House of Hope Online

October 29, 2023

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Last week we discussed a dream in which the Lord directed us to honor and worship Him as “dear Lord.”  When we worship Him, we are praising everything about Him: who He is, His holy name, His loving nature, His wisdom, His power and might, His willingness and ability to deliver us from evil, and much more.  Worship is telling God we know who He is, and we love who He is.  In last week’s word, we saw a powerful example of worship from Daniel when the Lord revealed a mystery in a night vision:

Daniel 2:

 20 Daniel answered and said, “Let the name of God be blessed forever and ever, For wisdom and power belong to Him.

 21 “And it is He who changes the times and the epochs; He removes kings and establishes kings; He gives wisdom to wise men, And knowledge to men of understanding.

 22 “It is He who reveals the profound and hidden things; He knows what is in the darkness, And the light dwells with Him.

 23 “To Thee, O God of my fathers, I give thanks and praise, For Thou hast given me wisdom and power….”

The Bible encourages us to continually offer a sacrifice of praise to God through Jesus:

Hebrews 13:

 15 Through Him then, let us continually offer up a sacrifice of praise to God, that is, the fruit of lips that give thanks to His name.

I love the description of praise as “the fruit of lips that give thanks to His name.”  We find another example of the fruit of lips from Paul’s letter to the Ephesians:

Ephesians 3:

 20 Now to Him who is able to do exceeding abundantly beyond all that we ask or think, according to the power that works within us,

 21 to Him [be] the glory in the church and in Christ Jesus to all generations forever and ever. Amen.

In Psalms 100, the psalmist teaches us that joyful thanksgiving and praise are the entrance keys to the presence of the Lord:

Psalms 100:

 1 ¶ (A Psalm for Thanksgiving.) Shout joyfully to the LORD, all the earth.

 2 Serve the LORD with gladness; Come before Him with joyful singing.

 3 Know that the LORD Himself is God; It is He who has made us, and not we ourselves; [We are] His people and the sheep of His pasture.

 4 Enter His gates with thanksgiving, [And] His courts with praise. Give thanks to Him; bless His name.

 5 For the LORD is good; His lovingkindness is everlasting, And His faithfulness to all generations.  (NASB)

With that as a foundation, let us look at two Psalms of David and use them as a sacrifice of praise for today.  With recent events in the middle east and elsewhere, I feel like we are living in a time when praising the Lord is especially critical for us.  So, let us receive the Spirit of praise in these Psalms and allow the Holy Spirit to draw us into worship.

Psalms 145:

 1 ¶ ([A Psalm of] Praise, of David.) I will extol Thee, my God, O King; And I will bless Thy name forever and ever.

 2 Every day I will bless Thee, And I will praise Thy name forever and ever.

 3 Great is the LORD, and highly to be praised; And His greatness is unsearchable.

 4 One generation shall praise Thy works to another, And shall declare Thy mighty acts.

 5 On the glorious splendor of Thy majesty, And on Thy wonderful works, I will meditate.

 6 And men shall speak of the power of Thine awesome acts; And I will tell of Thy greatness.

 7 They shall eagerly utter the memory of Thine abundant goodness, And shall shout joyfully of Thy righteousness.

 8 The LORD is gracious and merciful; Slow to anger and great in lovingkindness.

 9 The LORD is good to all, And His mercies are over all His works.

 10 ¶ All Thy works shall give thanks to Thee, O LORD, And Thy godly ones shall bless Thee.

 11 They shall speak of the glory of Thy kingdom, And talk of Thy power;

 12 To make known to the sons of men Thy mighty acts, And the glory of the majesty of Thy kingdom.

 13 Thy kingdom is an everlasting kingdom, And Thy dominion [endures] throughout all generations.

 14 The LORD sustains all who fall, And raises up all who are bowed down.

 15 The eyes of all look to Thee, And Thou dost give them their food in due time.

 16 Thou dost open Thy hand, And dost satisfy the desire of every living thing.

 17 The LORD is righteous in all His ways, And kind in all His deeds.

 18 The LORD is near to all who call upon Him, To all who call upon Him in truth.

 19 He will fulfill the desire of those who fear Him; He will also hear their cry and will save them.

 20 The LORD keeps all who love Him; But all the wicked, He will destroy.

 21 My mouth will speak the praise of the LORD; And all flesh will bless His holy name forever and ever.  (NASB)

Psalms 34:

 1 ¶ …I will bless the LORD at all times; His praise shall continually be in my mouth.

 2 My soul shall make its boast in the LORD; The humble shall hear it and rejoice.

 3 O magnify the LORD with me, And let us exalt His name together.

 4 I sought the LORD, and He answered me, And delivered me from all my fears.

 5 They looked to Him and were radiant, And their faces shall never be ashamed.

 6 This poor man cried and the LORD heard him, And saved him out of all his troubles.

 7 The angel of the LORD encamps around those who fear Him, And rescues them.

 8 O taste and see that the LORD is good; How blessed is the man who takes refuge in Him!

 9 O fear the LORD, you His saints; For to those who fear Him, there is no want.

 10 The young lions do lack and suffer hunger; But they who seek the LORD shall not be in want of any good thing.

Psalms 34:

 15 The eyes of the LORD are toward the righteous, And His ears are [open] to their cry.

 16 The face of the LORD is against evildoers, To cut off the memory of them from the earth.

 17 [The righteous] cry and the LORD hears, And delivers them out of all their troubles.

 18 The LORD is near to the brokenhearted, And saves those who are crushed in spirit.

 19 Many are the afflictions of the righteous; But the LORD delivers him out of them all.

 20 He keeps all his bones; Not one of them is broken.

 21 Evil shall slay the wicked; And those who hate the righteous will be condemned.

 22 The LORD redeems the soul of His servants; And none of those who take refuge in Him will be condemned. (NASB)

Let us pray.

Father God, we praise You and Your wonders, and we worship who You are.  You are the lover of our souls, our precious Redeemer, our Refuge.  You are our dear Lord who delivers us from all our troubles, all our worries, and all evil that advances today in the earth.  You are our gracious Provider, and we magnify You and exalt Your name forever.  We look to You and are radiant, and our faces will never be ashamed.  Thank You Father for angels that encamp around us and protect us from evil.  Great are You, Lord, and greatly to be praised.  You are merciful in all Your works, and You give us our food and provision in due time.  You are indeed near to all who call upon Your name in truth.  May our praise of Jesus be the fruit of our lips from this day forth.  We pray in Jesus’ name.  Amen.