Adult Mentor: Adult Bible Study. R.H. Boyd Publishing Corporation
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Название: Adult Mentor: Adult Bible Study
Автор: R.H. Boyd Publishing Corporation
Издательство: Ingram
Жанр: Религия: прочее
isbn: 9781681677712
isbn:
In our day, Christians should renew our praise to God for His continual care and goodness in our lives. And we must learn new songs to sing to God, for He is truly worthy to be praised. Jesus Christ loves His people in a very special manner by giving them His joy, peace, and ever-enduring mercies for their survival in an uncaring and merciless world. Now when the people of God have the true peace of Jesus Christ deep in their hearts, then they can have great joy in their walk of faith upon this earth. There is too much disorder in the lives of some Christians today because they have not yet let God’s peace fully develop in their lives and totally control all aspects of their existence. The devil will come in and try to steal a child of God’s joy, peace, happiness, and glory. In the worst times of a person’s life when the storms of life are raging around them, it is the peace of Jesus Christ that will save them from destruction. It is God who gives great peace in a Christian’s stormy existence so that they can glorify God. The psalmist knew this and declared in song praises to God. When we become aware of God’s constant presence and power in our lives we should, like the psalmist, give God our praise as well. He is worthy of all of our praise not only because of who He is, but also because of what He does.
#ShoutAnew. Discuss why it is appropriate to give God a “Shout-Out” constantly. Share your thoughts and tag us @rhboydco and use rhboydco.
II. Praise God Above All
The reason for the praise the psalm evokes is the identification of God as the one true Lord of heaven and earth, the Maker of all things (vv. 4–6). The song originated in a time and place in which many deities were recognized. Every nation had its own gods and claimed them to have sovereignty. The Babylonians, for example, declared that their chief deity, Marduk, created the earth and ruled over it. Psalm 96:5 declares, however, that Marduk and other gods are merely idols. That is, the images that represented them were the extent of their reality. Only God was real and powerful and therefore worthy of praise. With this claim, Psalm 96 stands close to the prophet Isaiah, who proclaims that Israel’s God is the true Creator and only this God has sovereignty over the earth (see Isa. 40:18–20). His sovereignty extends to include the entire creation. He alone is Lord of lords.
The followers of Yahweh have a great reason to break into praise before God because the One they serve is a God of great strength and great beauty. The psalmist says, “Honour and majesty are before him: strength and beauty are in his sanctuary” (Ps. 96:6, KJV). God has the strength to control all things in His creation. He is beautiful in the way He does it by just speaking a word for all creation to obey. He is in control of all nature on the one hand, and on the other is the absolutely impartial Judge of all people. Nature should be glad of course that it is under God’s control, else it might run rampant and break the rules of the universe, and be overwhelmed by complete chaos.
III. Let All Creation Rejoice
There is no acceptable excuse that a child of God can make for why he or she should not be praising and rejoicing in God for His many blessings. The psalmist said in verse 11, “Let the heavens rejoice, and let the earth be glad; let the sea roar, and the fulness thereof.” There should always be great joy and rejoicing from the people of God toward the Lord for all the good and great things that the blessings are always doing, every day in the lives of His children, who love and serve Him faithfully upon this earth. God deserves the praise, honor, glory and rejoicing of His people so that the entire world will know just how good God always is to them. The Israelites had great joy because of the God who cared for them, and today’s Christians can experience the same joy. There is just no reason that the people of God in these modern times cannot always be in new songs, praising and rejoicing before God for all His goodness to them. To praise Him in this way is to trust Him. To trust Him is to share the Good News about Him.
Praise and trust in God are the twin sides of the same coin. One cannot praise Him appropriately without coming to a loving trust in who He is, and one cannot trust Him without simultaneously confessing His goodness in joyful praise to others. The psalmist recommends this type of praise in his recommendation to others to sing unto the Lord a new song. This imperative to sing a new song carries with it a note of continuous praise. We must praise God today for blessings we presently witness and experience. However, we must also be sure to praise God tomorrow for sustaining and redeeming us from dire circumstances and upcoming dangers that escape our foresight or anticipation.
Praising God in this way makes us bold advocates of His love. There is no better way to demonstrate to others God’s great love, than to reveal our joy in serving Him. This joy is not the eruption of praise when things are going well with us, but it is also a testimony of faith and assurance that despite the presence of obstacles in our lives that God will more than keep us from falling (Jude 24:24–25).
Key Concepts to Enhance Your Understanding
1. Praising God must be a natural response to His blessings.
2. Praising God must extend from a heart of humility and gratitude.
3. Praising God must invoke our trust in Him and create a determination to witness to His goodness.
Dictionary of Terms
•Rejoice—to exclaim joy and praise to God for His blessings.
ACTIVITY
Making It Stick
Compare and contrast the praise of the Israelites with contemporary examples of praise to God.
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