Sermon Brief Andre Riendeau October 4, 2020

Text: Psalm 150

Title: “Hallelujah!”

Subject: Praise the Lord!

Complement: Everyone is to praise God everywhere and in every way!

Textual Idea: Everyone is to praise the Lord everywhere and in every way.

Sermon Idea: Let everything that has breath praise the Lord!

Interrogative: How will I praise the Lord?

Key Points: 1. Who We Worship (v.1) 2. Where We Worship (v.1) 3. Why We Worship (v.2) 4. How We Worship (vv.3-5) 5. Who Worships (v.6)

What do I want people to know? I want people to know that God is worthy of praise because of what He has done and who He is. I want them to know that all manner of praise is acceptable when it comes from a whole heart.

What do I want people to do? I want people to (1) try the PRAISE tool, (2) not judge those who worship differently and (3) incorporate praise into their entire lives.

What need am I addressing? I am addressing the need to fulfill our creaturely purpose of praising and worshiping God.

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“Hallelujah!” Psalm 150 October 4, 2020 Let everything that has breath praise the Lord!

Thank you, Steve, for your enthusiastic reading of our psalm this morning!

What is the most memorable worship experience you’ve ever had? For me, there are two that come to mind. First, in 1995, a bunch of us went down to (LCD) RFK Stadium in Washington, D.C. for a men’s Promise Keeper’s conference. There were 50,000 men there from all over the place – different states, different languages, different races, different favorite football teams, different worship styles – but none of that mattered. When the band started playing, we all became one in spirit and truth. I tell you - I’ll never forget the sound of 50.000 uninhibited, wholehearted men singing at the top of their lungs! It was a foretaste of heaven on earth!

The other experience was very different. I had had breakfast with a friend at (LCD) McDonald’s before work, and we went out to my car to pray together before leaving. At one point, my friend began to sing…and he was horribly out of tune. I almost started laughing until I looked over at him and saw tears streaming down his face as he poured out sincere praise and love for Jesus…it was awesome! It was awesome because it was uninhibited, wholehearted and real. He didn’t care if he was in tune musically or not; all that mattered is that he was in tune with the Spirit of God. It was beautiful. I can only imagine how much the Lord enjoyed it!

We’re completing our study of the Psalms today called, (LCD) “Light in the Dark,” and I’ve entitled my sermon “Hallelujah`,” because that’s how the book of Psalms ends – Hallelujah! It begins in Psalm 1 with “Blessed is the one who seeks God…;” and closes with those who seek God blessing the Lord! Full circle. As for the (LCD) outline of this psalm, we’re told the who, where, why, and how of worship! But we’re not just going to talk about praise and worship, we’re going to praise and worship! Amen!?

The psalm starts and ends with the same phrase: “Praise the Lord.” The Hebrew is Hallelujah – Praise Yahweh, the God of Israel. This is just a simple reminder that we’re not just singing to an idea, or to some random god; we’re singing to the one true God, the Living God, the God of Israel, the Great I Am, revealed most clearly in His Son, Jesus Christ. I know it’s a cliché, but what this means is that you are not the audience, Yahweh is. We serve and praise an audience of one. We all are the worship team. As one who led worship at Wintonbury for 21 years, I can tell you that I was never comfortable when the worship team received praise. We aren’t performers, we are servants with you, and our audience is Almighty God. Let’s make sure our praise is reserved for Him only.

And what we’re doing is praising. The word “praise” is referenced thirteen times in six verses and ten of those are commands. Praising God is not a good idea, it is a matter of obedience. To praise simply means to admire or glorify something or someone. The one we are admiring, glorifying, boasting in, is God and He is worthy of that praise. Now as I

2 mentioned last week, some think that this makes God sound like an egoist, like He’s so insecure that He commands us to praise Him. I mentioned that the answer to that is that God deserves this praise, it is right to give it to Him. But I found a quote from C.S. Lewis that gave an even deeper answer as to why God commands that we praise Him. Listen, (LCD) "I think we delight to praise what we enjoy because the praise not merely expresses but completes the enjoyment … It is not out of compliment that lovers keep on telling one another how beautiful they are; the delight is incomplete till it is expressed. It is frustrating to have discovered a new author and not to be able to tell anyone how good he is…to hear a good joke and find no one to share it with…Fully to enjoy is to glorify. In commanding us to glorify Him, God is inviting us to enjoy Him." I think that’s brilliant. Ultimately, the call to praise is about being drawn into intimate relationship with our Father God. Amen!

