The author inserts personal comments when quoting Scripture which are indicated by square brackets. All biblical references are quoted from the New King James Version unless otherwise noted.
Take your Bibles and turn to Psalm 150. This is the last psalm of this hymnbook of Israel, a praise book. Our subject today is the praise of God. We want to speak about what it means to praise the Lord.
Praise the LORD! Praise God in His sanctuary;
praise Him in His mighty firmament!
Praise Him for His mighty acts;
praise Him according to His excellent greatness!
Praise Him with the sound of the trumpet;
praise Him with the lute and harp!
Praise Him with the timbrel and dance;
praise Him with stringed instruments and flutes!
Praise Him with loud cymbals;
praise Him with clashing cymbals!
Let everything that has breath praise the LORD.
Praise the LORD! (Psalm 150:1–6)
The words “praise the Lord” is hallelujah. Count to three and let’s say, “Hallelujah.” One, two, three—“Hallelujah!”
I was sitting in an orchestra (right in front of it) waiting to go out and say a few comments, not realizing that I was right in front of the gentleman who played the cymbals. The first time he clashed those babies over my head I thought I was going home to be with the Lord. Little did I realize that all through that number he would continue to smash those things. And I’ll tell you that I had a headache for a week. And then I read this verse and not only does God want to be praised with loud cymbals—He says “with high sounding cymbals.”
God is into noise and He likes it loud. And in a day where it seems like we need just a moment to have a little quiet, it is such a relief and it is important to remember that God likes noise—lots of it.
How reluctant we are to praise Him. Sometimes we are embarrassed or hesitant, whatever. We do not want to make fools of ourselves. I would rather be a fool for Jesus’ sake. How about you? Let everything that has breath praise the Lord.
Let’s pray and ask God to help us praise Him.
Father, we thank You so much for this time. And God I pray that in these few moments together, You will help us, by examining the Word of God, to know what it means to praise You. And may, out of our hearts, come a tremendous volume of praise to Your name. Thank You, Lord, for all the wonderful things that You are and that You do. And I pray that those in our audience who really are not sure of their own relationship with You, that they will understand that You are the God who alone is worthy to be praised. And we need to come through Your Son, Jesus Christ. The Bible says that He is the way, the truth and the life. And no man can come to You except through Him. Help us, Lord, to learn that, to apply it, and to believe it. We pray in Jesus’ name. Amen.
What does it mean to praise the Lord? Turn to Psalm 34 and get your Bible handy. We are going to turn to a lot of verses and most of them will be in the Psalms. What does it mean to praise the Lord?
The praise of God, first of all, means that we exalt Him. We exalt Him. You cannot exalt Him too much. Psalm 34 says,
1 I will bless the LORD at all times;
His praise shall continually be in my mouth.
2 My soul shall make its boast in the LORD;
The humble shall hear of it and be glad.
3 Oh, magnify the LORD with me,
And let us exalt His name together. (Psalm 34:1–3)
Let’s say verse three together again.
Oh, magnify the LORD with me,
and let us exalt His name together.
Turn to Psalm 108:5. When you say, “Praise God,” you mean “exalt Him”. You cannot put Him too high. He is the most high above all.
In Psalm 108:5 it says,
Be exalted, O God, above the heavens,
and Your glory above all the earth.
Really folks, no one deserves to be mentioned in the same sentence with Him. We are to exalt the Lord.
Psalm 118:28 says,
You are my God, and I will praise You;
You are my God, I will exalt You.
“Praise” and “exaltation” are parallel words. What does it mean to praise God? It means to exalt to Him. Notice the psalmist indicates that a personal relationship with Him is necessary. “You are my God and I will praise You. You are my God and I will exalt You.” No one here is going to really praise and exalt the Lord without a personal relationship with Him through His Son Jesus Christ. That is so important to understand. That means we exalt Him.
