THRU THE BIBLE EXPOSITION

Psalms: Living By Faith In God

CL. Praising God For His Perfect Care

(Psalm 150:1-6)

Introduction: (To show the need . . . )

At times even we believers in Christ have difficulty praising God due to the stressful trials we can face:

(1) It can seem difficult to praise God due to the stress of events like the recent international clash over Greenland: “President . . . Trump” had “insisted that the U. S. should control Greenland, a semiautonomous territory of NATO ally Denmark . . . (and he tried) to justify his calls for a U. S. takeover by repeatedly claiming that China and Russia have their own designs on Greenland, which holds vast untapped reserves of critical minerals.” (“Trump may punish countries if they don’t back Greenland plans,” Republican-American, January 17, 2026, p. A9) However, “European leaders” had “insisted that it is only for Denmark and Greenland to decide on matters concerning the territory, and Denmark said . . . it was increasing its military presence in Greenland in cooperation with allies.” (Ibid.)

President Donald Trump and NATO allies have since formed an agreement over Greenland, but the stress of their conflict had initially put the stock market into a temporary nosedive, a typical event with this administration.

(2) It can seem difficult to praise God due to voter fraud in our nation: “In 2024, roughly 100,000 people registered to vote in Michigan last year, and about 36,000 applicants . . . submitted invalid four-digit Social Security number matches yet were still allowed to complete registration and vote . . . (Assistant Attorney General for Civil Rights Harmeet) Dillon . . . confirmed over 260,000 dead people and thousands of noncitizens are registered to vote . . .” (Joe Guzzardi, “Trump official fighting the good fight against voter fraud,” op. cit., January 15, 2026, p. A6)

(3) Enhancing the stress over this voter fraud issue can be the response by many officials to it: “Democratic officials in Connecticut and 22 other states . . . continue refusing to provide voter rolls to the federal government in the face of a lawsuit filed by the U. S. Department of Justice . . . because they assume, without evidence, that the administration somehow plans to misuse that information. These vague, conspiratorial claims shouldn’t hold up in court – and, so far, they haven’t . . . Maybe it’s time to consider that, in this case, the appearance of impropriety could be evidence of impropriety itself.” (“What is Connecticut hiding?” op. cit., January 14, 2026, p. A6)

(4) At the local level, it can seem difficult to praise God due to stress over ShopRite’s facial recognition surveillance program: “(S)everal shoppers . . . were taken aback . . . when they learned they were being surveilled by facial recognition technology as they picked up their groceries at ShopRite . . . (N)o one wants to be surrounded by a digital panopticon of facial-recognition cameras when they shop . . . But when the government cedes its authority and shoplifting becomes so common that businesses need to lock tubes of toothpaste behind barriers, these are the inevitable results . . . (S)hops . . . have to choose between employing dystopian surveillance measures or closing their doors.” (“Understanding ShopRite’s surveillance,” op. cit., January 16, 2026, p. A6)

(5) Stressful personal trials can also make praising God seem difficult: After our January 14^th prayer meeting service, a Church member spoke with me about the high number of severe trials some people in our Church had been facing. I later made a list of the ones I knew and noted fifteen people who have recently faced seven stressful ordeals where each trial could have produced or might yet produce life-changing effects for them or for others around them.

Need: So we ask, “How can we praise the Lord if we face serious, stressful trials?”

I. Psalm 150:1-6 is a praise psalm of ancient Israel, and “(s)urprisingly, praise in the OT (Old Testament) arose out of a . . . nation under almost constant stress.” (Zon. Pict. Ency. Bib., Vol. Four, p. 834)

II. Regardless of that stress, this psalm from ancient Israel is vigorously optimistic in its praise of the Lord:

A. The psalmist called for Israel to praise the Lord God in His heavenly sanctuary of His mighty heavens, v. 1.

B. He also called on Israel to praise God for His acts of power and His surpassing greatness, v. 2.

C. The psalmist called for Israel to praise the Lord with a wide variety of musical instruments (v. 3, 4b), with a formal dance routine with tambourines (v. 4a) and with loud, resounding, crashing cymbals (v. 5.)

