"For great is the Lord, and greatly to be praised: he also is to be feared above all Gods."
--1st Chronicles 16:25
Have you ever felt undeserving for an award you received? Was the award a special plaque or a trophy? Perhaps it was a certificate or some other token of recognition. The purpose of the award was to recognize and to praise you because of a noteworthy accomplishment and contribution, but you felt unworthy to be praised.
The feeling of unworthiness increases with the size of the accolade. Sometimes presentations may get bigger than mere plaques or certificates. Sometimes there are busts and memorials and even rooms, windows and buildings that bear our names.
One reason a true servant of God feels unworthy is because the true servant recognizes that the real praise for any accomplishment belongs to God. Tributes usually follow significant accomplishments. We feel unworthy because we know that God was the underlying source of our success; He deserves the praise.
God should be praised, not us; that's the way humble saints feel. We know how to recognize people for their accomplishments, but how do we recognize God when he has helped us? That was the question that puzzled David in Psalm 116:12 when he asked, "What shall I render unto the LORD for all his benefits toward me?" David concluded that he would drink from the cup of salvation, pay his vows and continue to call upon his name. He decided that was the best way to give tribute to God.
As Christians, we recognize that every accomplishment we make is a reflection of God's handiwork. We cannot take credit for the work the church has done; God gets all of the glory. The trail of life that marks our journey is speckled with markers, large and small, that testify of the help we have received from God. Without Him, we can do nothing. If we have accomplished anything, the glory is His for He is God who is great and is greatly to be praised.
This text focuses on a psalm of David that extols the greatness of God in midst of the people.
The occasion for the psalm is the public entry the ark made into the tent prepared for it. David had written many songs and hymns but this special psalm was placed in the hand of Asaph, for the use of the church. Its words spoke to the celebration of the moment, but they also spoke to believers of all generations as they tell of the greatness of the Lord.
What does this psalm said about praising God?
Beginning at verse eight it says we should glorify God in our praises; let his honor be the center of our faith and hope. We should glorify him by our thanksgivings, by our prayers (Call on his name, v. 8), by singing songs to Him and talk about all his wondrous works, v. 9.
By the time we reach this text verse, David says we should glorify God as a great God, who is not only to be praised, but greatly to be praised (v. 25). He is to be praised as a supreme God who is above all of the false gods of the pagans; He is the sole God, for all others are idols, v. 26.
Our joy and praise of God should be endless. Any accomplishment that we make, any milestone reach, and achievement that we celebrate is an occasion to praise God for it is through Him that all blessings flow.
Why does the Church Praise God? David made it clear in verse 25 that there things that we should consider when it comes to the divine attributes of God with respect to his creation and His church:
GOD IS GREAT: God is great, much greater than anything we can imagine. Even as we celebrate anniversaries and pat each other on the back for our serious and dedicated labor, we must remember that our accomplishment does not shine a light to the greatness of God.
In comparison to the greatness of God our small achievements are minuscule. Lest we think more of ourselves we should remember that while we, as creations of God, are wondrous works, the one who created us is greater. Man has 263 bones, 600 muscles, and 970 miles of blood vessels, but God is greater!
Man has 400 cups on his tongue for taste, 20,000 minuscule hairs in his ears to tune into sound, 40 pounds of jaw pressure, 10 million nerves and branches, but God is greater! Man has 600,000,000 air cells that breathe in his lungs and his heart beats 4,200 times an hour, but God is greater because everything man has and is made by God.
No wonder the song writer says, "Oh Lord My God, as I in awesome wonder, consider all the worlds thy hands hath made. I see the stars, I hear the rolling thunders thy power throughout the universe displayed...then sings my soul my savior God to thee, How great thou Art, How great thou art!"
GREATLY TO BE PRAISED: David said God should be praise "greatly." That refers to the intensity of our praise. Not just a ceremony of lip service but a praise that reflects the power and majesty of the almighty God.Â
The church should praise God intensely because He has blessed us intensely. Yet, there are some in the church who share in worships such as this who question the need for so much praise. They can't see the need and believe we are wasting our time "greatly praising" God. They are like a Church goer who wrote a letter to the editor of a newspaper and complained that it made no sense to go to church every Sunday.
This started a real controversy in the Letters to the Editor column, much to the delight of the editor. It went on for weeks until a man wrote this clincher: "I've been married for 30 years now. In that time my wife has cooked some 32,000 meals. But, for the life of me, I cannot recall the entire menu for a single one of those meals."
"But I do know this... They all nourished me and gave me the strength I needed to do my work. If my wife had not given me these meals, I would be physically dead today. Likewise, if I had not gone to church and lifted God up in praise, I would not have been spiritually nourished, I would be spiritually dead today!"
Listen when we are DOWN to nothing.... God is UP to something! Faith sees the invisible, believes the incredible and receives the impossible! God is great and He is greatly to be praised!
We serve an awesome God who loves and cares for us. May God continue to bless and keep you.
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