A Call To Praise God
Psalm 111
Two young newlyweds were preparing to enjoy their first baked ham dinner in their new apartment. After unwrapping the meat and setting it on the cutting board, the wife chopped off both ends of the ham with a knife and tossed the two small ends in the garbage can.
"Wait a minute," said the mystified husband. "Why did you do that? Why did you just cut off the ends of the ham and throw them away?"
"I don’t know. My mother always did," answered the wife. "Maybe it helps bring out the flavor."
Unsatisfied with this answer, the husband called his mother-in-law. "Can you tell me why you cut the two ends off a ham before you cook it?"
"Well," said the mother, "I’m not really sure why. That’s just the way my mother did her ham, and it was always delicious."
As soon as he hung up he called his wife’s grandmother. "Grandma, we have an important question for you. Can you tell us why you cut the ends off a ham before you cook it?"
"Oh, my yes, dear," answered Grandma in her quiet, thin voice. "I cut the ends of the ham off so it would fit in my pan."
Traditions shape our lives, but its important to know why we do them. "Because we’ve always done it that way" doesn’t provide enough meaning to keep our traditions from becomeing stale and meaningless.
We may have recieved our worship traditions from great great grandparents, but for us to offer authentic worship we ned to understand the meaning behind the traditions. Jesus urged his followers to "worship in spirit and in truth." (John 4:24) If our worship seems lifeless and dull, perhaps we’re just going through the motions instead of really offering God true worship.
I want to spend a few minutes this morning talking about true worship. Psalm 111 is a psalm that will help us see some of the elements of real worship. Psalm 111 and 112 are twin psalms. Psalm 111 talks about how good God is and Psalm 112 talks about how that applies to how we live. Both are acrostic psalms--each verse begins with a different letter of the Hebrew alphabet. This is Hebrew poetry--specifically crafted to help us focus on God. Because it is an acrostic poem, we need to be careful that we don’t try to make the way the psalmist says things over and over seem redundant or repetitious. Let’s just remember that sometimes Hebrew poetry repeats itself.
God has preserved these psalms for us so we can learn from them and be challenged by them. We’ll look at Psalm 112 next week, but this week, let’s learn some lessons about worship from Psalm 111.
1. Where do I praise?
A. In the company of friends vs. 1
company = circle of friends/fellowship.
Used in 25:14 as the word "secret"
Used in 55:14 as "we who had sweet fellowship together."
Therefore: praise God with your closest and most intimate friends. Therefore--if you can’t praise God to those friends, why are they that intimate? Unless they share the same praise for God, they don’t have the same heart, and we should not be that close to them!
B. In the congregation vs. 1
I did a study of this word "praise." Although it is used for talking highly or glowingly about other things, it is usually applied to praising the God of Israel. One third of the times it is used occur int he Psalms. Almost all of those times it appears in the PLURAL, showing us that church life needs to involve praising God. We cannot be what God wants us to be and not include praise in our church.
Where two or three gather together, a special bond of the Holy Spirit exists between believers. This enables us to multiply our praise to God!
2. How do I praise?
A. With all my heart vs. 1
***complete, unreserved, unrestrained.
Praise allows God access to EVERY part of my life. It is praising God with every part of my life. All that I am, All that I hope to be, all that I hold dear--I want all of me to praise God.
B. Obedience vs. 10
If I do not intend to pursue absolute obedience, I cannot praise God with all my heart. If I do not want to put His commandments into action in my life, I am not convinced that they are true and trustworthy. If I do not trust God to meet my needs, I cannot be telling God that He is able to meet my needs.
3. What is praise? Vs. 1
A. Giving thanks--you cannot separate praise and thanksgiving.
4. What do I praise God for? His Works
A. Vs. 2 --great, splendid and majestic
B. Vs. 4 --gracious and compassionate
God’s works are associated with God’s grace and compassion. What He does may not always seem good...what He is doing may not always seem to happening at the right time...what He commands may hurt or be difficult...but we need to understand that whatever He brings into our life and whatever He expects us to do comes from His perfect and gracious will. Everything He does happens because He is a God of love and grace.
