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Sunday, November 9, 2014

Praising The Lord

Praise The Lord

Psalms 47


Our English word "praise" comes from the Latin word "pretium". Pretium means "price" or "value".

Praise may be bestowed upon unworthy objects or for the wrong reasons but true praise consists of a sincere acknowledgment of a real conviction of worth.

In other words the object of our praise should be of great value spiritually!

Praise is inspired by a sense of worthiness!

There can only be "One" who can be the "object" of our praise!

Rev 4:11  Thou art worthy, O Lord, to receive glory and honour and power: for thou hast created all things, and for thy pleasure they are and were created.

There can only be "One" who can be the "reason" for our praise!

Rev 5:12  Saying with a loud voice, Worthy is the Lamb that was slain to receive power, and riches, and wisdom, and strength, and honour, and glory, and blessing.

And there are certain ways that we must offer up praise to our Lord.

Let's begin:

*****Psa 47:1  To the chief Musician, A Psalm for the sons of Korah. O clap your hands, all ye people; shout unto God with the voice of triumph.

Today, hand clapping has come to mean simply applause for a performance.

Those that enjoyed the performance clapped while those that did not remained silent.

Applause is expressed with the hands as acclamation is expressed with our voices.

In Bible times when people gathered for their kings or rulers acclamation was performed by a chorus of music, especially instructed for that purpose.

In other words professionals were hired for the chorus.

But many are not aware that there were professionals hired also for applause.

Persons were also appointed for the purpose of applauding or clapping and even special teachers were employed to teach the art of clapping.

The applause was even divided into choruses and placed opposite to each other just like the choristers in some cathedrals are today.

How many of you have ever witnessed our own president when he comes to certain events, he can hardly speak without certain ones breaking out in applause or standing ovations.

We can be sure at least some of these are professionals!

In the Bible the clapping of hands was to be about praise not so much enjoyment. Worship is not about our own enjoyment!

In the Bible the clapping of hands was to be about triumph not about our own entertainment!

What is worship?

What is the truth of the Bible?

Only God is to be worshiped!

What did Jesus say to Satan?

Mat 4:9  And saith unto him, All these things will I give thee, if thou wilt fall down and worship me.
Mat 4:10  Then saith Jesus unto him, Get thee hence, Satan: for it is written, "Thou shalt worship the Lord thy God, and him only shalt thou serve".

This has not changed but it seems today that many places built for the worship of God are more about entertainment for those that come.

The Lord Jesus Christ can receive worship only because He is equal with God just as is the Holy Spirit.

2Co 13:14  The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, and the love of God, and the communion of the Holy Ghost, be with you all. Amen.

Our worship must be in accordance with the truth that God has revealed to us or it is not acceptable in the eyes of God!

Joh 4:24  God is a Spirit: and they that worship him must worship him in spirit and in truth.

Our worship must involve presenting our entire being to God!

Rom 12:1  I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service.
Rom 12:2  And be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God.

Our worship must involve making a joyful noise unto Our Lord!

Psa 98:4  Make a joyful noise unto the LORD, all the earth: make a loud noise, and rejoice, and sing praise.

Our worship must include shouting the victory!

1Co 15:57  But thanks be to God, which giveth us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.

Who are the ones directed to worship?

"All ye people".

These are the ones who gather to worship the One True Living God!

These are the same ones who are to also carry this message of worship to all the people of this earth!

What is this message?

The prophecy of our soon coming King!

*****Psa 47:2  For the LORD most high is terrible; he is a great King over all the earth.
Psa 47:3  He shall subdue the people under us, and the nations under our feet.

To the Jews, the Lord most high was called "El Elyon", God Most High, this emphasizes the supreme God!

It is the Most High God who is the true possessor of Heaven and Earth!

Jesus said:

Luk 10:21  In that hour Jesus rejoiced in spirit, and said, I thank thee, O Father, "Lord of heaven and earth", that thou hast hid these things from the wise and prudent, and hast revealed them unto babes: even so, Father; for so it seemed good in thy sight.

That word terrible means the Lord is to be feared and revered and worshiped and at times He can be frightful.

When will He be King?

***Jesus will first return in the clouds to fulfill the hope of the Church:

1Co 15:51  Behold, I shew you a mystery; We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed,
1Co 15:52  In a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trump: for the trumpet shall sound, and the dead shall be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed.

1Th 4:16  For the Lord himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God: and the dead in Christ shall rise first:
1Th 4:17  Then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air: and so shall we ever be with the Lord.

