Sermon
Lanier Christian Church
Celebration Sunday (Outside Worship)
October 30, 2011
Celebrate His Might and Majesty
Psalm 145
Psalm 145 is a special psalm. A special song of David. It was written in an acrostic format, meaning each line starts with a letter of the Hebrew alphabet. If it were in English it would be something like:
A is for apple.
B is for ball.
C is for celebrate
D is for David
E is for Excellence
F is for Florida tried
G is for Georgia won
H is for Hurry up and finish this sermon!
We have 8 psalms written this way. Psalm 119 (longest) is a famous one, where each group of eight sentences starts with a letter of the Hebrew alphabet.
Some regard this as David’s crown jewel of praise, because it’s the last in the Psalms that has David’s name on it, and it’s titled “A psalm of praise”.
This is a beautiful psalm describing the greatness of our God. When I read this three obvious words jumped out at me and they all start with the letter “M.” Mighty, Majesty, and Meditate.
At the beginning of this psalm David says: “Every day I will praise You.” Does that describe you? Do you praise the Lord every day?
David was filled with praise to the Lord. He had an attitude of praise! Is that your attitude? Would someone walk up to you and say: “I’ve noticed you have a great attitude – it is filled with praise!” Has that ever happened to you? Well, it should!
At church camp years ago, it used to be popular for the camp dean to yell out to the campers at meal times or worship times this bold phrase: “Attitude Check.” In response to that we were to say: “Praise the Lord!”
Let’s check that right now: Attitude check? “PRAISE THE LORD!”
One obvious way to participate in praise is to sing. That’s what this psalm was…a song. You may not consider yourself to be a musically inclined person, but there is one thing God has given each of us, and that is a song. If you don’t have a song of praise on your lips, you better have one in your heart!
Verse 7 says: They will celebrate your abundant goodness and joyfully sing of your righteousness.
That’s what we are doing today, we are celebrating the goodness of our Lord and joyfully singing His praises. We have a reason to celebrate and to be joyful in song. The creator of all things loves us. We are His children. He is preparing a wonderful home for us. He has given us forgiveness and mercy and grace and love and peace and hope….
On Thursday evening, the St. Louis Cardinals had a great come from behind win in the World Series. They celebrated openly. Grown men jumped up and down and yelled and hollered and hugged each other. On Friday evening, they won again. And once again, they jumped up and down and celebrated even more than before. It was a baseball game both times. It was the World Series, mind you, but still a game…and they celebrated openly with no restraint. Yesterday in Jacksonville, FL, Georgia finally won a football game against Florida. And again, grown men jumped up and down and celebrated. For three evenings in a row, I have seen adults celebrating sports victories with very enthusiastic behavior. No one was ashamed to let their feelings be known. Their team had won. They were happy. They were thrilled! And they wanted everyone to know it!
Athletes and sports fans get so excited and celebratory, but when it comes to worship we Christians freeze up. Celebration before the Lord doesn’t come so easily. Praise is restrained. Joy is reserved.
Proclaiming spiritual victory is quietly mentioned. But isn’t our message life changing? Doesn’t the world need the good news of Jesus? Isn’t there enough bad news filling our days?
Why do we keep quiet about the greatness of our Lord? Many know nothing about our Lord because we won’t say anything about Him.
When the disciples began to offer praise to the Lord for the miracles of Jesus (at the triumphal entry) the Pharisees asked Jesus to quiet them. He then said: “If they keep quiet, the stones will cry out.” (Luke 19:40)
As we celebrate today, there are two things we cannot keep quiet about: The Mighty power of God and His glorious majesty.
That’s right – M&M – today is an M&M sermon! Can you remember that? I hope so, but just in case, here are some M&M’s to help you remember! (Hand out packets of M&M’s) When was the last time you got candy for listening to a sermon? I hope it’ll help you remember today’s two key points: Mighty and Majesty.
1. Let’s talk for a moment about how Mighty God is!
My friends…True fulfillment comes in worshipping God and bringing praise before Him. Apart from that, we struggle with the frustrations and emptiness of life.
Every day we need to pause and honor Him for His work in our lives. David acknowledged God’s power and we need to do the same! He said in this psalm: (v.3-6)
3 Great is the LORD and most worthy of praise; his greatness no one can fathom.
4 One generation will commend your works to another; they will tell of your mighty acts.
5 They will speak of the glorious splendor of your majesty, and I will meditate on your wonderful works.
6 They will tell of the power of your awesome works, and I will proclaim your great deeds.
God is not dormant. He is actively working.
Paul says in Ephesians 3:20 that God is “able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to His power that is at work within us.”
If that is the case, then His works must be noticeable. We are to meditate on God’s wonderful works. Pay attention! Start noticing what God is doing in your life! Don’t just think God works in someone else’s life. He works in your life too! As you notice his mighty power, praise Him for it! Let me help you understand what a mighty creator God we have:
If the sun stopped shining suddenly, it would take 8 minutes for people on earth to be aware of the fact. That’s because sunlight takes around 8 minutes to reach the earth.
Our universe consists of more than 100 billion galaxies, and each galaxy, on average contains more than 100 billion stars, which accounts for more than 10 billion trillion stars, which is a 1 followed by 22 zeroes.
Even on the clearest night, the human eye can only see about 3,000 stars. There are an estimated 100 trillion in our galaxy alone!
