God Deserves Our Praise
Be turning to OT Book of Psalms; begin in Psalm 96…
You may remember a few weeks ago I preached a
sermon, Amen & Praise the Lord. That was sermon
about the guy buying the preacher’s horse.
1. Talked about purpose of saying AMEN during the
worship
As said, by time of Jesus and 1st century, common in
Jewish synagogues when one would read Scripture,
speak about passage, or offer prayer, the others would
respond AMEN so as to affirm that what was being said
was truthful and to affirm their agreement.
This same custom then became a regular part of the
early Christian assemblies. As 1 Corinthians 14:16
suggests, they too would often say AMEN at end of
prayers to say they agreed with what was being said.
Essentially, when you do that too at the end of a public
prayer, you’re saying, “That’s my prayer too.”
2. In that sermon I also talked about PRAISING the
Lord. The Bible is filled with 100s of verses about
praising the Lord, and offering thanksgiving to Him,
and glorifying His name.
And, you may remember, I gave you one very big
reason why we should praise the Lord: that is, because
God desires our praise. He wants us to praise Him. He
craves the praise and honor and glory that we give to
Him.
Now, for lesson this morning, I want suggest you that
God not only desires our praise, He also deserves our
praise.
Psalm 96:1-6 (great is the Lord and greatly to be
praised)
The history books tell us of King Louis XIV of France
who ruled beginning in the middle of the 17th century.
He ruled for 72 years until his death in the year 1715.
He was an absolute monarch. He believed in the
theory of divine right, and he is known for arrogantly
calling himself "the Great." His court was the most
magnificent in Europe, and when he died, his funeral
was equally spectacular. As his body lay in state in a
golden coffin, orders were given that the cathedral
should be very dimly lit with only a single special
candle set above his coffin, to dramatize his greatness.
At the memorial service, thousands waited in hushed
silence, waiting for the Bishop to speak. Finally he
stood above the casket, and then, slowly reaching
down, he snuffed out the candle and said, "Only God is
great."
Indeed our God is so very great, great beyond words
sufficient enough to declare His greatness.
We speak of so many things or people as being great,
but God is preeminently above-all-else great. And
therefore He truly above-all-else deserves our praise.
I’m quite certain I could not come anywhere close to
listing all the ways that God is great, but this morning I
do want to share with you 3 reasons why He truly
deserves our praise.
1. God is great and deserves our praise because He
created everything!
Psalm 148:1-5
Psalm 96:5 “For all the gods of the peoples are idols,
but the Lord made the heavens.”
All the idols ever praised by men can do nothing
whatsoever, but our God, the one and only true God, is
the one and only Creator of everything in the universe.
Isaiah 40:21-26 (last week v27-31; this passage talks
about God being a great Creator)
There was once a French Mathematician whose name
was Lecompte de Nouy. He was doing some work on
the laws of probability for a single molecule to be
formed by chance. De Nouy found that, on an average,
the number of years needed to form one such
molecule of our terrestrial globe would be about 10 to
the 253 power, i.e. billions and trillions of years.
(Scientists don’t usually worry—if that’s what it takes
to support their theory of godless evolution)
But, ironically, de Nouy also said this: “Let us admit
that no matter how small the chance it could happen,
one molecule could be created by such astronomical
odds of chance. However, one molecule is of no use.
Hundreds of millions of identical ones are necessary.
Thus we either admit the miracle or doubt the
absolute truth of science.”
All this doesn’t happen just by accident; it is the result
of our Father’s hand at work in our world.
Our God deserves our praise because He is the
awesome and powerful almighty Creator of all the
universe!
2. God deserves our praise because He gave us a
Savior!
Someone once wrote these words: “If our greatest need
had been information, God would have sent us an
educator. If our greatest need had been technology, God
would have sent us a scientist. If our greatest need had
been money, God would have sent us an economist.
If our greatest need had been pleasure, God would have
sent us an entertainer. But our greatest need was
forgiveness, so God sent us a Savior.”
2 Timothy 1:9-10
Titus 2:11-14
A preacher was once preaching in Philadelphia. At
close of the service a stranger came up and said, “I
don't like way you spoke about the cross and suffering.
I think instead of emphasizing the death of Christ, it
would be far better preach Jesus as the teacher and
example.”
Preacher: “If I presented Christ that way, would you be
willing to follow Him?” Man: “I certainly would.”
Preacher: “All right then, let's take the first step. Jesus
did no sin. Can you perfectly follow that example?”
The man was confused: “Why, no. Everyone sins and
fall short of the glory of God.” Pr: “You’re right. We all
sin. And that is precisely why we need something
more than just an example. Our greatest need is a
Savior!”
Look at John 3:16-17: “For God so loved the world
that He gave His one and only Son that whoever
believes in Him should not perish, but have eternal life.
For God did not send His Son into the world to
condemn the world, but that the world could be saved
through Him.”
Can you think of a better reason to praise the Lord?!
We needed a Savior, and God gave His one and only
Son so that we could be saved. Indeed He is worthy of
our praise.
3. God deserves praise because He fills our lives with
so much joy!
John 10:10 (see what Jesus had to say about a joyful
way of life)
God not only gave us His Son and our Savior, but gives
bonus joyful life.
John 15:11
John 17:13
John 17:14-16 (Jesus then speaks of source of our joy)
Man in 3rd c was nearing death, so he penned these
last words to a friend:
"It's a bad world, an incredibly bad world. But I have
discovered in the midst of it a quiet and holy people
who have learned a great secret. They have found a joy
which is a thousand times better than any pleasure of
our sinful life.
They are despised and persecuted, but they care not.
They are masters of their souls. They have overcome
the world. These people are the Christians, and… I am
one of them."
Jesus’ teachings were given so that our joy might be
full! Living your life according to God’s wise and
loving way brings about great joy.
So often our lives are focused on our circumstances...
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If everything is going well at work and at home
If everyone in your family in good health
If your finances are in good shape; car/boat are
running well
Then you feel content and satisfied
But how often is everything in your life going to be just
right? And if your emotional well-being is going to be
based only on the well-being of your circumstances,
you’re not going to find much happiness in your life.
Philippians 1:12-18
Because Paul focused his life on his life with God
instead of difficulties of his circumstances, he could
honestly say (as does in 4:4), “Rejoice…”
Philippians 4:4, 6-9
As Christians, we do indeed have much to rejoice
about. Living according to God’s way will indeed fill
our lives with joy, and that is truly a great reason to
praise the Lord!
Conclusion
Our God deserves our praise because… 1. He is the
great almighty Creator. 2. He loves us so much that He
gave us a Savior. 3. He gives us a most joyful way of
life.
For us as Christians, there are so many reasons to praise
the Lord. Indeed He desires our praise, and He
deserves our praise!
So praise the Lord... in the words that you speak, and
the life that you live.
Matthew 5:16 “Let your light shine before men in
such a way that they may see your good works, and
glorify your Father who is in heaven.”
Our praise to God should not just be done by saying
those words; but also by showing it in our lives.
We’re going to sing an invitation song: “There is power
in the blood.”
You have a Savior who can fill your life with joy if
you’ll only let Him. His power can cleanse you...