-Transcript-
00:28 Amen. Glory to God. Welcome to the program.
00:31 Welcome to the cafe. My name is Clark Covington, pastor of Heartland Community Baptist Church. So glad to be here today at the cafe.
00:39 If you’ve been listening this week, you know we’re talking about showing forth praise. And if you haven’t been, that’s fine. Let me just tell you, we’re talking about showing forth praise.
00:47 Praise to who? Praise to God. The importance of praising God, it can’t be understated. And yet it is often, I think, either forced or not understood or just kind of not thought about enough.
01:02 Praise of God is worship, amen. When we go through just the littlest of things and we see God’s hand in it, I believe that that’s beautiful praise and worship to God when we praise Him, when we talk about Him.
01:12 The term that I use with our family often is, let me brag on God.
01:22 Whether it’s, oh, let me brag on God, He got us home from a safe trip. We had taken a trip as a family and as a family of five, we have a teenager who doesn’t love to travel too much. He’s busy with sports, et cetera.
01:25 So as a full family of five, we don’t take too many trips, amen. And it was cool to be able to go everybody out and about together and it was just showing forth praise to God. Oh, thank you, God, for getting us safe to our destination.
01:42 You might think, oh, big deal. But we were driving through the mountains on some old tires in like a flood and then the snow came. I mean, it was like, it was pretty treacherous weather and we were completely safe and God’s just so good.
01:52 So we show forth praise in that. An example I gave, the Sunday morning service was like a couple of years ago. I don’t know why I remember this, but we went to lunch as a family nearby and it was just, we weren’t expecting anything, but it just kind of been one of those times where financially I think it was a little bit of a struggle.
02:20 Anybody in the ministry I’m sure can relate to that, amen. And we went there and the cashier said, oh, you have a $5 off coupon, which we didn’t know we had. And oh, you have this other reward.
02:28 And they gave us this thing and that thing. We had a great lunch and we just got in the car and I think a couple of other little fortuitous things happened there that were nice, I don’t remember what, but it was just a really nice time. I got in the car and I said, guys, we got to just brag on God for a minute.
02:46 I mean, look what God did because it wasn’t just this nice little gift, you know, free this or discount that, but the context of it, that, you know, we really needed that. And it was just God’s just blessing, you know, and by the way, when you serve the Lord, you’ll see a lot of that kind of stuff. You hear preachers talk about just amazing things.
02:59 I mean, we hosted a missionary family in our house on and off for some time this past year. And they’d tell me stories, especially the preacher who was a church planter in the Philippines, brother Freddie Manzano, a great brother in Christ. And we love him.
03:15 And he was telling me stories of driving like to Florida from Ohio by himself and being stuck and like going to the wrong church. And then like, he’d be at like a bridge stuck or something.
03:29 And somebody would come up to him and let me buy your gas and pat him on the back and tell me, I mean, it’s just like crazy stuff, but, and I’m not doing the story justice, but I’m telling you, you would just say, wow, that’s God’s hand on, on the brother and anyone that’s in the mission field that raises deputation, they know it can be really hard and discouraging sometimes.
03:47 But right then it seems like God just comes in with one of those moments or whatever it is. Again, a kind word, support, all the above, whatever it may be. And just, it’s awesome.
03:57 And so we see God in, in, in our praise to him. So it’s worship, it’s warranted. We see who he is by the way, to praise him appropriately.
04:07 We need to know who he is. Psalm nine one is our text verse. I will praise the oh Lord with my whole heart.
04:12 I will show forth all thy marvelous works. That’s what we’ve been talking about all week is showing forth.
04:19 What have I told? I’ve told little tidbits about taking a trip, about going to lunch, about a missionary in Florida.
04:25 What are we doing? We’re showing forth all his marvelous works. I will praise the oh Lord with my whole heart.
04:32 We talk in our church about the heart being the deepest part of us emotionally and how, you know, Rome, I think it’s Romans 9, I think it is talks about believe with the heart and confess with the mouth.
04:41 That’s our founding verse of our church. The idea that the heart is where we’re making these decisions. And so we’re going to praise God with our whole heart.
04:51 We’re going to tell people what God’s doing. And yes, yes. You’re probably thinking, okay, isn’t that testifying? Yes, that’s testifying.
04:55 But in order to testify, we need to know who God is. Amen. And let’s look at Psalm nine just to see this beautiful Psalm here that explains who God is and praises God.
