[0:00] Psalm chapter 135, if you'll turn there and we'll continue. We're out of the Pilgrim Songs. These two psalms are often grouped together with it. I'll read it for you here in a moment.
[0:13] And I'm glad to see my friend Felipe here tonight. He challenged me last night in his home in a Bible study to memorize Matthew 633. And I wanted to memorize it in Spanish before I saw him next.
[0:26] And I don't have it yet. So must buscar primeramente el reino de Dios su justicia. That's all I got so far.
[0:37] All right. I want to work on the pronunciation later. I'm just trying to get the words down. But I didn't know I was going to see you tonight. I thought I had more time. But seeking first the kingdom of God.
[0:50] And my friend last night shared with us about out of Matthew towards the end of it about worry. And having a big view of God will change on a real life minute by minute or moment by moment that was sung about seeing Jesus.
[1:07] It will affect the way that you live your life of worry and anxiety. And it's so true. And so I'm grateful tonight that I get to show you out of Psalm 135 some wonderful things to worship about our God.
[1:22] TJ and I were talking about the difficulty sometimes in our Psalms. Like, for example, Psalm 135 and 136 are pretty similar. And sometimes they're harder to boil down into, like, one summary statement.
[1:33] Like I would like to have. I like the little ones. I like the little bitty Psalms that we just looked at. It's a lot easier to get my mind around all of it and feel like I'm giving you a higher percentage of the passage.
[1:44] But in this one here, it's a longer Psalm. Very similar to Psalm 136. But it's unique in the fact that it has almost every verse as a reference to another portion of Scripture.
[1:54] Whether it be out of the Psalms or it gets referenced in the New Testament. If you have the cross-reference in your Bible, if you can look at that, you will see in Psalm 135 that it is filled with references.
[2:07] If you... All throughout the Bible, there are reasons to worship our God. And this Psalm connects to different reasons throughout the Scripture. I'm going to give you some different categories for them.
[2:20] Because we need to be reminded. Just like I have a hard time memorizing Bible verses, especially in languages I don't speak. All right? It's hard to memorize Bible verses. I can work really hard at it.
[2:31] Those kids don't want to amaze me. They read it, like, twice. They go in there and they say it. That's not the case for me. But all kinds of things are easy to forget. Like, right now it's been super hot.
[2:44] Do you all remember that sometimes in Georgia it can be cold? All right? It's hard to remember that. And this auditorium helps you remember that it can be cold, right? It feels pretty normal tonight.
[2:55] But I forget. When it's so hot, I forget that it was ever cold. I can't imagine it ever being different. I'm just... I think the word is myoptic. You can only see so far. I can only imagine what is right in front of me.
[3:08] In my Christian life, the same way. I can go from zero to worship in about 60 seconds with God's people. But unfortunately, I can go in the other direction just as fast.
[3:20] And we need constant reminding of the goodness of our God. And that's what we're going to look at tonight in the psalm. Or just some simple but powerful reasons that we should praise the Lord.
[3:33] That is the title that I'm giving this tonight. Because that's what is shown at the beginning of the passage. Praise the Lord. Or another way to say it is hallelujah. So let me read and then I'll pray and we'll jump into this.
[3:46] Praise ye the Lord. Praise ye the name of the Lord. Praise him, O ye servants of the Lord. Ye that stand in the house of the Lord, in the courts of the house of our God.
[3:57] Praise the Lord. For the Lord is good. Sing praises unto his name. For it is pleasant. We've experienced that tonight as we have sung. And we also heard music sung for us.
[4:09] For the Lord has chosen Jacob unto himself and Israel for his peculiar treasure. For I know that the Lord is great and that our Lord is above all gods. Whatsoever the Lord pleased, that did he in heaven and in earth and in the seas and in all deep places.
[4:27] He causes the vapors to sin from the ends of the earth. He maketh lightings from the rain. He bringeth the wind out of his treasuries. Who smote the firstborn of Egypt, both the man and beast?
[4:39] Who sent tokens and wonders into the midst of thee? O Egypt, upon Pharaoh and upon all his servants. Who smote great nations and slew mighty kings. Zion, King Amorites and Og, King of Bashan and all the kingdoms of Canaan.
[4:54] And gave their land for an heritage and an heritage unto Israel his people. Thy name, O Lord, endureth forever. And thy memorial, O Lord, throughout all generations.
[5:05] For the Lord will judge his people and he will repent himself concerning his servants. The idols of the heathen are silver and gold. The work of men's hands. They have mouths, but they speak not.
[5:17] Eyes have they, but they see not. They have ears, but they hear not. Neither is there any breath in their mouths. They that make them are like unto them, so is everyone that trusteth in them.
