Sermon Tone Analysis

Big Idea:

Tension: Why should we praise the LORD?

Resolution: Because of his steadfast love and his faithfulness to us.

Exegetical Idea: We should praise the LORD because of his steadfast love and faithfulness to us.

Theological Idea: God’s steadfast love and faithfulness to his people ought to lead them to praise him.

Homiletical Idea: All people should praise God because of his faithfulness and love towards them.

Big Idea: The LORD is worthy of all the praise of every person because of his faithful love in Christ.

Introduction: Why should we praise God?

There are many people today who do not believe the words of this Psalm.

They do not believe that God is wrothy of praise.

Why, they say, would we worship God?

Why give my time every week to gather with his peoiple to worship him?

Why make a dsiciplien out of reading his word?

Why dedicate my energy and my time and my hopes in getting to know him better?

What’s the point of it?

I just don’t get it?

Sure, that’s good for you, but do I really need to obey it, they say?

yet, our passage today tells us both that God is indeed worthy of our praise and it tells us why God is worthy of our praise.

The LORD is worthy of all the praise of every person

Hallel Psalms

Hallel Psalms: Now, this Psalm is what is part of a group of Psalms called the “Egyptian Hallel” Psalms.

ANd these are a collection of Psalms that would get sung aroiund passover.

would be sung before the passover, and then psalms 116-118 would be sung as they were finishing the meal.

So the posture of this Psalm is to celebrate teh God who has rescued his peopel from slavery.

Hallel Psalms: Now, this Psalm is what is part of a group of Psalms called the “Egyptian Hallel” Psalms.

ANd these are a collection of Psalms that would get sung aroiund passover.

would be sung before the passover, and then psalms 116-118 would be sung as they were finishing the meal.

So the posture of this Psalm is to celebrate teh God who has rescued his peopel from slavery.

From lament to praise: So as we’re reading this Psalm, we need to recognize we are reading this Psalm as it is getting ready to wind down.

In fact, a few Psalms after this one, the Psalms of Ascent begin.

And the Psalms of Ascent are the songs that they would sing as they were making their annual trips up to Jerusalem.

After the Psalms of Ascent there are approximately a dozens Psalms of praise.

So this Psalm is kind of part of the beginning of the end of the Psalms that crescendo in praise.

But the beginning of the book of Psalms has a very different tone.

You see, thorughout all 150 Psalms, there is a general movement from lament to praise.

It’s not all lament, just like the end is not all praise.

But we see a general progression as the book of Psalms continues.

It begins by lamenting what is wrong with the world and it ends with praising what is right with God.

In the beginning of the Psalms, you are far more likely to hear the cries of the Psalmist like in , “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?” and towards the end of the Psalm, you are far more likely to hear words like the last verse of : Let everything that has breath praise the Lord, praise the Lord!”

When you look at the Psalms as a whole, it is this magnificent tapestry where the beginning are dark deep shades of pain and the end are bright reflective shades of praise.

The book of Psalms is one of the most beautiful collections of books ever.

and this is one of the reasons.

What does it mean to praise?

We see here that this first verse is what is called a synonymous parallelism.

A synonymous parallelism is where there are two lines in the Psalm which are using different words to express the same idea in approximately the same way.

So when we get to this Psalm and we see the words, “Praise” and “extol” we should recognize that they are not talking about two different ideas, but they are essentially talking about the same thing.

These two words are used elsewhere in a similar way to kind of hit on the same meaning.

So that leads us to a question, what in the world does it mean to praise?

Does it mean to sing a song?

Does it mean to just play a song?

What does it mean to worship God?

Well, one of my favorite explanations that I’ve come across for true worship recently is Martin Luther.

Listen to how Martin Luther describes worshipping God:

“What does it mean to have a god? or, what is God?

Answer: A god means that from which we are to expect all good and to which we are to take refuge in all distress, so that to have a God is nothing else than to trust and believe Him from the whole heart; as I have often said that the confidence and faith of the heart alone make both God and an idol.

If your faith and trust be right, then is your god also true; and, on the other hand, if your trust be false and wrong, then you have not the true God; for these two belong together, faith and God.

That now, I say, upon which you set your heart and put your trust is properly your god.” - Luther

You see, to worship God is so much deeper than the thigns that come out of our mouth.

To worship God is to give him our heart.

It is to say to him, “There is nobody else who can give me what you give me.

There is no place higher than you, no king more just than you, no treasure more valuable, no person more real, noone more powerful, no thing more worthy.”

To worship GOd is to say, You are worthy of every ounce of all my heart.

The call to set aside our idols - Now of course, what Luther’s commentary brings out is our inherent disposition to set aside our idols.

Because if we are to start giving God all the praise and trust from our heart, we have to stop giving our praise and trust to other things.

It means that we have to set aside the other things in our lives that we have a tendency to give our hearts to.

It means we have to recognize that as fulfilling as our work is, God is the only thing who my heart ultimately longs for.

It means that we have to accept that as good as our family is, God is better.

It means that we have to recognize that as many good errands I have to run or things that I have to do, that the most important thing I can do is worship God.

It means that we have to recognize that as important as rest and leisure are, that our hearts will be restless until they rest in Him alone.

This is what the Psalmist is calling us to, to find all our good in God alone.

God is worthy of all praise.

The nations: From enemies to friends: Now, who does God expect this kind of worship from?

Well, he expects it from the “nations” and the “peoples.”

Now, once again, we have to recognize that this Psalm is towards the end of the Psalter.

And in teh book of Psalms, just like there is a movement from lament to praise, there is a movement in how the nations are spoken of.

So in the beginning of the book of Psalms, the Psalms more often than not take this antagonistic view of God.

For example, we see in …

But then, towards the end of the Psalms, we see statements like …

You see in the Psalms, God invites those who are his enemies to become his friends.

He invites those who are outside to come in.

He invites those who are estranged to become his children.

God wants all people to come into worship of him.

God desires that those who worship their idols will set them aside, God desires that those who shake their fists at him to open their hearts, God desires those who run from him to run to him.

Who does this include: So who does this include?

Does this include those in their 3 bedroom ranchstyle houses in Anderson, Indiana?

Yes.