 6)

WHAT SHALL WE GIVE GOD

Proclamation:

“What shall I return to The Lord for all His goodness to me?  I will lift up the cup of salvation and call on the name of The Lord.  I will fulfill my vows to The Lord in the presence of all His people.” Psalm 116:12-14 (NIV)

Explanation:

This psalm was written under the influence of The Holy Spirit of God by King David when he was fleeing from King Saul.  David was thankful that The Lord had saved him. (Psalm 116:6-8)  Here he asks a rhetorical question and then proceeds to answer it.  The question is: “What can he give to God in return for all of the blessings he has received?”  The answer is that in order to express his gratitude he will offer praise to God for his temporal salvation, and for his spiritual and eternal salvation.  In addition, he would do this publicly in front of God’s people.

Application:

God is the maker and creator of everything.  “The earth is The Lord’s and the fullness thereof; the world, and they that dwell therein.” (Psalm 24:1)  Everything belongs to Him including all the cattle on a thousand hills and the hills also. (Psalms 50:10-11)  All that we can give to Him which He does not already have is our praise and thankful worship.  This we can give Him publicly and privately, with our external behavior and our internal thoughts, and through our praise and prayers.  We can make vows to The Lord publicly before the assembled people of God and then keep them. (Psalm 66:13-14)  Because He gave us the free will to choose when we were created that is all that we have to give Him.  We can choose to praise Him, worship Him, and serve Him.  We should do these things both privately and publicly to the glory of God.