Preached March 3, 1991, morning service First Baptist Church, Garrett, Indiana
Who should praise the Lord? David said in Psalm 150:6, "Let everything that have breath praise the Lord." The point is, IF YOU ARE ALIVE, it's God's desire for you to praise the Lord. That explains why some don't. Because they have no spiritual life. Some people have very little physical life.
An old maid was talking to one of her spinster friends, & she said, "Last night I had a date with Harry & I had to slap his face 5 times." The other lady said, "Was he that fresh?" She said, "No, I thought he had died!"
How does the Bible say to praise the Lord? Psalm 111 says, "Praise the Lord with all of your heart." Simply do it with gusto, or don't do it. If you are going to praise the Lord, do it with all of your heart.
When you took your wife home to meet your father, you didn't take your wife in and say, "Dad, I'd like for you to meet old snaggle-tooth here." "Found her along side the railroad track and had compassion on her so I brought her home." You'd never got married if you didn't have better things to say about your wife than that.
Praise the Lord with enthusiasm. Praise the Lord with your hands lifted." Psalm 63 says, "I will lift up my hands in Thy name...& my mouth shall praise thee with joyful lips..." Paul says in I Timothy 2:8, "I will...therefore that men everywhere lift up holy hands, without wrath & doubting."
Anyone can praise the Lord when things are going good, but you need to learn to praise the Lord when things are not going so good. Read with me Psalm 100, then we are going to praise the Lord together.
(read Ps. 100:1-5)
We praise the Lord in spite of our trials. We praise the Lord in spite of our problems. We praise the Lord in spite of our disappointments. We praise the Lord in spite of our reversals. We look with faith into the eyes of the Lord & say, "I know You are too wise to make a mistake & I know You are too loving to be unkind, so Lord today right here in Garrett Indiana, here at the First Baptist Church, I want to praise you for every blessing, I want to praise You for all of Your goodness. I want to praise You for all of Your mercy. I want to praise You for all of Your love. You are my Rock, You are my Tower, You are my Fortress, You are my Deliverer. You are the Lord my God." Can't you feel the presence of God in that? Bless the Lord.
The way to get into God's presence when you get down to pray & you feel bad, if you feel discouraged, if you feel depressed, if you feel despondent; it is not to come before God & say, "Oh God, what's going on?" "I know the victory is on its way." "I want to praise You for Your faithfulness." I want to praise You that You have never disappointed me."
You will feel the heavens open & the presence of the Lord will invade that prayer closet. We are going to talk today about praising the Lord & I want you to hear it from the Word of God.
Father, in Jesus Name, may the Word of God open our hearts today as we celebrate the goodness of Jesus, in His name we pray & ask it. And all of God's children said, Praise the Lord.
Let's begin today by saying that praise creates the environment of celebration. How may of you like to celebrate? Let me see your hands! In Psalm 106:47 David said, "...(we) triumph in praise." Now get this. There is a difference between victory and triumph. Victory is winning the battle. Triumph is celebrating the victory of the battle. Did you get that? Victory is winning the battle, & triumph is celebrating the victory of the battle.
God wants His children to learn to celebrate. What do we have to celebrate about? Jesus says, "Do not be glad that you have the power to cast out evil spirits & to heal people, but praise the Lord that your names are written in the Lambs Book of Life." As far as Jesus is concerned, the most outstanding thing that can happen to you, is that you can say that I am saved by the Blood of the Cross & the grace of Jesus Christ, & I am on my way to heaven because Jesus is the Lord of my life. CELEBRATE THAT!!
If John Paul Getty would come down this aisle this morning & touch you on the shoulder & say to you, "I'm going to give you all that I have!!" You would be excited, so happy that you would scream and holler & this whole congregation would jump up & scream with you.
Not too long ago some people won over 100 million dollars. That's some serious money! And there were people thrilled just to know them. Do you know what they are doing? They are celebrating.
Let me tell you something, Jesus Christ, the Son of God, who has died for my sins & He said that you & you & you & you & you & you & me are heirs & joint heirs with Jesus Christ & God the Father, & all that they own, I own. It is already mine, the earth is mine, the gold in the ground is mine, I'M WEALTHY, BECAUSE JESUS IS THE LORD OF MY LIFE!
Throw in the plus, that angels go before you & behind you. Getty can't buy that. Throw in the plus, that when I pray in Jesus name, I have the authority over every disease, I have the authority over every demon in hell, I have authority over every desperation & over every spirit of depression. When I bow my knee in the name of Jesus Christ, angels listen & demons scatter, because I'm a child of God. Brother, that's something to celebrate.
