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Recent sermon |
March 14, 2010 Praise the LORD! Hallelujah! Psalm 146 Scripture reading: Genesis 27:41-28:27 In Revelation 4:11 it says; "You are worthy, our Lord and God to receive glory and honor and power, for you created all things, and by your will they were created and have their being." We need to be reminded from time to time, to praise the Lord and give Him thanks In Psalm 146, which we are going to study today, the text- at the beginning and the end- joyfully exclaims "Praise the LORD! Hallelujah!". Psalm 146 and the remaining 4 chapters of the Book of Psalms begin and end in the very same way--- and the message is this: Hear the Scriptures call to Praise the Lord! READ TEXT LESSONS OF THE TEXT 1. The eleven fold use the Divine name "LORD" tips us off as to the focus of Psalm 146 Psalm 146 is all about God, the LORD, the Maker of heaven and earth The Bible tells us that there is one true God who is worthy of our praise, service, and worship. Psalm 146 answers the question "Who is the one true God who we are to worship?" Note that 11 times in the text the word "LORD" is used. It is the LORD who we are to worship. LORD, when it is capitalized in the Bible, indicates the personal name of God-- the name he revealed to his servants. Transliterated, LORD is "Yahweh" In revealing His Name to us, God in a sense invites us into relationship with him. As we Jacob's God and Abraham's God and Moses' God- by faith, so He can be ours 2. If you take the time to explore the life and faith of Jacob, mentioned in verse 5, you will be enriched in your own faith. See Genesis 25-50 Note the phrase "Blessed is he whose help is the God of Jacob" Note: Jacob a very significant Biblical figure (God changed his name to Israel -One who struggles with God). At a point in his life, he put his faith in God and through the rest of his life, God just kept on helping in- as he kept on trusting. 3. Psalm 146 contains 3 very important commands Command #1 Praise the LORD Note: verse 1 is a joyful exclamation "Hallelujah!" (This brackets Psalm 146) As a whole, Psalm 146 is a call to worship-- it is a call to praise and worship God The joyful exclamation of verse 1 is followed up with the command to praise the Lord v.1b Note also that praising the Lord is a commitment v.2 -in good times/bad times, plenty/want, joy/sadness, disappointment, etc We are to be resolved to be praising the Lord v.2 --our whole life, as love as we live. Praising the Lord involves our hearts, speech, and singing v.2 Application: Is daily worship part of your life? Command # 2Do not put your trust in mortal man v.3-4 We have a tendency to put our trust and faith in the wrong places. Why we shouldn't put our trust in people 1. Death ends their influence, authority, and plans 2. Because mortal men/women cannot save (and word here has connotations of deliver, sometimes in a physical sense and salvation, in a spiritual sense) The command of v.3 raises 2 very important, but related, questions a. If we are not to put our trust in mortal men, who should we put our trust in? b. Is their one who can save a person spiritually? Is their one who can save the souls of men? By way of response to these 2 questions, in John 14:1 Jesus is recorded as saying to his disciples and hence to us; "Do not let your hearts be troubled. Trust in God; trust also in me." Who are we to trust? Jesus tells us to trust him. Jesus tells us to trust him on the basis that he is God. This is his claim and equation when he says "Trust in God; trust also in me." Why should we trust Jesus? What makes him different? His divine identity makes all the difference. His resurrection from the grave makes all the difference. While Jesus died, he rose again. This is the core of the Christian faith. Why else should we trust Jesus? His ability, that He has alone, to forgive us of our sins and transgressions is why we should trust Jesus. As Jesus says in John 14:6 "I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me." Similarly in Acts 4:12 it is written; "Salvation is found in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given to men by which we must be saved." Command # 3 Put your trust in the LORD Put your trust in the one who made the Heaven's and Earth. Put your trust in the one who Jacob put his trust in -- who Abraham put his trust in, who Moses put his trust in, who David put his trust in, who Elijah and the prophets put their trust in, who the disciples put their trust in, To put our trust in the LORD, the God of Jacob,the Maker of heaven and earth is ultimately to put our faith and trust in Jesus- for the Scriptures teach us that Jesus was involved in Creation (Proverbs 8, John 1:1-3). John 1:1-3 says; "In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was with God in the beginning. Through him all things were made; without him nothing was made that has been made." Note: In v.14 it says "The Word became flesh and dwelt among us"-- indicating that Jesus is the Word and hence God and involved in creation. 4. EACH ONE WHO PUTS THEIR FAITH AND TRUST IN THE LORD will be BLESSED v.5-9 When a person becomes a follower of the LORD and puts their faith in Him, He becomes their God and as such under His protection and heir to all of His promises-- each one coming to fulfillment in it's perfect time. In v.5-9 some of the blessings of the Lord are laid out for us who love and know Him. Note what God does for those who trust in Him....read v.5-9 5. Our text connects to Jesus in at least 2 ways Firstly: Note v.3 In regards to verse 3 and the command to not trust in mortal men who cannot save. The Bible teaches us that Jesus is the one who saves. In fact that's what Jesus' name means "The one who saves" And what is it that he saves people from? He saves people from their sins and eternal consequences of their sins. Have you turned to Jesus for the forgiveness of your sins? Secondly: Note v.7-9 and its relation to Luke 4:16-21 In Luke 4:16-21 it says; "He went to Nazareth, where he had been brought up, and on the Sabbath day he went into the synagogue, as was his custom. And he stood up to read. The scroll of the prophet Isaiah was handed to him. Unrolling it, he found the place where it is written:"The Spirit of the Lord is on me,because he has anointed me to preach good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim freedom for the prisoners and recovery of sight for the blind, to release the oppressed, to proclaim the year of the Lord's favor." Then he rolled up the scroll, gave it back to the attendant and sat down. The eyes of everyone in the synagogue were fastened on him, and he began by saying to them, "Today this scripture is fulfilled in your hearing." CONCLUSION Psalm 146 begins and ends with a "Hallelujah!" Is the praise of God regularly on your lips? The call of the Bible is not to put our faith in vague God that we don't or can't know. The call of the Bible is to put our trust in the LORD- the Maker of Heaven and Earth, the God of Jacob, the God of Abraham, the God of Moses, the God of Elijah and the prophets, the God of David-- the LORD JESUS CHRIST. Have you put your in the LORD- in Christ? As we have learned today, there is one who saves- and their's only one- Jesus Christ. Do not delay. Put your trust in Christ for the forgiveness of your sins and you will receive that in full and many more blessings beyond that. |