"Praise the Lord!"

“Praise the Lord!”

 

Praise the Lord!  Praise the Lord, O my soul!  I will praise the Lord as long as I live; I will sing praises to my God while I have my being.          Psalm 146:1-2

 

Praise:  To voice admiration; to worship

 

The Book of Psalms is LOADED with PRAISES for the Lord God Almighty.  PRAISE is voicing ADMIRATION for the PERSON, WORK, and BENEFITS of that individual.  Many are quick to sing the PRAISES of their CHILDREN, SPOUSE, or even THEMSELVES, but as TRUE BELIEVERS, can we voice ALOUD the words of our Psalmist; “Praise the Lord!  Praise the Lord, O my soul!  I will praise the Lord as long as I live, I will sing praises to my GOD while I have my being.”?  I think that we sometimes fall SHORT of our PRAISE of God and ALL He is and ALL He has done for us.  Sometimes we are afraid of what someone may think, if we show our PRAISE for our God.

 

I want us to look at some reasons WHY we should PRAISE the Lord as long as we LIVE.  Verse five, tells us that we are BLESSED because God is our HELPER.  He HELPS us when we CALL out to Him, in our time of need.  In that same verse, we are told that God is our HOPE, whenever we think that we are SINKING in HOPELESSNESS, we can have the ASSURANCE that God is our HOPE.  He is our CREATOR, He is the MAKER of HEAVEN and EARTH, and EVERYTHING that is in the HEAVENS and on the EARTH.  Nothing is MADE that He did not MAKE. 

 

Verse seven, tells us that He is the JUST JUDGE, the one who executes JUSTICE for the oppressed.  He is also our SUSTAINER, He PROVIDES our NECESSITIES for life.  He PROVIDES FREEDOM especially to those who are held CAPTIVE by their SINS.

 

 He is our HEALER, both physically and spiritually.  Verse eight tells us that He opens the eyes of the blind and lifts up those who are bowed down.   He is the LOVER of our souls, especially those who have come to Him for their SALVATION.  He makes them RIGHTEOUS in His SIGHT, and has PROVIDED the HOPE of HEAVEN as their ETERNAL HOME.  

 

There are PLENTY of reasons to PRAISE GOD!  The BEST of ALL is JESUS CHRIST.  If you have NOT come to Jesus for the SALVATION of your soul, you cannot offer TRUE PRAISE and WORSHIP to the ALMIGHTY GOD, until you do.   And you are destined for an ETERNITY in HELL, with ALL its HORRORS, and NO WAY of ESCAPE.  This is NOT what God wants for you. In order to receive what He wants for you, you MUST TURN AWAY FROM your sinful lifestyle and TURN TO HIM, with a TRUE REPENTANT HEART.  You MUST BELIEVE, with ALL your HEART, that Jesus died for YOU, and is ALIVE in HEAVEN, making intercession for you, before God.  Then you MUST CONFESS your sins to Him, and ask Him for His FORGIVENESS.  You MUST ACCEPT His gift of SALVATION, and PRAISE the LORD for SAVING your SOUL from an ETERNITY in HELL.  Do this NOW, while you still can.  He’s waiting and coming SOON!!!