Text: Psalm 103
Title: How to continually praise God
Introduction
•Do you struggle to praise the Lord?
•Do you desire to praise the Lord more?
•Do you want help on how to praise the Lord?
In order to praise the Lord well you don’t need…
•A good song
•To be a good singer
In order to praise the Lord well you need…
•A good memory
“Praise the Lord, O my soul; all my inmost being, praise his holy name. Praise the Lord, O my Soul, and forget not all my benefits.” (V1-2)
David was able to keep praising God from the opening verse to the closing verse…
1.By never forgetting what God has done for me. (V3-7)
2.By never forgetting how God treats me (V8-18)
3.By never forgetting that God is always in control (v19-22)
1. By never forgetting what God has done for me. (V3-7)
“Who forgives all your sins and heals all your diseases, and redeems your life from the pit and crowns you with love and compassion, who satisfies your desires with good things so that your youth is renewed like the eagle’s. The Lord works righteousness and justice for all the oppressed. He made known his ways to Moses, his deeds to the people of Israel.”
A.The problems of life verses the promises of God
•Guilt verses forgiveness
Brokenness verses healing
•Hopelessness verses love and compassion
•Disappointment verses Delight
•Decay verses Renewal
•Oppression verses Righteousness/Justice
B.God has made known to us the way to receiving all of these promises from God.
2 Corinthians 5:17 “Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come.”
Ephesians 1:3 “Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in the heavenly realms with every spiritual blessing in Christ.”
Only as we praise God do we get to really experience all the things God has done for us in Christ.
2. By never forgetting how God treats me (V8-18)
“The Lord is compassionate and gracious; slow to anger, abounding in love. He will not always accuse, nor will he harbor his anger forever; he does not treat us as our sins deserve or repay us according to our iniquities. For as high as the heavens are above the earth, so great is his love for those who fear him; as far as the east is from the west, so far has he removed our transgressions from us. As a father has compassion on his children, so the Lord has compassion on those who fear him; for he knows how we are formed, he remembers that we are dust. As for man, his days are like grass, he flourishes like a flower of the field; the wind blows over it and it is gone, and its place remembers it no more. But from everlasting to everlasting the Lord’s love is with those who fear him, and his righteousness with their children’s children- with those who keep his covenant and remember to obey his precepts.”
Illustration: God’s treatment plan is
•Compassionate
•Gracious
•Slow to anger
•Abounding in love
God’s treatment of us is
1.Undeserved
“He does not treat us as our sins deserve or repay us according to our iniquities.”
2.Unequaled
“For as high as the heavens are above the earth, so great is his love for those who fear him.”
3.Unstoppable
“As far as the east is from the west, so far has he removed our transgressions from us.”
4. Unending
"As a father has compassion on his children, so the Lord has compassion on those who fear him; for he knows how we are formed, he remembers that we are dust. As for man, his days are like grass, he flourishes like a flower of the field; the wind blows over it and it is gone, and its place remembers it no more. But from everlasting to everlasting the Lord’s love is with those who fear him, and his righteousness with their children’s children- with those who keep his covenant and remember to obey his precepts.”
3. Lastly by never forgetting that God is always in control (v19-22)
“The Lord has established his throne in heaven, and his kingdom rules over all. Praise the Lord, you his angels, you mighty ones who do his bidding, who obey his word. Praise the Lord, all his hosts, you his servants who do his will. Praise the Lord all his works everywhere in his dominion. Praise the Lord, O my soul.”
A.Things might be out of our control but things are never out of God’s control.
B.David had demonstrated this in his victory over Goliath.
Illustration: How big was Goliath? Smaller than God
C.All things work for good to them that love God and are called according to his purpose.” (Romans 8:28)