Next, we read about where we are to worship, “Praise God in his sanctuary; praise him in his mighty heavens.” We are to praise God, boast about Him, bless Him, give Him glory, everywhere! The sanctuary mentioned here it is most likely talking about the Jerusalem Temple; the place on earth where Yahweh dwelled. We are to praise Him on earth and in heaven, His mighty heavens. What strikes me about this is that the worship of earth and the worship of heaven are simultaneous. When we worship the Lord, we are joining in the heavenly chorus.

We see this truth in the book of Revelation, in which we are given a glimpse into heaven’s worship. (LCD) “…the four living creatures and the twenty-four elders fell down before the Lamb. Each one had a harp…Then I heard every creature in heaven and on earth and under the earth and on the sea, and all that is in them, saying: “To him who sits on the throne and to the Lamb be praise and honor and glory and power, for ever and ever!” Notice that it says heaven and earth here. Worship is taking place everywhere, in some capacity, throughout the creation. When I praise and worship the Lord, I like to picture myself singing harmony with some angel or heavenly being. That is one reason why worship has such a powerful effect on us: we are literally entering a portal that binds heaven and earth together. There is a transcendent reality that is realized in worship. Wow! How cool is that!

We worship an audience of one, and we worship Him everywhere. Next is why we worship. Verse 2, “Praise him for his acts of power; praise him for his surpassing greatness.” We worship God for what He does, acts of power like creation and redemption; and we worship God for who He is, for His surpassing greatness. And at this point, I want to stop talking, and start praising. For the next minute or so, I’d like to invite us to say out loud a praise to God; a praise either for something He’s done or for who He is, one of His attributes. For those at home, I have a (LCD) slide with a listing of some of God’s attributes: God is omnipresent – always present, everywhere; God is sovereign – in complete control of everything; God is gracious – He gives great gifts to undeserving children like us; God is loving – He always wants what is best for us; and so on. Praise God for what He’s done or who He is. For those online, type in your praise; for those present here, one at a time, stand and declare your praise to God. Go ahead. (allow for minute or two of praises)

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Having talked about who, where, and why, we turn our attention to how; verse 3, “Praise him with the sounding of the trumpet, praise him with the harp and lyre, 4 praise him with timbrel and dancing, praise him with the strings and pipe, 5 praise him with the clash of cymbals, praise him with resounding cymbals.” Here we’re presented with a full range of instruments used by the Israelites. These include the trumpet, literally, a shofar which was not a metal trumpet but a goat or ram horn like this one. It was blown on special occasions like warriors on marches, watchmen on walls, and worshippers in the temple. It awoke everyone and called them to attention. The harp and lyre were like today’s guitar and bass, strings over boxes – one high pitched, the other low. The timbrel was like a tambourine but without the little metal jingles. Notice dancing; the strings and pipe and the cymbals were also included. What we see here is strings, percussion and wind instruments…a musical crescendo to close out the Psalms!

And what we need to pick up is that contrary to some traditions, it is good and right to use musical instruments in worship. It is also good and right to dance in worship and to be exuberant like David was when he brought the ark up to Jerusalem, (LCD) “David and all Israel were celebrating with all their might before the Lord, with castanets, harps, lyres, timbrels, sistrums and cymbals…Wearing a linen ephod, David was dancing before the Lord with all his might, while he and all Israel were bringing up the ark of the Lord with shouts and the sound of trumpets.” I know that some of us prefer a more meditative and quieter, even stoic approach to worship, and that’s fine; but don’t allow your personal comfort preference to restrict God’s people from boldly and expressively praising God. It is biblical to express! There is no right or wrong here – let’s be careful not to judge one another when it comes to our worship preferences and styles. And with that, let’s pick up our modern-day instruments and praise our Great God! Worship the Lord freely, as He’s made you.

