INTRO.- 1 I will extol the LORD at all times; his praise will always be on my lips.
Do we ever praise the Lord enough or give thanks too much? Is there ever a limit to our praise and thanks? No, never. Thanksgiving to God should be a never ending practice in our lives.
ILL.- A Sunday School teacher asked her class what they were thankful for. One little boy said, "My glasses." When asked why he was thankful for his glasses when most little boys were bitter about wearing them, he said, "Because they keep the boys from fighting me and the girls from kissing me."
What are you thankful for? Sometimes it’s just the little things that may mean the most.
ILL.- When Robinson Crusoe was wrecked on his lonely isle, he drew up in two columns what he called the evil and the good, as follows:
- He was cast on a desolate island, but still alive—not drowned, as all his ship's company were.
- He was divided from mankind and banished from human society, but he was not starving.
- He had no clothes, but he was in a hot climate where he didn't need them.
- He was without means of defense, but he saw no wild beasts, such as he had seen on the coast of Africa.
- He had no soul to speak to, but God had sent the ship so near to the shore that he could get of it all things for his needs.
So he concluded that there was not any condition in the world so miserable but there was something positive to be thankful for in it.
What about you? Do you only see the negative things in your life? Can you not find the positive things in your life for which to give thanks and praise to the Lord?
I Thessalonians 5:18 “Give thanks in all circumstances, for this is God's will for you in Christ Jesus.” Give thanks in all circumstances. Or praise the Lord in all circumstances. That doesn’t mean you like every circumstance of your life. It’s just you can see more than just the negative things in your life. You see the positive, the good and you praise the Lord for them.
ILL.- Corrie ten Boom in The Hiding Place relates an incident that taught her always to be thankful. She and her sister, Betsy, had just been transferred to the worst German prison camp they had seen yet, Ravensbruck. On entering the barracks, they found them extremely overcrowded and flea-infested. That morning, their Scripture reading in 1 Thessalonians had reminded them to rejoice always, pray constantly, and give thanks in all circumstances. Betsy told Corrie to stop and thank the Lord for every detail of their new living quarters.
Corrie at first refused to give thanks for the fleas, but Betsy persisted, and Corrie finally succumbed to her pleadings. During the months spent at the camp, they were surprised to find how openly they could hold Bible study and prayer meetings without guard interference.
It was not until several months later that they learned the reason the guards would not enter the barracks was because of the fleas.
PROP.- Why praise the Lord? Why not? He blesses in many ways so why shouldn’t we be quick to praise Him? Specifically, what has the Lord done for us?
1- The Lord has answered my prayers (4)
2- The Lord saved me from my troubles (6)
3- The Lord blessed me with good (7-10)
I. THE LORD HAS ANSWERED MY PRAYERS
4 I sought the LORD, and he answered me; he delivered me from all my fears.
ILL.- An English publication offered a prize for the best definition of a friend, and among the thousands of answers received were the following:
"One who multiplies joys, divides grief."
"One who understands our silence."
But here is the definition that won the prize: "A friend—the one who comes in when the whole world has gone out."
ILL.- Someone else said, “You can always tell a real friend: when you've made a fool of yourself he doesn't feel you've done a permanent job.” Do you have a friend like that?
ILL.- At the close of World War II, the Russians held a reception for Field Marshall Sir Bernard L. Montgomery. At the reception, he was awarded the Soviet Union's Order of Victory. Vodka flowed freely at the function. Montgomery was surrounded by a score of imbibing, high-ranking Russian officers. Being a total abstainer, he was "on the spot." He was embarrassed. Just then, General Dwight D. Eisenhower came near. And Montgomery said: "Ike, get me out of this!" Ike came promptly to his aid. He explained that the British Marshall did not drink.
Do you have a friend who will help to get you out of a difficult situation? A friend on whom you can always depend. A friend who believes in you no matter what happens to you. Yes, you do.
