Put Your Praise On

Choices lead feelings follow;therefore, choose joy. 

Psalm 95:1-2 (NKJV)

Oh come, let us sing to the Lord!
Let us shout joyfully to the Rock of our salvation.


2 Let us come before His presence with thanksgiving;
Let us shout joyfully to Him with psalms. 

Oh come, let us worship and bow down;
Let us kneel before the Lord our Maker. 
For He is our God,


And we are the people of His pasture,
And the sheep of His hand.

Today, if you will hear His voice:

We praise Him for what He has done. Praise is horizontal with other people.  Praise is on the eternal not on the temporal.  





Praise is a choice. Praise is focused on God only.  It is horizontal.  We are to praise God together.  Praise is an outward expression.

We worship God for who He is. Worship is vertical.  It's about you and God, together.  





Worship is a response. It is me focused. Worship is a feeling.  Worship is on the moment. 

   

(Isaiah 61:3 NKJV) To give them the oil of joy for mourning, the garment of praise for the spirit of heaviness.

· Praise focuses on God, not me. 

(Psalm 50:23) “Those who sacrifice thank offerings honor me…” 

· Praise reminds me of the eternal, not the temporal. 

(2 Corinthians 4:8-9, 17-18) We are hard pressed on every side, but not crushed; perplexed, but not in despair; persecuted, but not abandoned; struck down, but not destroyed…

For our light and momentary troubles are achieving for us an eternal glory that far outweighs them all. 

So we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen, since what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal. 

· Praise is outward, not inward. 

(Hebrews 13:15) Through Jesus, therefore, let us continually offer to God a sacrifice of praise—the fruit of lips that openly profess his name.

The Sacrificial Choice 

(Luke 19:37-40 MSG) Right at the crest, where Mount Olives begins its descent, the whole crowd of disciples burst into enthusiastic praise over all the mighty works they had witnessed: 

Blessed is he who comes, the king in God’s name! All’s well in heaven! Glory in the high places! 

Some Pharisees from the crowd told him, “Teacher, get your disciples under control!” 

But he said, “If they kept quiet, the stones would do it for them, shouting praise.”

1. Halel: To rave, boast, celebrate, to be clamorously foolish. 

(Psalm 35:18 NLT) I will thank you in front of the great assembly. I will praise you before all the people.

2. Yadah: To acknowledge in public. 

(Psalm 138:1) I will praise you, O LORD, with all my heart.

3. Barak: To bless by kneeling or bowing. 

(Psalm 103:1) Praise the LORD, O my soul; all my inmost being, praise his holy name. 

4. Zamar: Making music to God with strings. 

(Psalm 92:1) It is good to praise the LORD and make music to your name, O Most High. 

Psalm 150:3-5  (NIV)

3 Praise him with the sounding of the trumpet,
    praise him with the harp and lyre,
4 praise him with timbrel and dancing,
    praise him with the strings and pipe,
5 praise him with the clash of cymbals,
    praise him with resounding cymbals.

5. Shabach: To address in a loud tone, to shout. 

(Psalm 63:3-4) Because your love is better than life, my lips will glorify you. I will praise you as long as I live, and in your name I will lift up my hands. 

6. Towdah: To lift hands in adoration. 

(Psalm 50:23) He who offers praise glorifies me: and to him that orders his conversation aright will I show the salvation of God.

7. Tehilah: Exuberant singing. 

(Psalm 34:1) I will extol the LORD at all times; his praise will always be on my lips.

Psalm 108

My heart, O God, is steadfast;     I will sing and make music with all my soul.  I will praise you, Lord, among the nations;     I will sing of you among the peoples.

The only part of life that we can control is our reaction. 

Choose joy.

Chris Hodges, Church of the Highlands

https://www.churchofthehighlands.com/media/message/the-sacrificial-choice All scripture is from the New International Version unless otherwise noted.