“Praise the Lord. Praise God in His sanctuary; praise Him in His mighty heavens. 2. Praise Him for His acts of power, praise Him for His surpassing greatness.”
The Bible makes it clear that God is worthy of our praise. Praise should be a natural reflex for those of us who know Him personally through Jesus Christ. This praise should not just come from our lips, but it should come from our hearts. The Bible does not direct us as to how to praise God, for some do it quietly and some do it loudly, it simply directs us to praise Him. As I read Psalm 150 this morning the first two verses suggested to me the different paths that are given us to lead us to praise God. We are told to “praise God in His sanctuary.” To the Jewish people to whom this was written, this would be the temple complex. Here is what it suggested to me. We are to praise God whether we are alone or with other people. If we praise God in His sanctuary we would be in the presence of other people. I think that we can interpret this as a command to praise in fellowship with fellow believers. The sanctuary of a church should certainly be a place of praise, and in it we should praise God together. There is power in the joint praise of God’s people when they are gathered for worship. We are told to praise God “in His mighty heavens.” We are to praise God when we observe His creation all around us. When we look into the sky, we see all of the stars, planets and galaxies, and it makes us realize how great our God really is. We have an understanding of the universe, or God’s mighty heavens, that the ancients could not have had. Instead of the vastness of God’s mighty heavens causing us to doubt, it should cause us to realize how truly vast our God really is. A God who could create and control all of this is certainly worthy of our praise and awe. In Colossians 1:17, Paul reminds us of the greatness of Christ in this way: “And (Christ) is above all things, and by Him all things consist.” The word “consist” can also be translated as “held together.” We can praise our Lord and Savior, because He holds God’s “mighty heavens” together, and at the same time, He holds us together. Now, there is something to praise Him about. We are told to praise God for His “acts of power.” When ancient Jews read this, they would have thought about God’s deliverance from Egypt. They would remember the dividing of the waters of the Red Sea. They would remember the provision of manna and quail in the desert– plus many other acts of power. When we read this, we think of Jesus turning water into wine, walking on water, healing the sick and many other acts of power that He did while on earth. The main act of power for which we praise our Lord is His death on the cross for our sins, His resurrection from the dead, His ascending to the Father, His sending the Holy Spirit to us in order to empower us for witnessing and living for Him. Indeed, we have a lot to praise our Lord for. We are told to praise God for His “surpassing greatness.” We have already discussed praising God for how large He is, but now we praise Him for all of His greatness. We praise Him for the greatness of His love for us. If the Bible is clear on anything, it is clear on the fact that God loves us. We praise Him for the greatness of His presence and power in our lives. Jesus promised His disciples that He would send the Holy Spirit to them to guide them into His truth and in all of life. We can praise God for many other things that remind us of His “surpassing greatness.” Pause where you are right now and offer your praises to God for all that He means to you and for all that He has done for you in Jesus. Bro. Joe
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AuthorDr. Joe Beauchamp is the author of this blog and website. Categories
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