(Sing Agnus Dei)

We’ve gone over the who, where, why, and (to some extent) the how of praise and worship. Lastly, we’re told who the worship team is; verse 6, “Let everything that has breath praise the Lord. Praise the Lord.” If you have breath, you are to praise God; without exception: all of us no matter who we are! And that diversity of worshippers even appears in heaven; Revelation 7, “After this I looked, and there before me was a great multitude that no one could count, from every nation, tribe, people and language, standing before the throne and before the Lamb. They were wearing white robes and were holding palm branches in their hands. And they cried out in a loud voice: “Salvation belongs to our God, who sits on the throne, and to the Lamb.” Notice that ethnicity and culture still exist in heaven. There will be all kinds of worship expressions in heaven: African, Chinese, Jewish, American, black, white, loud, soft, rhythmic, chanting, etc… How awesome! We should learn to appreciate the various cultural expressions of worship now!

Having covered all of this, let me finally return to the how of worship. Psalm 150 describes the how musically, but we know from Scripture, that there is much more than

4 music to praise and worship. And there are many things that can be obstacles to wholehearted worship that pleases God. In this short but profound book, “How to Worship Jesus Christ,” Joseph Carroll lists (LCD) six obstacles to worship: 1. Unsurrendered Heart 2. Unconfessed Sin 3. Wrong Attitudes like bitterness, pride, etc… 4. Enemy Opposition 5. Physical Tiredness 6. Unbelief

All of these will stifle our worship. Lord, please deliver us from these that we might praise You as You deserve to be praised! Praise and worship is a battle; Satan doesn’t want God to be praised. We must fight for our worship; and the starting point is dealing with these obstacles and submitting ourselves wholeheartedly to Jesus. Carroll mentions this in his book, (LCD) “In the days when the Revelation was written, when a king was conquered by the Roman legions, either he was brought to Rome to prostrate himself at the emperor’s feet or a massive image of Caesar was placed before him, and he was required to fall down, casting his crows at its feet. This was an act of total submission.” At the end of the day, worship is about recognizing God’s place. Only totally submitted hearts worship the Lord Jesus.

One of the great writers about worship was the pastor (LCD) A.W. Tozer. Carroll relates this story about him, “When an acquaintance of mine who was called to minister in Chicago arrived in that city, A. W. Tozer called him and said, ‘This city is a devil’s den. It is a very difficult place to minister the Word of God, and you will come up against much opposition from the enemy. If you ever want to pray with me, I’m at the lakeside every morning at five-thirty. Just make your way down and we can pray together.’ Not wanting to bother the great man as he was seeking the Lord, my acquaintance did not immediately accept his offer. But one day he was so troubled that he made his way very early to the lakeside, about six o’clock, only to find God’s servant prostrate upon the sand worshipping God. Needless to say he did not disturb him.” This is what wholehearted submission looks like. May that be true of us.

To close our time, I’d like you all to look at the (LCD) PRAISE handout. This is a tool I was given by Pastor Jack Hayford at a pastor’s conference years ago. I use it in my personal prayer time, and I encourage you to incorporate it as well. Let’s close our time in the psalms by walking through PRAISE. 1. Present Yourself to God - You are meeting with the LIVING God. Present yourself to Him like you would to someone you greatly respect. 2. Raise Your Hands - God is God and you are not! Take a physical posture that emphasizes this truth (kneeling, bowing head, lay prostrate, raising your hands, etc...) 3. Adore Him – As we did earlier, affirm God's greatness. Praise Him for who He is, what He has done, and for His supremacy over all creation. 4. Invite His Presence - Again, you are meeting with a person- the Living God. Consciously invite Him to meet personally with you.

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5. Sing to Him – let’s stand and sing to Him. (“Raise a Hallelujah”) 6. Expect Him to Respond – Lord, thank You for meeting with us as we’ve joined into the praise of heaven. Help us to take on the responsibility to praise You as both a privilege and an opportunity to draw near to the Lover of our Souls. Amen!

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