Praise to God: What we should do

And I'm delighted that this morning and this evening we welcome our guest preacher who's been with us all week at our ministers conference, Peter Adam.! Peter has come all the way from Melbourne, Australia.

He's been here several times in the past, but not for the last nine years. And it's a delight, Peter, to welcome you back. We're so glad to have you. It's been a wonderful week of your ministry to other ministers during this week.

And we're delighted that Peter is going to be preaching to us this morning and again this evening. And on both occasions, he's going to be looking at Psalm 100 with us.

So I'll invite you, if you would, to turn now to your Bibles. If you don't have a Bible, there are some visitors' Bibles outside. The stewards, the folks with the yellow or orange lanyards will be glad to get one for you.

So do just go and ask them. And then you'll be able to follow along with us. In those visitors' Bibles, it's around page 500. Psalm number 100. We sung the metrical version.

We're going to now read it together. And the title of this psalm, you'll see, which is part of the Bible text, is that it's a psalm for giving thanks.

Make a joyful noise to the Lord, all the earth. Serve the Lord with gladness. Come into his presence with singing. Know that the Lord, he is God.

It is he who made us. And we are his. We are his people and the sheep of his pasture. Enter his gates with thanksgiving and his courts with praise.

Give thanks to him. Bless his name. For the Lord is good. His steadfast love endures forever.

And his faithfulness to all generations. Amen. May God bless to us his word and help us to understand its message for us today.

Gracious and merciful God.

Speak to us through the scriptures. That we might know you. Thank you. Praise you.

And adore you. With our lips. And with our lives. In your church.

And your world. For Jesus' sake. Amen. Well, it's a great delight to be here.

Thank you so much, Willie, for your very kind invitation. And, of course, a great privilege to preach. I hope you have Psalm 100 open before you.

It's a short psalm. And a psalm which is not difficult to understand. And I want you to notice that the way the psalm is written encourages us to do something.

And gives us reasons to do it. Verses 1 and 2 are the instructions about what should be done.

Make a joyful noise to the Lord, all the earth. Serve the Lord with gladness. Come into his presence with singing. Why would you do that?

Well, verse 3. You will know that the Lord, he is God. It is he who has made us. We are his. We are his people and the sheep of his pasture.

Then the instructions resume in verse 4. Enter his gates with thanksgiving and his courts with praise. Give thanks to him.

Bless his name. And then in verse 5. More reasons for doing this. For the Lord is good. His steadfast love endures forever.

And his faithfulness to all generations. So the psalm tells us what to do. And why we should do it.

I'm preaching on this psalm this morning and later on today. This morning I'll focus on what we should do.

And this afternoon on why we should do it. The psalm begins.

Make a joyful noise to the Lord. All the earth. It picks up. You might notice if you have your Bibles open. A theme of Psalm 98.

Verse 4. Make a joyful noise to the Lord. All the earth. Break forth into joyous song. Sing praises. Sing praises to the Lord. With the lyre. With the lyre. And the sound of melody.

With trumpets. And the sound of horn. Make a joyful noise before the King. That is a call to the whole world. All the peoples of the world.

To praise God. The same theme comes in Psalm 99. Verse 1. The Lord reigns. Let the peoples. Notice. Tremble.

He sits enthroned upon the cherubim. Let the earth quake. The Lord is great in Zion. He is exalted over all the peoples. Let them praise your great and awesome name.

Holy is he. We often find the word hallelujah in the Psalms and in the book of Revelation. And we often use it as an expression of our praise of God.

But in fact the word doesn't mean I praise God or we praise God. But you should praise God. It's an instruction to other people to praise God.

So when we're thinking about thanking and praising God this morning. It's not just our thanking and praising. It is that other people thank and praise God too.

So by the end of the Psalm please don't think well I'm thanking and praising God. That's what matters. What matters to God is not just our thanking and praising God.

But in fact everybody in the whole world thanking and praising God.

I wonder if you have heard the words from St. Augustine of North Africa. You have made us for yourself.

And our hearts are restless until they find their rest in you. That's a massively deep truth. But in fact the words that come before those words in Augustine's confessions are so significant.

They are. You move us to delight in praising you. For you have made us for yourself.

And our hearts are restless until they find their rest in you. So we find our true rest in God. The end of all our searching and all our anxiety.

Not just in God. But in praising God. As C.S. Lewis says.

Praise completes the enjoyment. Praise completes the enjoyment. If you enjoy God.

Then your enjoyment will be enhanced and enriched and completed by praising God.

I wonder if praising God is on your daily diet.

Often when we think of praying we think automatically of asking. And we all have a long list of things. We want to ask God for ourselves and for other people and for our church and for our world.

John Calvin wrote that the chief expression of faith is prayer.