CELEBRATE ETERNAL LIFE. I'm not getting older, you're not getting older, we are just getting better. I know that does not seem to be the case when you have to rest before you can get up. But celebrate, celebrate your good health. If your name was not in the obituary column this morning, be glad. Now you may feel like you deserve to be there, but be glad anyway.
Some of you come here this morning with store bought teeth, fingernails, eyeglasses, hearing aids, back braces. After 50, it's just patch, patch, patch. Don't look so sad, it's the truth.
A lady went to here doctor and said, "Is there any hope for my body?" And the doctor said, "Yes, the resurrection!" But when you walk into a hospital & you see people in that hospital dying with cancer & every disease known to man. I'll tell you, I celebrate my health. When I see children dying with cancer & other diseases & I see my healthy grand-children, I say, "Thank God, Thank God, they're healthy. Thank God we are alive & well." Praise the Lord.
You say, "I don't feel that way." You go to the hospital & put your kid in it & he says he's not coming out. And when that child comes home, you'll celebrate. You'll be thrilled that God is a healer.
PRAISE IS GOD'S ADDRESS! Where does God live? He lives in the praises of His people. Psalm 22:3 says, "Thou who inhabits (the word inhabits, means to live in) Thou who lives in the praises of Israel." God Himself will come down to your prayer closet if you'll praise Him.
Our God is a good God. Our God became poor that we might become rich. He's a good God.
He died that I might have eternal life. That's a good God. He has stood between heaven & earth and allowed Himself to be afflicted, that I might be accepted. He was beaten with stripes that I might be healed. That's a good God. When I celebrate the things that God has given me & the things that God is doing for me, there is reason to be thrilled that you know the Lord Jesus Christ.
HIS MERCY ENDURETH! The Bible says that God's mercy is renewed every morning. His mercy forgives you.
HIS TRUTH ENDURETH ALL GENERATIONS! When you know God, God doesn't change. How does God feel about lies? Ask Annias & Saphira. How does God feel about homosexuality, look at His urban renewal program for Sodom & Gamora. God's opinions do not change. When you begin to seek the Lord, you don't have to worry, does God have different strokes for different folks.
NO!! God is faithful, there is no shadow of turning within Him. He doesn't have blue Mondays and whoopy Tuesdays. He is faithful & consistent always. And when you come to Him, He is forever glad you are there & he is ready to meet your need.
GOD HAS GIVEN US PRAISE AS A SPIRITUAL WEAPON. Listen to this. In Psalm 8:2 the Bible says, "Out of the mouth of babes..." And babes are identified in Scripture as the followers of Christ. When Jesus said, "Father, I thank you that you have not revealed these things to the wise & the prudent, but you have revealed them unto babes."
He was referring to His followers. So out of the mouths of babes, "....thou hast ordained strength because of thine enemies..." The enemies are the unseen supernatural powers in the heaven. "That they might silence the enemy & the avenger." Who is the avenger? That's Satan. The enemy & the avenger is identified in Scripture. Now put that verse together.
Out of the mouths of the babes (the followers of Christ) you Lord have the perfected praise, that the enemies, the unseen supernatural powers, may be put to silence as well as the enemy & the avenger of the church."
Do you know why Satan hates praise? Because when praise comes out of the mouths of God's children, he is destroyed. He is bound. He is absolutely powerless. He cannot act. That is why when you come into a church house & you are not prayed up & your spiritual relationship with God is not good, something within you says, "Now don't you go praising the Lord. That's far out, that just too far."
Fear says, "Someone may be watching you." Jesus is over there saying, "Do it man! Turn loose & go with it." And the moment you do you will recognize that you have broken thru a barrier and released a supernatural power within you, because you have obeyed the Lord. Reason says, "This is far out." Fear says, "wait!" The Holy Spirit says, "This is the will and the Word of God and whatever the Word of God says to do, YOU DO IT!"
NOW VERY QUICKLY, THE 6 ACTS OF PRAISE!
There is the extended hand. The uplifted hand. You have a choice. You can lift your hands in praise to God or you can wring your hands in worry. What do you want to do? Do you remember Moses on top of the hill, as long as his hands were up, God moved for Israel, but the moment his hands came down, Israel started losing the war. Man's hands are an extension of his nature. If I come up to you with my hand rolled up under your nose like this (make a fist), what does that suggest? I want to fight. Something's wrong.
If I come to you with my hand extended (like I'm going to shake hands), that means friendship. If I come to you & my hands are doing this (hands shaking), I'm a nervous person. If I come to you & my hands are white, I'm a card shark, or maybe a banker. About the same.
If I have a tanned hand, I'm a farmer or maybe a beach bum. If I have a callus hand, I'm a worker. If I have a stained hand, I'm a mechanic or maybe a smoker. That stuff stains a lot.