Please turn to Psalm 66. The second thing we mean when we say, “praise the Lord,” is not only that we exalt Him, but that we also worship Him. We worship Him. Jesus, by the way, said in John 4 that God is spirit and those who worship Him must worship Him in the realm of spirit and in the realm of the truth (John 4:23, paraphrased). It is God’s Word that gives us the content of worship. And it is inside, not outside, where true worship takes place. You could come here, go through all the motions of being in a “worship” service and actually not ever once worship the Lord. It means we worship Him.
Psalm 66:1–4 says,
Make a joyful shout to God, all the earth!
Sing out the honor of His name;
Make His praise glorious.
Say to God, “How awesome are Your works!
Through the greatness of Your power
Your enemies shall submit themselves to You.
All the earth shall worship You and sing praises to You;
They shall sing praises to Your name.”
The Hebrew word for worship is shekah, and its primary meaning is “to bow down.” To bow down. I think there is very little of worship going on in many, many hearts. God wants submission to Him.
Turn to Psalm 138, please. When we worship the Lord there is a submission in our hearts that says, “Not my will but Thine be done.” It is good that we physically get on our knees at times to remind ourselves that the primary meaning of worship is to bow down. It is to get on one’s knees.
Psalm 138:1–2 says,
I will praise You with my whole heart;
Before the gods I will sing praises to You.
I will worship toward Your holy temple,
And praise Your name for
Your lovingkindness and Your truth;
For You have magnified Your word above all Your name.
What does it mean to praise God? It means we exalt Him and it means we worship Him.
Turn to Psalm 5, please. The third thing that it means when we say, “Praise the Lord,” is not only that we exalt Him and we worship Him, but that we rejoice in Him—that we rejoice in Him.
Psalm 5:11 says,
But let all those rejoice who put their trust in You;
Let them ever shout for joy, because You defend them;
Let those also who love Your name be joyful in You.
Turn to Psalm 9, please, and look at verses 1 and 2. My friends, a lot of us get discouraged and defeated in life and depressed with our circumstances and our problems and our relationships with people. We forget that the antidote to that is praise. It is praise. A lot of us are lacking in joy—not because of a temperament that is prone towards being pessimistic—but we are lacking in joy because we do not focus on the Lord and we do not praise Him. A lot of people try to blame it on temperament or personality traits. I do not know if you have ever met somebody who is really “up”—I mean all the time. I mean, they seem like they are up every single day of their lives. I mean, you pray that they go down. You know what I mean? I mean, it irritates you that they are so “up”. And then you meet somebody who is “down”. I mean they are down, down, down, down. They are so low it is unbelievable. They drag on the floor and you want to do something to pump them up. Listen, it does not matter what your personality traits are or what your struggles are. It does not matter what your discouragements are or what your difficulties are. Everyone is to praise the Lord. “Let everything that has breath, praise the Lord” (Psalm 150:6). And when we praise God it means we rejoice in Him.
Psalm 9:1–2 says,
1 I will praise You, O LORD, with my whole heart;
I will tell of all Your marvelous works.
2 I will be glad and rejoice in You;
I will sing praise to Your name, O Most High.
Turn to Psalm 33, please, and look at verse 21. Do you rejoice in the Lord? Are you joyful in Him? Does the sheer mention of the name of the Lord and His attributes give you praise inside? Give you joy? Do you rejoice in the Lord?
Paul wrote to the Philippian church regarding a personal problem between a couple of ladies that resulted in a very difficult division in the church. And he said, in Philippians 4:4, “Rejoice in the Lord always. And again I say, rejoice!” Do you get the idea we are supposed to be happy in the Lord? Rejoice in the Lord, the Bible says.
It is not easy to rejoice in your circumstances, especially when they are not to your liking. But we can always rejoice in the Lord and who He is. Psalm 33:21 says, “For our heart shall rejoice in Him, because we have trusted in His holy name.”
Look at Psalm 68:4, please. It is a constant theme, to rejoice in the Lord.
Sing to God, sing praises to His name;
Extol Him who rides on the clouds,
By His name YAH,
And rejoice before Him.
