INTRO.- Praise. How important is it?
ILL.- I like this cute story. Everyone needs recognition for his accomplishments, but few people make the need known quite as clearly as the little boy who said to his father: "Let's play darts. I'll throw and you say "Wonderful!'"
God does the good stuff in life and we say “Wonderful! Praise Him! Praise Him!”
I Corinthians 10:31 “So whether you eat or drink or whatever you do, do it all for the glory of God.”
If there is one person who should be praised, it’s the Lord! And we know why! The reasons are plentiful.
ILL.- A British publisher finally decided to retire at age 70. He was given the usual dinner. His associates were happy for him and heaped elaborate praise on him. When the time came to respond, the old gentleman got up and said, “I had no idea I was held in such esteem. I shall stay on.”
Why is it that we wait for someone to leave to praise them? Why is that we wait for someone to die before we praise them for the good they’ve done in life? And why is it that we wait until we are ready to leave this world to give God more praise?
ILL.- Once there was a pauper who never played up to wealthy people. A rich person asked him, “I am rich. Why don’t you flatter me?” “The money you have is yours. You would never give it to me for nothing,” the pauper replied. “Why should I flatter you?” “Well, suppose I gave a fifth of my money to you. Would you flatter me then?” “That would be unjust. I still wouldn’t do it.”
“If I gave you half of my riches. Would you flatter me?” “In that case, I would be your equal. Why should I flatter you?”
“Well, suppose I gave you all of it. I’m sure you would flatter me then!” “In that case, I would be the rich one. There would no longer be any point in my playing up to you!”
Whether we flatter mankind or not, we have plenty of reasons for which to flatter and praise God!
PROP.- I will praise you, O Lord. How should we praise Him? I see some ways in this text.
1- I will praise you in my heart
2- I will praise you in the world
3- I will praise you in song
4- I will praise you in humility
5- I will praise you in trouble
1. I WILL PRAISE YOU IN MY HEART
And with all my heart. (in my heart and with my heart)
1 I will praise you, O Lord, with all my heart; before the "gods" I will sing your praise.
Matthew 5:8 “Blessed are the pure in heart, for they will see God.” One way to a pure heart is through praising God who is totally pure and holy. The more we adore Him praise, the more we will become like Him. II Corinthians 3:18
Matthew 6:21 “For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.”
What we set our hearts on is what we treasure the most. Therefore, we need to set our hearts on the Lord.
Matthew 9:4 “Knowing their thoughts, Jesus said, “Why do you entertain evil thoughts in your hearts?”
Just as we can entertain evil thoughts in our hearts, we can also entertain good and godly thoughts but only if we set our hearts and minds on Him.
Matthew 12:34 “You brood of vipers, how can you who are evil say anything good? For out of the overflow of the heart the mouth speaks.”
The problem of the heart is the heart of the problem. And we all have heart problems of this kind.
ILL.- E.M. Bounds emphasized the need for a ministry of prayer within the church when he wrote: "It may be laid down as an axiom, that God needs, first of all, leaders in the church, who will be first in prayer, men with whom prayer is habitual and characteristic, men who know the primacy of prayer. But even more than a habit of prayer, and more than prayer being characteristic of them, church leaders are to be men whose lives are made and molded by prayer, whose heart and life are made up of prayer. These are the men -- the only men -- God can use in the furtherance of his kingdom and the implanting of His message in the hearts of men."
If we all were to make prayer a priority every day, every hour of the day, it would change our hearts. It would make us praise the Lord more.
2. I WILL PRAISE YOU IN THE WORLD
1 I will praise you, O Lord, with all my heart; before the "gods" I will sing your praise. I will praise before the so-called gods of this world. In the midst of the world.
Matthew 5:14-16 "You are the light of the world. A city on a hill cannot be hidden. Neither do people light a lamp and put it under a bowl. Instead they put it on its stand, and it gives light to everyone in the house. In the same way, let your light shine before men, that they may see your good deeds and praise your Father in heaven.”
How do you let your light shine for the Lord in this world? Do you have a Jesus’ bumper sticker on your car? Or maybe a church license plate frame around your car license? Or may a decal on your car, stating you attend church? Do you wear a cross neckless or perhaps a cross symbol on your collar?
Let me suggest that we sing more in this world in order to praise the Lord and let our light shine for Him. As you go about your daily business or as you drive your car, why not sing praise to Him? And so what, if other people hear us singing to Him?
James 5:13 “Is any one of you in trouble? He should pray. Is anyone happy? Let him sing songs of praise.”
When you hear someone humming or singing as they walk down the street, what do you assume? Generally, they are happy and they are showing it in song. Is there a better way to show that we are happy in the Lord than by singing His praise in public?
3. I WILL PRAISE YOU IN SONG
1 I will sing your praise. (I will sing praise to you) We need to “say” our praise and “sing” our praise to the Lord.
Ephesians 5:18-20 “Do not get drunk on wine, which leads to debauchery. Instead, be filled with the Spirit. Speak to one another with psalms, hymns and spiritual songs. Sing and make music in your heart to the Lord, always giving thanks to God the Father for everything, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ.”
Colossians 3:15-17 “Let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, since as members of one body you were called to peace. And be thankful. Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly as you teach and admonish one another with all wisdom, and as you sing psalms, hymns and spiritual songs with gratitude in your hearts to God. And whatever you do, whether in word or deed, do it all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him.”