4 I sought the LORD, and he answered me; he delivered me from all my fears.
The Lord is even more than just a faithful friend. He hears you when you pray and answers your prayers. And He delivers you from difficult situations. Can’t you think of some situations that would have been far worse had it not been for the Lord’s grace and help?
ILL.- My son Shane had major abdominal surgery when he was only 8 days old. He could have died during surgery but he didn’t. I give the Lord the credit for saving him. He’s now 35 years old and more than healthy at 260 lbs. The Lord is our faithful friend, faithful God, faithful Father, and deliverer!
Matthew 7:11 “If you, then, though you are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven give good gifts to those who ask him!”
John 14:13-14 “And I will do whatever you ask in my name, so that the Son may bring glory to the Father. You may ask me for anything in my name, and I will do it.”
John 15:7 “If you remain in me and my words remain in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be given you.”
The Lord is on your side and wants to give good things to you and bless your life. And all you have to do is ask and ask in the name of Jesus.
ILL.- Many years ago I was told that most African Christians pray repeatedly or ask repeatedly in the name of Jesus. After each request they ask in Jesus’ name so they may repeat this phrase many times over in their prayers. HEY, THAT’S NOT A BAD IDEA! Perhaps we’d get more answers if we were to ask more often in Jesus’ name!
The Lord does hear and answer our prayers and perhaps more than we realize. It may be that we are somewhat blind to those answers. Praise Him! Praise Him!
II. THE LORD SAVED ME FROM MY TROUBLES
6 This poor man called, and the LORD heard him; he saved him out of all his troubles.
17 The righteous cry out, and the LORD hears them; he delivers them from all their troubles. 18 The LORD is close to the brokenhearted and saves those who are crushed in spirit. 19 A righteous man may have many troubles, but the LORD delivers him from them all;
ILL.- A Jewish man, 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!"
Everyone experiences trouble in this life. It’s because we live in a fallen world where there is sin and evil and all kinds of negative things.
ILL.- A. W. Tozer said it this way: “The fall of man has created a perpetual crisis. It will last until sin has been put down and Christ reigns. Until that time the earth remains a disaster area and its inhabitants live in a state of extraordinary emergency."
What kinds of troubles have you experienced in life? Did you ever get turned down for a job when you just knew it was going to work? Did you ever get fired from a job? Did you ever lose a good friend? Did you ever loan anyone some money which was never repaid? Did you ever have an accident which put you in the hospital? Did you ever experience a health problem that never seemed to go away? Did your family or kids ever cause you trouble? Did you ever have trouble with your finances?
I suspect that we all could sit and make a long list of troubles that we’ve experienced in this life.
ILL.- A 73-year-old woman in Lutterworth, England was fined for driving south on a north-bound lane of a highway. She remarked to the officer: "I thought something was wrong. The traffic seemed to be coming the wrong way." And someone said that in life, the traffic always seems to be coming the wrong way.
ILL.- Goethe, the German poet, whose long life was one long success, said: "They have called me a child of fortune, nor have I any wish to complain of the course of my life. Yet it has been nothing but labor and sorrow; and I may truly say, that in seventy-five years I have not had four weeks of true comfort.” Wow! He must have had a life full of trouble. I don’t know of anyone who went through that much trouble.
Matthew 11:28-30 28 "Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. 29 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. 30 For my yoke is easy and my burden is light."
ILL.- A 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."
God desires to put His arms around us and comfort us and give us help in life.
I Peter 5:5-7 “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. Cast all your anxiety on him because he cares for you.” Praise Him! Praise Him!
III. THE LORD BLESSED ME WITH GOOD
7 The angel of the LORD encamps around those who fear him, and he delivers them. 8 Taste and see that the LORD is good; blessed is the man who takes refuge in him. 9 Fear the LORD, you his saints, for those who fear him lack nothing. 10 The lions may grow weak and hungry, but those who seek the LORD lack no good thing.
The Lord is good and He gives to us good stuff. “Every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of lights...” James 1:17
ILL.- An elderly lady was well-known for her faith and for her boldness in talking about it. She would stand on her front porch and shout "PRAISE THE LORD!" Next door to her lived an atheist who would get so angry at her proclamations he would shout, "There ain't no Lord!!"