Tit 2:13  Looking for that blessed hope, and the glorious appearing of the great God and our Saviour Jesus Christ;
Tit 2:14  Who gave himself for us, that he might redeem us from all iniquity, and purify unto himself a peculiar people, zealous of good works.

***Jesus will then return to judge the unbelievers left from the Church Age and rescue His people Israel:

Rev 19:11  And I saw heaven opened, and behold a white horse; and he that sat upon him was called Faithful and True, and in righteousness he doth judge and make war.

Zec 14:3  Then shall the LORD go forth, and fight against those nations, as when he fought in the day of battle.
Zec 14:4  And his feet shall stand in that day upon the mount of Olives, which is before Jerusalem on the east, and the mount of Olives shall cleave in the midst thereof toward the east and toward the west, and there shall be a very great valley; and half of the mountain shall remove toward the north, and half of it toward the south.

***This will be the time of the inauguration of the millennial reign of King Jesus:

Mic 5:4  And he shall stand and feed in the strength of the LORD, in the majesty of the name of the LORD his God; and they shall abide: for now shall he be great unto the ends of the earth.

Zec 9:10  And I will cut off the chariot from Ephraim, and the horse from Jerusalem, and the battle bow shall be cut off: and he shall speak peace unto the heathen: and his dominion shall be from sea even to sea, and from the river even to the ends of the earth.

You see the battle for eternal life has never been ours, it has always been the Lord's!

This is why all God's people can clap their hands. God's victory is our victory!

The Church has been persecuted since it's beginning but on this day the Lord will place all those that persecuted His Church under our feet!

It is only after the 1000 year millennial reign of King Jesus that the end of this earth will come:

1Co 15:24  Then cometh the end, when he shall have delivered up the kingdom to God, even the Father; when he shall have put down all rule and all authority and power.
1Co 15:25  For he must reign, till he hath put all enemies under his feet.
1Co 15:26  The last enemy that shall be destroyed is death.

Clap your hands Church because the Lord has chosen our inheritance for us.

*****Psa 47:4  He shall choose our inheritance for us, the excellency of Jacob whom he loved. Selah.

God knows what is best for His people in this life and in that eternal life to come, but we must also remember God will not subdue our enemies under us unless we have allowed Him to choose our life-plan in this life.

We must submit our will, our choices, and our desires to the will of our Father, who will return as King.

We should remember what Jesus said:

Joh 14:2  In my Father's house are many mansions: if it were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you.
Joh 14:3  And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again, and receive you unto myself; that where I am, there ye may be also.

It would be a foolishness for all those who would not let the Lord choose our inheritance for us!

When the Lord returns, He will come to fight for His people Israel and Jerusalem will finally be at peace.

Zec 14:9  And the LORD shall be king over all the earth: in that day shall there be one LORD, and his name one.

There will only be one King over this entire earth, and the Lord will rule as King from Jerusalem.

Zec 14:11  And men shall dwell in it, and there shall be no more utter destruction; but Jerusalem shall be safely inhabited.

There will be no rockets fired from Gaza or Lebanon in that day. There will be no need for bomb shelters in Israel.

All the gates of Israel will be open and all the world will come to worship the King of Kings.

Zec 14:16  And it shall come to pass, that every one that is left of all the nations which came against Jerusalem shall even go up from year to year to worship the King, the LORD of hosts, and to keep the feast of tabernacles.

And Selah! We need to pause and reflect on all these things and realize we have many reasons to be praising our God!

Clap your hands all ye people!

*****Psa 47:5  God is gone up with a shout, the LORD with the sound of a trumpet.
Psa 47:6  Sing praises to God, sing praises: sing praises unto our King, sing praises.

When all these things have been completed and the Lord is at home with all His saints there will be a great celebration in Heaven.

The angels celebrate when every sinner is saved, we can be sure they will all celebrate when the Lord Jesus returns to rule this earth!

Jesus said:

Rev 21:5  And he that sat upon the throne said, Behold, I make all things new. And he said unto me, Write: for these words are true and faithful.
Rev 21:6  And he said unto me, "It is done". I am Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the end. I will give unto him that is athirst of the fountain of the water of life freely.
Rev 21:7  He that overcometh shall inherit all things; and I will be his God, and he shall be my son.

God never ceases to be good so we should never cease to sing praises to our King.

*****Psa 47:7  For God is the King of all the earth: sing ye praises with understanding.
Psa 47:8  God reigneth over the heathen: God sitteth upon the throne of his holiness.

