Text: Psalm 150:1-6 Becoming a New Testament Believer
Praise the Lord! Praise God in his sanctuary;praise him in his mighty heaven! 2 Praise him for his mighty works; praise his unequaled greatness! 3 Praise him with a blast of the ram’s horn; praise him with the lyre and harp! 4 Praise him with the tambourine and dancing; praise him with strings and flutes! 5 Praise him with a clash of cymbals; praise him with loud clanging cymbals. 6 Let everything that breathes sing praises to the Lord! Praise the Lord!
In the pre-Emancipation days it was common practice for white people to occupy the main floor of a church while African Americans were assigned to the balcony. Every Sunday a black man called Frank would interrupt the sermon by praising God out loud form the balcony. Irritated, Frank’s boss promised him a pair of new boots if he’d stay quiet. So Frank made up his mind not to utter a peep. The following Sunday the pastor spoke about all the wonderful gifts God gave us through His Son Jesus. Frank struggled to stay quiet, but inside he was shouting, “Hallelujah... Praise the Lord.” Still, he kept his lip buttoned, thinking about the new boots. But eventually the Word of God connected with the Spirit of God that was within him. Unable to contain himself he jumped up and shouted, “Boots or no boots-I’m gonna praise the Lord!”
A.W. Tozer said, "Without praise & worship, we go about miserable."
What does it mean to be a New Testament believer? Most, sit in Church every week with their mouths closed, maybe, maintaining a facade of respectability. Moreover, that might be our problem, most think and act as though praise and worship is about coming to this building, but this building is only a building. We forget, that ‘we’ are the church of the living God! (His temple lives and abides within.)
In Luke 19:37-40 When Jesus “came near...the whole crowd...began joyfully to praise God in loud voices for all the miracles they had seen:[saying] ‘Blessed is the King who comes in the name of the Lord!’...the Pharisees...said to Jesus...rebuke your disciples!’...he replied, ‘if they keep quiet, the stones will cry out.’
In Isaiah 55, Isaiah said, “The mountains and hills will burst into song, and the trees... will clap their hands.”
Do you get the picture? Stones! Mountains! Trees!
What does your Praise say about you? It proclaims ‘Who’ you really love, what’s ‘priority’ to you, and who ‘you’ really are.
Romans 12:1 NLT And so, dear brothers and sisters, I plead with you to give your bodies to God because of all He has done for you. Let them be a living and holy sacrifice—the kind He will find acceptable. This is truly the way to worship Him.
In other words, give your best to God. Your affections, your desires, your hurts, your wants, everything!
Romans 12:1TM So here’s what I want you to do, God helping you: Take your everyday, ordinary life—your sleeping, eating, going-to-work, and walking-around life—and place it before God as an offering. Embracing what God does for you is the best thing you can do for Him.
First, God told us ‘where’ to praise God, Verse 1 say’s, Praise the Lord! Praise God in his sanctuary;praise him in his mighty heaven!
What the psalmist is saying is for everything on earth, and everything in heaven-praise God!
In Revelation 5 we can see a picture of heaven and earth praising God because of Jesus Christ final sacrifice!
Revelation 5:6-13NLT Then I saw a Lamb that looked as if it had been slaughtered, but it was now standing between the throne and the four living beings and among the twenty-four elders. He had seven horns and seven eyes, which represent the sevenfold Spirit of God that is sent out into every part of the earth. 7 He stepped forward and took the scroll from the right hand of the one sitting on the throne. 8 And when he took the scroll, the four living beings and the twenty-four elders fell down before the Lamb. Each one had a harp, and they held gold bowls filled with incense, which are the prayers of God’s people. 9 And they sang a new song with these words: “You are worthy to take the scroll and break its seals and open it. For you were slaughtered, and your blood has ransomed people for God from every tribe and language and people and nation. 10 And you have caused them to become a Kingdom of priests for our God. And they will reign on the earth.” 11 Then I looked again, and I heard the voices of thousands and millions of angels around the throne and of the living beings and the elders. 12 And they sang in a mighty chorus: “Worthy is the Lamb who was slaughtered—to receive power and riches and wisdom and strength and honor and glory and blessing.” 13 And then I heard every creature in heaven and on earth and under the earth and in the sea. They sang:“Blessing and honor and glory and power belong to the one sitting on the throne and to the Lamb forever and ever.”
Because of Jesus becoming the final sacrifice, everyone in heaven, earth and under the earth will be commissioned to praise Him!
Secondly, We are told points of praise. Psalm 150:2NLT Praise him for his mighty works; praise his unequaled greatness!
Has He preformed mighty works for you? Is He great?
Webster defines the word ‘praise’ as to say good things about. A simple definition of ‘praise’ is to regard with great devotion or to honor as a divine being. Take a second to think about what you are most devoted to in this life and ask yourself, "Is it worthy of my devotion; do I worship a divine being?" (Trinity- the God-head)
Third, David gives us proper means of praise. Praise Him with a rams horn, tambourine, dance, strings, flute and cymbals.
Finally, David tells us ‘those’ who should practice praise. Verse 6 say’s, Let everything that breathes sing praises to the Lord! Praise the Lord!
Your ‘praise’ brings great joy to God, listen to Zephaniah 3:17 states, "The LORD your God is with you, he is mighty to save. He will take great delight in you, he will quiet you with his love, he will rejoice over you with singing."
If you are ‘Breathing’ you are commissioned to praise the Lord.
Prayer.
