Sermon Tone Analysis

Introduction

Job 31

Good morning everyone, so very nice to see you all today.

Luke

I am convinced that there is no greater joy than being here with each of you and worshipping the Lord our God - together!

Here we are already the first of February, hard to imagine another month gone already.

And this morning I want to change up my teaching just a bit.

I want us to go back and look at the book of Psalms in the Old Testament.

Psalms is a wonderful book of instruction, of praise and it has a powerful message for all who study its pages.

Now this morning we are going to head over to , hope you brought your Bible with you today.

Now this is the last of the Psalms of David, the last one we know for certain that he authored and it is unique in its own right.

Here is what makes it so interesting: David uses so many different words for “praising” the Lord...

David uses words like

Extol, Bless, Commend, Praise, meditate, pour forth and a few more that we will talk about as we walk through this message....

So this morning, take a moment as we begin and just think about your past few days, is there anything there, words you’ve said, thoughts, actions… something that might keep you from being joyful today, something that might keep you from praising him today.

If you think there is, take a moment and ask the Lord to clear your heart and mind, to forgive you for past actions and to make you ready to hear Him today.

Alright!

Do that now…prayer Father, search our hearts and mind O’ God and know me.

cleanse and forgive me of the things that would hinder me from hearing from you today, that would keep me from praising your name today…

In Jesus name.... Amen

and consider this thought........

Now consider this thought........David places the title of this psalm as ‘Great is the Lord.”

Why can we say “Great is the Lord?”

Here is what I want you to consider to day.....

David says He is great and worthy to be praised

Here is what I want you to consider to day

1.

He is Worthy to be Praised....

Now I know this is a topic we are not unfamiliar with… we hear from different sources all the time about just why people think, believe and know for certain that God is good and worthy to be praised.

Now why do you think He is worthy to be praised....

I bet a few reasons just started popping into your mind…

And David as well could testify to the greatness of the Lord...

Listen to what he says

Verses 1-3

A. In just those three verses we get a great picture of King David’s heart and love for Lord, and did you notice some of those different words we talked about earlier that David uses to emphasize praise?

Verse 1 David says “I will extrol you, my God and my King.”

Psalm

We don’t hear that word “extol” often, do we?

Nah, not at all.... here is what what it means in the Hebrew?

To praise, to exalt to honor.... but here we go… to do so with great enthusiasm.

Are we enthusiastic about honoring and praising the name of the Lord?

Not always.... we are afraid someone might say something....

But we don’t care to raise our voice other places… now do we.

The other night I was watching the JV girls play, and man that other team was pushy,they pushed, and leaned on our girls, and I was getting living, I was raising my voice.

I get to excited at ball games...

Marci looked over and said, you are going to get technical… i didn’t like seeing our girls get treated unfairly by the other team, and don’t even get me started about the ref… wow.

But I thought about that the other morning, when was the last time we lived, worshiped that passionately and praised the Lord.

He is better than ball games, he is better than anything.

The almighty is the only reason we are here and have made it this far in life.

Now listen to what King David says...

David says he will extol him because He is his God and King.....

Look at those terms, God here is described by the word Elo’him, the plural word for God, the same as found in ...

The triune God of the universe David praises as His God..... the one who is the creator God and as creator God is Lord over all creation but David also confess He is King.

The word here King, is ba’rak…in the Hebrew and it means “...the one who is knelt before… .”

And when you tie this phrase together we see that David is praising the one true God of the universe who has not only created all things but rules all things as well.

God has a kingship rule over all things, big and small.

And with that knowledge David praises the Lord enthusiastically....

B. But if we look a little farther David says this .... Verses 2 and 3

Stop right there for a second, and honestly answer this question .

Do you praise the Lord every single day?

Or does your ability to praise, is it affected by your day....

Here is a thought for you today… if your circumstances hinder your ability to praise the name of our Lord, then there is something missing in your understanding of who God is...

In the storm, in the battle, in the pain will you praise his name or will you moan about your own condition.

Understand I am not belittling your circumstance but I am asking you where is your faith?

Where is your outlook and what do you think about God....

I think about Jeremy Camp, when his first wife died, as he was there by her bedside as she left this world and entered into the kingdom of God.

He was hurting, He was dying on the inside but still he stood and called on his family and her family to rise up and praise the Lord.

Why… the Almighty God is Both God and King

David cant help but praise Him… He says Everyday I will bless your and praise you forever and ever.... Great is the Lord and greatly to be praised and his greatness is unsearchable.

Have you ever considered this.... His greatness is unsearchable....

What does that term unsearchable mean…there is no way to understand...

The human mind cannot fully comprehend, cannot fully describe the greatness of our God.

David just says I will praise Him for ever and ever....

You see David had lived and experienced the goodness, the mercy and yes the forgiving grace of God and because of His relationship with Him, He said I can’t stop praising him enough...

Wow!

He is worthy to be praised.... Do you have reason to praise the Lord?

Let me put a little side note, if you say no, either something is terribly wrong in your life or you really do not know, have a personal relationship with the Lord Jesus.

Let me put a little side note, if you say no, either something is terribly wrong in your life or you really do not know, have a personal relationship with the Lord Jesus.

Now lets move on to another thought from this Psalm…

2. David says: God is gracious and merciful....

Consider this thought with me, the words gracious and merciful mark some of the attributes of who God is, what defines Him, what describes our knowledge of Him through relationship.

David had great reason to proclaim the Lord’s goodness, look at the text....

Verses 8-10,

This is not the first time David has uttered these words, in fact others have heralded this truth before as well.

When David says the Lord is gracious and merciful his implication is this....

He is full of grace, his mercy extends to all...

A. So the first word is gracious

Gracious says....

The Lord is one who is known to show compassion to the needy and to those whose hearts reveal repentance.

Let’s be honest here, we need graciousness.

We live in a time when so many people would be willing do wrong no matter who it hurts and out of love, people forgive, they are gracious and willing to keep on trying to help a person.

Some might say they are foolish, but really they are gracious.

Their desire is to help those they love...

God’s desire is bent on helping humanity, why?

He loves us! we are the children of His creation.

As a Father, He loves his children!!

B. And the second word is merciful.

Another important word when we think about God’s nature, is the word mercy.

Mercy is a word we often times find mentioned in close proximity to grace, why?

They tend to complete one another.

You could say they almost go hand in hand.