LET EVERYTHING THAT HAS BREATH – PASTOR DON HEZLEP
INTRODUCTION
Psalm 150
1 Praise the Lord.
Praise God in his sanctuary;
praise him in his mighty heavens.
2 Praise him for his acts of power;
praise him for his surpassing greatness.
3 Praise him with the sounding of the trumpet,
praise him with the harp and lyre,
4 praise him with timbrel and dancing,
praise him with the strings and pipe,
5 praise him with the clash of cymbals,
praise him with resounding cymbals.
6 Let everything that has breath praise the Lord.
Praise the Lord.
INTRODUCTORY COMMENTS
It is my hope and prayer during this sermon that I assist all of you to have a better grasp and understanding of praise and worship. Please allow me to challenge you to increase and improve your willingness to praise and worship God with all your heart, all your mind and all your strength like never before in your life.
“We are not called to be entertainers or performers; we are called to praise and worship our creator. ‘Oh come, let us sing to the Lord; let us make a joyful noise to the rock of salvation.’ (Psalm 95:1).” ― Euginia Herlihy
CONTEXT AND BACKGROUND
You all need to know that I used to worship God mostly in total silence. Can anybody relate to what I just said? I was an observer, not a participant in praise and worship.
MORE PERSONAL CONTEXT … CAN YOU RELATE?
Psalm 150
1 Praise the Lord.
Praise God in his sanctuary;
praise him in his mighty heavens.
2 Praise him for his acts of power;
praise him for his surpassing greatness.
3 Praise him with the sounding of the trumpet,
praise him with the harp and lyre,
4 praise him with timbrel and dancing,
praise him with the strings and pipe,
5 praise him with the clash of cymbals,
praise him with resounding cymbals.
6 Let everything that has breath praise the Lord.
Praise the Lord.
Let everything that has breath praise the Lord! Anybody here have any breath? Anybody here sucking air? So, if we have breath and we are sucking air, what are we supposed to do? What are we supposed to do??
PRAISE AND WORSHIP (in general)
- Praise and worship are one of the main spiritual keys that unlock the door of God’s heart!
Dennis Ignatius said: “When we lift our hands in praise and worship, we break spiritual jars of perfume over Jesus. The fragrance of our praise fills the whole earth and touches the heart of God.”
- Praise and worship are one of the main spiritual keys that open the doorway to receiving and experiencing the miraculous, and the wonder-working power of God!
Revelation 4:8 (NASB)
8 And the four living creatures, each one of them having six wings, are full of eyes around and within; and day and night they do not cease to say, “Holy, Holy, Holy, is the Lord God, the Almighty, who was and who is and who is to come.”
Revelation 4:11 (NASB)
11 “Worthy are You, our Lord and our God, to receive glory and honor and power; for You created all things, and because of Your will they existed, and were created.”
Revelation 5:12 (NASB)
12 saying with a loud voice, “Worthy is the Lamb that was slaughtered to receive power, wealth, wisdom, might, honor, glory, and blessing.”
Revelation 5:13 (NASB)
13 And I heard every created thing which is in heaven, or on the earth, or under the earth, or on the sea, and all the things in them, saying, “To Him who sits on the throne and to the Lamb be the blessing, the honor, the glory, and the dominion forever and ever.”
GOD INHABITS THE PRAISES OF HIS PEOPLE
Psalm 22:3 (KJV)
3 “But thou art holy, O thou that inhabitest the praises of Israel.”
God inhabits the praises of His people. He indwells … He shows up in His power and might. How many here want God to show up in His almighty power and might?
The meaning of inhabit –
Do you want God to show up a little more often in our church? In your life? We need to consider …
Do you want Him to move in increasing frequency and intensity? Consider the avenue of praise and worship.
God shows up big time during anointed praise and worship
We need to pay homage to God for who He is and thank Him for all the blessings and favors that He bestows upon us.
Praise and worship are often a real sacrifice for us to perform.
THE SACRIFICE OF PRAISE
Hebrews 13:15 (KJV)
15 By Him therefore let us offer the sacrifice of praise to God continually, that is, the fruit of our lips [not just our thoughts] giving thanks to His name.
PRAISE AND WORSHIP WHEN WE DON’T FEEL LIKE IT
(THE BEST TIME TO PRAISE AND WORSHIP)
JOHN PIPER QUOTE: “Do not say, ‘But it is hypocritical to thank God with my tongue when I don’t feel thankful in my heart.’ There is such a thing as hypocritical thanksgiving. Its aim is to conceal ingratitude and get the praise of men. That is not your aim. Your aim in loosing your tongue with words of gratitude is that God would be merciful and fill your words with the emotion of true gratitude. You are not seeking the praise of men; you are seeing the mercy of God. You are not hiding the hardness of ingratitude, but hoping for the in-breaking of the Spirit.”
Acts 16:25-34 (KJV)
25 And at midnight Paul and Silas prayed, and sang praises unto God: and the prisoners heard them. 26 And suddenly there was a great earthquake, so that the foundations of the prison were shaken: and immediately all the doors were opened, and every one’s bands were loosed. 27 And the keeper of the prison awaking out of his sleep, and seeing the prison doors open, he drew out his sword, and would have killed himself, supposing that the prisoners had been fled. 28 But Paul cried with a loud voice, saying, “Do thyself no harm: for we are all here.” 29 Then he called for a light, and sprang in, and came trembling, and fell down before Paul and Silas, 30 And brought them out, and said, “Sirs, what must I do to be saved? “31 And they said, “Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved, and thy house.” 32 And they spake unto him the word of the Lord, and to all that were in his house. 33 And he took them the same hour of the night, and washed their stripes; and was baptized, he and all his, straightway. 34 And when he had brought them into his house, he set meat before them, and rejoiced, believing in God with all his house.
HOW OFTEN SHOULD WE PRAISE AND WORSHIP?
Psalm 34:1 (KJV)
I will bless the Lord at all times: his praise shall continually be in my mouth.
JOHN WESLEY QUOTE: “Above all sing spiritually. Have an eye to God in every word you sing. Aim at pleasing Him more than yourself, or any other creature. In order to do this
attend strictly to the sense of what you sing, and see that your heart is not carried away with the sound, but offered to God continually; so shall your singing be such as the Lord will approve here, and reward you when He cometh in the clouds of heaven.”
WHY SHOULD WE PRAISE AND WORSHIP? WHO SHOULD WE WORSHIP?
Psalm 50:23 (KJV)
23 Whoso offereth praise glorifieth me: and to him that ordereth his conversation aright will I shew the salvation of God.
Acts 2:46-47 (NASB)
46 Day by day continuing with one mind in the temple, and breaking bread from house to house, they were taking their meals together with gladness and sincerity of heart, 47 praising God and having favor with all the people. And the Lord was adding to their number day by day those who were being saved.
CONCLUSION
THE EXAMPLE OF THE AIRPLANE AND PRAISE AND WORSHIP
CONCLUDING PRAYER