[0:00] Last week, as I shared, we're in Psalms and talking about the importance of praising God! for the amazing God that He is.
[0:10] We are in Psalms again, and I'm going to ask you to turn to Psalms 145 for today. Last week, we looked at 146, 47 for 8, 9 to 50. We looked at kind of all those chapters. If you remember, there was something each one of those chapters in Psalms had in common, and that was that each one of those chapters, the last five chapters in Psalms, start with praise ye the Lord, and they end with praise ye the Lord. And we need to remember that that is a lesson for us, that our day should start with praise the Lord. Our day should end with praise the Lord. Our life should begin by praising the Lord. It should end with praising the Lord. And what do you think we should do in the middle of all that? Praise the Lord. Today, we're going to look at Psalms 145. So if you're there, I'm going to ask if you'd stand, if you're able, as we read God's Word. Psalms 145, beginning in the first verse, and this is what God's Word shares this morning. I will extol you, my God, O King, and I will bless your name forever and ever. Every day will I bless you, and I will praise your name forever and ever.
[1:20] Great is the Lord, and greatly to be praised. His greatness is unsearchable. One generation shall praise your works to another and shall declare your mighty acts. I will speak of the glorious honor of your majesty and of your wondrous works. And men shall speak of the might of your terrible acts, and I will declare your greatness. They shall abundantly utter the memory of your great goodness, and shall sing of your righteousness. The Lord is gracious and full of compassion, slow to anger and of great mercy. The Lord is good to all, and His tender mercies are over all His works.
[1:58] All your works shall praise you, O Lord, and your saints shall bless you. They shall speak of the glory of your kingdom and talk of your power, to make known to the sons of men His mighty acts and the glorious majesty of His kingdom. Your kingdom is an everlasting kingdom. Your dominion endures throughout all generations. The Lord upholds all that fall and raises up all those that be bowed down.
[2:24] The eyes of all wait upon you, and you give them their meat in due season. You open your hand and satisfy the desires of every living thing. The Lord is righteous in all His ways and holy in all His works.
[2:38] The Lord is near to all them that call upon Him, to all that call upon Him in truth. He will fulfill the desire of them that fear Him. He also will hear their cry and will save them. The Lord preserves all them that love Him, but all the wicked will He destroy. My mouth shall speak the praise of the Lord, and let all flesh bless His holy name forever and ever.
[3:08] Let's pray together. Lord God, we thank You once again for this morning that You've given us. Lord, we thank You for so many things. We thank You for each one of us just that we have the health and the ability to be here in Your house, to be with our church family, to be in Your presence, to bring our request to You, to share our praises with You, and now to hear Your message from Your Word. And I pray, Lord, that it would sink into our hearts and minds, that our lives would reflect Your Word more and more every day. So speak to our hearts today, Lord. In the name of Jesus, we pray. Amen. You can be seated this morning.
[3:49] You know, the first verse in this chapter of Psalms, it's interesting the way it starts. The first two words, I will. What does that mean, I will?
[4:06] I will do it. So what does that mean when you say, I will do it? You're making a promise. You're making a vow. You are saying, this is something that I'm saying I'm going to do, and I'm going to do it. I will. It's a vow that's being made. And what it's saying is, this is a Psalm of David. He says, I will, not I might, not I'll think about, not I will if I have the time. I will extol You, my God. What does it mean to extol someone? That's not a word we use a lot. What does extol mean? It means to lift up. It means to praise. And He's saying, I will lift You up. I will praise You, my God, O King, and I will bless Your name. Again, blessing God's name. That's kind of the same thing as praising God's name. He's saying, I will do this. And how long does He say He's going to do this for? Forever and ever. How many things can you say that you're going to do forever and ever? Think about that for a minute. How many things can you say, I'm going to do forever and ever? Yeah, not very many. But guess what? Praising
[5:24] God is something that you can say, I can do forever and ever. Because we can do it now. We can do it tomorrow. And even after we die, what can we be continuing to do? Praising God. When we're in heaven, what do you think we're going to be doing? Praising God. It is something that we can say, I will do this forever and ever. But when does that need to start? Now, David is saying, this is something I will do. I will bless the name of the Lord forever and ever. And then he starts the second verse. Look what he says right after that. Every day, I will bless you and I will praise your name forever and ever. He is saying day in and day out. I am saying, I am promising that I am going to praise my God day in and day out. That means when you're having a good day, what should you do?