05:10 Psalm 9:1, I will praise the oh Lord with my whole heart. I will show forth all the marvelous works. I will be glad and rejoice in thee.
05:19 I will sing praise to thy name. Oh thou most high. When mine enemies are turned back, they shall fall and perish at thy presence.
05:26 For thou has maintained my right and my cause. Thou saddest in the throne judging right. Thou has rebuked the heathen.
05:33 Thou has destroyed the wicked. Thou has put out their name forever and ever. Oh thou enemy, destructions are come to a perpetual end and now has destroyed cities.
05:45 Their memorials perished with them. But the Lord shall endure forever. He has prepared his throne for judgment and he shall judge the world in righteousness.
05:54 He shall minister judgment to the people in uprightness. The Lord also will be a refuge for the oppressed, a refuge in times of trouble. And they that know thy name will put their trust in thee for thou Lord has not forsaken them that seek thee.
06:05 Sing praises to the Lord which dwelleth in Zion. Declare among the people his doings. When he maketh inquisition for blood, he remembereth them.
06:21 He forgetteth not the cry of the humble. Have mercy upon me, oh Lord. Consider my trouble which I suffer of them that hate me.
06:26 Thou that liftest me up from the gates of death. That I may show forth all thy praise in the gates of the daughter of Zion. I will rejoice in thy salvation.
06:33 The heathen are sunk down in the pit that they made in the net which they hid is their own foot taken. The Lord is known by the judgment which he executeth. The wicked is snared in the work of his own hands.
06:47 The wicked shall be turned into hell and all the nations that forget God. For the needy shall not always be forgotten. The expectation of the poor shall not perish forever.
07:01 Arise, oh Lord. Let not man prevail. Let the heathen be judged in thy sight.
07:03 Put them in fear, oh Lord, that the nations may know themselves to be but men, say La.What a beautiful psalm. Psalm 9 is so rich in detail about who God is, isn’t it? The nature of God, the eternal nature of God.
07:19 His sovereignty is unending power. God is a refuge. One that doesn’t forsake those that seek him.
07:27 An advocate for the humble. The judge, the one that repays. You know, to best praise God, it helps to know God.
07:34 Once we know God, we can’t help but praise God. That’s that fruitful cycle I’ve been talking about here. And David shows us that he didn’t just praise God with empty words, but he praises God with true attributes of who he is.
07:50 And so throughout this psalm, he is saying two things. One, show forth. In verse one, he says it.
07:56 In verse 11, he says it again. Declare among the people his doings. In verse 14, that I may show forth all thy praise in the gates of the daughter of Zion.
08:10 He’s saying that. He’s also saying he’s going to rejoice in who God is. And he’s showing God.
08:15 He’s showing God that he knows him. Amen. And the little silly examples I gave, you know, going on a trip.
08:15 Well, you know what? God is God is near. God hears the prayers of those that are living for him. The righteous.
08:27 Amen. We’re trying our best to live for him. He’s hearing our prayers to keep us safe.
08:29 Amen. God will not forsake the needy. Amen.
08:32 We need him. He didn’t forsake us. Talking about the food.
08:36 Amen. There’s scripture on that, that we aren’t even to worry about what we wear or what food we’re going to eat because he’s going to provide it. And he provides it for the lilies.
08:47 He provides it for the ravens. How much more so is he not going to provide these things for us? You know, Brother Freddy in Florida dealing with the circumstances he was dealing with,
09:06 being troubled and broken hearted and down and out, and that God was the one that lifted him up from from maybe not the gate of death, but from a lot of trouble and frustration in these times, these hard times, amen, that God lifted him up.
09:14 So what we’re doing in these praises of God, as simple as they sound, is we’re showing attributes of who he is.
09:18 Right. And so we praise God and we show these attributes of who he is. And then David says, look, I’m going to show you something else here.
09:26 I’m going to show you how to do it in your life. You can rejoice in God because David is rejoicing in God through the psalm is also saying to rejoice in God. We all have something to rejoice in God, that idea of deep, profound joy in who God is for what he has done for you.
09:43 You could not have a red penny to your name and everything going wrong in your life. But if you have Jesus Christ, if you’ve been saved by the blood of Jesus, you have everything you’ll ever need. You’re you have a home in heaven.
