Hallelujah! Praise and Prayer

Welcome to Watermark Community Church. Before you sit down, we turn around and greet somebody and welcome them to the house of the Lord.

Okay, after you've greeted at least five people, you can sit down. I'm teasing.

Okay, how are you guys doing?

Okay, just good? So-so?

Hey, if you have been here at any time at all at Watermark, you know that we are on a journey.

We talk about being on a journey often. The Bible says that we're all on a journey to different destinations.

We're all walking on a path, and we're all not there yet, but we're going someplace.

We've been reading the Gospel of Luke. We're in chapter 12.

So if we were faster, we'd be in chapter 19, which is today.

Today, Jesus is on a journey, and we've said that whenever he sets his face towards Jerusalem, that means one thing, right?

What does that mean?

The cross.

Very good.

So that means the cross.

So he's saying he's moving towards Jerusalem, and the cross is about bringing us back to God.

And today, the passage tells us that when Jesus is walking into the village of Bethany, we're going to study about that later.

That's where Lazarus is from.

That's where he had the meal with the two sisters, Martha and Mary.

Remember the busy one and the one who wants to sit at his feet?

He walks over the hill.

So if you're in Jerusalem, you're in the middle of Jerusalem.

You're looking north.

To the east is this Kidron, this valley, and there's a Mount of Olives.

And about a mile over that Mount of Olives is the town of Bethany.

And so Jesus is approaching Jerusalem, where he's going to get killed, with his disciples and thousands of people who are following him.

And we're told in this passage that when he comes over the hill, he's in Bethany.

He looks down in Jerusalem, and he starts to cry.

Because he realizes how much God loves the people in the city.

And he realizes how far the people in the city's hearts are from God.

And we're told that he weeps over lost people.

We want to be a church that weeps over lost people and thinks about that and remembers what it was like before we knew Christ.

And if you're here and you don't know Christ yet, we are so glad that you're here.

And our prayer is that you would see him in the community and in the worship and in the word.

And that you would come towards him and follow him.

So we're told that as Jesus looks over this city and he cries, everyone welcomes him because they're thinking that he's going to change everything right then.

And so they come and they lay out all their clothes.

Thousands of people lay their clothes.

And the hill is very steep and it goes downhill.

And they put him on this young donkey, this donkey that's never been ridden before.

To enter into Jerusalem to change and make all things new.

Now what happens is very interesting because the people gather around him and they have these palm branches.

And tradition says that whenever a conqueror entered into a city for a thousand years,

the people would line the city and wave these palm branches.

So everybody is waving these palm branches and they're crying out to Jesus, save us, save us.

Now they have a different type of saving in mind.

They are thinking about save us from the Romans, save us from our oppression.

But as we know as followers of Christ, we know that his saving is much greater than that.

So what I do now is I need the kids' help.

So if you're a kiddo, because we're about to dismiss you for kids' class,

with all the kids who are like, you know, anybody who's going to run off there,

can you come here for one second?

Come on, kids.

We're going to try something.

If you're new here, you know that we thrive in chaos.

Okay.

So.

Hey.

Okay.

So this is what I need.

All the kiddos here.

Okay.

So I need every kid to get a palm branch.

Now you can sit there.

Okay.

Grab one.

Maybe.

Christina, can you help me?

Just take one.

Just take one.

Okay.

Don't hit anybody.

Don't hit anybody.

Okay.

There you go.

We have.

There you go.

There you go.

Okay.

Just wait.

Patience.

Patience.

Patience.

Lucas.

Okay.

Okay.

Everybody.

Here you go, buddy.

Okay.

Okay.

So we have 50.

I don't know.

I can't see anything.

I got all these trees around me.

Okay.

So kids, this is.

Everybody have one?

You want one?

Here you go.

Rachel, can I have one more?

Okay.

Any more have one?

Anybody else?

Oh, we got some more over here.

Come on.

Walk on up.

Okay.

Here you go.

Okay.

Everybody get one.

Okay.

Okay.

Kids, watch me.

This is what we're going to do.

Okay.

Hey.

Okay.

Ready?

Wave the palm.

Can you say, can you say Hosanna?

Hosanna.

Louder.

Hosanna.

Hosanna.

You know what Hosanna means?

Hosanna means save us or come save us.

Okay.

So ready?

You're going to help us.

One, two, three.

Hosanna.

Oh, come on.

No candy afterwards.

Okay.

Hosanna.

Hosanna.

Hosanna.

Okay.

Now I want you to walk out of the house, walk out of the church, and wave your palm branch

to everybody, and I want you to yell Hosanna as loud as you can.

Okay.

Okay.

Bye, guys.

Also, youth.

Youth are dismissed.

That Christians of all races and cultures and tribes know and utter.

And those two words are hallelujah, which means praise the Lord, and amen or amen.

Amen.

So today, we're going to think about prayer as praise.

And I want us to begin this way.

