We Praise What We Most Prize audio video notes. We can’t help it. Also, we give what we prize glory, and prizing always leads to praise. We talk about what we prize. We invest in what we prize. Furthermore, we spend our time with what we prize. We become excited about what we prize. We’ve all experienced the excitement something we prize brought to our life, be it a spouse, child, grandchild, house, car, truck, hobby, or God because we all praise what we prize.
PRAISE HIM WORSHIP HIM
By Pastor Delbert Young
Pursuing True Value: We Praise What We Most Prize Sermon
Audio
.
Video
.
WATCH SERMON VIDEO
.
Pursuing True Value: We Praise What We Most Prize Sermon
Scriptures: Psalm 63:1-11, Psalm 23:5-6
Every one of us will praise the most what we prize the most. We can’t help it. We give what we prize glory, and prizing always leads to praise. Also, we talk about what we prize and invest in what we prize. We spend our time with what we prize. Furthermore, we become excited about what we prize. We’ve all experienced the excitement something we prize brought to our life, be it a spouse, child, grandchild, house, car, truck, hobby, or God because we all praise what we prize.
Praise is like a child at Christmas receiving all those prizes in the form of presents, laughing, anxious inside, and running, excited… They can’t help it. It’s like your favorite baseball team winning the World Series… When the Braves won the World Series in 1995, my whole family was jumping and yelling all over my living room. We couldn’t help it. Every one of us jumped up and hugged each other, high-fiving and shouting. Praise is like a music lover at their favorite group’s concert, and the band begins. I took Judy to an Elvis Presley concert back in the 1970s. (Elvis clip)
Pursuing True Value: We Praise What We Most Prize Sermon
Do you believe what happens at Christmas within a child, at the concert within the music lover, or at the World Series within the fan should happen within our hearts when it comes to praising God if we praise what we prize?
The point is if you prize God, you will enjoy praising God and you can’t help it.
David spoke about this in Psalm 63. I’ll set the stage. David was in a tough spot when he wrote Psalm 63, but it wasn’t his first tough spot. David’s own son Absalom overthrew David, taking David’s throne. Absalom was trying to kill David, and David fled Jerusalem. David lost his job and his house and was driven out of his city, and his own son was trying to kill him. David was depressed.
(NRS) Psalm 63:1-2 O God, YOU ARE MY GOD, I SEEK YOU, MY SOUL THIRSTS FOR YOU; MY FLESH FAINTS FOR YOU, as in a dry and weary land where there is no water. So I have looked upon you IN THE SANCTUARY, beholding your power and glory.
David prized his God, leading to praising his God even in tough times. What did David do? He remembered watching God move in the sanctuary. Most of us can think back to a time when we saw God in this very sanctuary move in an amazing way upon our lives. We’ve beheld him move on the lives of others over all these years. He’s moved upon someone every Sunday, maybe your spouse, child, or friend. When David was in a tough, dry, weary time, he would remember God’s miraculous power and glory in the sanctuary. Why? Why would David think about this in bad, dry, weary, and tough times? Here’s why.
Pursuing True Value: We Praise What We Most Prize Sermon
Psalm 63:3 BECAUSE your steadfast love is BETTER THAN LIFE, MY LIPS WILL PRAISE YOU.
David prized God more than David prized life. David’s prizing God brought praise to God, and David’s lips responded. David couldn’t help it. It was because of God’s steadfast love. Other translations say lovingkindness (KJV) unfailing love (NLT). It’s an unmovable love. It’s a love I can experience anytime, anywhere, and in any situation. David is saying, “I know God loves me. God loves me so much no matter when, or where, or what situation I get myself into, God’s steadfast love will see me through.”
BECAUSE YOUR STEADFAST LOVE IS BETTER THAN ANYTHING ELSE, EVEN LIFE, MY LIPS WILL PRAISE YOU! Better than anything: stronger than anything, more powerful than anything, nothing better than God’s steadfast love. “If God be for me who can be against me?”
David prized God more than David prized life.
