3 Reasons To Praise God In Every Circumstance

Reverend Leo H. McCrary II

Praise of God is needed in our world today, and if you’re struggling to find reason to praise Him, Psalm 113 gives a few reason to remember.

Introduction

Glory and honor are due His name–God is worthy to be praised.  If you do not understand why God is worthy to be praised, then I hope you will take a moment to join me for this week’s Sunday School lesson.  This week’s Sunday School commentary will cover Psalm 113.

The Hallel Psalms

Psalm 113-118 are what are called the “Hallel psalms” – psalms of praise.  The Hallel psalms were likely sung at all feasts of Israel, but were certainly sung at the Passover feast, the Feast of Pentecost, and the Feast of Tabernacles.  The Hallel songs were sung, giving honor to the Lord.

Song of Praise and Worship

Psalm 113 opens with a call for the servants of the Lord to praise Him and His name, from this time forth and forevermore to the rising and the setting of the sun (Ps. 113:1-3).  So, will you praise the Lord?  Do you believe glory and honor are due His name?  I suppose this depends on whether you are a servant of the Lord or not.

Which master do you serve?

Whether you realize this or not, you are living in service to a master.  I say this understanding full well that not everyone understands that they have, or they are in the process of choosing a master to serve.  This is a subject I just focused on in my sermon – Make Up Your Mind.

Jesus taught that there are two masters one chooses between living under and serving in their lifetime.  Jesus said, “No one can serve two masters; for either he will hate the one and love the other, or else he will be loyal (faithful) to the one and despise the other.  You cannot serve God and mammon (Matt. 6:24).”

Mammon and God both have laws that one abides by.  Mammon is that which is of the world – worldly treasures and riches.  Mammon’s law is a sinful law as it stands in contrast to the law of God.  Those who live for the riches of this world are servants of mammon, as mammon, or sin, has rule over their lives.

On the other hand, those who choose to live under the grace of God will strive to live in obedience to His command.  God’s command is to love Him and to love others, and since this command is from God, that makes it righteous.  In 1 John 3:10, John spoke to the fact that those who love others practice righteousness, and therefore, are children of God.

Reasons to Praise God

Now, those who serve mammon won’t praise God because in their mind, He has done nothing for them.  On the other hand, those who serve the Lord have several reasons why they ought to praise His name.  Admittedly, some of us, especially today, may find it hard to praise God with all that is going on.  Yet again, we have several reasons why we should praise the Lord.

God is above the earth

Psalm 113:4 sings praise to the Lord because He is high above all nations, and His glory is above the heavens.  God is the one who created this creation that we dwell in.  “In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth (Gen. 1:1).”

We ought not think for one second that God is bound to the very thing that He made.  God is in what Paul called the third heaven.  The first heaven is considered the sky, or the atmosphere, of the Earth.  The second heaven is considered all of space–the heavens. Beyond the heavens, outside of that which we call the universe, is God’s domain.

In Isaiah 66:1, God spoke of sitting on His throne, saying, “Heaven is My throne, and earth is My footstool.”  God is the sovereign ruler over His creation; none is above Him.  So, because He is the sovereign ruler, the one who ordains and establishes, the song proclaims He is worthy to be praised.

God is in control

God is worthy to be praised because He is in control.  Psalm 113:5-6 asks, “Who is like the Lord our God, who dwells on high, who humbles Himself to behold the things that are in the heavens and in the earth?”

Much is being asked and stated within this question.  In the lesson commentaries – “The God Without Equal” and “Who Is Like God?” the Lord speaks of having no comparisons.  Who would you say is equal to God?

Some think that the devil is God’s equal; however, as I’ve said countless times, the devil is not God’s equal.  God is sovereign, but the devil is not.  In Job 1, it is made clear that Satan is not God’s equal.

Job 1:6 speaks of a day when the ‘sons of God’ presented themselves before Him to give a report, and Satan also came with them.  The ‘sons of God’, in this verse, refers to the angels of God, of which Satan once was.  They are considered ‘sons of God’ just as mankind are considered His offspring because angels were also made by God (Acts 17:29), though angels were not made in the same manner, nor for the same reason.

