In the new new Baptist Hymnal, Praise to the Lord, the Almighty is the very first hymn. In my humble opinion, I think this is an appropriate place for this hymn—one of my favorites. It was written by the German Calvinist Joachim Neander (1650-1680). He started his youth as something of a prodigal. The story is told that one day, he and his friends went to a service at St. Martin’s Church in Bremen to ridicule the preacher—Theodore Under-Eyck. As Neander listened to the message, though, his heart was touched and his mind was changed. Ultimately he was converted to the faith, and he devoted himself to God.

While that name is not well known to us, he was well known in his day, and he is considered still one of the outstanding hymn writers of the German Reformed Church, writing about 60 hymns. Ironically, his name is more familiar in the scientific community though even many scientists are not familiar with the story. At age 24, Neander became head master of a grammar school owned by the Reformed Church in Dusseldorf. The school did well, but Neander could not confine his interests to merely teaching young men how to read and write. He enjoyed the woods and the hills, and frequently wandered in the countryside. There was a cave in the hills that he especially enjoyed, and he would conduct meetings there with his students in order to discuss the Bible and various beliefs espoused by the new Protestant sects such as Lutherans and Calvinists. These meetings had not been approved by the local elders, who arrived at the school one day in 1678 to publicly remove Neander from his post. After that, Neander spent even more time at the cave. He was so closely associated with the valley and its cave that the area came to be known as the "Neander Valley," and the cave itself as "Neander's cave." Almost two centuries later, evidence of "Neanderthal man" was found in this place. It is intriguing that the name of this powerful preacher of faith should become connected with a fossil record that is relied on by some scientists as evidence of evolution.

Neander wrote this particular hymn while dying and it says much about his faith. While contemplating the words to go along with the melody, he reflected on Psalm 103 with it’s claim that everything within us should praise the Father’s holy name. Its tune and the words were so popular that years later Johann Sebastian Bach incorporated the hymn into one of his Cantatas.

This hymn shows how small we as humans are, and how big God is, and how awesome He will always be. Neander realized that in every single situation, no matter whether it’s good or bad, there’s always something we can praise God for. The hymn first appeared in the 1956 Baptist Hymnal.

So let’s look at what the hymn teaches us about our faith.

I. PRAISE TO THE LORD—HE IS THE ALMIGHTY KING OF CREATION

• "The Lord has established His throne in the heavens, And His sovereignty rules over all. 20Bless the Lord, you His angels, Mighty in strength, who perform His word, Obeying the voice of His word! 21Bless the Lord, all you His hosts, You who serve Him, doing His will. 22Bless the Lord, all you works of His, In all places of His dominion; Bless the Lord, O my soul!" (Psalm 103:19-22, NASB95)
1. the first stanza of Neander’s hymn intones the truth sung in the last four verses of the 103 Psalm
2. in these verse, the Psalmist instructs us that God is over His creation
1. these verses tell us that God has established His throne in the heavens and he sovereignly rules over all
1. this is the God that the Prophet Isaiah sees in all His heavenly glory
• "In the year of King Uzziah’s death I saw the Lord sitting on a throne, lofty and exalted, with the train of His robe filling the temple. 2Seraphim stood above Him, each having six wings: with two he covered his face, and with two he covered his feet, and with two he flew. 3And one called out to another and said, “Holy, Holy, Holy, is the Lord of hosts, The whole earth is full of His glory.” 4And the foundations of the thresholds trembled at the voice of him who called out, while the temple was filling with smoke." (Isaiah 6:1-4, NASB95)
2. these verses tell us that His angels, who are mighty in their own right, perform His word and serve Him
1. angels exist to do the bidding of God in His created order
2. some, such as the Seraphim, seem to exist for the soul purpose of glorifying God
3. some, such as the Cherubim seem to be God’s heavenly enforcers—they are the angels who drove Adam and Eve out of the Garden and were stationed at its entrance to keep them out, and the guard the throne of God
4. many angels appear to have the job of protecting God’s saints (i.e. Daniel, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-Nego, and of course Peter)
3. the Host of Heaven live in order to bless the Lord
• ILLUS. How do we read this verse and not immediately think of the heavenly host who appeared to the shepherds announcing the birth of Jesus?
4. not only does the host of heaven bless His holy name, but the works of God’s hand do also
• ILLUS. When I read verse 22 I am reminded of our Lord’s Triumphal Entry in Jerusalem. The crowds are shouting, “Blessed is the King who comes in the name of the Lord; Peace in heaven and glory in the highest!” To which the Pharisees responded by telling Jesus to rebuke His disciples. They shouldn’t be saying such things. In response, Jesus tells them, “I tell you, if these should become silent, the stones will cry out!”