Pursuing True Value: We Praise What We Most Prize Sermon
David learned long ago when things got tough, if he would praise God, God would always, every single time, bring David out of it on top. It happened with the lion and bear. It happened with Goliath, and it happened when King Saul tried to kill David. Also, it happened with the Philistines. It even happened with David’s first wife Michal. It happened when David sinned with Bathsheba. Furthermore, it happened when David lost a child. It happened when David was sick. Hundreds of times, David hit the bumps and potholes of life. It worked every time, and it would work this time too. When David’s lips praised his God, every bad situation changed. David prized God, looked upon what God did in the sanctuary, and then David praised God with his lips.
What giant are you facing? Is anyone throwing javelins at you as Saul threw at David? Is a child giving you a difficult time? What enemies are coming against you? What marital situation are you facing? Are you sick in your body? Have you sinned? Are you grief-stricken or sad? WHAT ARE YOUR LIPS DOING? Are you griping about the situation, or are you PRIZING GOD? Are you PITIFUL OR PRAISING? God will bring you out on top if you will prize God, remember what God’s done for you in the sanctuary, which will automatically lead to praising God with your lips.
Pursuing True Value: We Praise What We Most Prize Sermon
I learned years ago, in one of the toughest and definitely the most embarrassing times of my life, to say MY LIPS WILL PRAISE YOU.
Sometimes people wonder how I always come out on top. There is a reason. I don’t gripe. I give God glory. Furthermore, I don’t allow myself to be PITIFUL. I praise God with my lips.
However, as much as I love God and praise God, I had to ask myself when preparing for this lesson, “Do I really believe God’s love is better than life? Would I prefer to die if I could not experience God’s love?” We sing the song, but do any of us actually mean what we sing?
I watch someone truly come to Christ. God’s love smites their heart. The person may weep or laugh, but one thing for certain is they become excited about God. They can’t wait for the next Sunday. They are excited about God, and they can’t help it. However, in a short time, something happens, not going their way. Their excitement pines away, and frequently, concerning God, so do they. They gripe and protest instead of prize and praise.
David learned praising God with his lips was a booster shot of energy and God’s steadfast love renewed within him. David says if you will declare, MY LIPS WILL PRAISE YOU, you will get a fresh experience of God’s presence and be boosted by God’s love instead of busted by life.
Pursuing True Value: We Praise What We Most Prize Sermon
Psalm 63:4 So I will bless you as long as I live; I WILL LIFT UP MY HANDS and CALL ON YOUR NAME.
When we lift our hands and praise, we are calling on the Lord. Not only did David’s lips go into action, his hands reacted. I realize this seems a real stretch for some of you. You just can’t make yourself do it and can’t see yourself lifting your hands. When I first came to the Lord back in 1978, I felt this way. However, my love for God and desire to please him overcame my inhibitions. Once I began lifting my hands, a new energy and release came.
If you watch a sporting event, nearly automatically, when the person experiences victory, their hands go up. Even spectators raise their hands. They can’t help it. Yet, somehow, in church, we have problems with it. I encourage you to work on it. Get those hands up. There’s victory in Jesus. Don’t only use your lips to praise him. Use your hands! There’s a satisfaction for your soul in praising with your lips and raising your hands.
Psalm 63:5-6 MY SOUL IS SATISFIED AS WITH A RICH FEAST, and my mouth praises you with joyful lips when I think of you on my bed, and meditate on you in the watches of the night;
Pursuing True Value: We Praise What We Most Prize Sermon
Prizing God will bring a praise filling the soul. I don’t know if you’ve ever experienced this, but even in the most unlikely places, your bed in this instance, you think about God’s steadfast lovingkindness and how he brought you out on top. Your mouth praises the Lord, and laying there on your back, your hands go up. What David said is the best description I know to explain it. Your SOUL IS SATISFIED AS WITH A RICH FEAST. You’re just full inside. You’re full of love. The world is right, and life is good again.
Remember, in verse one, David’s soul was thirsty, fainting, and dry. His son was out to kill him. David was depressed, lost his house and job, and ran out of town. Now, after prizing and praising, thinking about God’s steadfast lovingkindness, praising God with his lips, and raising his hands, David’s soul is satisfied as with a rich feast – lobster tails, filet mignon, beef tenderloin, rosemary salmon, salads, deserts, you name it… You eat until you can’t. You’re full. This is what happens when you prize God with praise from your lips and hands – SOUL SATISFACTION comes. You’ve eaten the junk food of the world all week. That mess is bad for your health. It’s time for a RICH FEAST.