We shout out.

Because when the Hebrews worship, they dance, they sing, and they shout.

Just like when you go to see the Hong Kong Sevens, when you are cheering for your favorite

team, whether it be Hong Kong or whether it be Fiji, whatever.

You don't say, come on, Hong Kong.

Come on, Fiji.

Come on, Hong Kong.

Rise up, Fiji, and so on.

So we're going to shout and praise God together.

And then, after we have said hallelujah three times, we're going to read the scripture reading

for today from Psalm 145, which you'll see on your screen.

We'll do it in three sections.

First section will be there.

The second section here.

And the third section will be over there.

And three of us will get you up and make sure that we read with enthusiasm, with vigor,

with energy, and with joy.

Amen?

Great.

So, let's say, let's shout three hallelujahs to the Lord.

Ready?

Hallelujah!

Hallelujah!

Hallelujah!

Hallelujah!

I will praise your name forever and ever.

Every day I will praise you and extol your name forever and ever.

Great is the Lord and most worthy of praise.

His greatness no one can fathom.

One generation commends your works to another.

They tell of your mighty acts.

They speak of the glorious splendor of your majesty.

And I will meditate on your wonderful works.

They tell the power of your awesome works.

And I will proclaim your great deeds.

They celebrate your abundant goodness and joyfully sing of your righteousness.

The Lord is gracious and compassionate.

The Lord is gracious and compassionate.

Slow to anger and rich in love.

The Lord is good to all.

The Lord is good to all.

He has compassion on all he has made.

All your works praise you, Lord.

Your faithful people extol you.

They tell of the glory of your kingdom and speak of your might,

so that all people may know of your mighty acts and the glorious splendor of your kingdom.

Your kingdom is an everlasting kingdom.

And your dominion endures through all generations.

The Lord is trustworthy in all he promises and faithful in all he does.

The Lord upholds all who fall and lifts up all who are bowed down.

The eyes of all look to you, and you give them their food at the proper time.

You open your hand and satisfy the desires of every living thing.

All right, you ready?

Section 3.

This is like the south sand in the 7th.

Ready?

The Lord is righteous in all his ways and faithful in all he does.

The Lord is near to all who call on him, to all who call on him in truth.

He fulfills the desire of those who fear him.

He hears the cry and saves them.

The Lord watches over all who love him.

But all the wicked he will destroy.

My mouth will speak in praise of the Lord.

Let every creature praise his holy name forever and ever.

Amen.

Please be seated.

Good morning.

It's great to be back at Watermark.

Two nights ago, King Lee and I were invited to a wedding reception at the pier.

And we had a tremendous surprise.

Guess where we went?

It was called the Watermark Restaurant.

And I thought, wow, we must have grown.

The only disappointment was I didn't see Chef Tobin Miller there with his team.

But there was tremendous service.

And the fair was excellent.

So I thought, maybe here at Watermark, we can have the same kind of atmosphere, ambience.

And at the same time, too, we want to have people who really serve, who care, that our service is efficient and personal.

And then, of course, to provide spiritual fare, give you a menu that will enrich you and bless you and help you come closer to know and love the living God.

Now, our theme for this morning is Hallelujah, Praise in Prayer.

Prayer, they say, is a many splendid thing.

So is love.

But prayer is also like a diamond.

Diamond, which is a precious stone, has many facets.

And I want to suggest to you that the brightest beam would come from the facet of praise.

What is prayer?

Most of us define prayer as talking to God, communicating with Him or communing with Him.

And so when we find ourselves in danger, facing depression or difficulties, we cry to Him and say, help!

In His grace, He listens to us.

He reaches out to us.

And there are the times when we are praying for other people.

Maybe our son or daughter is going through a tough time at school.

And they're having exams.

My, there's so much fright and nervousness.

So we begin to pray for our children or to pray for a loved one who may be going for a critical interview.

We call that intercessory prayer.

And God delights often to hear those prayers.

But then there are also sometimes prayers of thanksgiving.

Maybe we've been promoted.

Maybe we've had a fantastic vacation.

And therefore, we want to say, thank you, Lord.

Thank you, Lord.

But other times, when we have been convicted of our sinfulness, when our consciences smite us,

we come to God and we say, God, we are truly sorry.

Then God in His grace forgives us.

And someone says, it's the joy of being wrong.

The joy of being wrong.

When we say we are sorry, we know that God loves those with a humble and contrite heart.

And He will forgive and He will restore.

That's prayer.

The prayer of confession.

But when we praise God, our concentration, our focus is not on ourselves, our environment, or other people.

It is on the living God Himself.

Prayer, as it were, raises us, lifts us up to see the God.

The God who created the entire universe, the heavens and the earth.

The God who has revealed Himself.

The God who wants us to know Him.

And we begin to worship Him.

Want to spend time with Him.

Many years ago, I think it was in the year 1970,

when our youngest son, Steve, was only about three years old.

