When it comes to over the top singers, there are many who screech or wail at the top of their lungs - Mariah Carey, Aretha Franklin, Steve Tyler… (OK so I don’t know any recent ones). And when people do a karaoke version of these songs they often fall short because the big voice is not part of their style and they probably don’t feel as passionate about the subject matter. So it is a big ask when Psalm 33 asks you to praise so powerfully.
Shout for joy in the LORD, O you righteous!
Praise befits the upright.
Give thanks to the LORD with the lyre;
make melody to him with the harp of ten strings!
Sing to him a new song;
play skillfully on the strings, with loud shouts.
For the word of the LORD is upright,
and all his work is done in faithfulness.
He loves righteousness and justice;
the earth is full of the steadfast love of the LORD.
What is praise? What makes it powerful? Praise is a heartfelt endorsement. In this case the endorsement is for Yahweh (The LORD). It is divine advertising. There are two things that make the Psalmist want to praise God like this.
• Yahweh’s character – his faithful steadfast love
• What Yahweh has done – creation of the world, Israel and each person
The loving God who made the cosmos, who created the nation of Israel also creates every heart with the same attention. He spoke and the world came to be. He breaths life into us. To know Yahweh’s hand in your life personally will help you to rejoice in his creation and in his King who brings the kingdom of heaven into the world.
Praise is our response to Yahweh’s word with our words. Through our words we tell others about how great Yahweh is. Our response is to praise him. It is an expression of our relationship and trust in him.
The Psalm ends on a confident but a dependent note.
Let your steadfast love, O LORD, be upon us,
even as we hope in you.
Show us some more love. We want the next chapter. There is more love to be experienced from Yahweh and with that will come more praise – a new song.
Certainly the major event in salvation history is Jesus delivering us from sin, death and Satan. We’ve seen so much more of God’s character and actions through Jesus. Yet our praise seems weak and we feel oppressed to tell it in a world that does not want to hear about Jesus.
Rev 5 shows heaven erupting at the good news about Jesus - elders, angels a multitude of people praising through song. But it doesn’t feel like that here. Often it is like the decaf of praise. John, in Revelation, shows us the heavenly reality of the praise that happens in heaven even though we are in a world that wants to suck God out of our lives. Jesus is the King where heaven and earth intersect and through him a new creation will come for every heart that trusts in him. Each time we tell others the gospel we are singing this same song of ultimate praise. It may not look like an over the top power ballad but it is an intense and personal song.
We sing this new song but we also ask God to show us the love that Jesus has secured when we will meet him face to face in heaven. We praise the God that has the power to transform us and our praise. It is in his power that our praise has power.
• Power to bring us joy as we express our gratitude to God.
• Power to encourage Christians with true words of hope.
• Power to save lives as people have a chance to place their trust in Jesus.
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