Comanded To Praise

Commanded To Praise

Psalms 100:1-100:5

1Make a joyful shout to the LORD, all you lands! 2Serve the LORD with gladness; Come before His presence with singing. 3Know that the LORD, He is God; It is He who has made us, and £not we ourselves; We are His people and the sheep of His pasture. 4Enter into His gates with Thanksgiving, And into His courts with praise. Be thankful to Him, and bless His name. 5For the LORD is good; His mercy is everlasting, And His truth endures to all generations.

The Jewish Feast of Tabernacles, Booths, or Sukkot, is a Harvest Celebration similar in nature to our American Thanksgiving. 2009 is the year 5770 in the Jewish calendar, and Sukkot this year was observed between October 6th and 13th. It celebrates both God’s protection over the Israelites as they wondered through the Wilderness for 40 years and the end of the long harvest season when the farmers harvested their cereal crops and grapes. Jews were to come to the Temple in Jerusalem with their offerings from the harvest and joyfully worship God in giving Him thanks and praise. Perhaps Psalm 100 was written for this glad Day of Thanksgiving Worship in the Temple. Therefore, Psalm 100 is a most appropriate text for our observance of our own Thanksgiving this year.

The Temple of Jesus’ Day was surrounded by four courtyards, each enclosed by walls on each side. Each courtyard in turn was entered through various gates, or doorways in the surrounding wall enclosures. The Outer Courtyard was the Court of the Gentiles into which people of all nationalities had access. The second court was the Court of the Women, and all Jews whether they be men, women, or children could enter. Next came the Court of Israel into which only Jewish men could come and worship. The inner court that surrounded the Holy Place and the Holy of Holies was the Court of the Priests, and only the priests could enter this courtyard for the purpose of ministry.

The Day of Sukkot or Thanksgiving would find God’s people processing to the Temple for joyful worship, and so the Psalmist calls upon them to come into the presence of God by “entering His gates with thanksgiving and His courts with praise.”

INTRODUCTION

Today I want to talk to you about the reasons why we should praise God and then we are going to look at the ways we are to praise God.

There are some who do not enter into worship.

I’m sure there are others that enter in out of routine.

There are many places, in the Bible, where we are commanded to praise the Lord.

The word praise means to express approval or commendation; to give applause.

BODY

Reasons to Praise God

1. Almighty God is worthy of our praise and worship.

Ps 18:3 I will call upon the LORD, who is worthy to be praised.

Rev 5:11-12 Then I looked, and I heard the voice of many angels around the throne, the living creatures, and the elders; and the number of them was ten thousand times ten thousand, and thousands of thousands, saying with a loud voice: Worthy is the Lamb who was slain to receive power and riches and wisdom, and strength and honor and glory and blessing!

Who God is - Worship

What God has done - Praise

What God has done for you - Thanksgiving

Praise and thanksgiving - is verbalized faith.

If you thank God after the fact, that’s gratitude. If you thank God before it happens, that’s faith.

If you don’t know how, begin to praise from the Psalms. It is a book telling us how to praise God.

2. We are called to praise and worship God.

1 Peter 2:5, 9 You also, as living stones, are being built up a spiritual house, a holy priesthood, to offer up spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ. But you are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, His own special people, that you may proclaim the praises of Him who called you out of darkness into His marvelous light.

Ps 150:6 Let everything that has breath praise the LORD.

3. Worship changes us.

Jer 2:5 NIV They followed worthless idols and became worthless themselves.

You become like what you worship.

Worship superficial things, your life becomes superficial.

Worship perverted things your life becomes perverted.

Worship evil things your life becomes evil.

Worship the true God you become godly.

PRAISE TURNS YOUR FOCUS

A. We have a tendency to focus on ourselves first and

foremost. Our praying often becomes nothing more than

complaining.

B. Especially In times of trouble, we need to praise the

Lord

1.Praise turns our attention away from ourselves and our problems, and turns us toward God.

I heard one preacher say, “The praising person is not talking to God about his problems, he is talking to his problems about God!”