[5:29] Bless the Lord, O house of Israel. Bless the Lord, O house of Aaron. Bless the Lord, O house of Levi. Ye that fear the Lord, bless the Lord. Blessed be the Lord out of Zion, which dwelleth at Jerusalem.
[5:45] Praise ye the Lord. The psalm starts and ends with praise the Lord and bless the Lord. In the middle is a list of reasons that we should do that. We're at a good place tonight for a good purpose.
[5:58] There's many doctrines that we need to study more fully. There's many areas of our lives that we need to bring in fuller submission to God's word. But our purpose tonight is simple and it's singular.
[6:10] And it's the list reasons for praising the Lord. They come from the law, the prophets, and from other psalms. And so we will praise the Lord for his greatness and faithfulness to us.
[6:22] Heavenly Father, I thank you for this opportunity to meet with the purpose of praising your name. Father, you know my heart and you know my day. You know my sin, Lord, and you know my shortcomings.
[6:36] And you know that I am a person that worries more about my name than I should. And I'm a person that worries about temporary things. And I'm a person, Lord, who needs a reminder that your name is great.
[6:51] And that you are worthy to be praised. And that it's your name that should always be upon my lips. And that you are the one that I should always be exalting. You are the one that is worthy of all of our praise.
[7:03] And Lord, if not before the night, Lord, I pray at least in this time that we gather together. That every heart in here, Lord, would be dedicated to focusing upon you and beholding you and your wonders.
[7:16] No matter how big the problems that await for us outside of these doors, may they be made small tonight. As we look at your power and your might. In Jesus' name I pray. Amen.
[7:27] A repeating phrase in this psalm and in many psalms is praise the name of the Lord. It's said about five times at the very beginning of this psalm. Praise you the Lord. Praise His name.
[7:38] And then in verse 3 it says, sing praises unto His name. And so it gives us who should praise the Lord. The servants of the Lord. They should gather. The last psalm at the end with the people in the temple that were working.
[7:51] This psalm says, not just those that work in the temple. But all the servants of the Lord ought to be people that are praising His name. Where should they do it? That they should do it when they come into the courts.
[8:02] They should come into the house of the Lord. It should be a designated purpose for God's people when we get together. That we are going to praise the name of the Lord. And one of the ways in which it's given. It says that we should sing praises to the Lord.
[8:15] I was at, my mother-in-law is here tonight. I'm so glad to see her. My mother by grace as we like to say. Alright. I was at Whitfield Baptist not long ago at a kids program. And the kids stood up and they said praise you the Lord.
[8:28] Hallelujah, hallelujah, hallelujah. How many of y'all want to sing that tonight? Brother Ty, you're in, right? Mishita's in. Alright. Afterwards. We'll do it in the parking lot. Alright. You know that kids song? Praise the Lord. Praise ye the Lord.
[8:38] Hallelujah, hallelujah, hallelujah. But they're saying the same thing back and forth. Hallelujah means praise ye the Lord. And it's a sobering thought to me that any place like this, which is a place where God's people gather for the purpose of praising the Lord, that there would ever be a time where he would not be praised here at 355 Windy Hill Drive.
[8:59] And the way that we do all that we can by God's grace is that we make sure that our lips are praising the Lord in the time in which he has given us and teach our kids to do the same thing.
[9:10] And that's happening not just in this room but in other rooms as well. But we should praise the Lord. And why? And the answer is we should praise the Lord because the Lord is good and it is pleasant. The Lord is good and it is pleasant.
[9:22] It is a good thing to do. It is a healthy thing to do. It is a necessary thing for you to do in your life. Looking out here, Jeff Bush is about the only person I think would be old enough to do this.
[9:33] But you know, remember on a computer? No, you wouldn't have known about this. You're old. Alright. From Missouri there. They would defragment your computer. Matt Malcolm, you with me? You'd defragment your computer. That would take a minute, wouldn't it?
[9:44] Alright, well praise is good to you because you need a defragmenting of your mind at the end of a day. It is pleasant. There's benefits to it. The Bible tells us. It tells us in Psalm 103 verse 2.
[9:57] Bless ye the Lord, O my soul, and forget not all his benefits. It is good because the Lord is good and it is also pleasant. And so just a little bit more about the name of God.
[10:07] So we're supposed to praise ye the name of the Lord. Our same praises unto his name. These are references, his reputation, what he's been revealed to us about him. And so out the Bible we have descriptions of him where he's called Abba or Father or Jesus, Messiah, the anointed one, or El Shaddai, the Almighty.