And I was working in my office preparing a sermon on a Saturday afternoon.

That's when most pastors try to work on a sermon.

And he came knocking at my door.

And I thought, oh, I must finish this message.

Otherwise, I'll be very worried because tomorrow I have to preach that particular word.

And I thought, well, Steve just simply wants me to wrestle with him.

Or to play with him.

Play football with him.

And I was preparing excuses as to why I can't spend time with him.

Then I said, Steve, what do you really want?

And he says, Papa, Dad, I just want to be with you.

And that melted my heart.

All my excuses flew to the window.

Just rush out to hug him.

Now, when we praise God, it's like that.

God is saying, all right, I'll down all tools.

I just want to be with you.

And I'm so glad and delighted that you are enjoying me.

So prayer is that way.

And when we say hallelujah, we're saying praise the Lord.

Now, our pastor, Tobin, is a fantastic reader in case you don't know much about him.

He would send to us staff members all kinds of wonderful articles.

And recently, when we were in London, I had to read up something that he sent us from Tim Keller,

a book that's not been published yet.

And Tim Keller, and some of us have been looking at his study guides, Gospel in Life,

he was trying to distinguish between Christians who are driven by religion

and those who are driven by the gospel, the good news of Jesus Christ.

And so in this paper, he says, if you are driven by religion, this is what happens.

My prayer life, quote, consists largely of petition.

It only heats up when I'm in a time of need.

My purpose in prayer is to control the environment, things, and people.

But on the other hand, if we are gospel-centered believers,

then my prayer life consists of, and I love these words,

generous stretches of praise and adoration.

My main purpose is fellowship with Him.

I seek God for Himself, not because I want Him to bless me,

wonderful though that be, or to give things to me and to my friends.

It's not just needy, though we are and they are,

but it's because when we praise, we enter into God's presence,

we magnify Him, we lift Him up.

Now some of us are very familiar with a very famous catechism,

the Westminster Shorter Catechism of Faith.

And the question that's asked, the first question is,

what is the chief purpose of man, the chief end of man?

Answer, the chief end of man is to glorify God and to enjoy Him forever.

In a word, the reason why you and I exist,

the reason why God saved us for Himself,

is that in order that we can magnify Him,

that we can praise Him,

that we can enjoy Him forever.

Because praise is not just for Sunday worship,

not even in a daily living, but it's for eternity.

Because when we go to heaven,

heaven is a place full of praises.

And right here on planet Earth,

God wants us to praise Him.

John Piper,

some of us read his wonderful books,

he calls himself a Christian hedonist,

speaks of the enjoyment,

the pleasure of knowing God.

And he says,

worship is basically adoration.

And we adore what delights us.

And I like this phrase, this sentence.

There is no such thing as sad adoration

or unhappy praise.

So when we are praising God,

we cannot be sad.

We might be sad in terms of our moods or our feelings,

but once we start praising God,

our perspective will change,

change dramatically.

And one of my prayers working here at Watermark

is that our church will become

a Hallelujah people community,

that we will learn to praise God.

Because when we praise God,

there is joy in our hearts,

a smile on our faces,

and many people will come and say,

hey, what have you got that I haven't got?

And when we praise God,

we will be like a magnet drawing people

to the living God himself.

Now today we are going to look at a psalm.

It is Psalm 145,

which we have read earlier on.

So turn with me to your Bibles or click.

It is a new word I learned at Watermark.

Click to your iPad or iPhone

to Psalm 145.

This is a psalm of praise.

The book of Psalms, the Psalter,

has praise from the beginning

and right through the very end.

And this psalm, Psalm 145,

is an acrostic psalm.

In other words,

every verse begins with one letter

of the Hebrew alphabet.

Now alphabet is from the Greek word

alpha-beta.

We call it alphabet.

But this one you may call elefbeth.

And the Jewish alphabet has 22 letters.

So there are, as it were, 22 verses.

One was left out by the translators,

the King James people,

which I will point out to you later.

And in these verses,

we have the psalmist

exhorting, encouraging people

to praise God.

And in the reading we had today,

we have the three major points about praise.

First of all,

praise is eternal.

Praise is eternal.

Verse 1,

I will exalt you, my God the King,

I will praise your name

forever and ever.

So from verse 1 through verse 7,

we see that praise is eternal.

And the second verse says,

every day,

I will praise you

and extol your name

forever and ever.

So there is this eternal dimension

in praise.

Why?

Because of God.

Who is God?

Verse 1,

I will exalt you,

I will lift you high,

my God the King.

God is no mere godling,

small God.

He is the sovereign ruler

of the universe.

He is the majestic king.

Now I live in London

and Buckingham Palace

is just about a mile and a quarter

from where we live.

But when you go

and have an audience

with the queen,

you suddenly realize

that you are coming

before a person

of tremendous dignity

and honor.

You can't just rush

into her presence

and say,

hi there, queenie.

