755. Hallelujah

Welcome to The Daily Platform from Bob Jones University in Greenville, South Carolina. The school was founded in 1927 by the evangelist Dr. Bob Jones Senior's intent was to make a school where Christ would be the center of everything, so he established daily chapel services today.

That tradition continues with fervent biblical preaching from the University Chapel platform today on The Daily Platform. Dr. Steve Pettit is concluding a study series from the book of Psalms entitled encountering God. Today's message is entitled, hallelujah from Psalm 150 Dr. Ellen Benson, VP for student development and discipleship is with us once again to give us more insights and Alan, what an exciting way to end the series, and to just shout hallelujah. So tell us a little more about concepts that Dr. Pettit will be preaching today. Amen.

What a what a wonderful way to bring a study to a conclusion and in a sense, who but God could bring an appropriate and accurate conclusion to a book like Psalms, like how you how you end a book like that and when you read Psalm 150 you say that's exactly how that should be done and in it is exuberant. I I love it because it's exuberant.

We talked a little bit about how Psalms is about encountering God and encountering him in our reality and that looks like worship and and the book ends with a chapter that ends a five chapter section on worship and it really ends with a and an amazing refrain. It is a call to post it it it actually is is a command that boasting is praise the Lord. It it is it is shout out that that hallelujah as you said in his is that the title of this message and it's about making much of God. This chapter tells us why do it. It tells us how to do it. It tells us to do is variety in all of life and it actually while trying to teach us something about worship actually gets us to do it.

As you read it you are worshiping God and I think that's the wonder of this, hallelujah, that that our lives lived with the right understanding of God in the midst of our circumstances actually become an hallelujah wit which is a life that if you could use the word brags about the greatness of God.

And that's the crescendo of the whole book of Psalms will work. Concluding the series and we will now hear Dr. Pettit as he praises the Lord hallelujah take your Bibles this morning and turn with me to Psalm 150. We have been working this semester through a study of the songs that this is your first time with us or if you're watching on live stream this morning and that we have been looking at the theme of encountering God. God gave us is Psalms that we could know him.

Psalms reveal to us the character of God. Augustine said that it's through the Psalms that his life was reoriented to God, both spiritually and morally. Psalms are what we turn to in times of sorrow and trip and trial there.

What we turn to when we want to pray or just to have God speak to our heart.

How how blessed are we to have the book of Saul this morning. We'd like to finish on top of the of the mountain. Psalm 150 is not a Psalm that you sing necessarily in the Valley but we can sing it there but is definitely one we saying on top of the mountain where where Owen Shelton ground this morning we're going to shout today were going to rejoice today were going to be happy today because that's what Psalm 150 is all about and so let's look at it this morning. I'm going to read it out loud as you read along silently with me this morning. Psalm 150 praise ye the Lord.

Praise God in his sanctuary. Praise him in the firmament of his power praise him for his mighty acts. Praise him according to his excellent greatness, praise him with the sound of the trumpet, praise him with the psaltery and harp praise him with the timbrel and dance, praise him with stringed instruments and organs. Praise him upon the loud cymbals, praise him upon the high sounding symbols. Let everything that hath breath praise the Lord.

Praise ye the Lord, would you say praise the Lord with a ready praise the Lord said with a little more enthusiasm or enthusiasm ready. Praise the Lord say with me hallelujah say with me as good working to make you some Shelton people before the days over with a man. The book of Psalms begins with a promise, we saw that Psalm on your member. Blessed is the man that does what he wants in on the counseling of the ungodly's delight is in the law of the Lord is like a fruit bearing tree is a promise that we walk this way there's blessing, there's a way a blessing and then we end this Psalm with a praise praise ye the Lord. So between the first Psalm in the last Psalm we are learning about a life that encounters God and so what is one say at the end of a life that is known God and walked with God. Sometimes I think about what am I going to think as I'm laying on my deathbed and about Internet heaven, but that somehow I don't think about it. Why do I'm 62. One of these days if the Lord does a final drop dead or get killed in a plane crash or whatever, but I got a few minutes to think that I will think about what my going to say what we find here at the end of a life that is known God in his walk with God is what what is he say he says, praise the Lord. Psalm 150 therefore is a climactic conclusion of the ultimate end of a life that is encountered God where everyone and everything is to praise God we are to be praising people and you will be saying praise the Lord throughout the course of the day. As we look at this final Saul this morning. I like us to add some basic questions that really sets forth a biblical pattern for price. Let's look at this Psalm with these questions.