The Bible says, “In His presence there is fullness of joy and at His right hand there are pleasures forevermore” (Psalm 16:11). The Bible tells us to rejoice in the Lord constantly. And you will not find a lot of joy in life when you leave the Lord out. But you find much joy when you center it on who He is and what He can do.
Turn to Psalm 149. We are to rejoice in the Lord. Look at the opening three verses. Talk about joy and rejoicing.
1 Praise the LORD! Sing to the LORD a new song,
And His praise in the assembly of saints.
2 Let Israel rejoice in their Maker;
Let the children of Zion be joyful in their King.
3 Let them praise His name with the dance;
Let them sing praises to Him with the timbrel and harp.
4 For the LORD takes pleasure in His people;
He will beautify the humble with salvation. (Psalm 149:1–4)
What beautiful words. Do you rejoice in the Lord, your Maker? Do you praise His wonderful name? Are you going bonkers for Him? That is my translation of dance.
I heard one pastor on the radio recently say, “Let them praise His name with choreography.” I think he had trouble with the word dance. Modern dances do not have much worth to praise the Lord with that is for sure. But let me tell you, the dance where an individual is praising the Lord is a word that is referring to his leaping around and literally going bonkers. He is so happy! Does the Lord do that to you?
The Bible says, “Delight thyself in the Lord and He will give you the desires of your heart” (Psalm 37:4). The Hebrew text says, “Make Him the joy of your heart and He will give you everything you desire.” Is the Lord that to you? Is the Lord your joy and strength?
What does it mean to praise God? Exalt Him. Worship Him. Rejoice in Him.
Turn back to Psalm 34, please, to see the fourth thing it means when we say, “Praise the Lord.” It means that we boast in Him. The Bible tells us not to boast in man. It tells us not even to boast in tomorrow as though you think you know what is going to take place. The Bible says to boast in the Lord. In Psalm 34:1–2, we read this a moment ago.
I will bless the LORD at all times;
His praise shall continually be in my mouth.
My soul shall make its boast in the LORD;
The humble shall hear of it and be glad.
Look at Psalm 44:8, regarding boasting in the Lord. Several years ago I was walking through the Sunday school halls on a Sunday morning and there were two little kids. I know they were small—maybe preschool, maybe kindergarten at best. And they were having a fight. You know, at church in Sunday school, it does happen. Anyway, these two kids were going at it. And when I walked up to try to intervene, the only thing I heard was this little kid shouted—it was like the final word—and the kid said, “My God is bigger than your God.” It was as though the other kid was supposed to panic now or something. But I listened to that and I thought, “Boy, that is terrific!” The boy’s statement is true, isn’t it? My God is bigger than anyone and anything.
“My soul shall boast in the Lord” (Psalm 34:2). Do you boast in the Lord? In Psalm 44:8 it says, “In God we boast all day long and praise Your name forever.” Again, the parallel statements are showing the meaning of praise. In God we boast all day long.
When somebody says something that you know contradicts what the Bible says and you know that God is able, you ought to speak up and boast in the Lord. “Hey, my God can do that. It says so in the Bible. God can do anything.” A lot of us are so miserable in our praise that we are questioning everything as though God cannot do it because He has not done it in my eyesight or in my experience. Listen, God can do anything.
Carol and I were in Yakima, Washington last March. We spoke at a conference there and a dear husband brought his wife up to us in a wheelchair. Because of a very terminal disease she was all crumpled up, she could not walk and she was in this wheelchair. And he asked if I would pray for her so that she would be healed. And I gave him a few verses from the Word of God on healing and said I would pray for it. But it would certainly not be from me, because I do not have that power. But I said that I would have a number of people pray along with me, so that we would be sure to give God all the glory. He said, “Well that’s what we want.”
