Sermon Notes

Psalm 146:1-2 Hallelujah! O my soul, praise God! All my life long I’ll praise God, singing songs to my God as long as I live. 3-9 Don’t put your life in the hands of experts who know nothing of life, of salvation life. Mere humans don’t have what it takes; when they die, their pro-jects die with them. Instead, get help from the God of Jacob, put your hope in God and know real blessing! God made sky and soil, sea and all the fish in it. He always does what He says—He defends the wronged, He feeds the hungry. God frees prisoners—He gives sight to the blind, He lifts up the fallen. God loves good people, protects strangers, takes the side of orphans and widows, but makes short work of the wicked. 10 God’s in charge—always. Zion’s God is God for good! Hallelujah!
Psalm 150:1-6 Hallelujah! Praise God in His holy house of worship, praise Him under the open skies; Praise Him for His acts of power, praise Him for His magnificent greatness; Praise with a blast on the trumpet, praise by strumming soft strings; praise Him with castanets and dance, praise Him with banjo and flute; praise Him with cymbals and a big bass drum, praise Him with fiddles and mandolin. Let every living, breathing creature praise God! Hallelujah!

The lesson is topical. It urges us to join in with all creation in the collective, perpetual praise of God. Psalm 146 focuses on the character of God. It is a testimony about the psalmist’s observations and personal experience, which leads to an urging that we give to God the highest praise.
Psalm 150 is a glorious psalm of praise. The command to praise the Lord is repeated eleven times in the mere six verses of the psalm. The simple message of the psalm is this: Everything and everyone in heaven and on earth should praise the Lord.
Genuine praise contains both a rational and an emotional element. With our minds, we seek to understand who God is, as revealed in His Word. But, also, when we understand who God is and what He has done in sending Jesus to die for our sins, it affects our hearts. It fills us with joy and thankfulness; it humbles us to realize that our sin put Him there; it motivates us to follow Christ and please Him with all our heart.
Both psalms follow the same outline. First, there is the roster of everything and everyone that should praise the Lord, followed by the reasons to praise the Lord.

Psalms 146 and 150 are the first and fifth of five “Hallelujah Psalms” that begin and end with this word, which means simply, “Praise the Lord!” These psalms (authorship unknown) each follow the same pattern. They help us to focus our thoughts and praise on God, which lifts the human heart from the weight of earth. This final outburst of praise challenges us to recognize what God has done for us and recognize God for who He is—loving, faithful, just, forgiving, patient.

Psalm 146:1-2 Hallelujah! O my soul, praise God! All my life long I’ll praise God, singing songs to my God as long as I live.
To praise God is to honor God privately and publicly for who God is, for what God has said, for what God has done and does, for what God has promised and promises to do, and for who and what God means to us. It is a reminder that God is the same and thus, we can have confidence in God.
When we praise God from our soul, we honor God from the inside. If we truly praise God from the inside, then all our words and actions should be consistent with God’s will. We are to praise God at all times. When we do so, we bring true happiness to God, true joy into our hearts, and show our appreciation for God to others. When we praise the God, we speak of God and His deeds. When we praise God in a variety of ways, we also pray that others will be able to see God at work in our lives by the way we act and speak. We honor God when we trust and obey His words.
3-9 Don’t put your life in the hands of experts who know nothing of life, of salvation life. Mere humans don’t have what it takes; when they die, their pro-jects die with them. Instead, get help from the God of Jacob, put your hope in God and know real blessing! God made sky and soil, sea and all the fish in it. He always does what He says—He defends the wronged, He feeds the hungry. God frees prisoners—He gives sight to the blind, He lifts up the fallen. God loves good people, protects strangers, takes the side of orphans and widows, but makes short work of the wicked.
A fundamental truth of life is that only God is worthy of our complete trust. This is not simply because of human corruption; it is also be-cause of human finiteness. Even those who seek to demonstrate their trustworthiness—before God and in all their relation-ships—are mortal. They will not live forever. They are not omnipotent; they will not always be able to give us the help we may need. They have finite human limitations. But their limitations should teach us to trust in our infinite, almighty, and loving Lord. To trust in any human being more than trusting in the eternal living God is to make that person into an idol, and idolatry will bring disappointment.
It is not accidental that the psalmist chooses to attach God to Jacob, for Jacob’s life accurately mirrors the state of Israel. Clearly, in the exploits of Jacob—his deception, his lying, his selfishness, etc.—we see that God blesses, not because of us, but despite us. This was also the case for Israel, and this is the case for us as well. God demonstrates His loving, forgiving, and life-transforming helpfulness in our lives and transforms us into our best selves, despite our efforts to resist and backslide.
The Psalmist points to the creative power of God as evidence of His ability to re-create us. Surely, He has the power, wisdom, and goodwill to do what is best for those who trust in Him. No matter what happens in our lives, God will faithfully care for us.
Some people live under oppression, and some people suffer under the leadership of those committed to doing evil, to acting contrary to the revealed will of the Lord. God will execute justice on behalf of those suffering oppression. His justice is characterized by His special regard for the poor and the oppressed; a corresponding quality is demanded of His people, particularly His leaders. God’s demand for justice is so central to our service to Him that other responses are empty and diminished (Amos 5:21-24; Micah 6:6-8; Matthew 23:23).
The psalmist’s mention of God giving food to the hungry is both a testament to His provision of the basic physical needs of life, but also His giving of spiritual sustenance to those who hunger and thirst after righteousness (Matthew 5:6). This is to have a craving desire to be found pleasing to God, and a willingness to forsake the favor of man to achieve it.
The words of verses 7b and 8 are reminiscent of the words of Isaiah (Isaiah 61:1) that Jesus read in the synagogue of Nazareth, announcing His Messiahship (Luke 4:18). In addition to confirming the remarkable redundancy of scripture, these words remind us of God’s desire to be involved in the intimate affairs of our lives. The words are an elaboration of the theme of God’s justice relieving the oppressed.
The words have both physical and spiritual connotations. In all cases, the Lord will watch over those who strive to live righteously. God watches over all the needy that trust in Him. God will also be involved in the lives of the wicked—those who will not repent. God will punish the wicked and save the righteous.
10 God’s in charge—always. Zion’s God is God for good! Hallelujah!
God not only exists as the infinite Creator and Sustainer of all; God also reigns as King of the universe, the ruler over all. God decides what He will do as the supreme leader or supreme governor over all people and things. God will always, and never cease to be the supreme ruler of all creation; so, we have wonderful reasons to always praise the Lord!
150:1-6 Hallelujah! Praise God in His holy house of worship, praise Him under the open skies; Praise Him for His acts of power, praise Him for His magnificent greatness; Praise with a blast on the trumpet, praise by strumming soft strings; Praise Him with castanets and dance, praise Him with banjo and flute; Praise Him with cymbals and a big bass drum, praise Him with fiddles and mandolin. Let every living, breathing creature praise God! Hallelujah!
When we move to Psalm 150, we no longer emphasize the great-ness of God, but the extent of our praise to God. The psalm functions as a doxology, bringing the psalter to a solemn and joyful conclusion.
Where should we praise God? Everywhere!
Why should we praise God? Because of his power and greatness!
How should we praise God? With music and with dance!
Who should praise God? Every living creature—animate and inani-mate! When the psalmist says, “every living, breathing creature,” that includes plant life. Plants require Sun, water and air to survive. Since this is so, then plants breathe as well.