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June 21, 2009AM

Psalm 118

Worship Basics – Praise

 

Amazing Grace Introduction

 Billy Graham tells of a trip he made to the Village of Olney in England.

  He found the Olney parish church of Saints Peter and Paul built in the 1300’s.

   They found the tiny cemetery where the tombstones hid in a curtain of grass.

    He found the marker he had come to read.

     The inscription was still legible.

John Newton, Clerk; once an infidel and libertine, a servant of slaves in Africa, was by the rich mercy of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ preserved, restored, pardoned, and appointed to preach the faith he had long labored to destroy.”

      John Newton, the son of a sea captain.

       His mother died when he was six years old.

        Five years later he was working on his father’s ship.

         He so wasted his life that his father rejected him.

          He was always in trouble with the workers.

           He was finally jailed and degraded.

           Later he served on slave ships where he was a slave to the slaves.

With the little education he had he began reading.

 He read Thomas a Kempis’s book, Imitation of Christ.

  During a violent storm at sea he surrendered his life to Christ.

   At age 39 John Newton became a minister.

    He gave the rest of his life to serving God and the church.

     He was the pastor in Olney Village for 15 years.

      During that time he wrote many songs that were published in the Anglican

      hymnal.

       One of those songs was Amazing Grace.

        It is his personal testimony of believing in Jesus and serving Him.

         God’s undeserved love, or God’s grace, reached out to John Newton.

          When he learned that Christ loved him and had died for him, he was amazed.

           It was this grace which made him conscious that he was a sinner.

           And it was grace that assured him that his sins were forgiven.

            So it is with all of us.

             By grace are you saved through faith.

              This wonderful gift is the source of our praise today.

As Christian believers we continue to experience God’s undeserved love and favour.

 This is an experience all through life, no matter our circumstances.

  Every day our Heavenly Father supplies all our needs.

   In the manse over the mantel he placed these words.

“Since thou wast precious in my sight, thou hast been honourable.”  (Isa. 43:4)

“But thou shalt remember that thou wast a bondman in the land of Egypt, and the Lord thy God redeemed thee.”  (Deut. 15:15)

    It is likely John Newton did not write the 4th verse.

     But he would agree it is a fitting climax to his testimony.

      Any praise we offer today is just a beginning point.

       After 10,000 years in heaven our praise will have just begun.

        Praise is a basic of worship for us today.

         It is a basic response to God’s amazing grace that redeems and saves.


 

 

Praise! – expressions of approval or admiration, worship and thanks to God.

 Praise is to admire, extol, honour, applaud, pay tribute to.

  Praise is to adore, exalt, glorify, give devotion, go into raptures over

   Do you know what the dictionary defines as the opposite of praise?

    Criticize!

     If we do not praise God we criticize Him.

      To criticize includes things like condemning, to disapprove, to censure, to

      blame, to force somebody to experience something very unpleasant, especially

      something permanent or long-lasting.

       You have come with a critical spirit if you are not here to praise God.

        You will be forcing something very unpleasant on God.

         That puts your praise into perspective does it not?

The problem for us is that we allow praise to be environmentally driven.

 You probably did not understand that in the least did you?

  In other words we praise with gusto in the right climate.

   Our praise excels during the pleasantries of life.

    Our praise becomes a reflection of the outside conditions.

     If everything is nice around us we are quick to praise.

      If things aren’t quite measuring up, we are quick to criticize.

       That is not the praise of the Christian.

        That is not the praise of the person who follows Jesus.

Genuine praise is not dependent on the exterior condition.

 Praise is dependent on the interior condition.

  If Jesus is the Lord of your life will you be critical to Him?

   Will you say, “Jesus, You are really messing my life up!”?

    Will you find fault in the transforming work of His Spirit?

     Will you pick apart His body – the Church?

      Will you peck away at those who are serving Him?

       The Bible forces us to ask some questions about ourselves.

        In Hebrews 4:6 the question is asked, “But there is a place where someone has testified: ‘What is man that you are mindful of him, the son of man that you care for him?’”

         That was first asked in Psalm 8:4.

          Listen to the words of the Psalmist, “When I consider your heavens, the work of your fingers, the moon and the stars, which you have set in place, what is man that you are mindful of him, the son of man that you care for him?  You made him a little lower than the heavenly beings and crowned him with glory and honor.”

           Who are we that God would want to dwell in us and crown us with glory?

The writer to the Hebrews, however, asked a second question.

 “God has said, ‘Never will I leave you; never will I forsake you.’  So we say with confidence, ‘The Lord is my helper; I will not be afraid.  What can man do to me?’”  (Hebrews 13:5-6)

  He once again echoed the words of the Psalmist.

   “In my anguish I cried to the LORD, and he answered by setting me free.  The LORD is with me; I will not be afraid.  What can man do to me?  The LORD is with me; he is my helper.  I will look in triumph on my enemies.”  (Psalm 118:5-7)

    When you read Psalm 118 not everything is peachy-keen.

     There are enemies all around.

      Those enemies surround him on every side.

       They are swarming around like bees.

        Yet he saw God was greater than his circumstances.

         “The LORD is my strength and my song; he has become my salvation.  Shouts of joy and victory resound in the tents of the righteous: ‘The LORD's right hand has done mighty things!’”  (Psalm 118:14-15)

          “I will give you thanks, for you answered me; you have become my salvation.  The stone the builders rejected has become the capstone; the LORD has done this, and it is marvelous in our eyes.  This is the day the LORD has made; let us rejoice and be glad in it.  O LORD, save us; O LORD, grant us success.  Blessed is he who comes in the name of the LORD.  From the house of the LORD we bless you.  The LORD is God, and he has made his light shine upon us.  With boughs in hand, join in the festal procession up to the horns of the altar.  You are my God, and I will give you thanks; you are my God, and I will exalt you.  Give thanks to the LORD, for he is good; his love endures forever.”  (Psalm 118:21-29)

 

How we praise God in worship, whether it be through music, art, drama, poetry, or service; we go on a journey from the throne of God to the throne of our lives.  We should be in the presence of God in both throne rooms which brings forth more praise to our Creator and Redeemer.

 

Who do you see on the throne of your life today?

 If it is anything other than Jesus you have been going through the motions.

  You have been on a treadmill of worship.

   You will go home weary and critical.

    Don’t go home like that.

     Let Jesus be your Capstone

      Build your life around Him.

       His presence within will overflow into thankfulness.

        Through Jesus you will exalt God, and thank Him and praise Him.