Disciples are Praisers!

Make a joyful noise unto the Lord, all ye lands.  Serve the Lord with gladness: 

come before his presence with singing.  Know ye that the Lord he is God: 

it is he that hath made us, and not we ourselves; we are his people, 

and the sheep of his pasture.  Enter into his gates with thanksgiving, 

and into his courts with praise: 

be thankful unto him, and bless his name.  

For the Lord is good; his mercy is everlasting; 

and his truth endureth to all generations.  

Psalms 100:1-5

Disciples are:  Free, holy, humble, anointed, worshipers . . .

We need to understand:

¨  what God is saying,

¨  how He is saying it,

¨  how He is doing it and

¨  how He wants it done.

Psalms is a book of praise largely written by King David.  You reach a place in your Christian walk; like King David, where no one knows like you do what God has done for you.  Keep in mind that everything that God does for you is not a public testimony.

Verse 1:  Make a joyful noise unto the Lord, all ye lands. 

Worship is an exclusive act between you and God.  But it is a commandment that everybody is to make a joyful noise unto the Lord.    The praise of God is not so much exclusive as is shared.  It starts personally but it is contagious

Save me, O God, by thy name, and judge me by thy strength.  Hear my prayer, O God; give ear to the words of my mouth.  Psalms 54:1-2  

Verse 2:  Serve the Lord with gladness: come before his presence with singing.

Am I a praiser?  If you are, you should find yourself in verse 2.   Are you serving the Lord with gladness?  You have to understand that if you’re serving the Lord with gladness, something in you should ignite others.  We don’t just serve the Lord with gladness in His house.  We serve God every day, everywhere.  We praise Him in good times and in bad times.  We are to come before His presence with singing; ‘coming’ – the approach to God.  We don’t come before God in sadness and downcast attitude. 

Thou wilt shew me the path of life: in thy presence is fulness of joy; at thy right hand there are pleasures for evermore.  Psalm 16:11  

You will never get the pleasures if you don’t get in God’s presence.  You can come into God’s presence every day; not just when you get to church.  Will you praise Him at all times?  Will you praise God in the valley; when things are not going right?  God sends trouble to see if you will continue to praise Him.

Wherefore do I take my flesh in my teeth, and put my life in mine hand?  Though he slay me, yet will I trust in him: but I will maintain mine own ways before him.  He also shall be my salvation: for an hypocrite shall not come before him.  Job 13:14-16  

Keep a ‘yet will I praise Him’ in your spirit.

Verse 3:  Know ye that the Lord he is God: it is he that hath made us, and not we ourselves; we are his people, and the sheep of his pasture. 

The more we realize who God is, then our faith simultaneously grows with the realization of who God is.  This is more than just a feeling!  You have to know!  Once you know who He is, nothing can stop you.  It is all in the knowing.  You find out who God is in worship.  

Worship is who God is and praise is what God does

Everyone’s approach to God is different.  You may start with worship and go into praise or start with praise and go into worship.  Praise and worship go hand in hand.

The person leading praise/worship should not be a deterrent to our worship because our worship is to God.  We start out in talent (flesh; earthly realm).  We go from talent to spirit (heavenly realm).  There must be a conversion process.

Let everything that hath breath praise the Lord. Praise ye the Lord.  Psalms 150:6  

This is our ‘talent’, if you have breath, you are to praise Him.  Everyone cannot worship; it is an exclusive act for the saints of God.  Praise keeps you in the outer court, worship pulls you into the inner court.  It is in the spirit that we receive instruction from God. 

It is impossible to worship in the spirit and not receive something from God.  God speaks in the realms of heaven.  God will give you instruction for you.

We work hard to get to God and once we get there, he works for us.

Praise:  We do more, God does less

Worship:  God does more, we do less.

Verse 4:  Enter into his gates with thanksgiving, and into his courts with praise: be thankful unto him, and bless his name.

You have to fight to get and stay in tune with God because others not of God will try to snatch you out of God.  You can’t go into the realm of the spirit without knowing God.

You try everything in the world, but are scared to try God!  If the devil tried Jesus, know that he will try you too.  Don’t make your Christian walk all about you; you didn’t make yourself, God created you.  You cannot praise or worship God effectively if you don’t know who He is.  If you don’t know who He is, you can’t know His word.   If you don’t know His word, you’ll never believe His promises:

Ö   You are the lender and not the borrower

Ö   You are the head and not the tail

Ö   No weapon formed against you shall prosper

You can quote them but you do not live them.  The word became flesh; at what point will it become alive in you?  Get it in your mind that you belong to God:

›  Your accountability is to God

›  Your responsibility is to God

›  Your respect is to God

›  Your worship and your praise is to God

If you’re submitted wholly to God, you can submit wholly to your leader.  Once you know God; believe His word, He has a door that you can enter into with thanksgiving and praise and be thankful.

Not that I speak in respect of want: for I have learned, in whatsoever state I am, therewith to be content.  Philippians 4:11  

Learn to trust God and praise Him until times get better.  Everyone will not understand our praise!  In our humility, we forget who we are before God; we forget our titles, positions, etc. in the presence of God.

Verse 5:  For the Lord is good; his mercy is everlasting; and his truth endureth to all generations.

Hold on to God’s truth and praise Him for it.

Lift up your heads, O ye gates; and be ye lift up, ye everlasting doors; and the King of glory shall come in.  Who is this King of glory? The Lord strong and mighty, the Lord mighty in battle.  Psalms 24:7-8  

Allow God to make you a portal (door) for His glory to come through.  Praise God in His sanctuary!

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 cymbals.  Let every thing that hath breath praise the Lord. Praise ye the Lord.  Psalms 150:1-6  

Our praise is to God; not to man

Thou hast turned for me my mourning into dancing: thou hast put off my sackcloth, and girded me with gladness;  Psalms 30:11  

It does not end with praise; your praise turns into worship.  We get our instruction from God for ourselves or for a people in the spirit through our worship.  We come back to talent (earthly realm) and walk out the instructions of God.

Excerpts from Word Enrichment

Bishop Joel C. Lofton

(Biblical Study)

03/24/20