Angels were made before creation (Job 38:6-7).  Throughout scripture, angels are shown to be servants of the Lord who minister to Him and to mankind.  For example, the seraphim minister to God, without rest, praising Him, singing, “Holy, holy, holy (Is. 6:2-3; Rev. 14:8).

Satan, however, chose to rebel, and in his rebellion, he was cast out of heaven and fell to the earth (Is. 14:12-13; Luke 10:18; Rev. 12:7-9).  Satan’s authority is bound to this world.  God’s authority is both in heaven and on earth – He reigns over all things.  In Job’s story, Satan has to ask permission to try Job; He even goes so far as to plead God to remove His protection.

For that same reason, no man or woman is like the Lord.  Our authority is even more limited as barely have any authority over bodies.  At night, I can lie down feeling well, but in the morning, I may wake up feeling sick, no matter how much I may try to prevent such from happening.

Moreover, there are no idol gods that are equal to the authority of God.  In fact, the idols made by man’s hands and man’s devising have even less authority as they are dead.  What can a statue or a piece of jewelry do for you?  

Yet, no matter how this truth is presented to mankind, mankind has often let pride and ego hinder them from realizing what they feel on the inside – there is one who stands over all things.  Some are so prideful that they see themselves as gods, as they strive to lord over others.  

However, as shown in the wickedness of yesterday (ancient times/history) and the wickedness of the present, God is still in control.  God is aware of all things and His hand is still in the mix, whether one realizes this or not.  For me, this is realized in the fact that while it may appear at times that wickedness has rule, the rule of wickedness never lasts.

As David sang, “Weeping may endure for a night, but joy comes in the morning (Psalm 30:5).”  For this reason, especially in this day, we ought to sing praises to the Lord because God watches over us and He keeps us in His care.  Yes, wickedness does about today, but wickedness will never overpower the mighty hands of God.  As Jesus said, nobody can snatch God’s sheep out of His hands (John 10:28-30).

God blesses the poor

Lastly, Psalm 113:7-9 tells us that God is worthy to be praised because the Lord blesses us.  To be clear, the psalm isn’t necessarily talking about the day-to-day blessings.

The psalm says, “He raises the poor out of the dust, and lifts the needy out of the ash heap, that He may seat him with princes–with the princes of His people.  He grants the barren woman a home like a joyful mother of children.”

Let’s be clear, what is being praised in this song is God’s greater blessing of everlasting life dwelling in His kingdom.   This blessing is often mocked today by those who don’t believe heaven even exists, yet believe God exists.  Those who serve mammon believe they are better off trying to find their piece of heaven on Earth.  Therefore, they live in a manner denying the salvation of the Lord.

Without the sacrifice of Christ, the soul of man would remain a filthy rag that would be cast away by God (Is. 64:6).  However, because God gave His only begotten Son, we are washed and wrung out–our sins taken away by the blood of Jesus.  With the removal of our sins, the justified sinner will one day reign with Christ for eternity.  The fact that we will overcome our sins to reign with Christ for eternity is definitely worthy of praise.

Think about it:  the very thing that those who serve mammon wish they could have, heaven, they will never gain, no matter how much they grind and hustle for it.  As Paul said, “Those who desire to be rich fall into temptation and a snare, and into many foolish and harmful lusts which drown men in destruction and perdition.  For the love of money is the root of all kinds of evil, for which some have strayed from the faith in their greediness, and pierced themselves through with many sorrows (1 Tim. 6:9-10).”

 The piece of heaven that those who serve mammon seek, they might find and enjoy, but that joy will be temporary.  True joy is not temporary, nor is it composed of sinful acts.  True joy is without sin, and as shown in the revelation of Christ, such joy will be enjoyed in the new day when evil is cast from God into outer darkness for eternity.

The grand blessing of God, dwelling in His kingdom of peace and joy for everlasting life, is certainly worthy of being praised.  If you choose to serve the Lord, you have reason to sing praises today, even if your world may be turned upside-down right now.  

An encouraging word I share with you today is this:  do not worry about today.  As Paul said, today’s affliction is light and only for a moment, as it is working for us a grander weight of glory (2 Cor. 4:17).  You see, God is faithful to what He has promised, and what He has promised is that the faithful believer will not perish, but will have everlasting life (John 3:16).  Hang in there, your joy is coming and God will not fail to deliver it.