[10:25] Emmanuel, God is with us. Elohim, the creator, or God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. And so there's these names of him that we should know and that we should lift high and we should talk about.
[10:36] There's also names that give us an understanding like the Lord is my shepherd is a good example. But when we're talking about the name of the Lord, we're talking about his fame name, his reputation, his renown.
[10:48] That making God's name known among all the nations. 3 John, which I'm so much looking forward to sharing with you on Sunday morning, the book of 3 John, it talks about them going out for his namesake, his reputation.
[11:04] Isaiah says his name should be exalted. So we should be lifting high the name of the Lord, making much of Jesus. And that's where worship is. Greg gave us a good, he's been studying about worship now for a couple weeks.
[11:17] So he's always sending me and Bo texts all the time and sharing something with us about worship, which is a wonderful thing to have in a friend. It's somebody constantly trying to teach you about worship. But simply, my favorite definition of worship comes from Psalm 96 verse 8.
[11:32] But it says, Giving unto the Lord the glory that is due unto his name. Making much of the name of God. Giving him the glory that is due. A wholehearted response of us unto God.
[11:44] Engagement with God upon his terms. And so worship is all that we are reacting to whom he is. And so there's a few descriptions that are given for us tonight.
[11:56] Things that the psalmists say, these are things that are worth worshiping. These are things that are worth saying hallelujah about. Alright? And so the first one is verse number 4, which is, Andrew, I've been learning a little bit about football.
[12:17] Alright? In my life. And I don't like it when they punt on a fourth down. If they got like three or four yards to go, I'm like, let's just go for it. It's middle school football. What are we doing? Alright?
[12:28] Just let's go for it. Alright? Alright? But y'all may not know, but Andrew was a kicker, I think, at a Reinhardt. Or, yeah, he was a kicker freshman year at Reinhardt and met him. And so punting is something that I'd often do when I would get to a passage where it would say, For the Lord has chosen Jacob unto himself.
[12:47] Well, that is a passage. That is something that I don't want to punt away. That is not a problem to solve for us. But that's something for us to rejoice in. That God's choice of Israel as a specific individual nation in which he would not neglect the rest of us, but through him, as Genesis 12-3 would say, that all the families would be blessed.
[13:11] And the manger, Luke chapter number 2, when they look down upon Jesus, remembering what was said, it says, And the angel said unto them, Fear not, for behold, I will bring you good tidings of great joy, which shall be to all people.
[13:25] And so I say, Hallelujah, for the Lord had chosen Jacob unto himself, for God's incredible wisdom, and what he did, and through Abraham, and through the children of Israel, that made his name known, that showed us his character.
[13:39] I thank God for that. Some of you, I know this is true about Miss Wendy, your favorite song, it's very deep theologically, is this. Father Abraham had many sons. I am one of them, and so are you.
[13:51] So let's just praise the Lord. Masheeda, you want to sing this one too? All right, this is a good one. If you don't know, if you didn't grow up in church, this is the song where you get a chance to punch your brother in the face. All right? You raise your hand, right arm, left arm, turn around, sit down.
[14:05] Kids love this song. I'm sure, you know, if you don't have a, if you ever teach a kid, you don't come with a lesson, just sing that five times, the time will be over. All right? You can just keep adding different variations to it here.
[14:17] And so we sing that song, but I don't think that we ever, nobody's ever, I don't remember as a kid singing that song and then us sitting us down and saying, now let me tell you why this is so wonderful. Why is it so wonderful that the Lord has chosen Jacob unto himself in Israel for a peculiar treasure?
[14:31] Or what does it mean that the father of Abraham? And so I just remind you, Romans 4, 3, the Bible is clear that Abraham was made righteous by faith and not works. Romans 4, 3.
[14:42] For what saith the scripture? Abraham believed God, and it was counted unto him for righteousness. Then it goes on to say in Galatians, it goes even further, and it says, even Abraham believed God, and it was accounted to him for righteousness.
[14:58] So faith was counted unto Abraham for righteousness. In Genesis 3, 17 it says, And this I say, that the covenant that was confirmed before God in Christ, the law which was 430 years after cannot disannual him, that which shall make the promise of none effect, that Abraham, it was counted unto him for righteousness 430 years before the law was given, making the point that Abraham was not made righteous by the doing of things, by the following of the Ten Commandments.
[15:31] And so what I'm saying, when I am one of them, and so are you, is I'm not telling you that I'm Jewish, and I'm not saying that we are now Israel. What I'm saying unto you is that the same God that Abraham came to in faith, Galatians 3, 8 and 9, and all scripture, foreseeing that God would justify the heathen through faith, preached before the gospel unto Abraham, saying, In these shall all nations be blessed, so then that which be of faith are blessed with faithful Abraham.
