Psalm 146:1-10

HE IS WORTHY!

Intro:  This Psalm is the first of five Psalms that bear the title “Hallel Psalms,” or “Hallelujah Psalms.”  These five Psalms were probably written around the time Israel returned from a terrible time of bondage in Babylon.  After they returned from exile, the Jews rebuilt the city walls of Jerusalem; they rebuilt their Temple and they reestablished their nation.  To commemorate the grace of God in bringing them back from the edge of extinction; these praise Psalms were written to glorify the name of the Lord.  It seems the Jews were so moved by what the Lord had done in them and for them that they could not contain their praise for Him.  Therefore, all five of these precious Psalms begin and end with a declaration of God’s praise, and a call for others to become involved in God’s praise.  They all begin and end with the phrase “Praise ye the LORD!”  That phrase translate the Hebrew word “Hallelujah!”

      These people were praising the Lord because of all that He had done for them.  They understood the truth that their years in bondage were the direct result of their sins.  They realized that they were back in their own land by the pure grace of God.  They knew that they had been punished because they had worshiped other gods; and they knew they had been brought back home by the One true God.  Therefore they are praising Him because of one reason: He Is Worthy!

      I want to remind you today that He is still worthy!  Just as He did for these ancient people, God moved in grace and power to deliver our souls from the torment and bondage of our sins.  He delivered us from an eternity in Hell and He adopted us into his family when He saved us.  If these ancient people could praise the Lord for His grace in returning them to their homeland; how much more should God’s redeemed people praise Him for bringing us out of the shame, sentence and sorrow of our sins?

      Today, I want to take a look at Psalm 146.  I want to try and show you from these verses that He Is Worthy!  I want to remind you that He is worthy of your love.  He is worthy of your devotion.  He is worthy of your obedience.  He is worthy of everything you can offer to Him.  But, in this message, I want to zero in on the truth that He is worthy of your praise.  Let’s look into that as we think about the subject: He Is Worthy!

 

  I.  v. 1-2                  THE CHALLENGE TO PRAISE

A.  v. 1  A Call To Praise – The Psalmist calls upon his soul to praise the Lord.  There are many times when these fleshly bodies can find no reason to praise the Lord; but the redeemed soul can find limitless justification for loud and long praise to the Almighty.  (Ill. Psa. 103:1-5; Eph. 1:3.)

B.  v. 2  A Commitment To Praise – The writer goes on to tell us that his praise will know no boundaries and no limits.

1.  An Earthly Commitment – As long as breath fills his lungs; this psalmist declares his intention to praise the Lord.  If you are saved, disease, age, pain, suffering, sorrow, and even death, can never touch the reasons for true praise. (Ill. We are commanded to be thankful for all things, even the negative things of life, 1 Thes. 5:18; Eph. 5:20; Phil. 4:6.  But, the real reasons for genuine praise are internal and not external.  They are some of the things we mentioned earlier as we considered Psalm 103:1-5.  We are saved; we are sons of God; we are secure in Jesus forever; we are headed to a city called Heaven; those things are ours and cannot be touched by this world, by time or by Satan!  Therefore, we have a reason to rejoice, even when life is harsh, Luke 10:20.)

2.  An Eternal Commitment – The psalmist goes on to tell us that as long as he exists, in any form, he will still be personally involved in the business of praising the Lord.  As I said, there are times when it is hard to find a reason to praise the Lord from an earthly perspective.  But, when we have exchanged the earthy for the heavenly and we stand perfected in His presence in glory, we will have even more reason to exalt the name of the Lord.  And, we will do just that!  If you don’t believe me, just take a glimpse into your own future, Rev. 4:1-11; Rev. 5:9-14.

 

 II.  v. 3-4                    THE CAUTION IN PRAISE    

(Ill. We are cautioned against praising other men in these verses.  There is a two-fold reason why.)

A.  Man Is A Powerless Creature – The psalmist cautions us against making any man the object of our praise.  We are told that man lacks the ability to “help.”  That is an interesting word!  It is often translated “salvation, deliverance and victory” in the Old Testament.  The idea here is this: man can be helpful from time to time in this life; but man can never offer you eternal help.  Therefore, we are to be cautious in giving our praise to me.  (Ill. The trend in our society to give praise to actors, singers, athletes, etc.  Ill. The trend in the modern church to give praise to preachers and singers.  The only One Who is worthy of our praise is the Lord.  He is the only One Who can redeem us from our sins and change our eternal destiny.)

