I.Intro
a.We find ourselves now in a season of thanksgiving and adoration to God for sending us Jesus, His only son to die for mankind, even though we don’t deserve it
i.December theme:24/7 Praise
ii.One reason why we come to church is to learn how to praise and to participate in praising God
1.Some were brought up in a home where you never saw praise for God demonstrated
a.You have probably seen praise for other things
i.Example
1.It is said that praise is a natural and necessary response to fully enjoy the object that is being praised. For example, when watching a football game (or favorite sport or activity) on TV, it is a natural response to praise a player for a tremendous play. To shout WOW! After an acrobatic catch in the end zone is not only natural, but necessary to fully enjoy the spectacular play. If you don’t believe that it is necessary, the next time you watch a football game, try to notexpress yourself at all. You will quickly find that you don’t enjoy the action nearly as much as you do when you have the freedom to express yourself in praise and excitement.
b.God desires our praise
i.It is how we express our thankfulness for all He has done for us
ii.If there is one sin that is most prevalent today, is the sin of ingratitude
1.God does so much for us, our indebtedness to Him is enormous
a.Yet we sometimes forget to offer thanks for what He has done
b.Truth be told, many professing Christians don’t even offer thanks over their meals much less offer thanks over all that God does in their lives
i.Many of us focus on the gift and not the giver
1.We don’t realize how much we have been blessed with
2.God deserves our praise whether we like what He provided or not
a.He knows what’s best for us
iii.For a child of God, thankfulness through praise is not confined to a day or season
1.It is an attitude that we should have every hour of every day
c.Today, we are going to examine the 101 of Praise
i.In College, a 101 class was the basic, introductory class in a series on a particular subject matter
1.It was in the 101 class that you got the foundation that would be necessary for you to be successful in grasping the remaining, higher level classes
ii.Our text for this class will be Psalm 150, which is considered the grand finale or a crescendo of praise
1.Interesting note
a.The last 5 chapters of Psalm all start and end with, “Praise the Lord”
b.It is clear that praising God is of vital importance to the Psalmist and should be of vital importance to you and me
iii.Let me lay out the syllabus for Praise 101
1.In this class we will examine the Where, Why, Who, and How of praise
2.Before we get started, we should first define the What
a.Praise(hālal) – The act of expressing approval or admiration; the offering of grateful homage in word or song
i.The phrase, “Praise the Lord”in Hebrew is Hallelu Yah
ii.Hallelujah is the highest form of praise because it praises the most-high God
d.We will start our Praise 101 lesson today with an examination of Whereto praise
II.Point 1: Whereshould we praise?
a.Psalm 150:1 – ¹Praise the Lord.Praise God in his sanctuary; praise him in his mighty heavens.
b.There are only two places that we are directed to praise God
i.I think if we praise Him in those two places, God will be glorified and pleased with us
ii.The first place that the text mentions where we should praise the Lord is in Hissanctuary
1.At the time this was written, God’s sanctuary physically was in the Tabernacle, because the Temple had not been built
a.It was the place where you would go to sacrifice, get forgiveness, and hear from God
b.His sanctuary transitioned, physically, after Solomon built the Temple that was dedicated to the worship of the Most-High God
c.Today, God’s sanctuary is physically within the church
i.This is God’s sanctuary
1.We should be excited to come to God’s sanctuary for another opportunity to praise the Lord
2.There may be those that think our praise may be over the top, but if you only knew what God has done for me, you would praise Him too
3.The question that should be asked is, “Where is the church?”
a.The church is whereversaints of God gather to worship and commune with God
2.After Jesus’ death and resurrection, and the impartation of the Holy Spirit in our hearts, the church expanded tremendously
a.1 Corinthians 3:16 – ¹⁶Don’t you know that you yourselves are God’s temple and that God’s Spirit dwells in your midst?
b.Now, no matter where I am, I take the sanctuary with me
i.When I am on my job, the church and God’s sanctuary is with me
ii.When I am getting ready to do my dirt, the sanctuary is with me
1.That should cause us to rethink doing our dirt
c.The sanctuary is within me because I am the temple of God
i.My praise is within me!
iii.The second place we are to praise God goes along with the first
1.We are to praise the Lord in Hisheavens
a.You do know that there are three heavens
i.2 Corinthians 12:2 – ²I know a man in Christ who fourteen years ago was caught up to the third heaven. Whether it was in the body or out of the body I do not know—God knows.