[15:59] Father Abraham had many sons, I am one of them, and so are you, so let's just praise the Lord. I say hallelujah with God's design, that Abraham came to him by faith, that God made the children of Israel a picture of his character, and they followed him, and they were sent on errands, and they took the message, and that through them all the nations of the earth are blessed, that Jesus came from them, from that line, and I rejoice in that, and you should as well.
[16:28] And so the Lord has chosen Jacob unto himself, and Israel for peculiar treasure, and all of us in here today, we say praise the Lord. Hallelujah. We rejoice in it. I told you the other night I'm taking a class on cultural studies, and you know, the differences in cultures are not something, they're not a problem for us to solve, but they're something that's wonderful.
[16:49] In Ephesians 3.9, it talks about the mystery, God bringing together Gentile people, and bringing Jewish people together, and inside of the church, the intent now, the principalities, and powers, and heavenly places, it shows the manifold wisdom of God.
[17:04] The fact that God chose Abraham, and that through that, the blessings have come unto us, shows the manifold wisdom of God. The fact the day in which we live in, that God works in the church, I say hallelujah.
[17:18] Next thing here. So God chose Jacob. Secondly, the Lord is great and does wonderful things. Verse 5. For I know the Lord is great, and our Lord is above all gods. Psalm 86.10 says, For thou art great and does wondrous things, thou art God alone.
[17:34] It's very relevant to our lives and everything in life. If you and I saw the greatness of God, we would not be so greedy and covetous. If we saw the greatness of God, our eyes wouldn't stray after lustful images and thoughts.
[17:46] If we saw the greatness of God, we wouldn't get angry at our children so easily. If we saw the greatness of God, we wouldn't pout and get hurt so easily in our marriages. If we saw the greatness of God, we wouldn't worry about our looks so much.
[17:59] If we saw the greatness of God, we wouldn't spend time watching mindless things on television all the time, looking for some form of entertainment. If we saw the greatness of God, we wouldn't get so discouraged with the evil and godlessness around us.
[18:14] If we saw the greatness of God, we wouldn't give in to our appetites of boredom and depression. Seeing the greatness of God would change us from day to day. It should.
[18:25] The Bible tells us that beholding is becoming. I'm sure you've heard that before. That comes from 2 Corinthians 3.18. But we, with an open face, beholding as in a glass the glory of the Lord, and are changed the name and image from glory to glory, same image from glory to glory, even as by the Spirit of the Lord.
[18:43] You know, the world in which we live, the world you live in, the world I live in, should be one in the same place. But in the smaller versions where you work with, and your family, or in this community, I think a lot about this community, the Denmark community, that's, there's a park, there's a high school, and I think about this community a lot, and they need to see the glory of God.
[19:06] And you and I should not think about our smallness as an obstacle to that. Just as a telescope is a very small instrument, but it helps people see the realities of the sky, is that you and I ought to be people that as we flip through these pages, we say the Lord is great, and He does wonderful things.
[19:25] Hallelujah. And in our lives, we ought to be living with that knowledge, being lived out, and pointing to other people to it. People that don't see it. People that are beholding other things.
[19:35] People that are interested in other things. We should live our lives as telescopes, always pointing to the wonder of the Lord, and showing Him. And then, God fights for His people.
[19:46] Verse 6, Whatsoever the Lord pleased, that did He in heaven and earth, and the seas and all deep places. Our God is sovereign. Our God wins. Our God fights for His people.
[19:57] Verses 8 and 9 speak about the deliverance from the Hebrews from Egypt and the Exodus. He smote the firstborn of Egypt, both man and beast, who sent tokens and wonders in the midst of them. And so they praise the Lord.
[20:08] They say, Hallelujah. God has fought for His people and delivered us out of Egypt. And then, the conquest of the promised land. He not only took us out of sin, not only out of evil and out of this world, but now in the promised land, He has smote great nations, verse 10, and slew mighty kings.
[20:23] And He names them, and He gave their land for a heritage, and a heritage unto the Lord. He continues the fight. Deliverance of Hebrews from Egypt, conquest of the promised land.
[20:33] And I think tonight you would say as well, Hallelujah, that the Lord has fought your battles, that He has done in your life. He has allowed you to overcome the things that seem to be unable, to be overcome in your own strength, in your own power.
[20:48] Sometimes in His loving kindness, God fights us on behalf of ourselves. Have you ever fought with the Holy Spirit, where the Holy Spirit was just trying to protect you from yourself? God fights for His people, and I say, Hallelujah.