[6:21] Praise God. Praise God. That also means when you're not having a good day. And let's all be honest, are there days that are better than others in our lives? Are there days that you go through and you just think, this day is hard. This day is not what I wanted. This day is not what I expected. Do we have days like that? If you wonder about it, ask Leonard or ask Denny. They had a day this past week that was not at all what they expected or wanted, right? That's all of us. We have days that are just hard and difficult and yet we still have to, in the midst of that, do what? Praise God.
[7:06] One of my favorite verses, and we're not going to take the time to... Yeah, we are. Look in Habakkuk. Look in the book of Habakkuk. It's not a book that we look in a whole lot. Habakkuk chapter 3.
[7:21] Well, there's only three chapters. There's only three chapters to begin with. Habakkuk chapter 3. It's right before Zephaniah, if that helps you at all. Habakkuk chapter 3, beginning in verse 17.
[7:34] You've heard me share these verses before because they're... I won't say they're some of my favorite because I have a lot of favorite. But the sentiment of what these verses say have a lot to do with us praising God day in and day out because it's easy to praise God in the good times when things are going the way we want them to. But this is what it says in Habakkuk chapter 3, beginning in verse 17.
[7:56] Although the fig tree shall not blossom, neither shall fruit be in the vines, the labor of the olive shall fail, the field shall yield no meat, the flock shall be cut off from the fold, and there shall be no herd in the stalls. What is that verse saying? In that verse, nothing is going right according to what we think in life. There's no herd in the stalls. There's no fruit on the vine. Nothing is happening that you want to happen. In verse 18, yet, yet I will. There's that I will again.
[8:28] I will rejoice in the Lord. I will joy in the God of my salvation. The Lord is my strength, and He will make my feet like hinds feet. He will make me to walk upon mine high places.
[8:40] Even when things are not the way we want them to be, even though things may be different than what we had planned, what do we still need to do? Praise God. And that verse in Habakkuk said, even though everything's going haywire, nothing's going right, it still said, I will. There is still that determination that this is something I am going to do every day, regardless of how the day goes, doesn't change the fact that I'm still going to praise my God. Folks, that is the heart that God wants to see in us. You know, this Psalm that we're looking at now, 145, was written by David.
[9:17] David lived a life that was a roller coaster of a life. David had some real highs in his life. He was a shepherd boy that was anointed to be king. I mean, that's quite a roller coaster, isn't it?
[9:28] Right. And he was a tremendous king. God says he's a man after his own heart. But you know, David had some tough times in life. He had times where he was fleeing for his life because people wanted to kill him. First, it was King Saul. Later, it was his son. There were times he was literally fleeing for his life. And there were times he wished things were going different. But you know what he still did? He praised God. Folks, that for our lives as a believer, for as a Christian, that should be central to who we are praising God. But in Psalms 45, there's an additional thing that it adds in here. After David makes this vow that I will praise God, I want you to look on down just a little bit. Psalms 145 in verse 4. I want you to look at what it says.
[10:20] One generation shall praise your name to another, shall praise your works to another, and shall declare your mighty acts. What is that verse talking about?
[10:39] Yeah, we talked earlier about him making this vow, but now there is a responsibility that goes along with that. One generation to another. That means from one generation, as that generation moves along, there's another generation that comes up. What has to stay the same? What needs to stay the same from generation to generation? Praising God needs to remain the same. And we have a responsibility to praise God in a way that the next generation will want to praise God in that same way.
[11:13] That is a responsibility that all...if you're a believer, that is a responsibility that you have. And you know, we are...we talk a lot about the differences from generations to generations, right? Right? And some of us are in different generations than others, right? Right? I mean, they talk about some of you are in the boomer generation, right? And then came along, what next? My generation, generation X. Yeah, we're just X. Generation X. And then after generation X comes the...I think it's millennials after that, right? And then after the millennials, it's Gen Z, I think. And then after Gen Z, it's the latest generation...Gen Alpha. Very good. It's what they're calling this...I have no idea who comes up with all that, Jerry. I cannot answer that question.
[12:11] But we talk about these different generations. Are there differences from generation to generation? Is Gen Alpha, this next generation, are they different than the boomers? Absolutely. Gen X, my generation, is it different from the millennial generation?
