Magnify The Lord With Me

MAGNIFY THE LORD WITH ME

Psalm 34:3

INTRODUCTION

A. HUMOR: SOMETIMES HONESTY ISN’T THE BEST POLICY

1. A patient showed up at a medical office and asked the receptionist, “You’re Mary, aren’t you?” She smiled, “No, I’m sorry, I’m not.”

2. “Are you sure? You look just like someone I know named Mary.” “Well, I hope she’s young and skinny.” “No, she looks like you.” OUCH! [RD]

B. TEXT

“I will bless the Lord at all times; His praise shall continually be in my mouth. 2 My soul shall make its boast in the Lord; the humble shall hear of it and be glad. 3 Oh, magnify the Lord with me, and let us exalt His name together. 4 I sought the Lord, and He heard me, and delivered me from all my fears” Ps. 34:1-4, NKJV.

C. THE SITUATION & DAVID’S SOLUTION

1. The foreword of Psalm 34 tells us why this Psalm was written. David was on-the-run from King Saul, and had gone to Nob to the priests to get food and weapons. When David saw a spy of Saul there, he foolishly thought he could flee to the Philistine King Achish for protection.

2. Achish’s men recognized David as the arch-enemy of the Philistines and he only escaped with his life by acting insane (1 Sam. 21:10-15). It has to be pretty bad for you to have to act crazy to save your life!

3. David was burdened with fears on every side. Maybe some of you are too. How did David deal with his fears? He magnified the Lord! This ended up being a remedy to David’s troubles.

4. So tonight we’re going to look at the word “magnify.” The Hebrew Lexicon by Brown-Driver-Briggs on the Hebrew word ‘gadal’ gives us four insights into it. It means...

I. “TO MAKE [GOD] GREAT”

A. HOW DID DAVID DEAL WITH HIS FEARS?

1. He didn’t keep focusing on his troubles, but shifted his focus to the Lord! When we magnify the Lord, we focus on HIM to the exclusion of all else.

2. David began to say, “I will bless the Lord at all times; His praise shall continually be in my mouth. My soul shall make its boast in the Lord; the humble shall hear of it and be glad!” (Vss.1-2).

3. When you focus a camera lens, only what you’re focusing on will be clear, but the background will be out of focus. A LENS CAN ONLY FOCUS ON ONE THING AT A TIME. So do we; we either focus on our troubles, or we focus on the Lord!

4. David began to think about all the times God had helped him – to defeat the lion and the bear, to defeat Goliath, all the battles and victories God gave him over the Philistines.

5. David thought about what a loving and faithful God Jehovah is, and about God’s anointing He’d put on him, and God’s promises of favor. And all of a sudden joy bells began to ring down in his soul! His hands shot up and he began a praise and shout!

6. At that point, David’s troubles shrunk and God’s power grew to the size of mountains.

B. MAGNIFY IS DEFINED AS...

1. To increase the size of something by means of a lens, instrument, or device. The need for magnification isn’t because God is too small, it’s because our spiritual vision is so bad. Praising God brings us closer to Him.

2. Praise is a magnifier; it makes God bigger and your problems smaller. DON’T MAGNIFY YOUR TROUBLES, MAGNIFY THE LORD!

3. ILLUS.: REASON FOR GRANT’S RECESS

a. At one point, the U.S. Civil War was not going well for the North. General Grant and his officers saw only dangers and difficulties. After hours poring over maps and various strategies, Gen. Grant called for a recess, and they all left the command tent and stood under the bright stars.

b. Grant stood for almost an hour drinking in the vastness of the Milky Way galaxy. At last he said, “It’s time to resume our deliberations; God is now sufficiently larger and our problems sufficiently smaller!” [Source Unknown]

II. “TO HIGHLY VALUE [JESUS]”

A. GOD IS WORTHY OF OUR WORSHIP

1. WORSHIPPING GOD IS THE CORRECT RESPONSE TO HIS WONDER & MAJESTY. Ps. 33:1 says, “Sing joyfully to the Lord, you righteous; it is fitting for the upright to praise him!”

2. One time I got to see the British crown jewels, including one diamond the size of a lemon with a million sparkling facets – it takes your breath away! So does the wonder of God when you catch a glimpse of Him and He’s equally worthy of honor.

3. We have no trouble praising humans who do great feats, or spectacular mountains, or gigantic waterfalls – why would we think the Creator of all these things doesn’t deserve honor and praise for all He’s done for us (for He made all things for OUR enjoyment; 1 Tim. 1:17)?