Praise the Lord
Psalm 150:1 Praise the LORD.
I. Corporate and personal praise.
“Praise God in his sanctuary;†[Corporate praise]
The sanctuary referred to the Temple of God in Jerusalem. One of the places the people were exhorted to praise the Lord, was in his house—the Temple. And the church is now the Temple of God. When the believers in Christ gather together, the Bible tells us that we are living stones who make up the Temple of God. Therefore, when we praise on Sunday mornings, it’s not just something to fill the time. It’s not something we do out of tradition. But we praise the Lord, because the Bible commands us to praise the Lord in his Temple.
Indeed Psalm 22:3 in the KJV says “But thou [art] holy, [O thou] that inhabitest the praises of Israel.†To inhabit means to live in. Therefore, it would seem not only that we ought to praise God in his House, but that the very reason he makes it his house is because of the praise. God does not meet us here by His Holy Spirit because there is something special about these four walls or this location. He meets us here, because he dwells in the praises of his people.
God desires us to praise him when we come together. And when we do praise him, we invite his presence, in the person of the Holy Spirit, to receive that praise.
“praise him in his mighty heavens.†[Personal praise]
Not only must we praise God when we come together as a body—in the Church—but we also must praise God throughout the entire course of our lives. The sanctuary was one small place—set apart specifically for the purpose of worship, so it’s no surprise we are expected to praise there. But with the next line saying, “in his mighty heavens,†the mighty heavens are a big place. In fact, the great expanse of the heavens is an indication of “everywhere else.†The psalmist tells us to praise the Lord in church. But then he says to praise the Lord everywhere else too.
Psalm 34:1 I will extol the LORD at all times; his praise will always be on my lips.
Just as in every other aspect of this Christian life God calls us to, praise is a complete, life commitment. What does it mean for praise to always be on our lips? Certainly it doesn’t mean that we need to be singing 24/7 or we need to literally speak out praises all the time. But what it means is that we must have a lifestyle of praise. First, we must set time apart specifically to praise the Lord—when we pray—we must take time to praise. Second, when God has done something, even something small, for us, we need to recognize him and praise him. Thirdly, we must by our actions praise him—that is, we must live a life that is praising unto God.
Philippians 1:11 [be] filled with the fruit of righteousness that comes through Jesus Christ--to the glory and praise of God.
When we live a holy life—that is when we live right—that is a form of praise to God. And surely, God is not interested in lip-service, that is, someone who praises him on Sunday, but then does not praise him—by living right—throughout the week. God wants both your voiced praise and your lived praise. He wants both your church praise and your home praise. He wants your praise when you are together with his people. And your praise when you’re all alone with him and nobody else is looking.
II. Praise for what he has done and praise for who he is.
Psalm 150:2 “Praise him for his acts of power;†[Praise for what he has done]
Why should we praise the Lord? Because he has done so much good for us.
Psalm 72:18 Praise be to the LORD God, the God of Israel, who alone does marvelous deeds.
There are several types of deeds that we can praise God for. The first, I will call “general deeds.†We can praise God in general because of the great things he has done in the past. Indeed, we can read of great miracles recorded in Scripture and throughout history and praise God for them. We can hear testimonies of what God is doing throughout the earth—or even for those whom we love and cherish—and we can praise God for them. In this category, there are so many things that we can praise God for. We can praise him for creation—for giving us the gift of this earth. We can praise him for life and breath and family. We should praise him for all of these things that we take for granted—but which we know are truly gifts from God—because we know that every good thing comes from above.
Psalm 31:21 Praise be to the LORD, for he showed his wonderful love to me when I was in a besieged city.
In this verse, the Psalmist is reflecting on a particular event. When he was besieged and God showed him love—one of the many times that God directly intervened and rescued him. The second kind of deeds we must praise God for are the specific things he does in our lives. When we are in a spot—and we don’t know what to do—and we cry out to him, and he answers us—we need to praise him. When we cry out in prayer for something, and finally it comes, we need to praise him for that. Not only for the everyday things which are gifts from God, but also in the specific situations when he has worked for us—we must praise the Lord.
Exodus 15:2 The LORD is my strength and my song; he has become my salvation; He is my God, and I will praise him, my father’s God, and I will exalt him.
Luke 1:68 "Praise be to the Lord, the God of Israel, because he has come and has redeemed his people.
The greatest “deed†that God has every done for us is salvation. And the greatest praise that I ought to give to God should be for that salvation. Even had he done no other deed for us, for this one deed alone, he would be worthy of eternal praise. We must praise God that he has saved us—that he has redeemed us out of darkness—that he has forgiven our sins—for that our God is worthy of praise.
“praise him for his surpassing greatness.†[Praise for who he is]
But on top of praising God for the things he has done for us, he is worthy of praise. He is simply worthy, because of who he is. We delight in praising God, because he has done so much for us. I love to praise him, because he saved me. I love to praise him because he has healed me. I enjoy praising him for the many great things that has done, and is doing. However, even if he had not done any of that, he is simply worthy of praise. Just because of who he is, we must praise him.
Psalm 48:1a Great is the LORD, and most worthy of praise,
Our God is a great God! And because of his greatness, he is most worthy of praise. Because of his great attributes—his great characteristics, God is worthy to receive our praise. Now, of course it is these great attributes of God that leads him to perform such great deeds for us—and so, indirectly, when we praise God for “who he is,†we really are also praising him for “what he has doneâ€
2 Chronicles 20:21a After consulting the people, Jehoshaphat appointed men to sing to the LORD and to praise him for the splendor of his holiness as they went out at the head of the army,
They sang praises of the “splendor of his holiness.†Not because he had done anything great, even though he had. But they praised their God—even in the presence of their enemies—simply because he was a Holy God—and the Holy God deserved praise.