B.  Man Is A Passing Creature – At his best, man is a transient creature.  He is here in this world for a short time and then he is gone, James 4:14.  And, when man passes from the scene; all that he was and all that he offered to other men pass away with him, Eccl. 2:16; 8:10; 9:5.  God, on the other hand, is eternal.  What He does and what He gives are eternal as well.  Therefore, He and not man, deserves all the praise we can render to Him!  He is worthy!

 

III.  v. 5-10                  THE CAUSE FOR PRAISE

(Ill. To back up what he is saying, the Psalmist shows us why the person who knows the Lord has many reasons to praise his name.  You see, those who place their trust in themselves or others have no reliable reasons for rejoicing; but all those whose faith is in God have more to praise Him for than they can ever comprehend!  That is the message of verse 5.  And, the support for that position is offered in verses 6-10.)

A.  v. 6  The Greatness Of God – We can always praise the Lord for His greatness, which is revealed in two special ways.

1.  The Greatness Of His Power – He is the God of creation!  He is the God Who said “Let there be…” and there was, Psa. 19; Isa. 40:12!  His power is awesome and it is limitless!  It is this power that He extends to us in salvation and in our support day by day!  When you are overwhelmed by life, remember Who your God is and what He has done.  Then remember that He is still “able”, Eph. 3:20 and that He is still the “I Am.”, Ex. 3:14.  When you trust Him, His power becomes your power! 

 

      (Ill. My car can move down the highway at high rates of speed.  It can keep up that pace for ours on end.  It can climb hills that would wear me out long before I ever reached the top.  My car can do many things that I cannot do; but when I trust its power and yield myself to it abilities; the abilities of my car become mine!  Suddenly, I can do what it is able to do, all because I trust it.  The same is true, in a far greater sense, when it comes to the Lord.  When I trust Him, His wealth becomes my wealth.  His power becomes my power.  His ability becomes by ability.  I am enabled to stand, to walk, to win, all because I am resting in His power and not my own.  He is worthy!)

 

2.  The Greatness Of His Promises – We are told that God “keepeth truth forever.”  I am sure there are many shades of meaning in that phrase.  But, I think it has reference to the fact that God will stand by His Word.  In other words, what God has promised, God will bring to pass.  God’s children need ever fear a single one of His promises passing away unfulfilled.  God will do everything He has said He would do.  Every promise from His putting food on your table and clothes on your back, Matt. 6:25-34; to His saving you and keeping you saved, John 10:28; to His promise of a perfect home in Heaven some day, John 14:1-3; Rev. 21:4, will be perfectly and completely kept.  He keepeth truth forever!

 

(Ill. Ill. F.B. Meyer, “If any promise of God should fail, the heavens would cloth themselves in sackcloth; the sun, the moon and the stars would reel from their courses; the universe would rock, and a hollow wind would moan through a ruined creation the awful fact that God can lie.”  Ill. But we need never fear that taking place!  Why? - Heb. 6:18; Titus 1:2.  You can count on Him!  Therefore, He is worthy!)

 

B.  v. 7-9  The Grace Of God – It think we could stop right there and understand the great truth the He is worthy of all our praise.  But, the psalmist continues to list the reasons the redeemed have for praising the Lord.  Just look at what He does for His people and I think you will agree: He is worthy!

1.  v. 7  He Fights For The Helpless – He helps those who cannot help themselves!  Just as He delivered Israel from the cruel bondage of their captors; He has delivered His redeemed people from the cruel bondage of sin and Satan.  When we could not deliver ourselves, He stepped in by grace and saved us, Psa. 40:1-3.  He is worthy!

2.  v. 7  He Feeds The Hungry – Not merely our daily bread; but every need we have both physical and spiritual is met by our wonderful Father, Phil. 4:19!  We like to focus on those blessings which are physical in nature; but the greatest of God’s blessings are spiritual.  I can remember times when I needed a word for my soul; and He never let me down.  He is worthy!

3.  v. 7  He Frees The Hostage – He delivered Israel from her tormentors and He has done the same for you and me.  Jesus came to set man free, John 8:36.  He delivered us from the greatest danger of all; He delivered us from our lost, hell bound condition, Luke 4:18. He is worthy!