You can't do that.

You must know

how to address her.

If you are a lady,

to curtsy,

which I can't do.

Or a man,

to say hi ma'am.

Good,

and so on.

And so it is with God.

When we come

into His presence,

what do we do?

Tell Him all our needs?

Bring all our requests

to Him?

No, no.

It begins with praise.

I will praise your name

forever and ever.

I will extol your name

forever and ever.

But praise is not just

reserved for eternity

when we get to the very

courts of heaven.

It's every day.

Every day.

I will praise you.

Will you turn to your neighbor

and say,

you have to praise God

every day.

Just turn to your neighbor

and say that.

Every day.

Every day.

I will praise you.

We don't praise God

simply when we come

to a worship service.

But every day,

the different moments

of our life,

we really want to

center on God.

We want to celebrate

His worthiness.

Yes, Lord.

We just want to adore you.

You are so great.

You are so wonderful.

So every day,

we praise Him.

And then the psalmist

also realizes

that he cannot

live on earth forever.

The Hebrew idea

was three score

and ten years

is sort of the maximum

in those days.

But he's saying,

I want to see

praise continuing.

How does it continue?

And if you look at

the fourth verse,

it says,

one generation

will commend

your works to another.

They will tell

of your mighty acts.

And in verse 3,

because you are so great,

so worthy of praise,

what happens?

I want to see

every generation.

This is the legacy

that I'm passing on

to my children,

to my grandchildren,

great-grandchildren,

that every generation

would know how to extol,

exalt

God Himself.

One generation

will commend

your works to another.

They will tell

of your mighty acts.

It is said

by scholars

that

the Exodus event,

when God

rescued His people

from Egypt,

the parents

were to tell them

of God's mighty acts.

And someone,

a theologian,

called this

the theology

of recital.

You recite,

you rehearse,

you talk of

the mighty actions

of God

in history.

And so,

we want to ensure

that every generation

knows about

this great

and mighty God

and they will

commend His works.

Verse 5,

they will speak

of the glorious splendor

of His majesty

and that I

will meditate

on your wonderful works.

And this generation

will go on

telling of the power

of your awesome works

and I will proclaim

your great deeds.

And they will celebrate

your abundant goodness

and joyfully sing

of your righteousness.

Some of you know

that Kingling and I

are grandparents.

we have 10 grandchildren.

Now, of course,

our three sons

love Jesus

and are very committed

to Him.

But to me,

one of the most

lovely experiences

is to see

our grandchildren

praising God.

This loving Jesus.

And for us,

it's a sheer delight

because we want

every generation

to know

and to practice

and rehearse

the praises

of Almighty God Himself.

So,

praise,

is eternal.

The second thing

that we learn

about praise

is this.

Praise

is universal.

Praise

is universal.

And we find this

from verse 8

through verse 13.

Praise

is universal.

Verse 8 begins

with a statement.

Many years before that,

Moses had an encounter,

a rendezvous with God.

And then God revealed Himself

to Moses.

Moses was hiding

in the cleft of a rock.

And God declared

that He is Yahweh,

the Lord,

loving and compassionate,

will not be angry forever.

And here,

the psalmist

repeat

that description

of God Himself

in that particular verse.

Verse 8,

the Lord is gracious

and compassionate,

slow to anger

and rich in love.

His love is inexhaustible.

The more you know

of God's love

in Christ Jesus,

in creation,

in redemption,

you discover

that we are worshipping

a God

who lavishes

His kindness,

His goodness

towards us.

His love

is rich.

And because of that,

what happens?

Verse 9,

the Lord,

I want you to note

the word all

or every.

The Lord is good

to whom?

Just a few people?

To an elite few?

Not at all.

He says,

the Lord

is good

to all.

His compassion

is on all

that He has made.

Every creature,

everyone

is included.

And all

you have made

will praise you,

O Lord.

Your saints

will extol you.

Then in verse 21,

my mouth would speak

in praise of the Lord.

Let every creature,

every,

every creature

praise His holy name

forever and ever.

And there you have

the sense of praise

being eternal

and praise being universal,

coming together.

So,

praise is universal.

Everyone,

God is good to all.

His compassion on all

and all His works

will praise Him.

Every creature

will praise His holy name.

And earlier on,

we've sung

the lovely hymn

ascribed to

St. Francis of Assisi,

all creatures

of our God

and King.

Lift up our voice

and let us sing.

Oh,

praise Him.

Oh,

praise Him.

Hallelujah.

Hallelujah.

Then,

Matt Redman's song,

everything that,

everything that has breath,

praise the Lord.

Praise the Lord.

Old hymns,

new songs,

center on God.

There are songs,

hymns,

of praise to Him.

Or,

in Psalm 98,

the psalmist

is very eager

to show

that when we praise God,

not only human beings,

not only those

who profess to love Him,

but all of nature

resound,

echo

to His praise.