Question number one is first of all, what is it mean to praise God. Psalm 150 begins with an ends with the same phrase. Notice we read praise ye the Lord. At the end of it. Praise ye the Lord.

In the Hebrew it's one word. What is the word is the word hallelujah hallelujah is a universal word, every language says that word so what is hallelujah me well it's actually broken down a couple words.

The first word is the word Hollowell and the word Hollowell is the word praise. The word Ya JH is just a shortened form of the word Jehovah so you can read it this way how well you Ya or you praise the Lord.

So what is it mean to Hollowell, what does it mean to praise well. It's like the light that radiates from the sun.

So when you look up and you see the glistening glow of the sun. Think of the word pray this, it's the idea of something shining forth. It's also like shearing or shouting or clapping like we do. At the conclusion of an awesome concert.

I don't know if you are at the Koreans children's choir concert on Friday night. How many of you are there. We had it it would.

It was sold out, and so I think we may have had a couple hundred students there it was, was also let's was so cool and after each song you know Heidi is in it, it's there there 80 children from Korea okay and they come out and they sing most the songs they sang their songs. We all know they're all basically Christian songs with a few patriotic so what happened is it started out is at the end of each song everybody but then man it started getting good or and from the back. We started hearing some shouting.

I think it was the Korean students but was from the back. They were shouting and then they then they started whooping it. It animates all and in it was like it was like everybody was excited.

They love the song, thereby slapping people, cheering after each song and then and then what what what was the corker. What killed all of us was that all 80 children came walking out into the audience and all the Korean children started hugging everybody in the auditorium. I mean they they they come up and they they they they hug you and say God bless you is like you know what you gonna do and when the concert concluded people exploded to their feet and they clapped and they shouted that's what it means to praise to praise is to extol enthusiastically the greatness of someone or something with words of excellence. I don't know if you're a soccer fan but if you are you will know this name slot upon you prohibited slot time is a 36-year-old soccer player from Sweden is played on most of the major top-level soccer team, so he's played for you vent this AC Milan's play for Barcelona PSG Paris St. Joe Mann from France from Paris to play for Manchester United in a 36-year-old in the in the twilight of his career he's coming sir to play for the LA galaxy saw last week, he landed in for an end and Los Angeles on Thursday. Any any suited out to play with the galaxy on Saturday and they were playing the new LA football club and so I just happen to DVR it and so I came home after exercising Saturday last week and I got there right about the time they let him come in the game.

He shoots guys like out of 6566 he's gonna rip muscular and he's got a tattoo on his back in it it it it covered his entire back is the head of a lion. This guy really likes himself. He really really does, but he's really good and he goes in is like in the game just a few minutes and the ball is bouncing out about 40 yards from the goal. Any luck, somebody sees the goalie is out-of-the-box.

Any side kicks the ball from 40 yards out and it's a screaming shot in the air and it curves and goes right into the into the net.

Every body goes bonkers.

She rips his shirt off.

He's running around and you could see the big lie on his back and the ties the game up is 3 to 3 and then in the 90th minute they get into overtime with a handful of minutes left in a ball is crossed, and here he comes that he had the ball in the corner and they win. Everybody goes crazy.

I go crazy. I'm sitting on my couch going some believable lab and shout and slot time analyzes the score later own. He says he says you go for the queue. The lion is never satisfied so me. Let's list me on as he likes himself by the people were going crazy okay they were praising him 13 times we read this morning and the six verses we are commanded to do what to praise the Lord. Praise for a Christian is not an option.

It's an obligation. It's not just the duty about the duty it's a delight. The greatest truth about God is that he is worthy of our praise. The deepest truth about ourselves is that we have been created to praise the Lord. We are made for his glory and praise. So were to praise God the notice. The second question when we praise God in the Bible tells us in verse one. Praise God in his sanctuary in the Old Testament the Jewish people were commanded by God to praise him by going to Jerusalem and worshiping him in his holy temple or sanctuary. Psalm 100 verse four enter into his gates with thanksgiving and into his courts with praise. Now today the Lord's presence dwells in the body of a believer. First Corinthians 316 you are the temple of God and the Spirit of God dwells in you.