Hard times set in on the elderly lady, and she prayed for GOD to send her some assistance. She stood on her porch and shouted "PRAISE THE LORD. GOD I NEED FOOD!! I AM HAVING A HARD TIME. PLEASE LORD, SEND ME SOME GROCERIES!!" The next morning the lady went out on her porch and noted a large bag of groceries and shouted, "PRAISE THE LORD."
The neighbor jumped from behind a bush and said, "Aha! I told you there was no Lord. I bought those groceries, God didn't." The lady started jumping up and down and clapping her hands and said, "PRAISE THE LORD. He not only sent me groceries, but He made the devil pay for them. Praise the Lord!"
Psalm 31:19 “How abundant are the good things that you have stored up for those who fear you, that you bestow in the sight of all, on those who take refuge in you.”
Psalm 84:11 For the Lord God is a sun and shield; the Lord bestows favor and honor; no good thing does he withhold from those whose walk is blameless.
Psalm 103:2-5 2 Praise the LORD, O my soul, and forget not all his benefits-- 3 who forgives all your sins and heals all your diseases, 4 who redeems your life from the pit and crowns you with love and compassion, 5 who satisfies your desires with good things so that your youth is renewed like the eagle's.
What good things has the Lord blessed you with?
ILL.- Over two years ago I decided to retire from full time ministry. Elaine and I also decided that we should move to Cape Girardeau to be near family. We made three trips to Cape Girardeau to look for a house and the third trip we found a nice house in the Hillcrest subdivision just past Notre Dome high school. The house was only 5 years old and looked like it had never been lived in yet there had been two previous owners. We made a bid and the owner accepted our offer.
Our next step was to put our house in Jonesboro, AR, up for sale and pray that it would sell. We obviously needed the money in order to buy the house in Cape Girardeau.
Our house in Jonesboro was 22 years old and we had lived in it nearly 11 years. We did quite a bit of updating on that house: outside and inside paint, new deck on the back of the house, some minor repair work, new carpet, etc. We had no idea how long it would take to sell our house in Jonesboro. Much to our surprise, in three weeks our house was sold. And the lady who bought it had the cash! She didn’t even need a bank loan.
Eureka! Better yet, praise the Lord! Now wouldn’t you call that something good from the Lord?! We did.
And then one day when I was getting blood work at Dr. Mark Hahn’s office, the lady who did the blood work was Corky Dobbs from the Methodist church. When I told her I was a Christian minister she said, “I know of a church looking for a minister.”
Eureka! I called the church the next Sunday morning a little 10 and guess who answered the phone? Our own Joy Hooker. I told her who I was and gave her my phone number and Sunday night Justin Sullivan called me on the phone. And after checking me out in various ways (sermoncentral.com, police, FBI, etc. - just kidding) he apparently recommended me and here we are!
And Elaine and I consider being a part of this church a eureka blessing from God!
What good things has the Lord blessed you with? You need to stop and think, and consider all the good things the Lord has given to you and praise Him!
CONCLUSION-------------------------------
1 I will extol the LORD at all times; his praise will always be on my lips. 2 My soul will boast in the LORD; let the afflicted hear and rejoice. 3 Glorify the LORD with me; let us exalt his name together.
ILL.- It was said that Charles Wesley wrote his first hymn just three days after his conversion to Christ. That hymn was "O for a Thousand Tongues to Sing." What a testimony to his salvation! As the years passed, he is said to have written 6,500 hymns and gospel songs on every conceivable subject.
Charles Wesley was apparently full of praise for everything God did for Him. What about us? Can we not praise Him for all the answers to prayer we’ve received? And for saving us from many troubles? And for blessing with good?
I will praise the Lord at all times. I would say that’s a very good practice. Every time you recognize something good in your life, why not pause and praise Him?! You just might be pleasantly surprised as to what will happen in your life.