Verse 7

of Psalm 98,

let the sea resound

and everything in it,

all the oceans,

Atlantic,

Pacific,

Indian Ocean,

South China Sea,

resound.

And the world

and all who live in it,

universal,

the world,

all who live in it,

let the rivers

clap their hands.

We know rivers have no hands,

but in this striking metaphor,

even the rivers

can rejoice

and let the mountains

sing together.

Let all the Himalayas,

the Chains,

the Andes,

the Rockies,

the Alps,

every mountain range

sing together

for joy.

Let them sing

before the Lord.

So here we have

praise as being universal

because God made

the whole universe

and all His creation,

both the redeemed

and those whom

He had created,

including the world

of the animals,

the fish,

the birds,

and also nature itself

with the trees

and with the mountains

and the seas,

all are meant

to praise God.

So praise is universal.

And then as we go back

to Psalm 45,

the saints,

verse 10,

will extol you.

Who are the saints?

They are God's chosen people.

God would pick them out

from the masses of the world

and brought them to know Him,

to love Him.

And we who know

and love God

in Christ Jesus,

we are the saints.

And we are set apart

to praise Him.

And what do we do?

How do we praise God?

Well, verse 11,

they will tell

of the glory

of your kingdom

and speak of your might

so that all men

may know your mighty acts

and the glorious splendor

of your kingdom.

Now, last week,

Mike preached

a wonderful sermon

about kingdom and prayer.

It talks about

the reign of God,

the rule of God.

And here,

we want to speak

about the kingdom.

God's kingdom

is not just

a Jewish kingdom,

not even a Christian kingdom,

if I dare say that.

It is a realm

that extends

throughout the world

where people will come

to confess

that Jesus is Lord

to God's glory.

They will accept

His Lordship

and His kingship.

They will talk

of His kingdom,

the kingdom

where Jesus is central,

the kingdom

with its values,

the values of love,

of forgiving our enemies,

the values of acceptance,

the value of

even turning the other cheek,

walking the second mile,

they will speak

of the glory

of the kingdom

and of His might

so that,

here's the universal theme again,

all men and women

may know

of your mighty acts

and the glorious splendor

of your kingdom.

So what God is doing

is this,

right in the created world,

God calls out people,

we are members

of His kingdom,

and in this kingdom,

we demonstrate

the goodness

and the greatness

of God

and this kingdom

is forever.

Your kingdom come,

your will be done.

For thine is the kingdom,

the power,

and the glory

forever and ever.

Get it?

So there's this

global,

universal sense

and this kingdom

is supposed to

permeate all of human life

that people may come

to know this great king,

the king that we worship

and love.

So remember,

our God is not a godling,

a small God.

He is the universal God.

He has created the universe.

He's Lord of the universe

and we bow before Him

in praise

and in worship.

Praise is eternal.

Praise is universal.

And then thirdly,

praise is experiential.

You'll find this

from verse 13,

the second part,

until the end

of this particular psalm

in verse 21.

Praise is experiential.

God's mighty acts

is not only

etched

in ancient history.

It is engraved

in everyday experience,

both for the Christian

as well as for the church.

Because when we praise God,

yeah,

we can praise Him

for all that is past,

but we should be praising Him

for all that is to come.

Now,

in the church

that I used to pastor

in London,

when we get people

to give testimonies,

I always say,

no,

I'm not interested,

not now,

in listening to

the testimonies

that you had

10,

15,

20 years ago

of how you got saved

and so on.

Wonderful though

that may be,

but I want to know

what God has been doing

for you

personally

in the last week,

in the last month.

And usually,

my arbitrary selection

is no more than three months

because experiences

ought to be fresh.

You heard a story

about a man

who loved to give

his testimony

and one day

the pastor says,

Bert,

I want you to give

your testimony

at this meeting.

He says,

Pastor,

I'm sorry.

My testimony

had been eaten up

by the rats.

So what happened?

He wrote his testimony down.

Every time he was asked

to give his testimony,

he would read it.

Now,

that's not the testimony

we're talking about.

It's fresh.

It's alive.

So what happens?

Let's look at

what the psalmist says.

What are these things

that we are to declare?

It begins with the verse,

verse 30,

and this is the missing verse.

In some of your versions,

if you have the King James,

you find that it's not there.

It's been left out.

I think,

not deliberately,

but in some of the

more ancient texts,

including the Isaiah Scrolls,

the oldest existing

manuscript

that we have,

this verse is there.

The Lord is faithful

to all His promises

and loving

towards all

that He has made.

This is a fantastic

declaration statement.

God is faithful

to all

His promises

and loving

towards all

that He has made.

The God that we praise

and worship

is a totally

trustworthy,

reliable God.

Now,

if you look at some

of the gods,

say,

of Chinese people,

of the Greeks

or of the Indian people,

you find that

these gods

are very capricious.

So,

on Chinese New Year

or Chinese New Year Eve,

in some Chinese homes,

you know what

the owner does?

