| LOVE |
Bible Church | |
| Madison, Tennessee |
HOME | SCHEDULE | BELIEFS | SERMONS | CONTACT | MAP
Sermon Delivered by Thor Carden
April, 2008
Love Bible Church
Madison, TN
Praise the Lord. This command appears hundreds of times in many different forms in the Bible. It is the first of the two great commandments Jesus gives. It is how the Ten Commandments starts out. I made the point that God commands us to praise Him for our good, not His. God was complete before we were made and needs nothing from us. Declaring the truth about God's goodness and greatness helps us to not sin, be better witnesses and feel safer in our salvation. How do you praise the Lord even when things seem terrible? Make a habit of it. And remember things are not always what they seem. A child often does not understand a painful medical procedure, but we make them go through it for their own good. So it is with God. It may feel like He is cutting your heart out. That is because He is cutting our hearts out. He is doing a heart transplant. He wants to take out our broken hearts, and put in one like His, that is full of love, and will last forever.
Psalm 148 is a poem, and as such, is full of symbolic language, metaphors, etc.
|
1 Praise the LORD! Praise Him from everywhere. 2 Praise Him, all His angels; Everyone should praise Him. 3 Praise Him, sun and moon; |
|
Obviously big balls of glowing hot gas, like the sun and stars, and lifeless rocks, like the moon, are not expected by the psalmist to break out in song, at least not in this age. However, when we see a beautiful sunrise or sunset, we should remember, Who made them beautiful. When we see a full moon with a pastel rainbow glowing around it, we should praise the Artist. When our eyes are filled with the beauty of a black sky filled with stars, we should praise their Maker.
4 Praise Him, highest heavens,
And the waters that are above the heavens!
Blue skies or cloudy skies, we should praise God.
5 Let them praise the name of the LORD,
For He commanded and they were created.
6 He has also established them forever and ever;
He has made a decree which will not pass away.
God spoke all of creation into existence. The word "name" here does not refer to God's name in the usual way we think of it. It means name in the sense of reputation. Perhaps you have heard people use the expression, "They are just trying to make a name for themselves." It means reputation. If we praise God, openly, honestly and often, His reputation will begin to become what it ought to be, and others will be drawn to Him.
7 Praise the LORD from the earth,
Sea monsters and all deeps;
Whether it is Mammoth Cave or a great blue whale that gives you a feeling of awe, you should always remember Who created them.
8 Fire and hail, snow and clouds;
Stormy wind, fulfilling His word;
No matter what the weather, you can trust Him to continue to love you. Lightning and tornadoes always obey His will.
9 Mountains and all hills;
Fruit trees and all cedars;
We recently saw Mt. Ranier in Washington state. It was amazing. Standing in grandeur and surrounded by other natural beauty, the local American Indians called it the Mountain of God. All of His creation, whether it be beautiful, useful for food, or the material we make our houses from, should be enjoyed or used with thanksgiving and praise to Our Lord and God.
|
10 Beasts and all cattle; Have you ever noticed how animals always act like animals? Blue birds do not decide to get drunk and neglect their family. Squirrels never gamble away the nuts they have gathered for the winter. We should admire and imitate their obedience to God. They always do exactly what they were designed to do. We were designed to praise the Lord. 11 Kings of the earth and all peoples; Everyone should praise the Lord, especially those in authority. 12 Both young men and virgins; Not matter what age, no matter what gender, we should all praise the Lord. 13 Let them praise the name of the LORD, |
|
Lifting up the horn is, I believe, symbolic language for power through cooperation and teamwork. Not personal power like with a strong sword hand, but the power of many working together. Jesus said that you could tell who God's people were because they loved each other. The Ten Commandments start with worshipping God and end with treating each other well. The first Great Commandment was to love God. The second, of loving each other, is like it. Here we see praising God leading to the power of fellowship. What better way to praise God, than to obey His commandment to love one another?
We were designed to love God and love others. Why not do it? Why not make a habit of it?