C. Vs. 6 --powerful
D. Vs. 7 --truth, just
also: vs. 3 --righteousness
vs. 5,9 --faithfulness
vs. 9 --holy and inspiring reverence
5. What is my response to the description of God’s Works?
A. Vs. 1 Praise and Thanksgiving
Interesting: this word for PRAISE is NOT the word for "SING praises"!!!
--what does this mean? Our praise is NOT limited to the songs we sing, but also the things we say. We need to talk about God’s goodness. The word means "to make shine" --and is usually associated with a loud shout! Would it be INAPPROPRIATE to have cheerleaders up here getting us to shout about what God has done? It might be unusual, but it would not be scripturally inappropriate!
In essence, the psalm writer is telling us to let out praise be NOISY! But the word means a clear and distinct sound--so it is not just noise, but purposeful, specific things we are saying about God. That would make for an interesting worship service, wouldn’t it? Everyone shouting about what God had done for them this week!
QUOTE FROM AN UNKNOWN SOURCE: "Praise is a natural and necessary response to fully enjoy the object that is praised. For example, when watching a football game on television, it is a natural response to praise a tremendous play. To shout WOW! After an acrobatic catch in the end zone is not only natural, but necessary to enjoy the spectacular play. If you do not believe that it is necessary, the next time you watch a football game try to not express yourself at all. You will quickly find that you do not enjoy the action nearly as much as you do when you have the freedom to express yourself in praise and excitement!"
NOW, temper that shouting concept with the fact that although our God is an awesome God, He is also a holy God who demands reverence.
HOW? Psalm 119:164 Seven times a day!!!!
B. Vs. 2 Study and meditation (word reflects on vs. 10--"with understanding")
word means "PONDER"
Ecclesiastes 1:13 "to seek and explain by wisdom"
Psalm 143:5 remember, muse, meditate
word means "TO SEEK TO KNOW BY RUBBING" i.e. a doctor’s examination of something by touch...a blind person’s ability to read something by feeling it...a woodcrafter’s ability to sense the smoothness of a project by feel...
God wants us to become intimate with Him. God wants us to spend quality time going over and over a thought, feeling it, sensing what its unique characteristics are. YOU DON’T GET THIS BY SIMPLY READING A CHAPTER A DAY TO KEEP THE DEVIL AWAY! The psalmist suggests taking the time to meditate.
C. Vs. 4 Remember (don’t forget, which produces despair and hopelessness)
KJV uses the word MEMORIAL. Some think this refers to the festivals like Passover that reminded people of the Exodus and how God provided for the Israelites in the wilderness. Our communion service is a time of remembrance. Our church’s 25th anniversary celebration this summer is going to be a time of remembrance-- remembering how God has been faithful to this church through the years...and what God has been able to do through this church through the years.
Remember (don’t forget, which produces despair and hopelessness)
D. Vs. 10 Reverence and Obedience
Once again, if you do not put into practice the things God has told you...if you despair that God will provide for you...if you do not worship with all your heart...YOU AREN’T BEING REVERENT.
Reverent = inspires awe. Causes you to stop and say, "Yes, God is great and good."
Do your thoughts about God inspire you to say, "Oh, my God, yes, you are everything...and more"? That is worship and praise!
When the T.V.A system created Watauga Lake in 1948, it buried the old community of Butler, Tennessee. In 1983, the water had to be lowered to repair the dam. Thousands of peopled waded through the mud to see where their homes once stood and to relive memories of the past. Worship lets us relive memories of the past-not only our own personal past, but the collective past of all the believers who have gone before us--and what God had done for them. But worship is more than sentiment or nostalgia. Worship looks to the future to inspire us to better deeds, better lives and better obedience. Take the time to wade through the mud. But get out of the mud and back to the new life that was created for you--and get back to work for God.
