In the Name of the Father Who Made Us, the Son Who Redeemed Us, and the Spirit Who Sanctifies

Hymn: CW 195

In the name of the Father who made us, the Son who redeemed us, and the Spirit who sanctifies us, good morning my Christian friends.

Text: Psalm 150:1-2 (ESV)

May the words of my mouth and the meditation of our hearts be pleasing in Your sight, O Lord, our Creator, our Redeemer, and our Sanctifier. Amen. This morning I want to start with a quiz. So, I’m going to ask that you’d close your eyes so that you’re not influenced by the people around you—don’t peak! This quiz is a multiple choice quiz. I’ll give you the options first and then you indicate your answer by raising your hand. Here’s the question: “What does the word Hallelujah mean?” Here are your choices: (A) “Thank God,” (B) “Glory to God,” (C) “Praise the Lord.” If you think the answer is (A) “Thank God,” raise your hand. If you think the answer is (B) “Glory to God,” raise your hand. If you think the answer is (C) “Praise the Lord,” raise your hand. Ok, you can open your eyes now. Do y’all want to know how you did? You did pretty well as many of you knew that (C) “Praise the Lord” was the correct answer. I’m not surprised. After all, we run across the Hebrew word hallelujah—or more commonly, alleluia—all the time. It appears in one form or the other in dozens of our hymns. We sing it regularly in our liturgies, except during the somber season of Lent. In Scripture the concept of praising the Lord is used hundreds and hundreds of times. Hallelujah is a word with which we Christians should be familiar. My hope is that this little word—HALLELUJAH—will become more familiar to you today. As we celebrate the Festival of the Holy Trinity we find many reasons to praise the Lord. The psalmist gives us a couple of big ones. He encourages us to praise the Lord both I. For who He is and also II For what He has done.

I. Praise the Lord for who He is. We don’t know much about Psalm 150. We don’t know the author or when it was exactly written. We do know that it’s certainly a fitting conclusion as the very last of the psalms. Remember that the psalms served as the Jewish hymn book that they had engrained into their memory. What better way to end such a book then by encouraging all of creation to hallelujah—praise the Lord! The psalmist tells us to praise him according to his excellent greatness (2). Our God’s greatness surpasses all understanding. We can’t even begin to comprehend a God who is so great, so powerful, so wise, so holy, so just and gracious with our puny human minds. Our God is infinitely bigger, greater, and more complex than we can understand. For example, our God is triune. He’s three-in-one. He’s at the same time three persons and yet only one God. He’s not three equal parts like slices of pie. He’s not like an actor who sometimes plays the role of the Father, sometimes the Son, and sometimes the Spirit. The three persons are separate and distinct. The Father is His own person, and the same with the Son and the Holy Spirit. The Father isn’t His Son, and the Son isn’t the Spirit. They’re separate and distinct and yet there’s only one undivided essence. This is a mystery; this boggles our minds. Yet this is the truth revealed in Scripture (see Deut 6:4 & Mt 28:19). Like St. Paul we ought to stand in humility before the greatness and mystery of the Triune God and confess: Oh, the depth of the riches of the wisdom and knowledge of God (Rom 11:33)! But do we always do that? Do we always treat God as His greatness deserves? Scripture says, fear the Lord (Deut 6:13) and stand in awe of God (Eccl 5:7). Do we always respect God for who He is? Do we always stand in awe of His majesty? Nope. Sometimes God is nothing more than “the man upstairs” who perhaps has some control of what’s happening down here. Sometimes we treat God like our employee or repairman; we go to Him only when we want something or need Him to fix something in our lives. Sometimes we treat God’s Word about with as much respect as the word of the ambulance-chasing lawyer or promise-breaking politician. Sometimes we think of God as our buddy, someone we can put our arm around and talk to as equals. Without question, God is our friend in Christ and became one of us in the person of Jesus, but He’s not our buddy. He’s God, Ruler of the universe. He’s awesome, and we need to fear and respect Him above all things. Folks, when we sinners stand face-to-face with the awesome holiness of the Triune God, then it’s time to be afraid. When confronted with the holiness of the God who hates sin and punishes sinners we must react like Isaiah did and cry out and confess, Woe to me (Is 6:5)! Like Isaiah we need to confess our uncleanness and utter unworthiness to even be in the presence of a just and holy God. But there’s something else about our God that should fill us with awe. Our God isn’t just great and powerful, holy, and just. He isn’t just the inconceivable Three-in-one. He’s love. God describes Himself this way: The LORD, the LORD, a God merciful and gracious, slow to anger, and abounding in steadfast love and faithfulness, keeping steadfast love for thousands, forgiving iniquity and transgression and sin (Ex 34:6-7). Hallelujah! Praise the Lord! Praise Him for who He is. He’s the God beyond our understanding, the only true God, three-in-one. He’s the God of awesome power and wisdom! He’s the God of perfect holiness and flawless justice! He’s the God of grace and compassion, the God of faithfulness and forgiveness. Yes, friends, praise the Lord for who He is, and praise Him for what He has done.