Maybe

he's a businessman

and he wants to

prosper

in the year to come.

He would go

to the kitchen god

or the door god

and would rub

their lips

with cognac

or whiskey

and would say

to them,

when you see

the august jade emperor,

tell them

I've been a good boy.

Okay?

I've done things well

and so on.

It's kind of bribery.

You want your god

to change things?

This was true

of the ancient gods

that the Hebrews,

the Jews met,

especially in Canaan.

The Baals,

the Baals,

they were all so whimsical,

always changing things

and so on.

They got to bribe them

with all kinds of sacrifices

but not our god

because here we are told

our god is absolutely

consistent.

He will not break his word.

And some of us know

the pain

of broken promises

and pledges,

words that were uttered

when we exchange

our marriage vows

for better,

for worse,

richer,

poorer,

sickness,

and health,

to death,

us do part

and then comes

the bitter divorce.

And some of us

find ourselves

heartbroken

because of broken promises

and children

who cannot trust

parents' words,

they grow up

very traumatic

and unable

to cope with life.

I promise to take them

to Disneyland

or wherever

and then

some engagement

crops up,

sorry son,

we can't go.

promise is broken

but God

is not like that.

He is ever faithful,

ever true,

faithful in all

his promises

and then in relationship

to us,

loving

towards all

that he has made.

So how is this

demonstrated?

Verse 14,

he is the god

of grace

or

can I say

the god

of second chance

or third chance

or fourth chance

and on and on.

he is that kind

of god.

Verse 14,

the lord

upholds all those

who fall,

he lifts up

all those

who are bowed down.

Those who are

oppressed

and depressed,

God

lifts them up.

Or like the servant

of the lord,

a bruised reed

he will not break,

a smoking flax

he will not quench.

See,

for many of us,

if someone

let us down,

beat our children,

our colleagues,

we get mad,

especially if we

have power,

we'll say,

forget it,

you blew it,

I'm not giving you

another chance.

But God is not

like that.

You and I have

sinned,

we've offended God,

grieved him.

When we come back

to him and we say

sorry,

he restores us,

he lifts us up

again,

he longs for us

to enjoy

his fellowship

and that is why

we want to praise him.

The reason why

I love God

and praise him

because he has given me

so many chances.

I blew it

so many times.

Sinned against him

by my selfishness,

by my hurtful words,

by my unkind actions.

Many, many times.

But God is so gracious.

He just loves me

and accepts me

because as he looks

at Jesus who died

for all my sins

on the cross,

he says,

I love you

because you trust

in my son.

I accept you

no matter what.

So here's a God

who lifts us up.

Are you in depression

today?

Are you someone

who is very downcast,

things are going wrong,

everything is so bleak

and dark?

Here's a word for you.

The God we worship

is the God

who can uphold

those who fall,

who lifts up

all those

who are bowed down.

Now,

some people say,

you can only praise God

when you're in a happy mood,

happy feet,

and so on.

You can dance

and so on

and things are going well,

then you can praise God.

But I want to suggest to you

in the Old Testament,

in the New Testament,

God's people

learn to praise God

even in troubled times,

in difficult situations.

For example,

when the apostles

were beaten and flogged

by the Sanhedrin,

the ruling council

of the Jews,

what happened?

They had bleeding backs.

Did they just

quench and cry

and say,

oh,

there's no point

serving Jesus.

Look at the beating

that we've got.

In Acts chapter 5,

Acts 5 · chapter mention

we're told,

they rejoiced

and they counted it

worthy

to suffer for Christ.

And then they had

a marvelous prayer meeting

with all the saints

in Jerusalem.

That's learning

to praise God

in times of trouble.

Paul and Silas

experienced that

in the colony

at Philippi

in northern Greece.

And when they were

in that prison

with their legs

in the stocks

and so on,

what were they doing?

Were they complaining?

God,

how unfair.

We serve you.

Why are we here?

We're told

they sang in prison.

There was so much joy

they were praising God.

And when you start

praising God,

there will be earthquakes.

There will be explosions.

The whole thing changed

and God even used them

to lead the jailer

and his family

to the Lord Jesus Christ.

And here in contemporary history,

we know about the church

in China.

At one time,

we thought it was going down.

In 1951,

there were only

one million Protestants

and all missionaries

had to leave the country.

All foreign missionaries

had to clear off.

And some of us

who were praying for China,

we thought,

oh dear,

what's going to happen?

Then,

1977,

78,

when the curtain

was opening,

to our surprise,

we learned that

millions,

at that time,

the rough guess

was about 40 to 45 million

Christians were there,

but we know

there were much,

much more.

How did the church grow?

the church grew

because the people

knew how to praise God

in times of persecution.

And I've read stories about,

for example,

a house church.

And one day,

the Red Guards came along

and they wanted to stop

a Christian service.

And they said,

we're going to arrest

the guy who was leading

the worship.