The chief expression of faith is prayer. And if I might add to the great reformer. And the ultimate expression of prayer is praise.

It's a fine collection of instructions isn't it? Make a joyful noise. So this is not a private and quiet thing. When people are making noise you can certainly hear it.

Just think of. Or some people you know. Noisy people. Serve the Lord. Serve the Lord with gladness. That is bring gladness.

Your gladness in him to God as a way of serving him. Come into his presence with singing. So this is not a kind of private experience.

But a public expression of our praise and thanksgiving. Or again. Verse 4. The next instructions. What we should do. Enter his gates with thanksgiving.

And his courts with praise. Give thanks to him. And bless his name. It is good for us to praise God.

It is good for us to encourage each other. By praising God to each other. And saying. Today I am praising and thanking God.

How is your day going? Well. Today. I am praising and thanking God. For his loving faithfulness.

And compassion. How is your day going? How is your day going? Well. Today. I am thanking and praising God. For everything.

That is beautiful. I was walking this morning. I saw a sweet little flower. And I thought. That sweet little flower. Is just a sign.

Of God's great glory. Which fills this world. What are you looking forward to.

Over the weekend. Well. I am going to meet with my brothers and sisters in Christ. And we are going to thank and praise God together.

For. For. We live in a world. Which is empty.

Of praise. Of real praise. I mean. In our world. We tend to. Praise the passing.

Experience. We happen to be watching the cricket last night. And our hearts are full of praise. For a moment.

And then. Gloom descends. Yet again. Where. A world. Who.

Praise. The people who win. In our various sports. Around the world. But there is always a possibility. They might not win next time. So the praise is passing.

And our praise and thanks in the world. So often depends on circumstances. Oh. It is a beautiful day. Praise God. Oh no. It is too hot. The kind of thing you seem to say in Glasgow.

All the time. As far as I can see. And the sign. That our life is empty. Of the praise of God. Is when we.

When we focus on. Praising other people. I must confess. I don't like the Christmas. Letters. Which are all about.

The praise of the family. And nothing about the praise of the Savior. Yeah. Or.

We will pay anything. To find something to praise. So. People. My contemporaries. Have all got a bucket list. Of places they want to go around the world.

To. To find something to praise. I've got. Good. Good dear friends. Who are. Obsessed with finding. Unusual animals. And they. Pay lots of money.

To go around the world. And find the animals. And then they're full of. Praise for these. Five-legged. Marmadukes. Or something like that. They're found somewhere.

But somehow. It's. It's a bit. It's a bit. Thin. Isn't it? And then you meet. Some people. This is really sad. Who. Who.

Find nothing to praise. In their lives. There's nothing which excites. Their thanks. And their praise. Their life is miserable.

Without thanks. And without praise. But we are. We are created. We are destined. We are formed. By God.

To praise. Praise him. And when we do praise God. We encourage. Other believers. Of course. We are. Most of all.

I think. We are to declare. The praises of him. Who called us. Out of darkness. Into light. We often think of. Telling other people.

What we believe. And that's a good thing. To do. But actually. It's. It's. It's. It's good for people. To know. Whom we praise. And to whom. We are thankful.

I haven't looked at your website. So this is not a. Comment on. This church. Of course. I'm too polite. To make a negative comment. About. Those who are hosting me.

Tempting. No. I won't do that. But it's really good. To have on our website. What we believe. But. We could also put up. Who we praise.

And invite people. To. Join us. In. Praising this God. Because that's. Exactly what the psalm does. Make a joyful.

Noise to the Lord. All the earth. And please notice. This is God centered.

Evangelistic. Enthusiasm. This is. A gospel passion. That God. Be known. And praised.

Declaring. The praises. Of him. Who called us. Out of darkness. Into marvelous. Light. For the.

Purpose of the gospel. Of Jesus Christ. The purpose of. Jesus coming. In his death. And resurrection. And ascension. And. Ascension into glory. And his return. Is not just that.

People are saved. But that God. Is glorified. Do you remember. In Ephesians. Chapter one. That. That great declaration. Of praise.

Three times. You have. You know. Blessed be the God. And father. Who chose us. Before the foundation. Of the world. And then. You read three times. For the glory.

For the praise. Of his glory. So the. Salvation. Of men. And women. And children. Which is such. A wonderful. Miracle.

Which God. Achieves. Has a bigger purpose. As. As we have a bigger purpose. And that is. That we thank.

And praise God. As the writer of Hebrews says.

Chapter 13. Let us continually. Offer up. A sacrifice. Of praise. Of praise. To God. The fruit. Of lips. That acknowledge.

His name. God. And if. The Bible. Encourages us. To thank.

And praise. God. The Bible. Also. Warns us. Of not. Thanking. And praising. God. Think of these. Haunting words. From Romans. Chapter 1.

