A God Who Deserves Our Praise

A GOD WHO DESERVES OUR PRAISE

1. All of us have done some deed or had an experience that deserved

some honest praise from friends, family or the public. Although

most of us get at least a little embarrassed by the expressions of

deserved praise - we may blush or even cry, we all have some

strong reactions and feelings about it. Describe some of the things

that happen within you when you receive appropriate praise.

What are some of the good things that proper praise does in your

life?

2. When God receives praise from His creation, what kinds of thoughts

and feelings do you think He might have concerning it? What do

you think is His inner response to praise?

 What might be His feelings about a particular portion of His

creation that did not praise Him? How might He respond?

What might He do to it?

3. Read I Peter 2:9. In this passage are listed five reasons to praise

God. Identify each of the five and see if you can define them in

your own words:

1 Pet 2:9 But you are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people belonging to God, that you may declare the praises of him who called you out of darkness into his wonderful light.

 Reason #1 We are a chosen people

 Reason #2 A Royal priesthood

 Reason #3 A Holy Nation

 Reason #4 We belong tobGod

 Reason #5 We are called out of darkness into light

 Summary: Why is it proper to praise God for the items listed

above? Why should God alone receive praise for them?

4. In the following passages are listed some of the ways and means for

praising God. In your group, identify as many of them as you can:

 Psalm 9:11

Psa 9:2 I will be glad and rejoice in you; I will sing praise to your name, O Most High.

Psa 9:3 My enemies turn back; they stumble and perish before you.

Psa 9:4 For you have upheld my right and my cause; you have sat on your throne, judging righteously.

Psa 9:5 You have rebuked the nations and destroyed the wicked; you have blotted out their name for ever and ever.

Psa 9:6 Endless ruin has overtaken the enemy, you have uprooted their cities; even the memory of them has perished.

Psa 9:7 The LORD reigns forever; he has established his throne for judgment.

Psa 9:8 He will judge the world in righteousness; he will govern the peoples with justice.

Psa 9:9 The LORD is a refuge for the oppressed, a stronghold in times of trouble.

Psa 9:10 Those who know your name will trust in you, for you, LORD, have never forsaken those who seek you.

Psa 9:11 Sing praises to the LORD, enthroned in Zion; proclaim among the nations what he has done.

Psa 9:12 For he who avenges blood remembers; he does not ignore the cry of the afflicted.

Psa 9:13 O LORD, see how my enemies persecute me! Have mercy and lift me up from the gates of death,

Psa 9:14 that I may declare your praises in the gates of the Daughter of Zion and there rejoice in your salvation.

Psa 9:15 The nations have fallen into the pit they have dug; their feet are caught in the net they have hidden.

Psa 9:16 The LORD is known by his justice; the wicked are ensnared by the work of their hands.

 Psalm 33:2

Psa 33:1 Sing joyfully to the LORD, you righteous; it is fitting for the upright to praise him.

Psa 33:2 Praise the LORD with the harp; make music to him on the ten-stringed lyre.

Psa 33:3 Sing to him a new song; play skillfully, and shout for joy.

 Psalm 52:9

Psa 52:9 I will praise you forever for what you have done; in your name I will hope, for your name is good. I will praise you in the presence of your saints.

 Isaiah 42:10-12

Isa 42:10 Sing to the LORD a new song, his praise from the ends of the earth, you who go down to the sea, and all that is in it, you islands, and all who live in them.

Isa 42:11 Let the desert and its towns raise their voices; let the settlements where Kedar lives rejoice. Let the people of Sela sing for joy; let them shout from the mountaintops.

Isa 42:12 Let them give glory to the LORD and proclaim his praise in the islands.

 Hebrews 13:15

Heb 13:15 Through Jesus, therefore, let us continually offer to God a sacrifice of praise--the fruit of lips that confess his name.

Heb 13:16 And do not forget to do good and to share with others, for with such sacrifices God is pleased.