And they said,

no, no, no,

arrest the preacher.

He's the one

who is telling people

the message.

And when they were

being arrested,

everybody said,

yeah, we'll go,

but don't arrest him,

arrest me.

The worship leader says,

arrest me.

The owner of the house said,

arrest me,

because this house

belongs to me.

And everybody said,

no, no, no,

don't arrest them.

We came to join the meeting,

arrest me.

So these police

and the Red Guards

didn't know what to do

and they clapped

everyone in prison.

But when they got

into prison,

they began to sing

songs of praise

and began to testify

to political prisoners

and to lead them

to Christ.

And then the authorities

got so worried.

They said,

they're more dangerous

inside than outside.

Let's free them.

You see,

when you hear those stories,

when people counted

a joy to suffer

for Christ

and praise Him

in troubled times,

my goodness,

there is a revolution.

And God wants

to see that happening

even to us here today.

Then let's move on.

What else can we

praise God for?

For His provision.

Verse 15,

the eyes of all

look to you,

you give them their food

at the proper time,

you open your hand

and satisfy

the desires

of every living thing.

Here in Hong Kong,

most of us here

have got good jobs,

we can buy

anything we like

and God

satisfies us,

God

provides for us,

gives us

this day

our daily bread

and He does.

Like the child,

we will not worry

about whether we'll have

enough pancakes

for tomorrow

or whether we have to

hoard up some pieces

of bread.

We don't do that

because we know

God will provide.

Then in His dealings

with us,

verse 17,

the Lord is righteous

in all His ways,

loving towards

all He has made.

I can trust His God,

I can praise His God

because His intention

is for my good.

He wills

the best

for me.

And that's why

I can rejoice,

that's why

I can

praise Him.

Hallelujah.

Then it says,

God is not a distant God,

far,

far away,

so remote,

so impersonal.

When we call on Him

in truth,

He is there.

And wonder of wonders,

not just a foot,

two feet away,

by His Spirit

He resides in me.

Don't you know

that your bodies,

says Paul,

are the temples,

the shrines

of the Holy Spirit?

So God is near,

in us,

with us,

forever,

so we can praise Him

and rejoice

in this wonderful,

wonderful God.

Then as we look on

in our text,

verse 19,

He fulfills the desires

of those who fear Him,

He hears their cry

and saves them.

Verse 20,

I think this is a verse

for many of us today,

especially those of us

who live and work

in Hong Kong.

the Lord watches

over all

who love Him,

but the wicked

He will destroy.

I have to make

a confession here.

I am a person

who likes to be

in control

to know what's happening.

Most pastors

are like that,

except Toby Miller,

all right?

and I get very anxious

when I don't know

what's going to happen

and so on.

And some of us

who are pastors

or executives,

whatever it might be,

heads of household,

we can worry

all night,

what will happen

to my child,

what will happen

to my business

or to my church,

to this activity,

and then we become

very anxious.

But the moment

we learn to praise God,

then our worries

go.

So we have a choice,

either to acknowledge God

and praise Him

or to live

with our worries.

The more you worry,

it will eat into you

and you become

more anxious

and you become

more difficult

to live with

and work with.

Ask your spouse,

he or she

will tell you that.

But when you start

praising God,

everything can change.

Relationship

and perspective.

Now,

in Psalm 1-1,

there's a lovely picture

of God

watching over us.

Psalm 1-1,

verse 3,

God will not let

your foot slip.

He who watches you

will not slumber.

Are you having

sleepless nights?

Worrying about

what will happen

the next day,

the next week,

the next month?

Hey,

don't do that

because there's no point

in you having

sleepless nights

when God

is the one

who's keeping awake.

Remember,

there's a story

about God

saying to the pastor,

Pastor,

you can go to bed now.

Don't worry about

your church.

I'm here.

I don't slumber.

I don't sleep.

I'm taking care of things.

Just relax.

Just sleep.

And sometimes

we need that word.

Indeed,

he who watches

over Israel

will neither

slumber,

nor sleep.

The Lord

watches over you.

The Lord

is your shade

at your right hand.

The Lord

will keep you

from all harm.

He will watch

over your life.

The Lord

will watch

over your coming

and going

both now

and forevermore.

Whatever you do,

He will watch,

He will guard,

He will protect you.

And don't you want

to shout,

Hallelujah?

Hallelujah?

This is our God.

The God

who watches

over us.

And no wonder

we have the

response

in verse 21.

My mouth

will speak

in praise

of the Lord.

Let every creature

praise His holy name

forever

and ever.

That is

the natural

response.

And then

you might say,

hey,

wait a minute,

you've been teaching us

from the Psalms,

Psalm 145.

It's great.

What about

the New Testament?

Well,

let's meet Paul.

Paul the Apostle

who's gone through

so much hardship

and pain,

persecution,

imprisonment.