And so we prayed for this dear lady. And she was all crumpled up in this wheelchair. And it was kind of a pitiful thing. We wanted to be compassionate. So we prayed that if it was going to honor God and praise Him, and if He wanted to do it in His sovereignty, to please heal her. We did not think much more about it. The next morning Carol and I flew out of Yakima and came home. We had not thought really anything about it since then. And this last week we were in Yakima, Washington for a “Biola Hour” rally. I no sooner walked out to greet the audience before the meeting started, than this gal came running up to me and threw her arms around me. It embarrassed me a little bit and I asked, “Do I know you?” She said, “I’m the girl that was in the wheelchair that you prayed for last March.” She said, “To God be the glory! God healed me and I walk.” You know, I could hardly speak. I said, “Are you sure you’re the right one?” She said, “Yeah.” I couldn’t believe it. So, I introduced her to the whole audience and they all knew about it and what a testimony of praise it was to the Lord. This is boasting in God. I was surprised that God healed her, which shows you what gift I do not have.
But you understand, folks, that we are to boast in God and what God can do. And He can do anything. Some of us have not learned that yet. That is why we are weak in praise. “Praise the Lord,” means that we boast in Him.
Turn to Psalm 18. It not only means we exalt Him, we worship Him, we rejoice in Him, and we boast in Him, but do you know what else it means to praise God? It means we give thanks to Him. The Bible says in 1 Thessalonians 5:18 that in everything we are to give thanks, for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus concerning you. That is in everything. The Bible speaks about the Spirit-filled believers in Ephesians 5:18, commanding us to be filled with the Spirit. It says in verse 20 that we are to give thanks for all things. When you are filled with the Spirit there is a constant spirit of gratefulness and of gratitude in your heart.
In Psalm 18:49 it says,
Therefore I will give thanks to You,
O LORD, among the Gentiles,
And sing praises to Your name.
Now some people believe that from a Jewish point of view, “Gentiles” is referring to everybody else. We will praise the Lord among all of them and declare His works among them; but technically, folks, that is a term referring to all people who do not know the Lord. We would say the pagans out there. And how interesting, that a lot of us are stone dead silent in front of the pagans. We will not even thank God for our food if everybody at the table is an unbeliever. Hey, that ought to turn you on for God. To give thanks ought to turn you on for God. Don’t ever neglect prayer. You may say, “Well, what do you do? I mean all these guys I work with, are not Christians. Why should I embarrass them and embarrass myself. I will just pray silently.” My response is, “Use it as an opportunity.” Say to them, “Hey I’m going to pray for my meal if you guys don’t mind.” Somebody ought to. And pray and thank God right in their presence. Bow your head. You know what I have found? I have found unbelievers are a lot sweeter and kinder than some believers on this issue. Most of them, I think, fear that God is going to zap them. They immediately bow their heads. Do not hesitate to pray.
I just did that with a waitress early this morning over there in the restaurant when I was having breakfast. I said, “Excuse me, (she was talking to me) I am going to bow my head and thank the Lord for my food.” She stood right there and bowed her head. I do not know if they are supposed to do that or not, but do you understand what I’m saying? We are to give thanks to the Lord. Even among all the nations and the pagans. Let them know that everything that happens to you in your life, you are praising God for. I thank the Lord for all things.
Let’s look at Psalm 30:4. What wonderful words throughout the psalms. We could pick scores of verses, as you know if you have read them.
Sing praise to the LORD, You saints of His,
And give thanks at the remembrance of His holy name.
Sing praise. Give thanks. Psalm 92:1–3 says, “It is good to give thanks to the LORD.” You will find that praise repeated in the Psalms. It is good. It is good for you. It is good, in every sense of the word, to give thanks to the Lord.
1 And to sing praises to Your name, O Most High.
2 To declare Your lovingkindness in the morning,
And Your faithfulness every night,
3 On an instrument of ten strings, on the lute,
And on the harp, with harmonious sound.
By the way, those of you who are non-musical, do you get the idea that God is into music? Sing, sing, sing. Play, play, play. God wants you to do these things. You may say, “Well, I can’t carry a tune. Your favorite verse: “Make a joyful noise unto the Lord.” Make a holy grunt. Whatever it is, man, praise God! Let it out. Let everything that hath breath praise the Lord! Don’t stop—give thanks constantly. Thank God for the flat on the freeway during the rush hour. Amen?
