Get Your Praise Up

Psalms 149:1-7

¹Praise the Lord!

What is Praise?

Praise is speaking to God, thanking him for what he has doneand for who He is,praise is boastingabout God.  It requires you to open your mouth.  While worshipis God speakingto us in those reverent moments in His presence.  Sometimes worship requires us to shut our mouthsto hear what God is speaking.

Who do we Praise?

David says it plainly, that we are to praise the Lord.

Whether we realize it or not we give praise to all kinds of differentthings and/or people.

• If a professional ball playerhas some amazing stats in a game, then we are talking about how great that person was in the game, we sing his/her praises.
• If a new moviecomes out and has some memorable lines then we boast about that movie to our friends and encourage them to go see it if they have not yet done so.
• If a new vehiclecomes out and it has some amazing features with some new tech, then we also begin to boast about it. In a sense we are singing the praises of that new vehicle.

In this verse we are instructed to turn our praises to the Lord.  He is to be the objectof our praise.  I’m not saying that you cannot talkabout sports or about movies or new things, but rather the Lord is to be praised higherand above all else.

• How many of you have something to praise Him for?
• How many of you have something to complain about this morning?
• How many of you will choose to praise rather than complain?

How do we Praise?

Sing to the Lord a new song, his praise in the assembly of the godly!

One way they we can praise is to sing a new songand sing it unto the Lord.

My little girl Maylenis always singing new songs, some songs are sillyothers are more thoughtful, but they are always sincere and right from the heart.  I believe one day she will use her song writing abilitiesfor the Lord.  Nonetheless she has grasped the idea of singing new songs.

A new song comes from a new revelation, or a newly found insight during one of life’s seasons. 

Jeremy Campwrote a song “I Still Believe” after he had lost his wife. A few lines from that song

“I still believe in your faithfulness,

I still believe in your truth,

I still believe in your holy word,

Even when I can’t see, I still believe.”

He was in a place in which he experienced a new levelof the Lord’s faithfulnessduring a time when he was experiencing deep sorrow. It was birthed from a new revelationof who God was to him during that time.  So, he sang a new song. 

It was this song that helped me get through when I was going through a divorce. I remember hearing it on the way to work and just begin to weep knowing that God’s faithfulnesswould get me through and that His holy word would endure.

We are to sing a new songunto the Lord, because each day we are given a greater revelationof who He is to us.  It is not to say that we are to do away with the oldsongs, because even the old songs can spark new revelationof who God is.

Our songs should be unto the Lord, we should sing of the Lord and to Him. Even when we have reason to complainwe should give praiseintead.

For every complaint that you exhale, let there be a new song that prevails.

The second part of the verse says that we are to sing together or “in the assembly of the godly”

It is sweetunto God when we begin to sing praises to Him in our personaltime, but the sweetness is multipliedwhen we come togetherand sing new songs to our God.

That is why we have a time of corporate worship.  There is a heightened release of God’s powerwhen we gather together and sing to Him.

We do not gather to be entertained by musicor to esteem man’s abilityto create music, (like going to a concert) but rather we gather to sing praises to God and to lift His name up above all names.

Singing new songs in privacyor accompanied with our brothers and sisters in Christ are great ways how we can praise.  But praise is not limitedto those two.

 ²Let Israel be glad in his Maker; let the children of Zion rejoice in their King! ³Let them praise his name with dancing, making melody to him with tambourine and lyre!

According to this verse praise can be accompanied with musical instrumentsand dancing.  That’s why we crank up the band, not to glory in our abilitiesbut bring God glory with the highest level of praisethat we can give because He is worthy of it.

Why do we Praise?

The Israelitesup to this point in time had a lot to praise the Lordfor. For one they were God’s chosen people, that was enough to get excited about. 

Israelwas the name given to Jacobthe grandson of Abraham.  When God gave him that name, He also gave him a new beginning.  Before he was given the new name, he had tricked his brotherinto giving him the rights of the first born and he had also tricked his fatherinto giving him the inheritance which belonged to the first-born son Esau. 

His old name was associated with deceit.  His name Jacob did mean supplanter. tosupersede(another) especially by force or treachery.  That was the old Jacob.

The new namewould signify a new manwith a renewed covenant.  By him the nation of Israel would be made. But it was God who had chosen him, and it was He who had made Israel a great nation. There was reason to singand celebrate. 

There is also reason to singand celebrate our new life, we too have been given the name Christian, which indicates we are to be like Christ.  We too had a past ofmistakes and regrets.  Just as God had forgiven Jacoband gave him the name Israel, God forgives usof our sins we repent to him.  He gives us a new name and renews the covenantbetween us and Him.

Thus, there is reason for us to praise, even with dancing and singing. There is reason for us to have great joyin our lives. We as the church, have more reasonto dance and to experience joy than the world does.

The worldcan only celebrate a situational joythat only last a moment, such as a wedding, a birthday, a raiseor a promotion. But as believers we can have continuous joy, knowing what God has done for us and who He is to us. Vs 4 gives us an even greater reason to sing and celebrate:

Besides being His chosen people, they had experienced his delivering powerrepeatedly, they have also experienced his favorand provisionon a regular basis.  They were benefactors of His mercy and gracethough they did not deserve it.