1.Our atmosphere, where birds fly (according to Genesis 1:20)
2.Outer space
3.Where God dwells
4.I don’t have time to go into detail
b.This reinforces the fact that wherever we are, that is where we should praise God
III.Point 2: Whyshould we praise?
a. Psalm 150:2 – ²Praise him for his acts of power; praise him for his surpassing greatness.
b.The acts of an omnipotent God included but are not limited to
i.Creation
ii.Redemption
iii.Sovereignty
c.Only an omnipotent God had the power to make something out of nothing
i.Merely by speaking
d.Only a loving God would care enough about his creation to take on a flesh suit and die for those that did not care for Him
e.If God never does another thing for us, He has already done enough to be praised from now to eternity
f.Not only is God to be praised for His great acts that He has done and will do, He is also to be praise for just being Himself
i.Excellent and Great
ii.That lets me know that my praise is not contingent on my circumstance
1.I don’t praise God just because things are going well
2.I praise Him just for who He is
a.If He doesn’t do another thing for me, I will praise Him any way
g.There’s one more reason why we should praise God
i.Psalm 22:3 (KJV) – ³But thou art holy, O thou that inhabitest the praises of Israel.
1.God lives in; hangs out in our praise
2.If you want to stay close to God and God to stay close to you, Praise Him!
h.That brings us to Howwe should praise
IV.Point 3: Howshould we praise?
a. Psalm 150:3-5 – ³Praise him with the sounding of the trumpet, praise him with the harp and lyre, ⁴praise him with timbrel and dancing, praise him with the strings and pipe, ⁵praise him with the clash of cymbals,praise him with resounding cymbals.
b.In today’s times this tends to be a controversial matter
i.One that is visibly evident and sometimes foundational to the separation of denominations
1.One praises too long
2.Another praises too short
3.Still another praise to loud
4.Another is too animated in their praise
c.I don’t think the significance of this passage is in which instruments were chosen to praise God
i.I think the significance was in the fact that this was not a silent admiration for goodness of the Lord
1.It was animated
2.It was enthusiastic
3.It was energetic
ii.Praise requires us to make some noise
1.Scripture tells us to offer the sacrifice of praise
a.Hebrews 13:15 –Through Jesus, therefore, let us continually offer to God a sacrifice of praise—the fruit of lipsthat openly profess his name.
b.A sacrifice cost you something
i.Jews were told to give the firstborn of their livestock
ii.You may be called to sacrifice some sleep to rise early
iii.You may be called to sacrifice your popularity to raise your hands and praise God in public
c.We’ve got to open our mouths in order to praise God
iii.Praise requires movement
1.Psalm 134:2 – ²Lift up your hands in the sanctuary
and praise the Lord.
iv.Our praise is merely an enthusiastic, thank youand admiration to God
v.Your praise might not be like my praise, but we both owe God our best praise
vi.We spoke earlier about the excitement over a sporting event
1.We don’t have a problem showing exuberant, vocal excitement over a game or a Christmas present that can’t change us, save us, or provide for us
2.Some of us have a problem praising God
V.Point 4: Whoshould praise?
a.Psalm 150:6 – ⁶Let everything that has breath praise the Lord. Praise the Lord.
b.This Psalm was written at a time when God was only dealing with the children of Israel
i.I believe the psalmist foresaw the spreading of the Gospel to both Jew and Gentile
1.We have reached the crescendo of the book
c.If you were wondering if anything else was required to praise God, Psalm 148 calls on several other things to praise God
i.Sun and Moon
ii.Sea creatures
iii.Trees
iv.Wild animals
v.We don’t know how they praise God, but we do know if God has called them to praise Him, He has given them a method to exalt God
1.I don’t know how the animals praise God
a.Quite frankly I don’t even know if each of you praise God
i.I don’t have time to worry about other folks
b.The one thing that I do know is that God is going to get His praise
i.Luke 19:40 –⁴⁰And he answered and said unto them, I tell you that, if these should hold their peace, the stones would immediately cry out.
1.I have made up in my mind that no one and no thing is going to praise God in my place
a.He’s been too good for me to hold my peace
VI.Conclusion
a. It is said that if you do something for 21 days, it becomes a habit
i.Let’s make praising God a habit
ii.Psalm 34:1 (KJV) – I will bless the Lordat all times: his praise shall continually be in my mouth.
1.If God has been good to you, He deserves your praise
2.We need to stop overlooking the blessings of God or minimizing them
3.The word praise is used 365 times in the NIV bible
a.That tells me we need to praise God every day
i.From our rising to our going down
ii.When I rise in the morning, I thank God for one more day
1.The fact that I am still in the land of the living lets me know that God still has a plan for my life, and I am grateful
iii.I dare you to make a commitment to praise God for the next 21 days
1.Watch God show up in the midst of your praise.

Praise 101 PASTOR CARLTON McCULLOUGH

Share