I had a cute letter from a radio listener who heard me tell the story of getting a flat early in the morning when I was on the Grapevine, and then I went a little bit further and got another flat. Of course, that means the tire in the back was now flat. And she wrote me a letter saying that she was so blessed by my story. She just thanked the Lord because she was not sure about radio speakers and whether anything ever went wrong in their lives. And she said, “I just praised the Lord to think that you had a flat and then had another one and couldn’t do anything about it. And you had all that trouble.” She said, “That really thrilled me.”
Give thanks constantly to the Lord.
Turn to Hebrews 13, in the New Testament. The Bible indicates that God wants us to do this, folks. In Hebrews 13:15–16 it says,
15 Therefore by Him let us continually offer the sacrifice of
praise to God, that is, the fruit of our lips, giving thanks
to His name.
16 But do not forget to do good and to share, for with such
sacrifices God is well pleased.
What does it mean to praise God? It means we exalt Him. It means we worship Him. It means we rejoice in Him. We boast in Him. We give thanks to Him.
Turn to Psalm 69. The sixth thing that it means is that we please Him. You want to please the Lord in your life? Then praise Him. It means that we please Him. Look, please, at verses 30 and 31.
I will praise the name of God with a song, and will magnify Him with thanksgiving. This also shall please the LORD better than an ox or bull, which has horns and hooves.
Folks, listen, he is talking about a sacrificial animal that you bring in worship to the Lord into the temple or tabernacle. What he is saying is that it is better to praise the Lord and to give thanks to Him than to even offer the sacrifice.
The Bible says in Micah 6 that God is deeply offended by sacrifices that are not backed up with the lifestyle that is centered in the Lord. Hey, you could go through all the mechanics of worship. You could give your money in worship to the Lord. You could sing all the songs, listen to God’s Word, even fellowship with Christians; and yet, not be pleasing the Lord. You can go through the motions so easy. Just do what you are supposed to do, but in your heart it is cold and apathetic and complacent towards the God who made you.
Folks, let me tell you something: true worship is in the heart. It is inside. You want to please the Lord? Then stop looking at all that you do. And understand that inside there can be a heart filled with praise and filled with thanks; and with that, God is pleased. Although no one else knows it, He does. We please the Lord when we praise the Lord. That is what it means.
Turn to Psalm 135 and look at the opening verses.
1 Praise the LORD! Praise the name of the LORD; praise
Him, O you servants of the LORD!
2 You who stand in the house of the LORD, in the courts of
the house of our God,
3 Praise the LORD, for the LORD is good; sing praises toHis name, for it is pleasant. (Psalm 135:1–3)
It pleases the Lord. It delights the heart of God when you praise the Lord. Do you praise Him in your heart? With such sacrifices God is well pleased.
Turn please to Psalm 34 again. What does it mean to praise God? It means we exalt Him. It means we worship Him. It means we rejoice in Him, we boast in Him, we give thanks to Him, and we please Him. It also means—and perhaps this is the most common definition of praise in the Psalms—it means we bless His name. We bless His name.
Now often we ask God to bless us and He certainly does. We think of it in terms of His provision, and it means that. It means that He will take care of us and provide for our needs. He will bless us. But it basically means to speak well of God. We are to bless His name and to speak well of many things about God—to proclaim it. Psalm 34:1 says, “I will bless the Lord at all times. His praise shall continually be in my mouth.” Is that true of us?
Turn to Psalm 63. When we say, “Bless the name of the Lord,” what are we talking about? What are we to speak well of? And there are several things mentioned in the Psalms—for instance, the lovingkindness of God. When we bless the name of the Lord, it is for His “lovingkindness”. This is a beautiful English word describing a Hebrew word, which indicates God’s covenant relationship to us. It means that He will be faithful and show us mercy and compassion and graciousness. And I think the English word is gorgeous—lovingkindness.
In Psalm 63:3–5 we read,
3 Because Your lovingkindness is better than life, my lips
shall praise You.
4 Thus I will bless You while I live; I will lift up my hands
in Your name.