The most important thing we see here is that God is the King of all the earth and all the earth is singing praises. This will happen somewhere in our future.

We have been learning about the Maschil Psalms. Those are the songs that just by singing we can have a better understanding of the Word of God.

Well God said, when we see all these things come together we will sing songs of understanding.

We can sing songs of understanding today because upon the gift of salvation we are filled and sealed with the Holy Spirit and He is our understanding until our Lord returns.

The Jews in the time of Jesus resented this truth and if they could have had their own way they would have kept God to themselves and some still try to do this today.

The Apostle Paul had to preach a sermon on this to the Jews in Rome, because no matter who we are, we can only be justified by faith.

Rom 3:28  Therefore we conclude that a man is justified by faith without the deeds of the law.
Rom 3:29  Is he the God of the Jews only? is he not also of the Gentiles? Yes, of the Gentiles also:
Rom 3:30  "Seeing it is one God", which shall justify the circumcision by faith, and uncircumcision through faith.

The promise God the Father made to God the Son will be fulfilled!

Psa 2:7  I will declare the decree: the LORD hath said unto me, Thou art my Son; this day have I begotten thee.
Psa 2:8  Ask of me, and I shall give thee the heathen for thine inheritance, and the uttermost parts of the earth for thy possession.
Psa 2:9  Thou shalt break them with a rod of iron; thou shalt dash them in pieces like a potter's vessel.

And it can be fulfilled only after the Church has been removed from this earth!

Rev 20:2  And he laid hold on the dragon, that old serpent, which is the Devil, and Satan, and bound him a thousand years,
Rev 20:3  And cast him into the bottomless pit, and shut him up, and set a seal upon him, that he should deceive the nations no more, till the thousand years should be fulfilled: and after that he must be loosed a little season.
Rev 20:4  And I saw thrones, and they sat upon them, and judgment was given unto them: and I saw the souls of them that were beheaded for the witness of Jesus, and for the word of God, and which had not worshipped the beast, neither his image, neither had received his mark upon their foreheads, or in their hands; and they lived and reigned with Christ a thousand years.

This is the time when King Jesus will sit on His throne, the throne of David!

Isa 9:7  Of the increase of his government and peace there shall be no end, upon the throne of David, and upon his kingdom, to order it, and to establish it with judgment and with justice from henceforth even for ever. The zeal of the LORD of hosts will perform this.

And this is that same Jesus that was born to the virgin Mary.

Luk 1:31  And, behold, thou shalt conceive in thy womb, and bring forth a son, and shalt call his name JESUS.
Luk 1:32  He shall be great, and shall be called the Son of the Highest: and the Lord God shall give unto him the throne of his father David:
Luk 1:33  And he shall reign over the house of Jacob for ever; and of his kingdom there shall be no end.

*****Psa 47:9  The princes of the people are gathered together, even the people of the God of Abraham: for the shields of the earth belong unto God: he is greatly exalted.

Notice that all people will be represented. The rich and the poor. The rulers and the ordinary people.

The same God in which Abraham had faith in is also the only God of faith for this entire world!

What did Jacob prophesy of his son Judah?

Gen 49:10  The sceptre shall not depart from Judah, nor a lawgiver from between his feet, until Shiloh come; and unto him shall the gathering of the people be.

Who is this Shiloh?

Shiloh is the One sent from God the Father.

Joh 17:3  And this is life eternal, that they might know thee the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom thou hast sent.

Shiloh is that rod of the stem of Jesse.

Isa 11:1  And there shall come forth a rod out of the stem of Jesse, and a Branch shall grow out of his roots:

Shiloh is then the Messiah!

Rom 15:12  And again, Esaias saith, There shall be a root of Jesse, and he that shall rise to reign over the Gentiles; in him shall the Gentiles trust.

And there is none else that can compare to Him!

What should we all be doing until Christ returns?

1Co 15:58  Therefore, my beloved brethren, be ye stedfast, unmoveable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, forasmuch as ye know that your labour is not in vain in the Lord.

If you have that close and personal relationship with the Lord then you have no reason not to praise Him!

If we come to the house of God seeking a blessing for ourselves we may be disappointed!

If we come to the house of God seeking some knowledge or information that we do not already have we may not find it!

If we come seeking to be refreshed then that refreshment may not last very long!

But if we just realize the "Grace" and the "goodness" of God we will come to praise Him and Him only!

We do not have any reason not to praise the God of our salvation!

Questions?

Let's Pray!

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