Your own heart is to be a place of praise. But not only that but the Lord's presence dwells in the assembly of this church, the body of Christ listed in Ephesians 222 in him you also are being built together into a dwelling place for God by the spirit. The church is where the presence of Christ dwells. So we are called to worship God on earth as we meet with his chosen people. So where are we to praise God, first of all, in our own daily personal worship.

Every morning we should be rising to worship God even if it's just five or 10 minutes use stop and take a Solomon praise God and worship him from your heart. And then secondly we are to worship God weekly in the corporate worship of the New Testament local church and folks.

These are vital for our relationship with God you take this away, and spiritually.

We shrivel so were to praise God in his sanctuary.

The notice number two were to praise him in the firmament of his power was at me. It means the expanse of heaven it's it's us living on this earth and the world and the universe that God is created. All of heaven is a display of God's infinite power and wisdom. Psalm 19 one the heavens declare the glory of God and the firmament show with his handy when my oldest daughter Rebecca is now 35 years old, which is the little girl I take her out side at night and put her on my shoulders and we would look up at the stars and I said Becca, who made the stars and she said daddy God made the stars and I said hallelujah and she'd say Lily praising God. This kind of all sin displayed means that heaven is also a place of praise. Heaven and earth are to be unified as a choir of praise Psalm 148 verse one praise ye the Lord. Praise you. The Lord from the heavens praise him in the Heights crazy him all his angels crazy him. All his posts. So where do we praise God were to praise God everywhere. There is no place where his image bearers should not proclaim his praise. You should praise him on the basketball you should play praise him in the classroom. You should praise them in your car, you should praise them when you go out to eat, you should praise when you go home you should praise Simon vacation. There is no place where his praise should not be heard.

That leads me to the third thing and that is why we praise God knows what he says in verse two. Praise him and he gives us a reason for his mighty acts. God's my is display and were to praise him, and how does he display is my well of course we don't have time to speak of all the ways he does that obviously is impossible the first of all we can.

We can praise him for the way he has displayed how he reveals himself to us. For example, Daniel. Praise God because he understood that his ability to interpret King Nebuchadnezzar's secret dream was due to God's wisdom and might listen to Daniel to verse 19 then was the secret revealed under Daniel in a nightvision.

Then Daniel bless the God of heaven.

Daniel answered and said, blessed be the name of God forever and ever for wisdom and my heart he is. He understood that what he had received was divine revelation folks limitations on the we should praise God that he is given to us his complete revelation of himself in the word of God folks God is given to us his word and if you're a believer is given to God.

Your spirit is spirit so that you can read the word and understand the word and interpret the word. This book unfolds Jehovah's mind this voice salutes and accents kind. This fountain has its source on this friend will all your needs supply. This letter shows our sins forgiven this God conducts us strike the heaven this charter has been sealed with blood. This volume is word of God. How blessed we are. Praise God we have the Bible that is good pre-today me and I'll email myself. We got the Bible I met I get to read it every day and I get to knowing praise the Lord God's mind is displayed not only in the fact that is revealed himself in God's mind is displayed and how he rescues his people through prayer. Listen, the Psalm went Psalm 20 verse six now know either the Lord save his anointed, he will hear from his holy heaven with the saving strength of his writing. How many of you have ever prayed God at your prayer and he rescued you from a disaster. I made you ever been rescued from disasters raising Pomona. I finished college, 1978 that summer, I worked as an intern in a church out Denver Colorado. My family were living in's and south of Denver in a little town called Parker when I would drive home to see my parents. I'd have to take these roads in Colorado that were really narrow and they went up and down in valleys and one day I was driving home I may have told you the story, but it was really really raining. I wasn't really paying attention how fast I was driving I was actually singing.