[21:02] Then the Lord will judge. Verse 14, For the Lord shall judge His people, and repent Himself concerning His servants. The psalmist now wishes to draw a comparison, a contrast between the one true God, which is ours, who will judge His people, and that's ultimately the end of all the story.
[21:19] And it's comparing it here to a group of idols who cannot see the truth, they cannot hear the truth, they have no voice, they have no life in them. Then it goes on to say that not only is that true of the idols, but that is true of those that worship them.
[21:33] They have become like these silent idols that cannot hear, and our God will judge, and we say Hallelujah to that.
[21:44] And then lastly, We bless the Lord because He lives among His people. Verse, Psalm 135 concludes with these five calls to praise the Lord. Five times that it calls, Bless the name of the Lord.
[21:56] And so there's a respect and a reverence that's appropriate in this recognition that He is good, He is great, He is gracious, and He is like no other gods.
[22:07] The God who can dwell among us chose as an act of grace to live among His people. He is not there, He is not far away, but He is here. He lives inside of us.
[22:19] And no wonder God's people would shout with great praise, Hallelujah. So Psalm 135 ends with verse 19 and 20, Bless the Lord, O you house of Israel. Bless the Lord, O house of Aaron.
[22:31] Bless the Lord, O house of Levi. Ye that fear the Lord, bless the Lord. That is our desire. That's what we say Hallelujah to. Luke, I think, told me, I think Audrey told me, is Luke still back here, all right?
[22:44] There you are, Luke. All right. You're married in 23 days, right? Yeah. Yeah, he doesn't have any idea. All right. He hesitated. He doesn't know. But what young couple, they don't get married for a marriage ceremony.
[22:56] They want to spend life together, right? And as Christians, we do not come together just to become Christian, but we come to Him, to the Father, because we want to spend our life in eternity.
[23:08] And we say Hallelujah that He is present. And we say Hallelujah even in our lives when we are running from Him, and we are fighting against Him, that He does not leave us or forsake us.
[23:22] In bad times, He doesn't leave. And in times where we rebel against Him, He stays there and brings conviction. And so God's people, we say, Hallelujah, that He dwells among us, among our houses.
[23:34] He is with us. And then in closing here, before I pray this psalm, and thank the Lord for these blessings that are upon us, that Jesus perfectly shows us the nature of our great God.
[23:45] And looking at all these reasons tonight that we can say Hallelujah, praise the Lord, we can say, as says in verse number 5, For I know that the Lord is great, and the Lord is above all gods.
[23:55] If you want to know the greatness of God, we look to Jesus. He shall be great, and He shall be called the Son of the Highest. And so that's the announcement tonight from the psalm. It's the announcement from the angels.
[24:07] It's my announcement to you tonight, is that He is great. And so let's thank Him tonight. As God's people, we should say Hallelujah. We should say praise the Lord.
[24:20] Heavenly Father, I thank You for this psalm. I thank You for how clearly it reminds me of things that I'm very prone to forget. First off, Lord, tonight I want to thank You for Your manifold wisdom throughout history.
[24:34] I want to thank You for choosing Jacob and how through them and through the nation of Israel I receive the Word of God that the Messiah has come and that the blessing of nations, Lord, has come to me from Your wonderful plan.
[24:48] And I thank You for that, Lord. I say praise Your holy name. Father, I want to thank You today for the wonderful things that You have done, the wonderful works that You have done in my life.
[25:00] As I look to You, Lord, my life aligns with recognizing that You are the most powerful God and You are unlike any of the gods, the false gods of this world.
[25:12] Father, would You take my life and the life of my brothers and sisters that use it to be the magnify to exalt. May we be people that point to Your greatness.
[25:23] Father, I thank You for fighting our fights, for being a God that is not passive, but one that is involved in human history and in my life. And Lord, not only fighting the battles around me, but fighting the battle inside of me, Lord, fighting against sin and discouragement.
[25:41] Lord, I thank You for being a great God. And Father, I thank You that You, Your Son, will judge, that He will sit upon the throne and He will judge. And I say praise Your name for that, that I can live only for Your glory without the fear of man because You are the only one that I will ever give an account to for all eternity.
[26:01] And I say praise Your name for that. And Father, lastly of the night, I want to say hallelujah. I want to say praise Your name because You dwell among us, that we are indwelled by the Holy Spirit, that we are never left alone, that nothing separates us from Your love, that You, Lord, have fought for us and that You have stayed with us on our best days and on our worst days, Lord.
[26:26] You dwell among Your people and we thank You for that. And we want to praise Your holy name. In Jesus' name I pray. Amen.