Everybody's hand is an extension of his personality. That's why David said in Psalm 63, "I will bless the Lord as long as I live, I will lift up my hands in thy name."
THE SECOND ACT OF PRAISE IS THANKSGIVING.
Psalm 50:23 says, "He who offers a sacrifice of praise honors me." You praise the Lord for what He has done. You praise Him for what He will do. You praise Him by reading the Word of God & acting upon it. Praise is honoring one another. The Bible says, "Give honon to whom honor is due." Honor your wife with praise. Tell her good things that she does. AND ALL THE LADIES SAID, "AMEN". Now, come on ladies, you are going to have to get a little more enthused.
Honor your husband. Husbands, if you do something semi-right, wouldn't you like the little lady to recognize you for doing that? And all the men said, "Amen". One wife told her husband, she said, "We married for better or worse. You couldn't do better and I couldn't do worse."
WE PRAISE THE LORD BY BOASTING ON THE LORD!
Witnessing about Jesus Christ is getting so full of the love of Jesus, you can't help telling somebody else about the Lord. Someone says, "Oh, I just can't". WRONG! It would be easier to contain a volcano in a tea cup, than to hold back the love of Jesus, if you have it. Do you love the Lord? Are you as excited about the Lord as you are about Purdue or Indiana. Or the Chicago Bears or any other sports team. Are you talking about the Lord as much as you are talking about sports, or cooking, or whatever? Are you as excited to see the Lord as you are Bobbie Knight's Hoosiers.
Or do you love the Lord more than all those things? Well, I'll see you tonight at 6:00 and really find out.
THE FOURTH WAY TO PRAISE THE LORD IS THE SHOUT
The shout means to address with a loud tone. A command. Psalm 117:1, "O praise the Lord, all ye nations, praise him, all ye people." Psalm 47:1 says, "Shout unto the Lord with a voice of triumph." When Joshua & the children of Israel marched around the walls of Jericho and they shouted and the walls fell down, it was obedience in praise, praise destroyed the wall.
Say praise the Lord with me. (praise the Lord). This time really wake up heaven & earth. (praise the Lord). You say, "preacher, that makes me uncomfortable."
Let me tell you, Revelation 19 describes an ocean of people standing before the Lord, day & night, and with a thunderous voice, & they are saying "Hallelujah!" Let me tell you, when you get to heaven, if noise bothers you, you are going to be one tormented soul. Because praising the Lord is what we are going to do when we get there.
THE FIFTH WAY IS BY KNEELING!
Praise the Lord by kneeling. Psalm 72:12-15 describes kneeling to bless the name of God as an act of adoration. I'm sorry that it is not possible for this whole congregation to kneel & praise God as an act of adoration.
THE SIXTH WAY IS PRAISING GOD WITH THE INSTRUMENTS!
Psalm 150 "sing unto the Lord a new song, sing on every conceivable instrument." In I Chron. 15:16 David spoke to the chief of the Levites & he appointed "singers" to go before the army & they went before the armies of Israel & won a great victory. Because they sang the praises to God.
Eph. 5:18 says, "Being filled with the Spirit, speaking to one another in songs & hymns & spiritual songs." When we gather in here to sing the praises of God, we are not doing something to take up time. We are doing it becuase the Bible says that this is praise to the Lord. The Bible says, "Sing a new song unto the Lord." It is God's desire that we learn new songs to praise the Lord.
2 Chron. 5:12, when they dedicated the temple & they praised the Lord, the presences of the Lord so flooded the temple, that they could not enter the house of God. Because the presence of God was in the building like a thick cloud. How many would like for that to happen in this church? I would.
If the president of the United States was going to speak tonight at 6:00 & I told you you were going to have to get here an hour early to get a seat, you wouldn't mind a bit. Let me tell you something, God the Father, the Son & the Holy Spirit comes here every Sunday & we owe it to Him to be here & be holy & reverent.
Some of you may be going thru the worse desastor of your life, sickness in your family, financial reversal, trials you never expected, & I'm telling you today, out of this simple Gospel message, if you'll find a place today to get on your knees before the Lord and lift your hands and say, "Lord, I thank you, because I know you love me & I know that You'll never leave me nor forsake me, in spite of what I'm going thru, I know You'll not fail me."
If you will, God will answer. And He'll give you His answer today.
There are many in this sanctuary right now that desperately need God's answer in your life. You may have received the worse news that you could possibly have received. I'm telling you this, while your heart hurts & your life feels shattered, if by faith you can raise your hands & say, "Lord, I thank you anyway. I praise you in spite of the circumstances." I promise you on the authority of God's Word, God's answer will by yours today.
Can we stand together.
Father, in Jesus name, now let Your Holy Spirit fill this room, & let us experience the Holy Spirit moving in our lives. And all God's children said, Amen.