5 My soul shall be satisfied as with marrow and fatness,
and my mouth shall praise You with joyful lips.
And I think it is only appropriate in this message on praise, and the emphasis of the Psalms, to sing it to the Lord, that we might just sing this passage right now to the Lord.
Thy lovingkindness is better than life.
Thy lovingkindness is better than life.
My lips shall praise Thee,
Thus will I bless Thee.
I will lift up my hands unto Thy name.
I lift my hands up unto They name.
I lift my hands up unto They name.
My lips shall praise Thee,
Thus will I bless Thee.
I will lift up my hands unto Thy name.
When we bless the Lord, we bless Him for His lovingkindness to us.
Turn to Psalm 72. When we bless the name of the Lord, it is not only for His lovingkindness; but it is for His wondrous works and the wondrous things that God does. The word “wondrous” means difficult to understand. There are so many things that God does that we do not know, and we are to praise Him for that. Praise Him that He knows and that we do not; even though it is incomprehensible to us. His ways are past finding out, says Romans 11:33. His greatness is unsearchable, Psalm 145:3. God has told us in His Word that He does things that He does not expect us to ever know. And He wants us to praise Him for it.
Psalm 72:18–19 says,
18 Blessed be the LORD God, the God of Israel, who only
does wondrous things.
19 And blessed be His glorious name forever! And let the
whole earth be filled with His glory. Amen and Amen.
All God’s people said, “Amen” for what God does. So be it. Praise the Lord! He does lots of things, folks, that we cannot figure out and we do not know why He does them. Praise the Lord means to speak well of God that He knows. To speak well of God and say that He can do anything. To speak well of God and say that He alone does things that are too wonderful for me to understand. Praise the name of the Lord!
Turn to Psalm 96. Not only His lovingkindness and His wondrous things, but the Bible tells us to bless the Lord for His salvation. Psalm 96:1–2 says,
1 Oh, sing to the LORD a new song!
Sing to the LORD, all the earth.
2 Sing to the LORD, bless His name;
Proclaim the good news of His salvation from day to day.
When you bless the Lord, you are proclaiming the good news of God’s salvation from day to day. We thank the Lord and we praise Him for His salvation. Bless the Lord for all that He has done.
Turn to Psalm 100. We not only bless Him for lovingkindness, for His wondrous things, and His salvation; we bless Him for His goodness. In Psalm 100:4–5 it says,
4 Enter into His gates with thanksgiving,
And into His courts with praise.
Be thankful to Him, and bless His name.
5 For the LORD is good;
His mercy is everlasting,
And His truth endures to all generations.
The last two statements on the compassion and faithfulness of God are expressing how good He is. Bless His name, for the Lord is good. Has the Lord been good to you?
God is so good, God is so good.
God is so good. He’s so good to me.
I’ll praise His name. I’ll praise His name.
I’ll praise His name. He’s so good to me.
Turn to Psalm 103. When you say you are going to bless the name of the Lord, to speak well of Him, it is not only His lovingkindness and His wondrous power and deeds and the things that He does: His salvation, His goodness, but also His many benefits to us. Bless Him for His many benefits. In Psalm 103:1–5 it says,
1 Bless the LORD, O my soul;
and all that is within me, bless His holy name!
2 Bless the LORD, O my soul, And forget not all His
benefits: [He names a few:]
3 Who forgives all your iniquities,
Who heals all your diseases,
4 Who redeems your life from destruction,
Who crowns you with lovingkindness and tender mercies,
5 Who satisfies your mouth with good things,
So that your youth is renewed like the eagle's.
And on and on it goes with all the many benefits of the Lord.
Bless the LORD, O my soul;
And all that is within me, bless His holy name!
Bless the LORD, O my soul;
And all that is within me, bless His holy name!
He has done great things. He has done great things.
He has done great things, bless His holy name.
Bless the LORD, O my soul;
And all that is within me, bless His holy name!
When we bless the Lord, we bless Him for His lovingkindness, for His wondrous things, for His salvation, for His goodness, and for His benefits.