[12:27] Yes, because this millennial generation came up...they grew up with technology. We didn't. When I was in high school, we had Atari computers. And we had typewriters to do...again, differences from generations to generations. And we can talk about all these differences, which are there, but there is one thing that should not be different. Every one of these generations should praise God. And the boomers should show the Gen X how to praise God. They should show the millennials how to praise God. They should show Gen Z how to praise God. They should show...it should just continue on down. And it can jump generations. That's the amazing thing. If you're in the boomer generation, can you show a Gen Alpha how to praise God? Everybody go like this.
[13:17] Yes, you can. If you are older in life...I won't define older. If you are in the older category, can you show a young child how to praise God? Yes. Is that part of our responsibility? Yes.
[13:35] And that is what David is saying here. From one generation, one generation shall praise your works to another. Your works. That's talking about the things that God does. Praising God for what He has done in your life, the things that you have seen God do. Speaking that, saying it out loud. Because look at what he says in the very next verse, verse 5. I will do what? Speak.
[14:07] That means you're saying it. You're not keeping it to yourself. The next generation should see and hear you praising God for what He's done in your life. The kids in the church should hear you giving praise to God for what He's done in your life. Your children, your grandchildren, your great-grandchildren should hear your praise for God come out of your mouth.
[14:34] Thank you, Jerry. That should get some amens, shouldn't it? That is our responsibility. You know, I think of my children. I need to make sure that they are seeing and hearing me give the glory and praise to God. I need to make sure...I've got two of my grandchildren here this morning. I need to make sure as they grow up that they hear me giving the praise to God for what He has done in my life. That they understand that anything I accomplish in my life, anything I'm able to do, every good thing I have comes from God. It is so vital that I help them to see that because they are the next generation. And if they don't see it and hear it from me, who are they going to see it and hear it from? There's no guarantee they're going to see it and hear it from anybody else. That's part of my responsibility. But it's yours as well. You know, I'll use just as an example of my grandchildren that are here. If you get up and praise God or they hear you praising God, does that send them a message? Yes. And the same is true for every child that is in this church.
[15:40] Guess what? They are looking at you and they are listening to you. You know, it can even be the young children that sometimes we think they are not paying attention at all. You ever think that? Be honest. Are they though? Yes. I can't even begin to name the number of times that I'm up here sharing and all of a sudden there'll be a little one that looks like they're doing nothing, doing their own thing. And all of a sudden their ears will perk up because they heard me say something.
[16:06] They're listening. They're watching you and me. And you know what they better see and hear us doing? Praising God. One generation to another. That doesn't happen by chance. It happens by teaching and sharing and showing. Today's sermon, that's simple. That's it. That's all there is. Our responsibility to praise God and to pass that along to the generations to come. And that is all of our responsibility. And it's not just passing it to the young children. It's anyone else around you. They need to see you praising God.
[16:49] How many of you have something to praise God for? Raise your hand if you have something to praise God for. If you, you can put them down. If you are a believer, you have something to praise God for.
[17:01] He sent His Son, Jesus Christ, to die on the cross for your sins so that you could have eternal life. Your sins can be wiped out and be made blank. If you've experienced that, you have something pretty amazing to praise God for, don't you?
[17:15] You all have the health to be here. Who gave you that? You all have the clothing to wear to be here. Who allowed you to have all that? He gives us breath. He gives us life. He gives us hope. He gives us joy. Folks, the list goes on and on.
[17:31] And there's never a shortage of things to praise God for. That's never the question. The question is always, are we praising Him for those things? From generation to generation. I love the song that we sang earlier, and I never know what they're going to pick out. May all who come behind us find us faithful. May the fire of our devotion light their way. I don't remember the rest of the words right now, but that's exactly what we're talking about. Our faith being shown, our praise being shown so that others see it and are pointed to Jesus Christ. Let's make sure in our lives that we are doing that faithfully so that the next generation will praise God the same way we praise God or maybe even more than we praise God. Make the vow to praise God every day, forever and ever, like David did.
[18:25] Then do it. The next generation will take note of that, folks. Let's pray. Lord God, thank You again for this morning that You've given us, and I thank You for Your Word. And Lord, so often there are things in Your Word that aren't complicated, but Lord, we need reminded of them. We need sometimes that fire lit within us. Sometimes we need just stirred up just a little bit. And Lord, I pray as we talk about praise, that it stirs us up to remember how much we have to praise You for and the importance of us praising You, not just in our homes when nobody else is around, but in front of others so they see us praise You, so that we pass that along to generations that will follow. Lord, help us to be faithful in that always because You are a God that is so deserving of our praise. Lord, help us to do that daily and to share it with generations to come. In the name of Jesus, we pray, and all God's family said, Amen.