PRAISE THE LORD, O MY SOUL! (Psalm 146) Sunday, November 13, 2016 Series: Psalms of the Season, Message #1 Pastor Doug Corlew, Summit EFC

Transcription

1 PRAISE THE LORD, O MY SOUL! (Psalm 146) Sunday, November 13, 2016 Series: Psalms of the Season, Message #1 Pastor Doug Corlew, Summit EFC This morning we begin a new sermon series in the Book of Psalms. We re calling it Psalms of the Season. For Christians, Thanksgiving and Christmas are special times for offering up praise to the Lord. But we know this shouldn t be restricted to a few weeks out of the year. Praise and thanksgiving should be flowing out of our lives every single day. Lifting our hearts to heaven is our highest duty and greatest privilege. So we re going to be looking at selected Psalms over the next 6 or 7 weeks. And today our text is Psalm Praise the Lord! Praise the Lord, O my soul! 2 I will praise the Lord as long as I live; I will sing praises to my God while I have my being. 3 Put not your trust in princes, in a son of man, in whom there is no salvation. 4 When his breath departs he returns to the earth; on that very day his plans perish. 5 Blessed is he whose help is the God of Jacob, whose hope is in the Lord his God, 6 who made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that is in them, who keeps faith forever; 7 who executes justice for the oppressed, who gives food to the hungry. The Lord sets the prisoners free; 8 the Lord opens the eyes of the blind. The Lord lifts up those who are bowed down; the Lord loves the righteous. 9 The Lord watches over the sojourners; he upholds the widow and the fatherless, but the way of the wicked he brings to ruin. 10 The Lord will reign forever, your God, O Zion, to all generations. Praise the Lord! Maybe you ve noticed how this psalm, like the last five, from 146 to 150, all begin and end with the same phrase: Praise the Lord! So that s our theme this morning. But in Psalm 146 the song of praise can be divided into four stanzas that help us see the greatness and the goodness of this God that we praise. Have we truly grasped that He s our only help and our only hope? If so, then we ll be committed to LIFELONG PRAISE. That s stanza number one, v 1-2, where the psalmist gives a personal testimony. He s intent on praising God for as long as he lives; for as many days as he has his being. Many of you know Al Pedersen, who was moved this past week from Mayo Clinic to Methodist Manor in Storm Lake. If you want to see a living illustration of these verses, go visit Al. He s been through some incredible health challenges in the past few years, but Al s love for the Lord has never been expressive than now. He simply can t stop talking about the Lord and giving Him praise. Al was talking about heaven with me the other day, and he said, I used to think praising God day and night would get a little old after a while. But not anymore! He said, Nothing gives me greater joy than praising my Savior, all the day long! Al is eager to see the Lord, but he s making the most of every opportunity to witness and worship as long as he lives, as long as he has his being. How about you? Notice: this call to praise is issued to all people, but each individual can make a personal response. In fact, we need to do that. No one else can worship God in your place. I can t do it for you; the worship team can t either. We worship together as the people of God, but each one must worship God personally. I know, sometimes we just don t feel like it. Maybe you re grieving a loss, or feeling abandoned, or fearing the future. All of those emotions are valid. And when you read the Psalms, you ll find a voice to express those feelings in prayer. The Psalms are great for relating to God through all the ups and downs of life, the victories and the defeats. So read them all. But when you come to these last five, you realize the psalmist is ready to leave all his struggles behind. Every word is praise and joy from here on out. And that s a picture of our lives as Christians. We don t escape trials and suffering, and we don t pretend the Christian life is always easy or fun. But the end of our story will be unbroken praise and blessing and joy in the presence of God! 1

2 It doesn t mean the psalmist understands everything that God is doing in his life or in the world around him. Neither do we. But like the psalmist, there are times when we may need to simply have a good talk with our souls. We may need to say, Let s go come on, O my soul! Snap out of it! Remember who God is and what He has done for you! Praise the Lord, O my soul! We want to activate our souls, so our whole being is responding to God, and praise is coming from deep within us. Anything less is unworthy of who God is! Because even if we don t understand what God is doing in our lives or in the world around us, we do understand enough about the nature of God to praise Him, regardless of our mood at the moment. The English phrase, Praise the Lord, translates the Hebrew word, Hallelujah, a word recognized in every language on earth. It was often used in Jewish worship as a liturgical response. The leader might say, The Lord is good, His love endures forever. And the people would respond, Hallelujah! But it wasn t said tritely or chanted as a ritual. Hallelujah was a thoughtful response to theological truth. To really worship, our minds must be engaged. Worship is more than an emotional response. We want to feel it. But when the affections for God aren t there, for whatever reasons, then our mind or our reason must dictate to our affections, and not vice versa. When we think logically, we know God is worthy of our wholehearted devotion, our lifelong praise. If we fix our hearts on anyone or anything other than Him, we set ourselves up for disappointment. That s the point of the 2 nd stanza of the psalm which warns us of DISTRACTED PRAISE in v 3-4. If you want to be a lifelong worshiper, you have to recognize the potential distractions: Put not your trust in princes, in a son of man, in whom there is no salvation. 4 When his breath departs he returns to the earth; on that very day his plans perish. The word princes refers to those who are influential in this world people who have social status or material resources or political power. It sure is nice to have them on your side you know. After all, we believe in God, but He s invisible to us. And all that spiritual talk about God being the true King, that s nice and all, but we live in the real world. So if we can have the right kind of backing from the right kind of people if we can gain control of White House and Congress, for example that kind of help just seems more practical, you know, more solid. If only we had a better prince or princess ruling in our land And the psalmist cautions us: Put not your trust in princes. Put not your trust in politicians! Put not your trust in Prime Ministers or Presidents! We know better. We know it s futile to put our hope in a human leader. The psalmist clicks off four reasons. First, because he s just like you a son of man. No matter what office he holds, he puts his pants on one leg at a time, just like you. He or she is mortal, nothing special. Second, they can t save you: there is no salvation in her plans. Whatever help he may offer, it s only temporary, and he can t be what you ultimately need, and that s a Savior. Third, he s not going to last. He s made out of dust, and when his breath departs he returns to the earth, because just like the rest of us sinners from dust to dust we all go. 2