Turn to Psalm 113. We also bless Him for His exalted position. We speak well of Him because He is in charge. Everything is not out of control. He is working all things after the counsel of His will. He is upholding all things by the word of His power.
Praise the LORD! Praise, O servants of the LORD,
Praise the name of the LORD!
Blessed be the name of the LORD
From this time forth and forevermore!
From the rising of the sun to its going down
The LORD’S name is to be praised.
The LORD is high above all nations,
His glory above the heavens. [His exalted position]
Who is like the LORD our God, who dwells on high,
Who humbles Himself to behold the things
That are in the heavens and in the earth? (Psalm 113:1–6)
The exalted position of the Lord causes us to bless Him. You know, I see a lot of reasons to believe that things are out of control, don’t you? Sometimes you wonder who is in charge. Aren’t you glad you know somebody who is? The Lord is in charge. And the Lord is over everything. And He does whatever He pleases in heaven and on earth. Bless His name for His exalted position over everything.
Turn to Psalm 145. The last thing out of many that we will bring to your attention is the greatness of God. We should bless the Lord for the greatness of the Lord. Psalm 145:1 says,
I will extol You, my God, O King;
And I will bless Your name forever and ever.
Every day I will bless You,
And I will praise Your name forever and ever.
Great is the LORD, and greatly to be praised;
And His greatness is unsearchable.
Praise the Lord for that. You know how I look at all of these things? What is it to praise the Lord? It means we exalt Him. It means we worship Him. We rejoice in Him. We boast in Him. We give thanks to Him. We please Him. We bless His name. And I say, “Hallelujah! Praise the Lord!” I will count to three again and you say, “Hallelujah” at the top of your lungs. One, two, three—“Hallelujah!” The Lord likes it loud, even though some of you need to adjust your hearing aids.
When I think of all of this, I speak from a heart that is concerned about people who do not know the Lord. Did you know that the demons of hell are going to praise God? Did you know that? If there is no personal relationship between you and God and you know it, I want you to understand that even if you do not believe in the Lord Jesus Christ, you are going to one day praise the Lord. The Bible says that one day every knee is going to bow and every tongue is going to confess that He is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.
I pray that you will not be one of those who will stand at the great white throne judgment of God having rejected His Son, Jesus Christ. You will be facing an eternity without God in hell. I pray you will not be that person. But I know that even if you are there, you will at that moment praise the Lord, even though you have never praised Him before. As you go into hell itself, you will have to acknowledge that He is who He claimed to be. I plead with you, on the basis of what the Bible tells us about the name of the Lord, to turn to Him before it is too late. The Bible says, “Neither is there salvation in any other name. For there is none other name under heaven given among men whereby we must be saved” (Acts 4:12).
Let’s close with prayer.
Father, You know who in this meeting can really praise You and who cannot. You even know among the believers who truly worshipped and praised You, as we went over these Scriptures and those who just went through the mechanics. We can become so cold to the praise and the adoration and the blessing of our God. Father, our hearts go out to those in our meeting right now who have never made a personal commitment to Jesus Christ, Your Son, our Savior—Jesus, who is Lord of Lords and King of Kings. Father, I pray that You by the Holy Spirit, would draw people to the Lord Jesus; so that they would know that their ability to praise Him begins when they come to know the Savior. And I pray, Lord, that You would open up their hearts to the good news of the gospel. There is forgiveness of our sin and there is eternal life to all who will believe in Jesus Christ. God, I pray You would draw people to Jesus. That we would praise You for all of Your people who know You. God how we need to be set free in our hearts to praise and bless and give thanks to the wonderful name of the Lord. We are so pessimistic and complaining. We are so questioning and suspicious and doubtful. We are defeated and discouraged and life has not treated us the way we wanted. And there is so little praise. You say that the Lord inhabits the praises of His people. The Lord delights in the praises of His people. God, I pray that there will never be a time in our lives from the rising of the sun until its going down each day that will not be filled with praise. We thank You, Lord. And it is in Jesus’ wonderful name we pray. Amen.