Although they knew. Although the nations. Knew God. They did not. Honor. Or praise. Him. Or give. Thanks to him. So. They. Became.

Futile. In their thinking. And their foolish. Hearts. Were darkened. Claiming to be wise. They became. Fools. That's.

Romans 1. 19 to 23. So. What happens to us. If we are not. Thanking and praising God. The answer is.

We are becoming. Misshapen. And darkened. And foolish. Notice.

By the way. The difference. Between. Thanks. And praise. We. Find. Both. In verse 4. Enter his gates. With thanksgiving. And his courts.

With praise. The difference. Between. Thanks. And praise. Is that we. Thank someone. For what they've done. And we praise them. For who they are.

There's a big difference. Let's think of. Harriet and Toby. On Christmas Day.

Grandma has arrived. With her presents. And. Harriet and Toby. Are so excited. That grandma. Has come with her presents. Because. Grandma.

Grandma. Grandma. Just seems to have. A special ability. Of knowing. Exactly. It's a miraculous ability. Of knowing. Exactly. What. Harriet. And Toby.

Want for Christmas. So the wonderful moment. Arrives. The packing. Is attacked. With great vigor. By Harriet and Toby. And there.

Is the present. The desire. Of their hearts. Is the present. So immediately. Their full attention. Is on the present. And. Mum or dad.

Has to say. Don't forget. To thank granny dear. So they. Thank you granny. Back to the present. But actually.

What matters. In the long term. Is not those wonderful. Christmas and birthday presents. But grandma. Grandma's love. Isn't it? And the children. Will forget the present.

When. Presence. Won't they. In the long term. But they will. Think of. What kind of person. Granny was. And if they're wise.

They'll say. You're a wonderful grandma. You're a wonderful grandpa. Not just. Thank you for the gift. But. I'm praising you.

For who you are. And so it is with God. We can. Be so thankful. For the gift. That we forget.

To thank. The giver. And the opposite. Of thanking the giver. And praising the giver. For who they are. Of course. Is taking things. For granted.

So. What might it look. To. Praise. And thank. God. Well.

I became. I was converted. When I was 16. My family. My family. Weren't Christians. And. I remember. Going home.

And. Saying to my father. I've just become. A Christian. And my. Father said. He was. A fairly. Laconic. Man.

He said. You'll soon. Grow out of it. Well. Let me tell you. I've not. Grown out of it. Ninety. Four years. Later. Or however long. It is.

I've grown into it that is I love God more and more and I trust God more and more I find new verses in the Bible I suspect God has been around the world just adding a few verses some I've never noticed before so I'm still being challenged and enriched and taught by the scriptures and I value Christian fellowship and friendship more than ever I love being with God's people more than ever and I think I trust God more and more because I've seen how things which I thought were tragedies in my life actually God used for good so in theory my life should be more and more full of thanks and praise to God and one advantage of being old is you realise that every day is a gift of God when you're young you take the next day for granted don't you at my age when many of my contemporaries have died or are very ill

I thank God for every day I used to take them for granted now I thank God for them and I used to take my health for granted the fact that I can see and hear and smell and walk and talk now I praise and thank God for that every day I know it's diminishing but I better get the praise and thanks in before it all disappears and more and more I thank God and praise God for his mercy in the Lord Jesus Christ every day so here's something you could do every day as you wake up you could say thank you God for this day as you have your first drink of water you could say praise you God for this plentiful supply of fresh drinking water with which you have endowed Scotland so generously as you eat your food for the day you could say thank and praise you gracious God for this lovely gift and as you look on those you love and care for you can thank God for each one of them and you can thank and praise God for any gift that you have a watch so useful for being stressed about a cookery book full of brilliant ideas even if you never actually cook and eat them but nevertheless it's an inspiration a cookery book isn't it or some kinds of desperation but anyway just think of the simple things of everyday life and you will fill your life with thanks and praise

I walk my two dogs Oscar and Millie every day they spend their time sniffing lampposts which I I I can't quite see the attraction of that but anyway but what I do is look at the clouds as we walk and praise God for the clouds or look at the trees and praise God for the trees or look at the people I meet and praise and thank God for them and pray for them it is possible to fill all your life with praise and thanks now the great danger in getting old is you become discontented grumpy well no perhaps not grumpy but let's put it discontented but if you become discontented you make yourself miserable and if you're particularly good at being discontented you can make other people's lives miserable as well share it around but

Paul says he's learned the secret of contentment I can do all things through Christ and a contented person will of course be full of thanks and praise one odd thing about the list of instructions make a joyful noise serve the Lord with gladness come into his presence with singing enter his gates with thanks giving and his courts with praise is the last instruction give thanks to him bless his name I wonder what you think about the expression blessing

God or blessing his name it's not the kind of language which comes naturally to us though because we think God is the one who blesses us how can we bless God and yet as I've already mentioned Paul's wonderful outpouring of praise in Ephesians chapter 1 blessed blessed be the God and Father our Lord Jesus Christ who has blessed us in Christ with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places so what Paul is saying is well God has blessed us so we should bless him!