3 Then finally, his plans are going to perish with him. Even if he has your best interests in mind, and his goals are for your well-being, he can t control the future. We already know all this. But isn t it crazy how we re still prone to find our hope in Presidents? We ve just come through one of the nastiest and most divisive election seasons we ve ever seen. No matter which candidate won, a lot of people were going to be jubilant and hopeful, while a lot of others were going to be disappointed and apprehensive about the future. And I wonder if this reminder to put not your trust in princes is actually a double-edged sword. Perhaps this should speak to those who are finding too much joy in the election results, as well as those who are sinking too low in despair because of the election results. Both are symptoms of the very same problem! If I m soaring too high or sinking too low, then I might be trusting in man more than in God. Not that Christians shouldn t care about politics. We should! God calls us to participate in the culture, to pray for governing authorities, to honor the king, to be good citizens. Not to retreat into isolation, but to engage and influence society as salt and light, seeking what s best for the common good of every citizen. But let s face it: Sincere Christians often vote for different candidates for different reasons. And most Christians, I trust, were going to have deep differences or concerns with whoever won this election. So if my candidate s victory causes me to celebrate in a way that is insensitive toward those who are now feeling fearful, like they are outsiders looking in or if my candidate s defeat causes me to question the basic motives of fellow believers who saw things differently In either case, it may be a sign that I am placing my hope in politicians, and forgetting that it s God who rules over and through earthly rulers. It may be a sign that I m distracted from the only One who is worthy of praise every day. The psalmist gets this. And so in the 3 rd stanza he helps us re-calibrate, from distracted praise to FOCUSED PRAISE (v 5-9) Blessed is he whose help is the God of Jacob, whose hope is in the Lord his God, 6 who made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that is in them, who keeps faith forever; What a contrast the psalmist draws between human leaders and the God of Jacob, the Lord our God. If you look to Him for help, if you look to Him for hope, you re looking in the right place. Because He s more than competent, He s omnipotent. As Creator of the universe, there s nothing He can t accomplish. And thankfully He keeps faith forever. That means He fulfills every promise He s ever made. No President has ever succeeded there. With every inauguration, every four years, we renew our hope. But we realize: Even if they mean well, Presidents get elected by making over the top promises. God, though, is totally reliable. Everything He s promised you, He s able to do it, and He will do it. So let s re-focus on what the Lord has promised to His people. According to v 7-8, He s the one who executes justice for the oppressed, who gives food to the hungry. The Lord sets the prisoners free; 8 the Lord opens the eyes of the blind. The Lord lifts up those who are bowed down; the Lord loves the righteous. Don t you love this? This is the kind of God we have! Isn t a privilege to be under His reign? These verses could serve as a guide as we pray for our President-elect and all who are in authority. Let s pray that they would exercise their power to carry out the priorities of Yahweh, our Creator who guarantees justice for all, who values every person, and cares about those who are suffering. 3

