PS.116: 19 PRAISING AND REJOICING IN OUR GREAT GOD 12-1-07
Today we’re going to try & talk just for a little while about the Greatness of God. So listen as I read today’s text verse found in PS.116:19 1O praise the LORD, all ye nations: praise him, all ye people. 2For his merciful kindness is great toward us: and the truth of the LORD endureth for ever. Praise ye the LORD.
We can praise Him when we feel good, and we can praise Him when we don’t feel so good. You can praise Him if you’re rich, and we can praise Him when we’re broke. We can rejoice in Him when we’re happy, or when we’re sad either one.
The Apostle Paul said, in Phil. 4: 4Rejoice in the Lord alway: and again I say, Rejoice
The psalmist said, ps.97: 12Rejoice in the LORD, ye righteous; and give thanks at the remembrance of his holiness.
Ps 96:11 Rejoice! Give praise to His holy name! “Let the heavens rejoice, and let the earth be glad; let the sea roar, and the fullness thereof.
No matter what our circumstances might be, we ought to praise to our Great God and rejoice. It’s not that we can’t praise Him; it’s not that we don’t have reason to rejoice – maybe we just need to be reminded of some reasons to praise Him!
Eph. 3: 18-21 18May be able to comprehend with all saints what is the breadth, and length, and depth, and height; 19And to know the love of Christ, which passeth knowledge, that ye might be filled with all the fulness of God. 20Now unto him that is able to do exceeding abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that worketh in us, 21Unto him be glory in the church by Christ Jesus throughout all ages, world without end. Amen.
Unto Him be glory in the church, unto Him be glory in our homes, and unto Him be glory in our lives!
Psalm 44:8 In God we boast all the day long, and praise thy name forever. Selah.
The psalmist says here that they, “God’s people Israel ”, boasted of Him all the daylong, but there were times that because of their backslidings they seen many rough times, many times God will allow His children to suffer the consequences of their own actions and attitudes about Him, we learn that because of the way He dealt with His chosen people Israel. Never the less God is always worthy 0f His childrens praise & adoration, just to know that I’m not going to hell is enough to shout about from now till He comes.
ps. 116: 1-2 O praise the LORD, all ye nations: praise him, all ye people. 2For his merciful kindness is great toward us: and the truth of the LORD endureth forever. Praise ye the LORD.
God is worthy of our praise – and let us His people be a people who spend our days boasting of His greatness because the bible tells us that · God is love · God is great· God is light · God is the God of peace· God is one · God is not a respecter of persons · God is true · God is the God of the living · God is greatly to be feared and God is greater than man
God is Greater Than Man:
In Job 33:12, one of Job’s friends said to him, Behold, in this thou art not just: I will answer thee, that God is greater than man.
Job’s friends didn’t give him much comfort in those days of suffering, but this much they knew – that God was greater than man.
The pagan gods are no greater than man because they are gods made of wicked man’s imaginations. They are gods created to meet the perceived needs of pagan man. They are in fact not gods at all, listen to what God says in,
ISA. 44: 8-18 Is there a God beside me? yea, there is no God; I know not any. 9They that make a graven image are all of them vanity; and their delectable things shall not profit; and they are their own witnesses; they see not, nor know; that they may be ashamed.
10Who hath formed a god, or molten a graven image that is profitable for nothing? 11Behold, all his fellows shall be ashamed: and the workmen, they are of men: let them all be gathered together, let them stand up; yet they shall fear, and they shall be ashamed together.
12The smith with the tongs both worketh in the coals, and fashioneth it with hammers, and worketh it with the strength of his arms: yea, he is hungry, and his strength faileth: he drinketh no water, and is faint.
13The carpenter stretcheth out his rule; he marketh it out with a line; he fitteth it with planes, and he marketh it out with the compass, and maketh it after the figure of a man, according to the beauty of a man; that it may remain in the house.
14He heweth him down cedars, and taketh the cypress and the oak, which he strengtheneth for himself among the trees of the forest: he planteth an ash, and the rain doth nourish it.
15Then shall it be for a man to burn: for he will take thereof, and warm himself; yea, he kindleth it, and baketh bread; yea, he maketh a god, and worshippeth it; he maketh it a graven image, and falleth down thereto.
16He burneth part thereof in the fire; with part thereof he eateth flesh; he roasteth roast, and is satisfied: yea, he warmeth himself, and saith, “Aha, I am warm, I have seen the fire:” 17And the residue thereof he maketh a god, even his graven image: he falleth down unto it, and worshippeth it, and prayeth unto it, and saith, Deliver me; for thou art my god.
18They have not known nor understood: for he hath shut their eyes, that they cannot see; and their hearts, that they cannot understand.
Isaiah 45:5 22Look unto ME, and be ye saved, all the ends of the earth: for I am God, and there is none else.
Listen dear heart, God is greater than man in His plan of salvation. -God’s plan is so much better than man’s! - · God’s plan is “by grace through faith!
· God’s plan is that “whosoever calls on the name of the Lord shall be saved!”
· God’s plan is “whosoever believeth on Him shall not perish but have everlasting life!”
· God’s plan is eternal. - · God’s plan gives us hope. -· God’s plan gives us peace.
· God’s plan brings rest to the weary soul.
Is that not much better than the plans of man?