I looked at my speedometer output at 65. It was probably about a 50 mile an hour speed zone. So I put my foot on the brake. It was raining and my car began off the plane literally the tires were just cannot come up off the ground on top of water and I began to turn my steering wheel to try to straighten it out and and nothing was happening. The car would just slide in this way the car was coming towards me and literally there was nothing I could do not tell you the truth I threw my hands up in the air and is a God save me by car shot down the bank between the telephone pole and the oncoming car and hit a Bob wire fence and stopped it, looked around, I thought precious little praise God he rescued me. Most of us have no idea how often God's rescuing us, but we are to praise him and what is he say succeeding generations are called to praise God for his mighty acts, one generation shall praise thy works to another, and shall declare thy mighty acts folks that were not praising God, who so we are to praise him for his mighty acts for what he does and then secondly we are to praise God because of who he is first to praise him according to his excellent greatness. The word excellent refers to abundance greatness speaks of the magnitude and majesty of God's glorious attributes. God is great in his faithfulness to us. God is great in his mercy, God is great in his righteousness what my favorite verses is this for God's righteousness is as high as the mountain kind of all some but God's mercy is high as the heavens aren't you glad that mercy is higher because we stood before God's righteousness. It is always fearful standing at Mount Sinai with thunder and lightning and darkness of cloud and fear of the judgment of God. But above the mountains for the shining side of the mercy of God. God is great is great in his wisdom, he's able to give all of us enough wisdom for our daily decisions. O Lord God that was begun to show thy servant my greatness and thy mighty hand for what God is there in heaven or in earth that can do according to thy works, and according to thy my why do we praise God because of what he does because of who we is the number four. How do we praise God.

Verse four and five praise him with timbrel and dance praising was stringed instruments and organs. Praise him upon the loud cymbals, praise him upon the high sounding symbols were to praise God in these but in this verse here in times of worship with music and singing. These two verses describe the various musical instruments that were used by Temple worship by the Levitical priests and by the way what is the meaning of the word Psalm. The word Saul means a song of praise, accompanied by stringed instruments is literally the meaning of the name of Psalm is a song of praise to God using a musical accompaniment and David here tells us the instruments of these of the instruments that he used the Levitical choir. First of all their wind instrument such as a trumpet. There was a ram's horn called the shofar second same of 615 so David and all the house of Israel brought up the ark of the Lord with shouting and with the sound of the trumpet, the shofar, Saul mentions organs which were piped instruments like a flute or penny whistle, so anything that blows through the reeds then secondly, there was we were to put we are to praise through stringed instruments. The psaltery was a portable instrument like a guitar loop with 10 strings. Psalm 33 to give thanks to the Lord with the liar make melody to him with a harp of 10 strings seem to have a new song play skillfully on the strings with loud shouts. The Psalm also mentions hearts for Samuel 16 verse 16. David was a cunning player on a harp, we know the harp along with the Piper. The earliest instruments mentioned in the Bible, Genesis 421 Jew ball was the father of all those that played the harp and the pipe and then there's 1/3 category and that's percussive instruments. The timbrel is like a tambourine and its link to dancing is an expression of joy you read in the Old Testament help when they would win a victory they would rejoice. Jewish people have joyful celebrations.

It is said of the feast of Tabernacles.

He that is not seen the joy of Tabernacles has never in his life. Seeing joy the loud cymbals.

The high sounding symbols refer to some kind of a either smaller layout like we would have and acquire more orchestras. I think we can say safely that worship in the temple was not always quiet or subdued.

Sometimes were to be still and know that God is the Lord, but other times we are to be celebrated from reflective to celebrated Psalm 150 is noisy and loud. I have other things to say. I will forgo those and finish with this. Who is to praise God. Last question, who is a praise God deliver six let everything that hath breath praise the Lord praise. She the Lord God is to be praised everywhere. We are because of everything he is and with everything we have, by everyone, you got breath you breathe in praise Psalm 150 finishes where we started a happy man meditates on the word follows God's way through his life, he encounters God through experiences he grows in the knowledge of God's days are filled with praise Kenny ends his life with a shout hallelujah you've been listening to a sermon from Dr. Steve Pettit president Bob Jones University from the study series encountering God as a study from the book of Psalms.

Thanks for listening and join us again next week as we study God's word together here on The Daily Platform