4 This is the heart of our heavenly Father. And like Father, like Son. Remember, when Jesus came to the synagogue at Nazareth, He unrolled the scroll of the prophet Isaiah, reading these words: The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he has anointed me to proclaim good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim liberty to the captives and recovering of sight to the blind, to set at liberty those who are oppressed, to proclaim the year of the Lord s favor (Luke 4:18-19). First and foremost, these are spiritual categories. All of us are in bondage to sin, oppressed by the devil, and blinded to the glory of God in Christ. But the good news is for any one of us who will become poor, that is, poor in spirit. The good news is that Jesus Christ, the Creator Himself, humbled Himself, coming into our world to satisfy the demands of God s justice against us. He died to set us free from sin and death. And we must humble ourselves and become lowly of heart to receive this gift. So this message gains credibility in the world when God s people care for the physically poor and oppressed. Jesus fed the hungry, healed the sick, and showed compassion to the hurting. The Lord lifts up those who are bowed down. Many things in life push us around and knock us down. But as it says in the next psalm, He heals the brokenhearted and binds up their wounds (147:3). God is so great, He made the heavens and the earth; He s so good, He cares when your heart is broken. Look at v 9 - The Lord watches over the sojourners; he upholds the widow and the fatherless, but the way of the wicked he brings to ruin. The sojourners, the widow, and the fatherless throughout the Old Testament, these are often cited as examples of those who are defenseless. God cares for immigrants and refugees. He watches over them. The Lord s heart goes out to the single parent and the orphan. He upholds them. But the way of the wicked he brings to ruin. That almost sounds out of place right there, doesn t it? But it s a reminder that we re not talking about a God who does not discriminate between good and evil. These verses are fascinating in the way they blend together God s judgment and righteousness on the one hand, with His acts of compassion and mercy on the other. Yes, He is kind to all; He causes His sun to shine on the righteous and the unrighteous. But the Lord loves the righteous, in a special sense. They will be saved, and the wicked will perish. If we fail to see this, then we re losing our focus again. God s salvation and His judgment are both displayed in the cross of Jesus Christ. Jesus died and rose again that we might be declared righteous. So Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe is condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the only Son of God (John 3:18). The psalm comes to a fitting conclusion in v 10, the 4 th and final stanza, where we are drawn into the prospect of ENDLESS PRAISE. Notice how the praise that was personal and lifelong at the beginning of the psalm, now breaks out into corporate and eternal praise in v 10 - The Lord will reign forever, your God, O Zion, to all generations. Praise the Lord! The psalmist is addressing Zion; who is that? Zion means people of God. This is Abraham and Moses and David and Paul. This is you and me, if we belong to Christ. All generations are included here. When you praise God to your last breath, your praise is just beginning. When a loved one dies in the Lord, they continue to exist in God s presence. It s like Jesus said, when answering a question about the resurrection: He is not God of the dead, but of the living (Luke 20:38). So there s a unity in the people of God, and as each new generation sings His praises, we join our voices with the spirits of believers who are now in heaven. Endless praise, this is the privilege of those who are citizens of God s kingdom! 4

5 Because the Lord will reign forever. That s a sure thing. We don t know who s going to be headed for the oval office four years from now, or eight years from now. But we do know who s going to occupy the throne of the universe! I m sure glad He s not subject to term limits. The Lord reigns forever! So put your hope in God. Worship Him as the only being in the universe who is utterly trustworthy, infinitely powerful, and perfectly good. Otherwise, your only alternative is despair and criticism and cynicism, because people will always let you down no matter how good their intentions are. Every Prince has his own agenda. Every President claims to have a mandate from the voters. And rightfully so. But let s not forget what the Word of God tells us in Proverbs 21:1 The king s heart is a stream of water in the hand of the Lord; he turns it wherever he will. In other words, God is the one who rules through the good rulers and the bad ones, through the ones I would have chosen and the ones I can t stand. It s the Lord who reigns. It always has been and it always will be. All the kingdoms of this age are passing away, including the United States. The kingdoms of this world will become the kingdom of our Lord and of His Christ, and He shall reign forever and ever! (Revelation 11:15). Hallelujah, hallelujah King of kings and Lord of lords! I love how Mark Dever put it. He pastors a large church in Washington D.C., right next to the U.S. capitol building. Dever said, Before and after America, there was and will be the church. The nation is an experiment. The church is a certainty. So let s keep it all in perspective. As Christians, we belong to a kingdom that cannot be shaken. And as Charles Colson famously reminded us, The kingdom of God will not arrive on Air Force One. The kingdom of God does not advance through the work of the President or the Congress, but through the church of Jesus Christ, and the witness of ordinary people like you and me. And it s happening all around the world, in every nation, under every form of government. In fact, remember the first century Christians changed the world even though they never got to vote for anybody and they were only governed by evil rulers. Christ promised to build His church, and for the last 2,000 years, God s people have gathered every Sunday, as little embassies of heaven, hearing political speeches from the Bible about the kingdom of God. And then we scatter as ambassadors, with a life-changing message for princes or peasants: Repent! The kingdom of heaven is at hand! The King who reigns forever, Jesus Christ, the one who will judge all people, including presidents is now offering a complete pardon for every rebel who believes and bows the knee before Him! So let s not get too worked up about political differences among us. Let s keep the main thing the main thing. We don t identify ourselves first as Republicans or Democrats, nor even as Americans. First, we are the church of the resurrected and triumphant Son of God! And we are here to lead people to salvation in Jesus Christ and to encourage spiritual growth in all believers through sound Biblical teaching. Yes, let s pursue liberty for all in this country. But with the message of Hebrews 11 still lingering in our hearts, let s bear witness to the world of a better country, a heavenly one, so that before and after every election season, we are singing with the psalmist: The Lord will reign forever, your God, O Zion, to all generations. Praise the Lord! 5