Pursuing True Value: We Praise What We Most Prize Sermon
Psalm 23:5-6 You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies. You anoint my head with oil; my cup overflows. Surely goodness and love will follow me all the days of my life, and I will dwell in the house of the LORD forever.
In the midst of your enemies and what’s going on in your life, at the table he will anoint you, fill you, and you will have a good life and overflowing cup. In fact, you’ll just want to stay in this place forever. Sunday’s praise and worship is a prepared table for you. Belly up. Fill your cup.
You could use a little help in some areas of life nearly every week. Sometimes you need a lot of help in one area. At this time of David’s life, he needed a lot of help.
Psalm 63:7-10 FOR YOU HAVE BEEN MY HELP, and in the shadow of your wings I SING FOR JOY. My soul clings to you; your right hand upholds me. But those who seek to destroy my life shall go down into the depths of the earth; they shall be given over to the power of the sword, they shall be prey for jackals.
Bad things always happened to those who came against David. What happened to Absalom? It was bad. Riding his mule, his hair tangled in a tree. He hung there while Joab, David’s commander, stuck three javelins in his heart. Ten other warriors struck him with swords.
Pursuing True Value: We Praise What We Most Prize Sermon
I hate it when people say and do negative things toward me and Life Gate. I’ve watched it over the years, and so have you. Whatever you do, never say or do negative things about or to a person who praises God for his steadfast love, who praises with their lips and mouth and lifts their hands. God upholds them.
Psalm 63:11 But the king shall rejoice in God; ALL WHO SWEAR BY HIM SHALL EXULT, for the mouths of liars will be stopped.
This isn’t only for David. All who rejoice in God will exult/triumph. When a person prizes God, they will praise God. When you praise God, God’s help comes. It happened hundreds of times for David. It’s happened for me. It will happen for you.
You will need God’s help in a big way one day. You will find yourself being pursued by something in the dry, weary desert of life. Your soul will feel famished as if you will faint and dry up. Learn what David learned. Do what David did. Prize God. When you do it will begin a chain reaction. You will remember God’s amazing power and steadfast lovingkindness in his sanctuary. Something will begin coming from your lips. Declare, MY LIPS WILL PRAISE YOU. Let praise go. Lift your voice and you will shortly lift your hands.
Pursuing True Value: We Praise What We Most Prize Sermon
Close your eyes and allow God to begin filling and nourishing your soul. Park yourself at the feast he has prepared for you. Belly up. Feast until you can’t feast. You came in having eaten the world’s junk food. Feast on God’s food which will fill your soul. You will find God himself showing up with help. No matter what you are experiencing, God will stop it. He will hang it in a tree. Your part is to rejoice.
What do you think about praise and worship?
Is it a duty, or is it a prize? It’s not a duty for me to kiss my wife. I prize my wife; therefore, I kiss her and praise her. I don’t tell my children I love them because it’s my duty. Yes, I prize my children; therefore, I make certain they know I love them, and I praise them. There’s an outward expression for what you prize. It comes out of your mouth, lips, and hands.
I ask you a question. What does your heart prize most right now? It might not be a sin or something wrong, but something’s a place of priority. It could be your children, your occupation, or your time. What you are saying is your children are better than life. Your job is better than life. Your time is better than life, and your addiction is better than life. Maybe your sin is better than life. We need to take a look at what we prize more than God. I feel most of us prize God – Father, Jesus Christ, and the Holy Spirit, but we could and should prize him more. What if we each took a few minutes every day to praise God with our mouths, lips, and hands? How do you think it would change your life?
Pursuing True Value: We Praise What We Most Prize Sermon
If there is no prizing of God and Jesus Christ in your heart right now, then you need to change it. Your life is barren, wilderness, in famine, empty, thirsty, and dry. Jesus Christ will change this. Your heart can be full of love, and your soul can be satisfied. Life can be good even in tough times. You can be satisfied.
We Praise What We Most Prize audio video notes
We Praise What We Most Prize audio video notes
Other Related Sermons:
How to Praise Him Worship Him – Sermon Series
Intelligent Praise Part 1 sermon notes
Intelligent Praise sermon series notes
Praise In The Congregation Audio
Also see: