Pdt Victor Liu
Ringkasan khotbah 29 Desember 2024
From Lament to Praise
Psalm of Praise: Psalm 117
# The Calling for Praising The Lord
Introduction: When & Why do you praise the Lord???
Psalm 117 is a call for us to praise our Lord. Psalm 117 is the shortest chapter in the Bible and contains the shortest verses in all of Psalms.
Everytime we read and meditate on His Words, remember to ask 2 questions:
(1) A statement of Affirmation/Truth — makes a statement about reality/truth or describes an action.
(2) Exhortation– urges action or expresses a request or wish.
Every time we are reading and meditating His Words, remember asking 2 questions: (1) a statement of Affirmation/Truth — makes a statement about reality/truth or describes an action.
(2) Exhortation– urges action or expresses a request or wish.
Pay attention to Psalm 117. Verse 1 — there is an Exhortation: command us to praise the Lord. Verse 2 — there is a statement of Affirmation/Truth: great is the Lord’s steadfast love & His faithfulness endures forever.
Verse 1 and verse 2 connected by FOR — a reason
There are 3 imperatives to order us to praise the Lord:
@ PRAISE The Lord in verse 1
@ EXTOL Him in the end of verse 1
@ PRAISE the Lord
Psalm 117 focuses on WHY WE PRAISE THE LORD JOYFULLY
Pay attention on ‘for’ in the beginning of verse 2. ‘For’ (relative conjunction) explains a reason, a cause, on why we must praise the Lord.
Thus, Psalm 117 focuses on the reason we must praise the Lord joyfully.
I want to explain from verse 2, the reason we praise the Lord joyfully and then make an application for us. We should praise the Lord from verse 1.
# POINT 1: The reason we praise the Lord is because of who the Lord is, His character. Verse 2:
[2] For great is his steadfast love toward us, ir. Praise the Lord!
Praising The Lord focuses on His character or who He is. Thanksgiving focuses on what God has done specifically in our life.
A. We praise the Lord joyfully because of His steadfast love toward us. Verse 1a.
His steadfast love comes from Hebrew word ‘hesed’. Hesed is used to describe God’s covenantal love for his people; a love that is unwavering and unconditional; A free gift from superior to inferior that is undeserving to receive it.
His hesed focuses on us. Us here means for the Israelites. The writer of this Psalm looks back at how God treated the Israelites: God’s promise to Abraham, freedom from Egypt, 40 years in the desert; disobedience brings them to exile for 70 years, and return again from exile of Babel.
The Lord’s hesed is GREAT, to be strong, to prevail, act insolently (Strong Dictionary). Verse 2, ‘For great is his steadfast love toward us’. Israel’s sin/shortcoming is great, but his hesed is greater. The same applies to us. Our sin, our shortcomings, our mistakes, our failures are great, but His loving kindness, his hesed is GREATER and STRONGER!
B. We praise the Lord joyfully because of the faithfulness of the Lord. Verse 2 b.
117: 2b “…and the faithfulness of the Lord endures forever.”
Pay attention to the word ‘faithfulness’. It can mean trustworthiness, stability, truth, reliability, and steadfastness. His faithfulness could be trusted completely (see Berean Bible Study).
The faithfulness of the LORD ENDURES FOREVER, concealed, eternity, frequentatively, always (Strong Dictionary). It means His faithfulness never EXPIRES.
• Our love & faithfulness tend to fade, waver, change, become weak, or loose, but The LORD’S LOVE & FAITHFULNESS ENDURE FOREVER. HIS FAITHFULNESS calls us to follow Him heartfully.
• His great loving kindness & His faithfulness comfort us to follow our Lord.
We serve or do good not to get God’s approval, but because His great loving kindness & His faithfulness endure forever.
We praise Him not to get the Lord’s approval, but because of who HE IS.
# POINT 2: BECAUSE OF HIS LOVING KINDNESS & HIS FAITHFULNESS, WE MUST PRAISE THE LORD JOYFULLY. Verse 1.
117:1 Praise the Lord, all nations! Extol him, all peoples!
The end of verse 2: Praise the Lord
Pay attention that The Writer commands Israeli people to praise the Lord in verse 2. However, in verse 1, he commands all nations (plural) – not Israel only – to praise the Lord and also every one (singular) to praise the Lord.
Application for our life
@ We praise Him not because of our good situation.
Learning from Paul & Silas
Acts 16:23-25 ESV
[23] And when they had inflicted many blows upon them, they threw them into prison, ordering the jailer to keep them safely. [24] Having received this order, he put them into the inner prison and fastened their feet in the stocks. [25] About midnight Paul and Silas were praying and singing hymns to God, and the prisoners were listening to them,
@ When we praise Him because of who HE is, we give Him the glory.
“God is most glorified in us when we are most satisfied in Him” – John Piper.
@ When we praise Him, we will overcome our difficult situation. The man of praising God faces fearful situation with hope. God is working in the midst of our praising Him.
@ When we praise Him because of Who HE is, our joy does not depend on our feeling, our situation, or other people.
@ let us praise the Lord as our lifestyle, not because out of routine, obligation or being forced.
We praise the Lord joyfully & heartfully because of Who HE is, His character, Hs loving kindness & His faithfulness to us.
Now Focus your eyes on Jesus. Jesus always loves you & HE is always faithful to you.