II. Praise the Lord for what He had done. A résumé is a summary of one’s accomplishments. You usually use one when you apply for a job. When writing up your résumé you’re supposed to list your job experience, the positions you’ve attained, and the promotions you’ve received. Sometimes Christians are a little uncomfortable in putting together such a document. To write a résumé you kind of have to brag about yourself and what you’ve done. Christians tend to agree with St. Paul: Let him who boasts boast in the Lord (1 Cor 1:31). It certainly makes sense to boast about the Lord; He’s got an amazing résumé. The psalmist says, Praise him for his mighty deeds (2). The list of the Lord’s mighty deeds is unrivaled. So let’s review some of the Lord’s stellar résumé. There’s no way that we can talk about all the Lord’s accomplishments; it’s an inexhaustible list, so let’s just hit some of the highlights by looking at the three person of the Trinity. God the Father created the world in six normal, 24 hour days, days with a morning and evening just like ours. How did He do it? In Hebrews we read: By faith we understand that the universe was formed at God’s command (11:3). He did it by the power of His Word. He simply spoke and the universe came into existence. But He did more than just create the universe, He also cares for His creation: He has shown kindness by giving you rain from heaven and crops in their seasons. He provides you with plenty of food and fills your hearts with joy (Acts 14:17). As a Father cares for His children, our heavenly Father cares for His creation. That’s why He sent His Son. Jesus is true God from eternity and yet His love is so great that He humbled Himself, took on human flesh, and was born in time and space. As God and man in one person He lived under the Law and kept it perfectly in our place. He had no need to pad His résumé. Every thought, word, and action, all were perfect. But what happened to the sinless One? He became sin for us (2 Cor 5:21). He died on the cross for our sins. He endured the hell that our offenses had earned for us. He did it willingly because He loves us so much! He won our forgiveness. Know how you can be sure? His tomb is empty! That’s proof positive that He accomplished His mission, that our sins are forgiven, that heaven is our home. The Perfect One, the Crucified One, the Risen One is also the Ascended One. He’s now at the Father’s right hand ruling all things for our eternal benefit. And, as promised, like we heard last week, He sent the Holy Spirit to fill us with faith through the truth. The Spirit’s accomplishments are certainly no less than the Father’s or the Son’s. He’s responsible for Scripture: Men spoke from God as they were carried along by the Holy Spirit (2 Pet 1:21). Through Scripture the Spirit has made us wise for salvation through faith in Christ Jesus (2 Tim 3:15). Through baptism the Spirit called us to faith. Through the Word and Supper He sustains us in the faith. Through these means of grace He empowers us to live thankful lives of good works. The Spirit is the one who enables us to HALLELUJAH—“praise the Lord.” How can you do that; how can you praise the Lord? Praising the Lord is more than just singing hallelujah on Sunday. A Christian child who obeys his/her parents is praising the Lord. A Christian mother who teaches her children about Jesus is praising the Lord. A Christian father who lovingly disciplines his children is praising the Lord. A Christian husband who selflessly puts the needs of his family first is praising the Lord. A Christian student who works diligently at his/her studies is praising the Lord. A Christian employee who gives his/her employer an honest day’s work is praising the Lord. Every good work done in faith, every word and deed that flows from a thankful heart is to the praise and glory of our Savior-God.

Folks, what a privilege it is to praise the Lord! What a joy to sing the praises of the mighty Three-in-One, who created us, redeemed us and made us His own by faith. With the Spirit’s help through the means of grace, let your every thought, word, and action be a song of praise to the one true God. Let your life shout, HALLELUJAH! Amen.