PRAISING THE LORD

"Thus will I bless thee while I live: I will lift up my hands in thy name."

- Psalm 63:4

David was a man after God's own heart.  He was a man who praised the Lord.  He wrote many of the psalms.  David was not afraid to express his adoration of God.  In the 63rd Psalm, David expresses his love and worship of God. 

In the first three verses of the psalm, David states his desire for God and his high view of the Lord.  In our text, he writes, "Thus will I bless thee while I live."  David had many reasons to praise the Lord & so do we. 

The word, "bless" in the King James Version is literally translated, "praise."  David writes that he will praise the Lord, "... while I live."  While it is true that we'll be praising God throughout eternity in heaven, it is wrong to wait until heaven to begin praising Him.  He deserves our praise right now. 

I believe that we tend to spend more time complaining than we do in praise.  This is a mistake.  Our blessings far outweigh our complaints.  Despite the problems we face, God is worthy of our praise.  He deserves our praise because of who He is. 

Our text closes with this promise from David:  "I will lift up my hands in thy name."  I must admit that I grew up in churches that didn't actively promote lifting up hands in worship.  Yet our text teaches us that lifting up hands in praise is a good thing.  When we lift up our hands, it is a sign of surrender.  We need to daily surrender our lives to God.  When we lift up our hands, we physically extend ourselves toward God.  We should continually offer ourselves in the service of God.  Also, when we lift up our hands, we are physically posturing ourselves to receive.  In worship, it is not God's blessings that we seek, but God Himself. 

We have much to praise Him for.  Like David, we should say, "Thus will I bless thee while I live: I will lift up my hands in thy name."

BETTER THAN LIFE

"Because thy lovingkindness is better than life, my lips shall praise thee." - Psalm 63:3

Here in America, we place a lot of value on human life.  It goes against the grain for us to believe that something is better than life itself.  As humans, we fight and struggle to stay alive.  We think that survival is essential in life.

In our text, David states that the lovingkindness of God is better than life itself.  The King James uses the word, "lovingkindness," to indicate love in action.  God's love is an active love.  As far as God is concerned, love is not just an adjective.  Love is also a verb.  Love is not an empty concept.  God's love is a shameless love for His people.  His love for us is demonstrated through His overt acts of kindness and grace. 

The greatest display of God's love is shown in the person of Jesus Christ.  Romans 5:8 states, "But God commendeth his love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us."  God demonstrated His love toward us through the glorious gift of His Son.  Yet, God continues to demonstrate His love toward us in diverse ways.  We tend to take His benevolent gifts for granted. 

When I was growing up, my parents did not have much money, yet they found numerous ways to show their love for my brother and me.  I recall one night when Mom & Dad surprised me with the gift of a huge dictionary.  I was excited to receive a gift!  (By the way, I still have that dictionary).  I was thrilled to be given gifts by my parents.  In hindsight, I appreciate the love that prompted them to give. 

Think about the gifts God has given us.  He proves His love over and over again.  No wonder David felt that the lovingkindness of God was better than life.  The Giver of life is much better than the gift of life.

Because the lovingkindness of God is better than life, David writes, "... my lips shall praise thee."  David's praise could not be suppressed.  He had to let it out.  His praise would start within, but it wouldn't stay inside of him.  His lips would praise God.  He praised God verbally.  Whether others heard him or not, he wanted his lips to utter the praise of the One who loved him so much.

If we have experienced the saving grace of our Lord Jesus, shouldn't we be in the business of praising God?  His lovingkindness is better than life.  The Giver is sweeter than His gifts. We should love Him and praise Him because of His amazing and abundant grace!

WORSHIPING GOD

TEXT:  "To see thy power and thy glory, so as I have seen thee in the sanctuary." - Psalm 63:2

David wrote the 63rd psalm while he was in the wilderness.  Although he was far from the comfort of home, his greatest desire was to be back in God's house again. 

In our text, David longs to worship God.  What is worship?  Some think that worship is all about getting a "special feeling" during a church service.  Notice in our text that David does not mention his feelings.  Some identify worship with the "praise and worship music" that is common in some areas.  Again, our text does not mention music.  Here are the facts about worship:  worship is all about God, not about us.  Worship is about adoration, not a music preference. 

From our text, note three things about David's desire to worship God:

1.  GOD'S POWER.  First of all, David's worship focuses on God's power.  David viewed God as being awesome and mighty.  We need a renewed understanding about the greatness of God.  In our minds, we've demoted God to be like a vending machine --- available to give us what we want at any time.  We fail to grasp the truth that God is omnipotent.  He is all-powerful.  Tragically, we underestimate the power of God.  In our lives, we need to view the Lord as He really is --- a God of power.

2.  GOD'S GLORY.  Secondly, David's worship focuses on God's glory.  This refers to God's majesty.  The fullness of God's presence is best described as His glory.  Marvin Rosenthal once defined the glory of God as being, "God's intrinsic eternal perfections."  Moses prayed for God to reveal His glory to him.  Instead, God revealed only part of His glory to Moses because Moses could not view the full nature of God's glory and survive.  I believe that Isaiah caught a glimpse of God's glory in Isaiah 6, when he saw the Lord, "high and lifted up."  On the mount of transfiguration, Peter, James and John saw Jesus in a glorious way. In our text, David adored the splendor, majesty and perfections of God.  That is worship.

3.  GOD'S HOUSE.   Finally, David wrote, "... so as I have seen thee in the sanctuary."  I truly believe that God's presence is manifest in a special way at His house.  When His people gather to worship, adore and praise Him, He meets them there.  Can a person worship while walking in the woods?  Of course.  Can a person worship while looking at a star-lit sky?  Sure.  Yet David knew that public worship was an important component in his life. 

We express worship when we focus on God alone and enjoy His presence.  David desired to worship God.  What about you?

LONGING FOR GOD

TEXT:  "... my soul thirsteth for thee, my flesh longeth for thee in a dry and thirsty land, where no water is." - Psalm 63:1

Sadly, there is little spiritual passion among professing Christians these days.   The things of this world often distract believers.  We tend to be enamored by worldly issues instead of having a longing for the One who made the world.  Like Esau, we have carelessly traded spiritual blessings for the taste of temporary worldly stew.

In Psalm 63, David declares his passion for God.  He describes his passion in graphic terms:  thirsting and longing.  Does this describe your pursuit of God?  Can you honestly say that you have a longing for Him?  Does your soul thirst for Him?  In Psalm 42:1, the psalmist writes, "As the hart panteth after the water brooks, so panteth my soul after thee, O God."

Why do we lack such intense desire for God?  For one thing, we no longer see God as being precious.  We no longer have the awe and wonder of God that once captivated us.  We are not amazed at God's grace and love like we used to be.  Sadly, we no longer find Him to be worth longing for.  It is tragic!

The problem is not with God, but with our perception of God.  Although most believers would not admit it, we have more desire for family, possessions and success than we do for the Lord.  We fail to heed John's warning:  "Love not the world, neither the things that are in the world. If any man love the world, the love of the Father is not in him. For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh, and the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life, is not of the Father, but is of the world."

Even in our churches, our worship of God has been diluted with sentimentalism, tradition and selfishness.  Slowly, our focus of God has been clouded by sin. 

We need to have a fresh revival of spiritual passion.  Like the church at Ephesus, we have left our "first love."  What was our Lord's challenge to them?  Remember, repent and return.  "Remember therefore from whence thou art fallen, and repent, and do the first works." 

I can't help but feel that God is calling believers in America to do the same today.