A. CREATION’S KING IS OUR HEALTH AND SALVATION

• "Bless the Lord, O my soul, And forget none of His benefits; 3Who pardons all your iniquities, Who heals all your diseases; 4Who redeems your life from the pit, Who crowns you with lovingkindness and compassion;" (Psalm 103:2-4, NASB95)
1. why is the King of Creation so worthy of our soul’s praise and adoration?
1. His benefits
1. it is a needed reminder because all too often we do forget
2. we forget to thank Him for soundness of body, soundness of mind, and soundness of soul
3. we forget to thank Him for sight, hearing, speech, appetite, and a host of other mercies
4. we take them too much for granted
5. in the second stanza of his hymn, Neander writes that God shelters and sustains us
• ILLUS. In the book of Fist Kings a feisty prophet by the name of Elijah has shown up in King Ahab’s court. His message is, " ... As the Lord, the God of Israel lives, before whom I stand, surely there shall be neither dew nor rain these years, except by my word.” (1 Kings 17:1, NASB95). God immediately instructs Elijah to flee into the wilderness, and while he is there God has instructed the Ravens to bring him food. Sure to God’s word, each morning and each evening the Ravens bring Elijah bread and meat.
2. His pardons
1. above all else, we should be thankful to Him for forgiving all our iniquities
2. it is an unspeakable miracle of divine grace that crimson sins can be made whiter than snow
3. in the third stanza we’re told that Creation’s King attends us daily with goodness and mercy
• "The Lord is compassionate and gracious, Slow to anger and abounding in lovingkindness. 9He will not always strive with us, Nor will He keep His anger forever. 10He has not dealt with us according to our sins, Nor rewarded us according to our iniquities. 11For as high as the heavens are above the earth, So great is His lovingkindness toward those who fear Him. 12As far as the east is from the west, So far has He removed our transgressions from us. 13Just as a father has compassion on his children, So the Lord has compassion on those who fear Him." (Psalm 103:8-13, NASB95)
4. to know that our sins have been put away forever by the precious blood of Christ is the goodness and mercy of God that attends us daily
3. His healings
1. notice that healing comes after forgiveness
2. the physical is closely related to the spiritual, and while not all sickness is a direct result of sin, some of it is
3. where the connection exists, forgiveness must precede healing
4. what the verse says to me is that whenever a believer is healed, this is a mercy from God, and He should be acknowledged and thanked as the Healer
4. His redemption
1. specifically our redemption if from the pit of hell, and if that is all the verse meant, that would be enough
2. but I think that the meaning here is also that He continually delivers us from dangers, accidents, tragedies
3. only when we get to heaven will we realize how often we were protected by the providential hand of our God
5. His crownings
1. what does He crown us with? — With lovingkindness and compassion
2. these are wonderful diadems for those who were once the loveless and guilty
3. in Christ we are loved with everlasting love and showered day by day with His mercy

B. CREATION NEEDS TO DRAW NEAR TO THE CREATOR AND PRAISE HIM

• ILLUS. Just as a house testifies that there was a builder, a dress that there was a weaver; a door that there was a carpenter; so our world by its existence proclaims its Creator, God.
1. God should be the object of praise by everyone and everything;
• "Bless the Lord, you His angels, Mighty in strength, who perform His word, Obeying the voice of His word! 21Bless the Lord, all you His hosts, You who serve Him, doing His will. 22Bless the Lord, all you works of His, In all places of His dominion; Bless the Lord, O my soul!" (Psalm 103:20-22, NASB95)
1. David steps up to the podium of the universe to lead the massed choir of creation in a mighty outpouring of harmonious of worship
1. First, he motions to the angels, mighty and obedient, to start the rolling anthem
2. Next, he calls on all created beings who serve the Lord to come in with their harmonies of praise
3. Finally, he signals all the works of God to join the glorious crescendo
4. And while this great Hallelujah chorus is ringing throughout God’s dominion, the choir leader himself adds his voice to bless the Lord
2. Praise to the Lord—he Is the Almighty King of Creation

II. PRAISE TO THE LORD—HE DESERVES OUR PRAISE AND ADORATION

1. one of the reasons we love the Psalms so much is that they verbalize so beautifully what we often feel but cannot find words to express
2. nowhere is this more true than in the case of the 103rd
1. in its majestic cadences of thanksgiving, we read sentiments that mirror our own deepest emotions of gratitude
2. here we call on our soul to bless the Lord
• ILLUS. Charles Spurgeon, the great English preacher, wrote: "Praise is the honey of life which a devout heart extracts from every bloom of providence and grace." Praise is the most important act in our worship of the Heavenly Father, yet one of the most neglected aspects of our worship.

A. CREATION NEEDS TO ASCRIBE TO THE LORD ADORATION, PRAISES AND AMENS

• ILLUS William Law, in his Serious Call to a Devout and Holy Life writes, "Would you know who is the greatest saint in the world? It is not he who prays most or fasts most; it is not he who gives most alms, or is most eminent for temperance, chastity, or justice, but it is he who is always thankful to God, who wills everything that God willeth, who received everything as an instance of God's goodness, and has a heart always ready to praise God for it."