Psalm 150:1 Praise ye the Lord. Praise God in his sanctuary: praise him in the firmament of his power.
All together now Friends, let’s join in loud but graceful harmony: ‘Praise Him, praise Him, glory Hallelujah! He is LOVE. He is LOVE!’ Yes mih people, that’s the most gospel truth of them all! (smile) Why? Because if yuh doing LOVE, then yuh doing God’s will. Likewise, if yuh doing God’s will, then yuh must be doing LOVE too, for that’s His very nature; nothing else flows from it but LOVE. And it’s so wonderful to begin a new day with praise and thanks to the Most High God, who has so richly blessed us with Life and LOVE. It not only honours God, but also makes us feel good; strong, happy and invincible. Now Psalm 150 is the last of the Psalms, so it’s rather fitting that it’s a song of Praise. And the Psalmist delves in to the questions of where, why, when and who of praise, which we shall try to address. Let’s begin with where as the Psalmist did. And where should our mighty God be praised? The Psalmist rightly says everywhere. ‘Praise God in his sanctuary: praise him in the firmament of his power.’ Yes Friends, from His dwelling place on earth, right up to the great expanse of the holy heavens where He regally sits on His throne controlling the earth, showering us with His many blessings of mercy, grace, forgiveness, LOVE and protection. Bruh David says it in Psalm 145: ‘Great is the Lord, and greatly to be praised; and his greatness is unsearchable.’ (Ps.145:3) That’s an awesome truth too my people. Our God is so great, all- powerful, all knowing and all seeing. Wow! There could never be another like Him! For that alone He deserves our praise. Just like we acknowledge those humans we consider great, well Our God deserves it even more, cause He’s so mighty that we can’t even begin to understand or comprehend it. The next verse of Psalm 145 is ultra important my brethren, for it deals with the continuity of our faith. ‘One generation shall praise thy works to another, and shall declare thy mighty acts.’ (Ps.145:4) Oh my people, that’s how we learned the faith, by the previous generation passing it on to us. Now are we doing the same thing? I surely hope so, for if we’re not then future generations won’t have all the wonderful testimony of Almighty God that we now enjoy. So I’m pleading with us to make sure we pass on the good news of Jesus to the next generation, or as many as we live to see. It’s the most important thing we’ll ever do with our earthly selves. That leads to the question of why we should praise the Lord. That’s the easiest one, and the Psalmist answers it quite nicely. ‘Praise him for his mighty acts: praise him according to his excellent greatness.’ (Ps.150:2) Moses said it after Israel conquered Og of Bashan. ‘O Lord God, thou hast begun to show thy servant thy greatness, and thy mighty hand: for what God is there in heaven or in earth, that can do according to thy works, and according to thy might?’ (Deut.3:24) Yes Friends, we ought to praise God for the great deeds He’s done on our behalf over the ages, and also because He’s just so great, we have to look at Him with awe, wonder and astonishment and bow to such an awesome majesty. And having asked where and why, we now come to how? Yes my people, it’s also important to know how to praise our Great God. The Psalmist answers that question too. ‘Praise him with the sound of the trumpet (cornet): praise him with the psaltery (lute, lyre) and harp. Praise him with the timbrel and dance: praise him with stringed instruments and organs. Praise him upon the loud cymbals: praise him upon the high-sounding cymbals.’ (Ps.150. 2-4) Yes mih breddren, that means we can praise Almighty God with any instrument that we can invent or make through our God given creativity. But ah have to talk to the Psalmist yes, cause he forgot to mention one of the instruments that praises Him ever so sweetly; the steel pan. (smile) That brings up the question, when can we do it? Anytime at all mih people, preferably all the time if possible. There’s never a right or wrong time to praise our heavenly Father. Note, heaven never closes; it’s a 24/7 establishment. Our Father is always there waiting for our praise and prayers, because He made us to glorify Him. That means He has to be available all the time, if He’s gong to do it right. And we know He always does it right. So now that we know why, where, when and how the Most High God Jehovah should be praised, lets consider the final and possibly the most important question; who should praise God? The Psalmist is right on the ball with the answer. ‘Let everything that hath breath praise the Lord. Praise ye the Lord.’ (Ps.150:6) For sure mih people, every living thing, everything that breathes should be praising Almighty God, because it’s He that created and formed us with such LOVING care and provides for us. If we’re true followers of His Son Jesus then we ought to have an attitude of gratitude for all the Holy Triumvirate has done, is doing and will continue to do for us undeserving sinners in the future. Oh Friends, we all feel slighted and unappreciated when we do for others and don’t receive a little thanks in return. And what we do for others is comparatively insignificant to what our God does for us. So why then wouldn’t we offer Him much thanks and very hearty praises eh? So, having said all of that, I’m asking us to develop a serious praise habit; meaning all through our waking hours we give our God thanks and praise. It doesn’t have to be fancy, cause He’s not into our words but the motives of our heart. Just a quiet acknowledgment within our souls will do, or a simple ‘Thanks Father, I praise your Holy Name.’ And remember to begin and end each day with praise and thanks too. Your days will run smoother and your sleep will be sweeter. Much LOVE!…praise Him…praise Him…glory hallelujah…He is LOVE…He is LOVE…