And look at

the way that he

writes the Christians

in Ephesus

or the churches

in Asia Minor

because this is

a circular letter.

Because in chapter 1

verse 3,

he begins his letter

with these words,

Praise be to the

God and Father

of our Lord Jesus Christ

who has blessed us

in the heavenly realms

with every spiritual

blessing in Christ.

Praise.

Hallelujah.

God has blessed us

in Christ

with every

spiritual blessing.

The blessing

of being chosen,

election,

predestination.

What for?

Verse 6,

to the praise

of His glorious grace.

Then he goes on

to talk about

our redemption,

the forgiveness

of our sins.

And then

in verse 13,

he says,

And you

who are in Christ

when you heard

the word of truth,

the gospel

of your salvation,

having believed,

you were marked

in Him

with a seal,

the promised Holy Spirit.

So when we have

the Holy Spirit

living in us,

God is saying,

you are marked.

You belong to Me.

And nothing,

nothing

can separate you

from My love.

Isn't that wonderful?

And then he goes on

to say,

the Holy Spirit

is a deposit

guaranteeing

our inheritance

until the redemption

of those

who are God's possession

to the praise

of His glory.

So here,

again,

we are told

that God

gave His Spirit

to us.

It's like a deposit.

Now,

when you buy a house

in Hong Kong,

you have to give

to the agent

or to the vendor

a certain percentage.

you give a deposit.

And that means

that you are serious.

You want to buy the house

or else you lose

the deposit.

So in the same way,

God is saying,

how do you know

that one day,

because praise is forever,

when you go to heaven,

or how do you know

that you'll be there?

And the answer is,

even right now,

you have the Holy Spirit

living in you.

That's God's sign,

God's seal,

God's mark.

Deposit.

Now,

in modern Greek,

not in Koine,

the Greek that was written

of our New Testament text.

In modern Greek,

the word for deposit

is an engagement ring.

The Holy Spirit

is like an engagement ring.

So those of you girls

who are engaged

or still have

your engagement ring,

what does that mean?

Boys,

keep out.

I belong to someone special,

right?

And engagement means

a preview

that one day

the fulfillment

of a relationship

is going to take place.

Marriage.

Then you have

a wedding ring.

Right?

So God is saying to us,

right now,

you have the Holy Spirit.

And therefore,

you can shout,

Hallelujah,

because this is your guarantee.

This is your guarantee.

So let's close.

We're talking about

Hallelujah.

Praise in prayer.

How do we apply

this to ourselves?

Well,

we have to do

certain things.

One of the great

preachers,

leaders of the church

in North America

in the 18th century,

Jonathan Edwards,

he likes to use

the word resolve.

Resolve.

So we have to resolve.

Say,

I am going to be intentional.

I'm going to aim.

I'm going to do it.

I want to resolve

to praise God

every day.

Personal praise.

So sometimes,

now,

I want this to

kind of permeate

in your mind,

in your subconscious,

and so on.

When you ask yourself

at any time in the day,

hey,

what am I supposed

to do now?

I've just finished

an assignment.

What do I do next?

I've just finished

my meal.

I've just put my kids

to bed.

What do I do now?

Whenever you ask yourself

what I do now,

why not whisper

utter praise?

God,

thank you.

God,

God,

praise you

for who you are,

for loving me so much,

for giving me

all these wonderful things,

and for dealing with me

in your love,

in your grace.

Hallelujah.

I praise you.

Do it.

And prayer is something

continuous.

It's a continual conversation

with God.

So we learn to praise Him

in every moment

of our life,

even when we say grace.

That's a time

of thanksgiving,

of praise to Him.

Praise Him

when we read the Scriptures.

Praise Him

aloud.

Praise Him

as we join others

in songs.

And those of us

in our cell groups,

when we meet,

when we have our time

a prayer,

don't just bring needs

to God.

Of course we can.

But begin with praise.

Short praises.

Don't pray long prayers.

I'm never happy

with long prayers.

I go to sleep

if you pray too long.

I just like,

you know,

short prayers,

one sentence,

two sentences.

And when we have

morning prayers here,

we try to restrict it

to no more than

two sentences.

And that's great.

Everybody can participate.

And when you praise God,

the Bible study

goes much,

much better.

And then we want

to say this,

that when we praise God,

we want our whole life

to express our joy

and gratitude to Him.

One of the great

Scottish pastors,

Horatius Bonner,

he wrote a hymn

which I love.

I sing together

with my wife

over and over again.

Fill thou my life,

O Lord my God,

in every part

with praise,

that my whole being

may proclaim

thy being

and thy ways.

Then he goes on

to say,

not for the lips

of praise alone,

not in the praising heart.

I ask but for a life

made up

of praise

in every part.

I ask

for a life

made up

of praise

in every part.

Amen.

So why don't we just

praise God?

Let's all stand together.

And again,

just to say,

yes Lord,

I want to praise you.

Can we shout again,

hallelujah to the Lord?