D. Finally, the psalmist called on every breathing animal and human being to praise the Lord (v. 6).

III. To comprehend why ancient Israel praised the Lord with such enthusiastic confidence though facing almost constant stress, we need to understand the nation’s historical context (as follows):

A. Ancient Israel’s pagan Gentile neighbors lived under the dismal oppression of false gods and religious beliefs:

1. Pagan man lived in fear that a monster he believed that had initially restrained the creation of the universe could regain dominion over his hero god who had slain it and cause the creative order to revert back to its alleged precreation, chaotic state with the destruction of mankind. Thus, the pagans performed a religious ritual each year to repeat and thus confirm by the magic believed to be effective in that ritual the continued triumph of their god over the repressive monster. (Bruce K. Waltke, Creation and Chaos, 1974, p. 57)

2. Along with this insecurity was pagan man’s oppressive enslavement to his false gods: “According to Tablet VI” of the Babylonian account of creation known as “Enuma Elish, man was created from the blood of Kingu, a rebel deity and for the purpose of doing the work of the gods . . . The creation myth, then, underscored in the minds of its celebrants that they were salves.” (Ibid., p. 65)

B. In contrast to pagan man’s bleak false gods and beliefs, the God of Scripture granted Israel’s people infinite security and wholesome blessing in His power and goodness that countered the stress of the trials they faced:

1. Opposite pagan man’s insecurity over the maintenance of the creative order, “Israel had to imitate the Creator week by week in working six days and resting the seventh day exactly as it was in the beginning . . . This libretto, Genesis one, reminded Israel that the God who commanded him to rule over all the earth had Himself created all that earth. It belonged to Him,” and was not in danger of reverting to the dominion and hence chaotic destruction by any repressive monster! (Ibid., p. 57)

2. Opposite pagan man’s oppressive slavery to his gods, all that Israel’s God had made “He called good, but more than that He gave it all to man as a gift. There was no force hostile to man. All was under the dominion of Yahweh and He in turn had committed the dominion of the earth to man.” Scripture’s God was indeed a generous absolute sovereign. (Ibid., p. 64)

3. Also, “(i)n contrast to the blessed nature and refreshment of Israel’s Sabbath, in Mesopotamia the seventh day was a day of bad luck . . . It is against this environment and background that one can appreciate his Bible and the God of grace who revealed His benevolent virtues to us.” (Ibid., p. 65)

C. So, regardless of the stress Israel’s people almost constantly faced, in vast contrast to her pagan neighbors who succumbed to their stress over despotic gods and dreadfully errant beliefs, Israel’s God was all-sufficient and good to counteract her trials, enabling Israel to praise God for His greatness and His deliverances from trials!

Lesson: Israel’s God of Scripture is omnipotent and infinitely good so that all who look to Him as their Lord can expect Him to deliver them in all their trials, resulting in their great praise to Him as illustrated in Psalm 150:1-6.

Application: (1) May we trust in Christ Who died as our Atoning Sacrifice for sin that we might receive God's gift of eternal life, John 3:16; 1 Corinthians 15:1-11. (2) As believers in Christ, may we trust God Who is omnipotent and infinitely good to deliver us in all of our trials, resulting in our great praise of Him.

Conclusion: (To illustrate the message and/or provide additional guidance . . .)

Scripture offers us edifying insight into our omnipotent, good God’s help with the issues in our introduction:

(1) On the Greenland international issue, as we have often noted, Daniel 2:41-44 with 2 Thessalonians 2:1-14 predict that Western Civilization nations will be partly strong and partly weak in the latter days of Church History just before the Church is raptured and on into the Tribulation Period. However, God will keep the world ordered enough for believers in Christ to have opportunity to continue to abound in every good word and work until the rapture, so we believers should be comforted and keep living for the Lord, 2 Thessalonians 2:15-17.

(2) On the issue of voter fraud and the apparent unconcern over it by officials who claim the administration has plans to abuse their voter registration records if the states turn them over to the federal government, Romans 13:1-4 reveals that every official is allowed to be in office due to God’s permissive will! Our part is to trust God’s oversight of them and to heed 1 Timothy 2:2 in praying that those in authority will so function that we believers might live quiet and peaceable lives in all godliness and honesty for the furtherance of the discipling of the nations.

(3) On the issue of ShopRite’s facial recognition surveillance program, 2 Thessalonians 2:1-14 with 15-17 mentioned in section “(1)” above in this Conclusion section would apply to this issue of concern as well.

(4) On the issue of serious personal trials, 1 Peter 3:8-12 (citing Psalm 34:12-16) teaches that to live the longest and the best life God has planned for us Christians in this earthly life and to receive God’s answers to prayer, we must seek to live in harmony with others, be sympathetic to others, practice brotherly love with fellow believers, be compassionate, humble, repay evil with blessing, avoid unedifying speech, turn from evil, do good, seek peace and pursue it. Failure to do these things will result in God’s withdrawal of blessing and His discipline in our earthly lives!

May we trust in Christ Who died as our Atoning Sacrifice for sin that we might receive God's gift of eternal life. May we then trust and obey Scripture’s Lord Who is omnipotent and infinitely good to deliver us in all of our trials, resulting in our great praise of Him.