09:52 Your name is written down in Lamb’s Book of Life. You will you will not see hell. Amen.
09:59 You will not see death. You will not face judgment for your sin because you will plead the blood of Christ. That will be acceptable in God’s sight.
10:05 You have the Holy Spirit living within you. You have the promises that you can now appropriate to living for God.
10:12 Again, his great promises that he’s loving, that he has an expected end for you, that all things work together for good, for those that are called according to his purpose.
10:22 Amen. Romans 8:28. I’m going to read that because I kind of I kind of rush through it.
10:29 But let’s see here. Romans 8:28. And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are called according to his purpose.
10:36 So that promise and all the other promises you can now appropriate to yourself because you’re a child of God. So we are to rejoice in God with all the promises he’s given us.
10:46 And you see David recounting the victories that God has given him and the victories that God will continue to give him.
10:52 I love that phrase that the enemies will come to a perpetual end, like a never ending end. I love that phrase. And guess what we see David doing in actuality as we read the Psalms.
11:03 We see him creating, do we not? He’s creating for God. What were the Psalms? They were songs and he’s creating for God. And I’ve urged our congregation many times to use.
11:13 You know, we have we have kind of an introverted group, a small group, but they’re very creative in all sorts of things. And songwriting and music and design and drawing and cooking, culinary stuff, food. I said, use that for God.
11:29 You know, whatever we can do for God creatively. David, that was a creative outlet for David. And clearly it rung a chord.
11:38 It rung a chord. I’ve got some facts about the Psalms that I’ll mention at the end. But, you know, a God stamp of approval, I believe, is on this book.
11:46 Amen. Of course, all 66 books or else they wouldn’t be there. But I believe that this is a special book, a lot of time for God.
11:52 David, a lot of time for God. So one way to praise God is to make sure we’re making time for him and make sure that we are spending time with God to understand who he is so we can properly show forth praise and then testify about God publicly. Not being ashamed.
12:06 You think David was ashamed? I mean, he is just giving God all the glory and not taking any for himself. And think about all the things, all the victories he’s had. It could have been easy to take a lot of glory for himself.
12:17 You know, Dr. Ben Carson gives a great testimony, and I’ll read a little bit here from The Christian Post. I was failing chemistry and that wasn’t cool at all. You can’t be a premed and failing chemistry, said Carson, an accomplished neurosurgeon and conservative Christian.
12:32 The night before the final exam, he was thinking about his life. He prayed, saying, Lord, medicine is not the only thing I ever wanted to do. Would you please tell me what it is you really want me to do?
12:40 And he planned to prepare for the exam the whole night, but he fell asleep.
12:45 He had a dream in which he was alone in an auditorium and some nebulous figure wrote out chemistry problems on the blackboard. And when I went to take the test next morning, it was like the Twilight Zone.
12:52 He said, I opened the book and I recognized the first problem is one of the ones I dreamed about.
12:57 And the next and the next, the next. And I aced the exam and I got a good mark in chemistry. It worked out OK.
13:02 That’s an abbreviated version of Dr. Ben Carson’s testimony of how God boldly helped him miraculously to pass chemistry. Anyone that wants to be a doctor knows you have to get through chemistry, especially organic chemistry, to get into medical school. It’s very important.
13:18 And he fell asleep before the exam and God himself gave him the information. And what Dr. Carson does is he gives all the glory to God. Now, this man is a politician.
13:29 He’s literally in the record books for some of the medical things that he’s done. He’s a well-known doctor, incredibly well-known. He could have taken the glory for himself, but he gave it all to God.
13:36 And that’s an important thing to keep in mind. And when we testify for God, we’re putting the glory on him. We’re showing forth praise in a real example.
13:45 Even if it’s not something as miraculous as that, it’s a real example. And we’re always, you know, putting God above ourselves in that testimony. And that’s a confidence in showing forth praise that we have to have, a boldness in showing forth praise.
14:00 As I mentioned, Jesus quotes the Psalm several times in the New Testament. It was good enough for God himself. 55 verses of the Psalms is in all of that is cited in all the New Testament.
14:12 I’m telling you, the Psalms are a great way for us to understand how to praise God. And for time’s sake, I’ve got to wrap it up. But please get in the book and let’s all show forth praise to God as David has taught us to do.
14:25 I thank you so much for listening today. Tune in next time.
14:27 Take care. God bless and amen.