Psalm 7:17 I will give thanks to the LORD because of his righteousness and will sing praise to the name of the LORD Most High.
Again the Psalmist praises God because of his righteousness, and even simply because of his name. Simply because of who he is, the Psalmist breaks out in praise to the Lord.
Example: Have you ever been in love? When you are in love, does that person need to do anything for you to admire them? No. You admire—we could even say praise—her for beauty, for her sweetness. You admire him for his strength or for his charm. You love someone because of who they are—not what they do. And so, we love God because of who he is—what he has done is simply an extension of who is—and so we must praise him for who he is. We love him and praise him, because he is love, holy, just, powerful, peace, unchanging, faithful, and because he is so much more.
III. The ways of praise.
The praise of War and Peace
A. Psalm 150:3 Praise him with the sounding of the trumpet, [Powerful praise]
One type of praise is powerful praise. This kind of powerful praise is demonstrated in Joshua when the walls of Jericho fell. It is also demonstrated in Acts when Paul and Silas were in prison—and even in those circumstances, by faith they praised—and it brought and earthquake and salvation to a house.
Now, I’m not suggesting that the people “praised†the walls into falling. Or that Paul and Silas praised and earthquake into existence I’m not saying that praise is a magic formula that we can use to manipulate God. What I am saying is that when we praise with the authority and the power of the Name of Jesus, when that faith is an extension of our faith in God—then we will see powerful breakthroughs.
In the example that we read earlier where the King had men praising God for the splendor of his holiness—in the presence of enemies—they were going into battle and the result was:
2 Chronicles 20:22 As they began to sing and praise, the LORD set ambushes against the men of Ammon and Moab and Mount Seir who were invading Judah, and they were defeated.
B. praise him with the harp and lyre, [Peaceful praise]
Just as we are to praise powerful sometimes, we are also at times to praise peacefully. There are times when we need to:
Psalm 46:10 "Be still, and know that I am God;
There are times when we need to enter the “rest†of his presence, and praise him quietly—peacefully. There are times when must even simply be silent before the Lord—praising him in our hearts. There are times when the powerful praise of Jericho, isn’t necessary, but we should instead be “led by still waters.â€
There are times when we must win victory by praise and times when we must surrender through praise—throw our hands up to God and surrender to him.
Psalm 63:4 I will praise you as long as I live, and in your name I will lift up my hands.
The Shallow and the Deep
C. Psalm 150:4 praise him with tambourine and dancing, [Joyful praise]
There are times when need to praise the Lord with joy, when in fact our hearts are filled with joy by the Holy Spirit because of the things that God has done for us. This kind of praise is represented by dancing and playing a tambourine. Although this kind of praise may take a different form for different people. This is an excited, jubilant kind of praise. When you maybe get caught up in the moment—this kind of praise may even be viewed as foolishness. But the Bible tells us.
Psalm 33:1 Sing joyfully to the LORD, you righteous; it is fitting for the upright to praise him.
It is right to sing joyfully to the Lord. Even when David danced before the Lord, he was called foolish, but then said that he would become even more undignified. There are times when we need to be uninhibited in our praise. We need to break out of our dignity and really put our all into praising the Lord. This kind of praise is almost a kind of intoxication, where you are literally overwhelmed with praise. This kind of praise—dancing and jubilance, doesn’t necessarily have to be an every day affair, but when the Holy Spirit moves in a joyful way upon us, we must give way to this type of praise.
D. praise him with the strings and flute, [Deep, heart praise]
Just as there is a praise which expresses the joyful emotions that we can experience in Christ, so there is a praise that is a deep expression of the heart. It comes from the deep emotions. It is a praise that comes from deep within you. That somehow expresses the your deepest inmost feelings. The Psalmist speaks of this kind of praise.
Psalm 84:2 My soul yearns, even faints, for the courts of the LORD; my heart and my flesh cry out for the living God.
It’s kind of hard for me to express this kind of praise in words—just as hard as it is to actually praise in this way. It’s kind of like what Paul speaks of.
Romans 8:26 In the same way, the Spirit helps us in our weakness. We do not know what we ought to pray for, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us with groans that words cannot express.
Even though, Paul is talking about prayer hear, it’s kind of the same. This is a deep spiritual praise. A praise that comes from the heart, by the help of the Holy Spirit. Onlookers may not recognize the great value of this praise—when people are dancing and joyful, it is easy to recognize the moving of the Spirit, but there are times when we must passionately and deeply praise—it is equally the work of the Holy Spirit—and it is equally necessary.
E. Psalm 150:5 praise him with the clash of cymbals, [Loud, boisterous praise]
praise him with resounding cymbals. [Ever increasing crescendo of praise]
This verse speaks of how we must continually increase and grow in praise. From a clashing cymbal. Maybe something that is occasional; to a resounding cymbal—something which is constant. Our praise must grow until it’s not only a clash on Sundays or at certain times, but until our entire life is a continual symphony of resounding cymbals—yes, with some clashes thrown in—some times when we praise in a special way.
IV. The universality of praise.
Psalm 150:6 Let everything that has breath praise the LORD. [Universality of praise]
LK 19:39,40 Some of the Pharisees in the crowd said to Jesus, "Teacher, rebuke your disciples!" 40 "I tell you," he replied, "if they keep quiet, the stones will cry out."
God will be praised—but as those who have breath—the breath of God breathed into us; it is our job to praise—not the job of the rocks. We must take our responsibility to praise the Lord—and to praise him in many different ways—seriously.
Praise the LORD.