What are your favorite hymns or gospel songs? Why not sing them any time, any place in order to praise the Lord?
There may be some places in this world that you can’t sing openly, like in the bank during banking hours or in Walmart or in the grocery store, etc. But there is nothing to keep from singing praise to the Lord while walking in the parking lot or walking down the street!
ILL.- A lady, while on a visit to the Paris Exposition, died. Speechless at her last moments, she managed to say one word, “Bring.” Her friends, ignorant of her meaning, offered her food; but she shook her head. They gave her grapes, which she also declined.
And for the third time she uttered the word “Bring.” They brought her some absent friends, but she shook her head. Finally, with great effort, she succeeded in completing her sentence: “Bring forth the royal diadem, And crown Him Lord of all.” And she passed away to be with Jesus.
What a great way to leave this world and go into the Lord’s presence! We need to sing His praise more!
4. I WILL PRAISE YOU IN HUMILITY
2 I will bow down toward your holy temple and will praise your name for your love and your faithfulness, for you have exalted above all things your name and your word. Bow down toward your holy temple and your holiness.
ILL.- Benjamin Franklin used to tell about the return visit he made to Boston when he was twenty-one. He went for advice to Cotton Mather (New England Puritan minister, prolific author), and this in Franklin’s words is what happened: “He received me in his library and, on my taking leave, showed me a shorter way out of the house through a narrow passage, which was crossed by a beam overhead. We were still talking as I withdrew, he accompanying me behind, when he said hastily: ‘Stoop, stoop!’
“I did not understand him, ’til I felt my head hit against the beam. He was a man that never missed any occasion of giving instruction, and upon this he said to me: ‘You are young, and have the world before you; stoop as you go through it, and you will miss many hard bumps.’"
How true. If we will remember to stoop low, be humble in life we may miss many hard bumps in life. This especially true when it comes humbling ourselves before God.
James 4:7-10 “Submit yourselves, then, to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you. Come near to God and he will come near to you. Wash your hands, you sinners, and purify your hearts, you double-minded. Grieve, mourn and wail. Change your laughter to mourning and your joy to gloom. Humble yourselves before the Lord, and he will lift you up.”
I Peter 5:5-6 “All of you, clothe yourselves with humility toward one another, because, "God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble." Humble yourselves, therefore, under God's mighty hand, that he may lift you up in due time.”
And while we are humbled before Him, we must praise Him. We must humbly bow before the Lord in praise! This is why we bow our heads in prayer and bow the knee in prayer. He deserves our humble praise.
5. I WILL PRAISE YOU IN TROUBLE
7 Though I walk in the midst of trouble, you preserve my life; you stretch out your hand against the anger of my foes, with your right hand you save me.
ILL.- A Jew, who was known to like liquor, explained that he drank only to drown his troubles. “After you drown them, why do you continue to drink?” he was asked. “You don’t know my troubles,” he sighed. “My troubles are excellent swimmers. I try to drown them, but they swim right up again!”
All of us experience troubles in various ways in this life and we would like to get rid or drown them, maybe not in liquor. But somehow or other, they seem to creep back into our lives.
ILL. - A Sunday School teacher read to her class the text, “My yoke is easy.” “Who can tell me what a yoke is?” she asked.
A boy said, “A yoke is something they put on the necks of animals.” Then the teacher asked, “What is the yoke God puts on us?” A little girl said, “It is God putting His arms around our necks.”
We all know or should know that even though we experience many troubles in this life that God is with us.
Matthew 11:28-29 "Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls.”
As we experience trouble He will be with us and we must be with Him in praise!
Job 1:20-22 “At this, Job got up and tore his robe and shaved his head. Then he fell to the ground in worship and said: "Naked I came from my mother's womb, and naked I will depart. The Lord gave and the Lord has taken away; may the name of the Lord be praised." In all this, Job did not sin by charging God with wrongdoing.”
And remember the three Hebrews boys who were thrown into the fiery furnace? And Daniel in the lion’s den? Why were they saved? Because in the midst of their trials and troubles they held fast to their praise of God!
Habakkuk 3:17-18 “Though the fig tree does not bud and there are no grapes on the vines, though the olive crop fails and the fields produce no food, though there are no sheep in the pen and no cattle in the stalls, yet I will rejoice in the Lord, I will be joyful in God my Savior.”
CONCLUSION------------------
ILL.- A businessman said, “People are ingrates. It took me 61 years to find it out. I have 175 employees, men and women. At Thanksgiving, I sent them 175 choice turkeys. Only four thanked me.
Someone has said, “If you want to find gratitude, look for it in the dictionary.”
Are we ingrates or ungrateful people in this world? How often do you say “thank you” to someone for their kindness? (kind words, deeds, gifts, etc.) And have you thought about how much God has given you? Without Him you would have nothing and you would not exist. PERIOD. And how much do you thank Him and praise Him every day for every good gift He’s given you?
Can we ever overdo our thanks to God? I don’t think so, but I think we often underdo our thanks to Him.
I will praise you, O LORD, with all my heart; before the "gods" I will sing your praise.
I will praise you, O Lord, with all my heart and before the whole world! May it ever be.
Steve Shepherd, Cape Girardeau, MO, shepherd111@hotmail.com