The encouragement is to not only praise the lord when He demonstrates his delivering power, as he did when the Israelites crossed the red sea on dry ground, but to also maintain a lifestyle of praiseand thanksgiving to the Lord.

We can certainly praise Him for what He has done, but we are to continueto praise Him for who He isand for what He will do.  It is an imperative commandto Praise Him. Meaning that is what we are created to do, we are to lift praises with our mouths.

He has calledyou and set you apartfor His good purpose. He has shown His mercyand gracetoward your life. He has protectedyou and has provided for your needs. 

He has sent His spiritto live on the inside of you, who instructsyou in godly living, and comfortsyou in times of trouble. We are to make known His goodnessby opening our mouths and by giving praise to the Lord our God.

⁴For the Lord takes pleasure in his people; he adorns the humble with salvation. 

He is our Delight

The Lord takes delightin his people when his people are delighted in Him.

I take great delight when I’m playing with my kidsand they are smiling and having fun.  They are satisfied in that moment with just being with their dad.

Our heavenly father is a much better fatherthan I could ever be, but in the similar way He delights in us when we are satisfied in Him.

Some people have a misconstrued viewof our heavenly father. Perhaps some people think that God takes delight in bringing miserypeople.  That some how He gets a thrill out of striking us down. Like an adolescent boy burning antswith a magnifying glass.

If you think that way, you do not have a healthy view of God. Could it be you think this way because you were not shown a good earthly exampleof a loving father.

We need to clear our thoughtsof any pretentions of what we think God is like due to not having a loving earthly father.  God is not human, and He does not love with a human love.  He is God, He is the Lordthe maker of heaven and earth.  His love is unconditional, and He is constantly pursuingafter us.

As a loving Father He takes delight in His children. Therefore, we are to delight in Him.

⁵Let the godly exult in glory; let them sing for joy on their beds. ⁶Let the high praises of God be in their throats and two-edged swords in their hands,

When do we Praise?

We have already learned that we should praise Him in the privacyof our homes and that we should praise Him in the assemblyof the saints, now David gives us moreinstructionon when we should praise God.

Notice the contrasting positionsthe Psalmist calls his readers to:

First, he mentions singing joy in their beds.  Whether it is a bed of restor a bed of sicknesslet us ponder the worksof God and let there be joy in our hearts.  Let us sing praises to the Lordeven in those moments in which no one sees.

Then the writer suggests a different posture, one that is ready for war. We are not talking about a physical war but a spiritual one.

Ephesians 6:12

¹² For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers over this present darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places.

To have the praises of Godin their throats and a two-edged sword in their hand, was an indication that they would have to fight, in our case a spiritual fight, but ultimately it would be the Lordwho would be victorious. 

Just as it was when the Israelites were facing Jericho, they gave a loud shouton the seventh day of marching around Jericho in obedience to the Lord, but ultimately it was the Lordwho caused the walls to fallin that city.

Your Praise Is a Weapon (devil cannot steal your praise)

Your songs are a powerful declarationto the enemy that he has lostand that you are victoriousbecause of the cross. Regardless of what you’re facing you can sing because Jesus said “it is finished.”

Your praise lets the devil knowthat you’re still there, you’re still fighting, he has been defeated. Your praise is a war cryof victory. 

Your praise should be continual, in all seasonsof your life, times of rest, times of war, timesalone, and times among other believers“Praise the Lord!”

⁷To execute vengeance on the nations and punishments on the peoples, to bind their kings with chains and their nobles with fetters of iron, to execute on them the judgment written!

Part of Israel’s obligation was to execute God’s judgmentsupon the heathen nations. They were to rid the landof all those who worshipped false gods including the leaders of these pagan nations.  This was to be done so that they would no longerworship false gods nor sacrifice their childrento these abominable gods.

When the Lord brought this to pass, He gave the Israelites another reason to celebrate.

He has fought for themand has conquered their enemies. 

In Revelation 20:

We learn that our spiritual enemywill be bound with chainsand castinto the bottomlesspit so that he could not deceivethe nations anymore. Thus, the more reason to sing and take delight in our King.

This is honor for all his godly ones. Praise the Lord!

David ends this Psalm the way that he started, encouraging his readers to Praisethe Lord. There are many reasons that you can praise the Lord for if you simply take the time to think about it. Your praise may be in the form of a song, even a new song, Your praise is like a weapon, which lets your enemy know that you are still fighting.

Psalms 100:1-5

¹ Make a joyful noise to the Lord, all the earth!  ²Serve the Lord with gladness! Come into his presence with singing! ³ Know that the Lord, he is God! It is he who made us, and we are his; we are his people, and the sheep of his pasture. ⁴ Enter his gates with thanksgiving, and his courts with praise! Give thanks to him; bless his name! ⁵ For the Lord is good; his steadfast love endures forever, and his faithfulness to all generations.