4.  v. 8  He Lights The Blind – Again, there is praise for a physical benefit.  But, the opening of blinded eyes would be one of the calling cards of the Messiah when He came, Isa. 42:16-18; Luke 4:18.  Throughout His ministry Jesus did just that.  He opened blind eyes on many occasion.  But, I would remind you that there is a greater darkness that physical darkness!  That poor soul trapped in sin is blind to the things of God.  He is held prisoner in his darkness by Satan, 2 Cor. 4:4.  I was there one way, but Jesus came to where I was and He healed my blindness and restored my spiritual sight and brought me into His glorious light, 1 Pet. 2:9. He is worthy!

5.  v. 8  He Lifts The Broken – The idea here is that God lifts the burden from the backs of the weary ones.  Oh, how many times has He lifted my burden and given me rest, Matt. 11:28.  How many times have I been privileged to roll my burden over on Him just because he cares for me, 1 Pet. 5:7; Psa. 55:22.  But, then there was that day when the burden of sin on my soul was so heavy that I felt that I could not go another step.  I came to Him by faith, rolled by sin burden off onto Jesus and He lifted me by His mighty power! He is worthy!

6.  v. 8  He Loves The Believer – God has a special place in His heart for those who are in a right relationship with Him, Jer. 31:3.  He tells us that nothing can ever severe that bond of love that ties us to the Lord, Rom. 8:38-39.  He loves us even when we are unlovable!  He loves us when we deserve hatred.  He loves us in spite of our foolishness and our failures.  He loves us unconditionally, completely and eternally! He is worthy!

7.  v. 9  He Safeguards The Strangers – The psalmist even praises the Lord because He watches out for those who are not even part of the nation of Israel.  He cares for those who are strangers by birth, but have adopted Israel as their new home.  What grace!  Of course, there is a sense in which you and I are strangers and pilgrims, 1 Pet. 2:11.  And, as we travel through this earthly land as pilgrims headed for a city, we can count on the Lord to watch over us, protect us and to be ever present with us as we journey, Matt. 28:20; Heb. 13:5.  I sure am glad that as I journey through this world, I am secured by His protection and by His promise, John 10:28; 1 Pet. 1:5. He is worthy!

8.  v. 9  He Supports The Sufferers – The most disadvantaged members in that society were the focus of God’s watch care and protection.  Those that others would often ignore and forget were never off the mind of God.  He cared for the sufferers.  By the way, He still does!  When you and I hurt as we travel this path, we can trust Him to comfort us in our suffering for His glory, 2 Cor. 12:9; Heb. 4:15-16.  You and I may not have much by the world’s standards, but the poorest believer possesses more than the world’s richest person! Thank God, there is grace for the journey!  He is worthy!

9.  v. 9  He Sentences The Sinner – This doesn’t sound like much of a reason for praise, but when we view it from God’s perspective, it is.  You see, just as the Lord cares for His Own along the path of life; He frustrates the plans of the wicked.  In the end, God will vindicate His Name and exalt Himself.  All those who love Him will live with Him in heaven.  But, those who deny Him will face the judgment of Hell.  How is this grace?  Imagine if you will, a heaven filled with unregenerate, unredeemed sinners.  Heaven would be Hell!  We may not understand this truth fully today; but when we arrive in Heaven, with a mind like the Lord’s, we will! He is worthy!

C.  v. 10  The Glory Of God – He will forever be God.  He will forever reign.  He will forever be worthy of our praise.  His promises will forever stand.  His people will be preserved forever.  And, as the endless expanse of eternity unfolds before our eyes, we will forever lift our voices in praise the King of Kings and the Lord of Lords.  We will forever declare that He is worthy!

 

Conc: The anthems of the redeemed in Heaven revolve around the fact that He is worthy, Rev. 5:9, 12.  But, let me remind you that He is worthy right now!  Therefore, let me challenge you to praise the Lord and to magnify His name for He is worthy!

      If you are behind in the praise department and want to catch up; you can begin that process right now.  If you are not a child of God and would like to experience all the great things He can do for you; you can have that.  If there is a burden, a need or a situation that needs to be brought to Him; you can do that as well.