Praise Him! - The Why And How Of Praise And Worship!

Praise Him! - The why and how of praise and worship!

Thesis: We all need to learn to praise the Lord in what ever circumstance we find ourselves in and understand the benefit of praising the Lord and learn how to praise Him.

Scripture Text:

Luke 19:29-45: 29As he approached Bethphage and Bethany at the hill called the Mount of Olives, he sent two of his disciples, saying to them, 30“Go to the village ahead of you, and as you enter it, you will find a colt tied there, which no one has ever ridden. Untie it and bring it here. 31If anyone asks you, ‘Why are you untying it?’ tell him, ‘The Lord needs it.’” 32Those who were sent ahead went and found it just as he had told them. 33As they were untying the colt, its owners asked them, “Why are you untying the colt?” 34They replied, “The Lord needs it.” 35They brought it to Jesus, threw their cloaks on the colt and put Jesus on it. 36As he went along, people spread their cloaks on the road. 37When he came near the place where the road goes down the Mount of Olives, the whole crowd of disciples began joyfully to praise God in loud voices for all the miracles they had seen:38“Blessed is the king who comes in the name of the Lord!” “Peace in heaven and glory in the highest!” 39Some of the Pharisees in the crowd said to Jesus, “Teacher, rebuke your disciples!” 40“I tell you,” he replied, “if they keep quiet, the stones will cry out.” 41As he approached Jerusalem and saw the city, he wept over it 42and said, “If you, even you, had only known on this day what would bring you peace—but now it is hidden from your eyes. 43The days will come upon you when your enemies will build an embankment against you and encircle you and hem you in on every side. 44They will dash you to the ground, you and the children within your walls. They will not leave one stone on another, because you did not recognize the time of God’s coming to you.” 45Then he entered the temple area and began driving out those who were selling. 46“It is written,” he said to them, “‘My house will be a house of prayer’; but you have made it ‘a den of robbers.’” 47Every day he was teaching at the temple. But the chief priests, the teachers of the law and the leaders among the people were trying to kill him. 48Yet they could not find any way to do it, because all the people hung on his words.

Introduction:

It is always important that when we look at a Biblical text that we pay attention to the context of the passage we are exploring. Today I want to draw our attention to Luke 19:29-45in this scenario we observe the triumphal entry of Jesus into Jerusalem. The crowds are cheering and applauding Jesus. He is the great one the healer of sickness and disease. He is the one who they think will deliver them from the Roman Empires control. They are excited in thinking no more Roman taxes, freedom and liberty are coming into the city. They were celebrating the home coming of their king. Jesus at one point weeps for the city and its inhabitants because he know that they still are blind and they still do not see Him for who He really is. He knows that they don’t know what this day really means. He knew that they were spiritually blind and only praising him for what they thought would happen and benefit them as a people. He knew their praises were self centered and self motivated. He knew that they were only looking at Him through their earthly eyes. They really did not see their Messiah, their Lord, their Savior, or their Jehovah Jireh. No they saw an earthly man who could do extraordinary things and they thought the Kingdom of David was going to be re-established in their city and country. The time had come to get even with Rome and overthrow it. Jesus was going to re-birth the empire of King David in the eyes of the people. Jesus knew that they did not understand and he knew most of them would not understand nor support Him by the end of the week. Crowds are very fickle and unpredictable because if there is not something in it for the individuals involved they will just walk away and begin to criticize and condemn. Remember this same crowd was praising Him on Sunday and by the end of the week they were the same ones saying “Crucify Him!” Free the zealot because maybe he will do what we want and set us free from Rome. They did not care nor understand who this Jesus was. I am convinced of it! They shouted “Hosana save us!” But they did not mean from sin and self-centeredness or their evil ways but from the Roman Empire. How do I know this because the mood of the crowd changed very quickly after Jesus went to the Temple and turned over tables and drove out the crooks with a whip! The people did not want to be held accountable for their sin and apathy toward God. They did not want to be convicted and corrected because they knew what was best not Jesus. They turned on Jesus because he stated the truth and corrected them of their distorted and evil ways.