All together now Friends, let’s join in loud but graceful harmony: ‘Praise Him, praise Him, glory Hallelujah! He is LOVE. He is LOVE!’ Yes mih people, that’s the most gospel truth of them all! (smile) Why? Because if yuh doing LOVE, then yuh doing God’s will. Likewise, if yuh doing God’s will, then yuh must be doing LOVE too, for that’s His very nature; nothing else flows from it but LOVE. And it’s so wonderful to begin a new day with praise and thanks to the Most High God, who has so richly blessed us with Life and LOVE. It not only honours God, but also makes us feel good; strong, happy and invincible. Now Psalm 150 is the last of the Psalms, so it’s rather fitting that it’s a song of Praise. And the Psalmist delves in to the questions of where, why, when and who of praise, which we shall try to address. Let’s begin with where as the Psalmist did. And where should our mighty God be praised? The Psalmist rightly says everywhere. ‘Praise God in his sanctuary: praise him in the firmament of his power.’ Yes Friends, from His dwelling place on earth, right up to the great expanse of the holy heavens where He regally sits on His throne controlling the earth, showering us with His many blessings of mercy, grace, forgiveness, LOVE and protection. Bruh David says it in Psalm 145: ‘Great is the Lord, and greatly to be praised; and his greatness is unsearchable.’ (Ps.145:3) That’s an awesome truth too my people. Our God is so great, all- powerful, all knowing and all seeing. Wow! There could never be another like Him! For that alone He deserves our praise. Just like we acknowledge those humans we consider great, well Our God deserves it even more, cause He’s so mighty that we can’t even begin to understand or comprehend it. The next verse of Psalm 145 is ultra important my brethren, for it deals with the continuity of our faith. ‘One generation shall praise thy works to another, and shall declare thy mighty acts.’ (Ps.145:4) Oh my people, that’s how we learned the faith, by the previous generation passing it on to us. Now are we doing the same thing? I surely hope so, for if we’re not then future generations won’t have all the wonderful testimony of Almighty God that we now enjoy. So I’m pleading with us to make sure we pass on the good news of Jesus to the next generation, or as many as we live to see. It’s the most important thing we’ll ever do with our earthly selves. That leads to the question of why we should praise the Lord. That’s the easiest one, and the Psalmist answers it quite nicely. ‘Praise him for his mighty acts: praise him according to his excellent greatness.’ (Ps.150:2) Moses said it after Israel conquered Og of Bashan. ‘O Lord God, thou hast begun to show thy servant thy greatness, and thy mighty hand: for what God is there in heaven or in earth, that can do according to thy works, and according to thy might?’ (Deut.3:24) Yes Friends, we ought to praise God for the great deeds He’s done on our behalf over the ages, and also because He’s just so great, we have to look at Him with awe, wonder and astonishment and bow to such an awesome majesty. And having asked where and why, we now come to how? Yes my people, it’s also important to know how to praise our Great God. The Psalmist answers that question too. ‘Praise him with the sound of the trumpet (cornet): praise him with the psaltery (lute, lyre) and harp. Praise him with the timbrel and dance: praise him with stringed instruments and organs. Praise him upon the loud cymbals: praise him upon the high-sounding cymbals.’ (Ps.150. 2-4) Yes mih breddren, that means we can praise Almighty God with any instrument that we can invent or make through our God given creativity. But ah have to talk to the Psalmist yes, cause he forgot to mention one of the instruments that praises Him ever so sweetly; the steel pan. (smile) That brings up the question, when can we do it? Anytime at all mih people, preferably all the time if possible. There’s never a right or wrong time to praise our heavenly Father. Note, heaven never closes; it’s a 24/7 establishment. Our Father is always there waiting for our praise and prayers, because He made us to glorify Him. That means He has to be available all the time, if He’s gong to do it right. And we know He always does it right. So now that we know why, where, when and how the Most High God Jehovah should be praised, lets consider the final and possibly the most important question; who should praise God? The Psalmist is right on the ball with the answer. ‘Let everything that hath breath praise the Lord. Praise ye the Lord.’ (Ps.150:6) For sure mih people, every living thing, everything that breathes should be praising Almighty God, because it’s He that created and formed us with such LOVING care and provides for us. If we’re true followers of His Son Jesus then we ought to have an attitude of gratitude for all the Holy Triumvirate has done, is doing and will continue to do for us undeserving sinners in the future. Oh Friends, we all feel slighted and unappreciated when we do for others and don’t receive a little thanks in return. And what we do for others is comparatively insignificant to what our God does for us. So why then wouldn’t we offer Him much thanks and very hearty praises eh? So, having said all of that, I’m asking us to develop a serious praise habit; meaning all through our waking hours we give our God thanks and praise. It doesn’t have to be fancy, cause He’s not into our words but the motives of our heart. Just a quiet acknowledgment within our souls will do, or a simple ‘Thanks Father, I praise your Holy Name.’ And remember to begin and end each day with praise and thanks too. Your days will run smoother and your sleep will be sweeter. Much LOVE!…praise Him…praise Him…glory hallelujah…He is LOVE…He is LOVE…
SCRIP-BITS 