· Man’s plan is that we try to be holy and righteous in every way.
· Man’s plan is that we be good and kind.
· Man’s plan is self-centered, it is performance driven, and it is do, do, do, and then do some more.
· Man’s plan has no assurance. -· Man’s plan has no security. -· Man’s plan is not everlasting and eternal.
. Man’s plan is not easy, and man’s plan will not get you to heaven, because the very best of mans efforts at getting to heaven fall short of the glory of God.
All men are born sinners, and our sins are offensive to God, and the only remedy ever offered in all of creation that God will accept is His own, and that is by coming to Jesus.
Jesus said in JN. 14: I am the way, the truth, and the life, no man cometh unto the Father but by me.
The greatest insult to God is for a man to live his life hoping and believing that when he stands before God that God will let him in because of what he did or how much he gave or how special he was to some church or even the world.
That is the ultimate display of pride and arrogance toward God and God will not accept it!
If we expect to enter heaven then we’ll have to humble ourselves before God, recognizing that we’re a sinner and that we need a Savior and that the Savior’s name is Jesus.
We must confess our sin to God and repent of it, turn away from it, calling on Jesus to save us. That’s the only way, that’s the only plan, and it’s our only hope!
God is greater than man in his power.
David the Psalmist says in PS. 18: 1 I will love thee, O LORD, my strength. 2The LORD is my rock, and my fortress, and my deliverer; my God, my strength, in whom I will trust; my buckler, and the horn of my salvation, and my high tower. 3I will call upon the LORD, who is worthy to be praised: so shall I be saved from mine enemies
Psalm 89: 5-8 says 5And the heavens shall praise thy wonders, O LORD: thy faithfulness also in the congregation of the saints. 6For who in the heaven can be compared unto the LORD? Who among the sons of the mighty can be likened unto the LORD?
7God is greatly to be feared in the assembly of the saints, and to be had in reverence of all them that are about him. 8 O LORD God of hosts, who is a strong LORD like unto thee?
The Bible describes man’s greatest strength or power as nothing compared to God.
Our greatest minds are ignorant compared to His wisdom. Doctors go to school for years and years to learn how to heal the human body, and then they practice by trial and error in our greatest hospitals, but God in His infinite power can but speak the word and heal the sick, give sight to the blind, make the lame to walk, and cause the dead to come up out of the grave!
God is greater than man in His mercy.
Psalm 57:10-11 says, 10 for thy mercy is great unto the heavens, and thy truth unto the clouds. 11Be thou exalted, O God, above the heavens: let thy glory be above all the earth.
Mercy is when you don’t get what you do deserve. God’s mercy is…
· When you don’t go hell when you deserved it. -· When God doesn’t abandon you when you won’t walk with Him. -· When God doesn’t let you starve when you refuse to feed on His word.
· When God is kind to us even though we hurt Him.
What kind of mercy does man have?
When man is wronged he seeks revenge. When we’ve been wronged we want someone to pay. When we’ve been hurt we want someone else to hurt. When we’ve been cheated we think wicked thoughts. When we see someone in need we turn the other way. When others need our time we can be hateful. When others require more help than is comfortable for us we act arrogant.
What if God treated us the way we treat others at times? God is so merciful! His mercy endures forever! His mercy is not here one moment and gone the next. God’s mercy is the same today as it was yesterday and how it will be tomorrow?
Psalm 103: 11-13 says 11For as the heaven is high above the earth, so great is his mercy toward them that fear him. 12As far as the east is from the west, so far hath he removed our transgressions from us. 13Like as a father pitieth his children, so the LORD pitieth them that fear him. 14For he knoweth our frame; he remembereth that we are dust.
How great is God’s mercy? It is so great that He takes our sins and completely removes them, makes it possible for us to have an eternal, abundant life, and a close relationship with His Son Jesus Christ.
Ephesians 2:4 says, But God, who is rich in mercy, for his great love wherewith he loved us, even when we were dead in sins, hath quickened us together with Christ…and hath raised us up together, and made us sit together in heavenly places in Christ Jesus.
Listen dear hearts we don’t have a thing to boast about
The only thing we have to boast about is God’s abundant mercy toward us! We wouldn’t even be here today without God’s mercy in our life. We deserved His judgment, but we got His mercy.
We deserved His chastisement, but we got mercy. we deserved a devil’s hell, but God in His rich and abundant supply of mercy gave us the forgiveness of sins, the assurance of a new life in Him, and all the blessings that go along with being a child of the King!
How many times have we failed God?
How often have we had opportunities to speak up for Him, only to remain silent? We know what the Bible teaches; yet we do what we want to do and rationalize our behavior. We judge and condemn others, but we wait expectantly for God to overlook our sin and bless our lives as though we had done nothing wrong. Great is the mercy of God! It is so much greater than man’s!
We have a great reason to boast of God!
He is greater than man! He is greater than any of us; He is great in His salvation. He is greater than man in His power, in His wisdom, in His mercy, in His grace, in His love, and in His holiness.
· God is completely independent – · God is unchanging – we are so wavering
· God is infinite, He has no limitations – we are utterly finite and limited in every way
· God is truth –
What other God is like our God? There are no other gods!
Listen sinner friend, you can know God’s salvation?*** And we that are saved, Let us commit ourselves to being a people who boast in the greatness of God every time we have the opportunity.