It is estimated that the number of stars in the universe is greater than the number of grains of sand on all the beaches in the world! On a clear night, we can see the equivalent of a handful of sand.
Did any of this happen by accident? I think not! We serve an awesome mighty God!
David says, “His greatness no one can fathom.”
This is only part of David’s emphasis. Note what he says further.
• “One generation will COMMEND God’s works to another, they will TELL of God’s mighty acts. They will SPEAK of the glorious splendor of God’s majesty… they will TELL of the power of God’s awesome works, and I will PROCLAIM God’s great deeds.”
• It must be communicated; The mighty acts of God must be passed on. Let the next generation see the amazing power and might of God! How? Through us!
J. I. Packer: “This is where most of us go astray. Our thoughts of God are not great enough; we fail to reckon with the reality of His limitless wisdom and power. Because we ourselves are limited and weak, we imagine that at some points God is too, and find it hard to believe that He is not. We think of God as too much like we are.”
But folks, when we limit God we reduce Him to our level!
2. We serve a mighty God and we must not keep quiet about it. But we also serve a majestic God.
Psalm 8:9 - O LORD, our Lord, how majestic is your name in all the earth!
Psalms 145:5 - On the glorious splendor of your majesty, and on your wondrous works, I will meditate.
“Yours, O Lord, is the greatness and
the power and the glory and the
majesty and the splendor, for
everything in heaven and earth is
yours. Yours, O Lord, is the kingdom;
you are exalted as head over all.
Wealth and honor come from you; you
are the ruler of all things. In your
hands are strength and power to exalt
and give strength to all.”(1 Chronicles 29:11-12)
Let’s remember these two words: Might & Majesty – (Show muscles – Might…. then hands outstretched to heaven…Majesty)
Sometimes the word “majesty” is used when we speak of a person, for example, her “Majesty” the Queen.
Our English word Majesty comes from Latin and it means greatness. When we use the word we do so acknowledging the greatness of the person or of God.
I would like to share with you a quote from a book called Knowing God; it was written by J.I. Packer and published in 1973.
“Christians today largely lack a knowledge of the greatness of God: and that is one reason why our faith is so feeble and our worship so flabby. We are modern men, and modern men, though they cherish great thoughts of man, have as a rule small thoughts of God. When the man in the Church, let alone the man in the street uses the word ‘God’, the thought in his mind is rarely of divine majesty.”
Please remember these words were written in 1973 or earlier and do you believe we (the next generation of modern thinking people) have gained ground or lost ground in the area of divine majesty the past 40 years. Do we meditate on the glorious splendor of His divine majesty (Psalms 145:5)?
Do we have small thoughts of God? The Bible from start to finish impresses on the reader two twin truths, God is both personal and majestic.
In the 21st Century we are very good at understanding our personal relationship with God, but we must not lose sight of His majesty. We need to comprehend how majestic He really is and celebrate that!
His power is NOT limited!
His presence is NOT limited!
His Knowledge has NO limitations!
God is eternal!
God is almighty!
God is infinite!
Our God truly is Majestic and worthy of our obedience, adoration, praise, celebration, love, prayers, worship and worthy of our time, all the time. He is King of Kings and Lord of Lords.
I don’t know about you, but God deserves more of my time, not less.
We are on the eve of one of the most celebrated days of the year…that’s right Halloween. There are Christians not in worship today who would not dare miss the Halloween celebration. There are Christians who will find every excuse to miss worship today, but who will stumble over themselves to dress up like some goofy character tomorrow and celebrate something that gives more glory to Satan than to God.
I’m tired of all the attention Satan gets! He has his claws in Hollywood, Nashville, New York, Las Vegas and elsewhere. When are we going to start celebrating the majesty of our Lord?
Just how can we comprehend the Majesty of God?
By removing thoughts that limit the greatness, the Majesty of God. We need to show the majesty of God in our words and actions every day and start letting people know where we stand.
It is not with great trumpets - or magnificent choirs - but in simple acts of service that we reflect & reveal the glory and majesty of God. Maybe it is while you’re at home…maybe at work…maybe on the ball field…but reflect God in your words and actions! People are watching!
Maybe it is while driving on the highway and being courteous and careful, or when you display a different attitude than any of your co-workers at work. Maybe it is out there in a world that seems so alienated from God that you can just consistently day after day witness, share, reflect, & reveal the majesty of God in how you conduct your life.
I have been noticing lately those who reveal God’s majesty.
A waitress at Olive Garden said to my family: “Have a blessed Day.”
That wasn’t by accident…that was intentional and it revealed her respect for God’s majesty. Ryan Packard said about his newborn son recently. “It’s a miracle of God.” “Isn’t God awesome!”
Indeed we have a majestic and awesome God! The psalmist said:
Let all the earth fear the Lord: let all the inhabitants of the world stand in awe of Him” (Ps. 33:8).
Why not begin today and every day, start showing the might and majesty of God in all you say and do! Celebrate God in your daily life and let others know what He has done for you! It’s only through His grace that we can do this. We are not perfect, but He is! He has chosen to use imperfect people like you and me to reveal his might and majesty. He has forgiven and cleansed us and wants to be in a relationship with us through Jesus. Let’s leave this place today and boldly live for Him!