I think the best way to understand it is that to bless God is it's a mixture of thanks and praise it's to acknowledge a God who is full of blessings and a God who has blessed us and quite remarkably Jewish scholars can tell us the kind of prayers that Jewish people in the first century would have prayed every day it's called the 18 benedictions and these are words that Jesus and Paul and all the other Jewish people in the New Testament would have said to God every day let me just read some of them out to you blessed are you the shield of Abraham blessed are you oh Lord who revives the dead blessed are you the holy

God blessed are you the gracious giver of knowledge blessed are you who delight in repentance blessed are you ever gracious and ready to forgive blessed are you the redeemer of Israel blessed are you the healer of the sick blessed are you for you gather the dispersed of Israel blessed are you for you love righteousness and justice blessed are you for you break the arrogant and exalt the humble!

So a good Jew in the first century their prayer life would be full of praise and blessing of God as of course we find in the Psalms enter his courts with thanksgiving enter his gates with thanksgiving and his courts with praise give thanks to him bless his name I want you to imagine that you're about to develop a new hobby which is tight rope walking and some kind person has arranged for a rope across the Clyde river from one tall building to the other and you are at the top of one tall building about to start your tight rope walk across the

Clyde river a large crowd has gathered some friends but others with more malicious purposes that is of rejoicing at your downfall now I haven't done very much tight rope walking as a matter of fact I haven't done any at all but I do know that if you're tight rope walking the fatal thing is to look down at your feet what you have to do is to focus on the goal and feel with your feet as you go forward I might point out that what you have to do you have to look at my feet now when you're tight red walking is to walk like this you can't walk like that because there's only one rope so you have to do

I go to the physio because I'm old and she encourages me to learn how to walk like this I'm instructed that it could be useful if I'm pulled over for drink driving because so other people tell me it's one of the tests the police have devised to find out how drunk you are so that's why I spend a lot of my mornings practicing walking like this but if you're on a tight rope it is fatal to look down at your feet you must look at your goal you must keep the big picture in mind that our great aim is not our salvation or our safety but the glory and praise of God that's what we're created for that's the purpose of our creation that is the purpose of our salvation the glory and praise of

God people sometimes say to me won't it be boring in heaven praising God for eternity I say I suppose you've never actually praised God have you if you had you'd know it isn't boring at all actually it enables us to escape from self obsession which is part of the world in which we live and we can finally rest our hearts and our hope and our joy and our delight not in ourselves and our experience but in another and not in another human being who can never bear the weight of our hopes but in God alone who is to be glorified forever the four living creatures with six wings they sing day and night holy holy holy is the

Lord God almighty who was and is and is to come the twenty four elders cast their crowns before the throne saying worthy are you our Lord and God to receive glory and honor and power for you created all things and by your will they existed and were created and the four living creatures and the twenty four elders fall down before the lamb the Lord Jesus and they sing a new song worthy are you to take the scroll and to open its seals for you were slain and by your blood you ransomed for God people from every tribe and language and people and nation and you have made them a kingdom and priest to our God and they shall reign on the earth worthy is the lamb who was slain to receive power and wealth and wisdom and might and honor and glory and blessing to him who sits on the throne and to the lamb be blessing and honor and glory and might forever and ever no wonder the psalm that we're studying psalm 100 is not just about me or you or us it is an invitation make a joyful noise to the

Lord all the earth is that your passion that people from every tribe language and nation will praise God is that your passion that your desire that your prayer make a joyful noise to the Lord all the earth serve the Lord with gladness come into his presence with singing know that the Lord he is God it is he who made us and we are his we are his people and the sheep of his pasture enter his gates with thanksgiving and his courts with praise give thanks to him bless his name for the Lord is good his steadfast love endures forever and his faithfulness to all generations there'll be some words of praise on the slide would you on the screen would you please stand and we'll do what we've just been told to do gracious and everlasting

God we join now with believers all around the world to make a joyful noise to you serving you with our gladness and coming into your presence with singing for we know that you are our Lord God that you made us and we are yours your sheep in your pasture through Christ our Savior we enter your presence with thanks and praise and bless your holy name for you are good your steadfast love endures forever your faithfulness for all generations Lord Jesus Christ we praise you our great shepherd for you laid down your life for us making peace by the blood of your cross and all authority in heaven and on earth is yours bring many people from your world to listen to your voice and follow you we praise you because one day every knee will bow and every tongue confess that you are

Lord to the glory of God our Father Amen Thank you.