PRAISE THE LORD

Great is the Lord, and greatly to be praised; and his greatness is unsearchable. One generation shall praise thy works to another, and shall declare thy mighty acts. — Psalms 145:3-4

David, who was a man after God’s own heart, was a man of praise. Throughout the Psalm’s we see him exhorting the people to praise the Lord. To praise means to be clear as in the sound you give or the “color” you add—think of a color analyst broadcasting a football game. It means to shine, to boast, to celebrate, to rave, and to give in marriage—it becomes your identity and who you are.

Naturally speaking, a football fan gives a clear picture of all of this. We rave about what a certain player has done and can do. No matter how big the giants are on the other team, we boast about how much greater our team is. We thrive on hearing others praise our team and we loath those who would dare say anything negative. When our team wins, the celebration does not stay within the walls of our house; it spills into the streets, crosses state lines, and jams the phone lines. I wonder if this is not outright idolatry? What a sin to praise mere man and hardly have a word to say about an undefeated God.

Jesus Christ is by far the greatest man to ever set foot on the earth that he himself created. He took absolutely nothing and made everything that you and I see. He has an enemy who he met head on at the cross. In this battle he crushed satan’s head and made a show of him openly. So great was the power displayed in this awesome victory that people who had long been dead got up out of their graves and walked the streets of Jerusalem!!! (See Matthew 27:52-53) His power is so great that one drop of the blood he shed can wash the most scandalous sinner completely clean and make a brand new person out of him!

Jesus never met one sinner who desired to be made whole that he did not make whole. He healed blinded eyes that had never seen. He caused lame legs to walk that had never walked. He cleansed the uncleansable; he restored the unrestorable; he broke the chains of the unbreakable!! He walked on the water, he calmed the raging sea, he cast out devils, he made mighty men out of defeated men and he raised up all who would ever call on his name from being dead in trespasses and sin to alive in Christ!

Got any mountains in your life? Any rivers that you can’t cross? I am here today to rave about what Jesus Christ can and will do in your life when you simply believe and obey. No matter how established your mountain may be Jesus can make rubble out of it. Your mountain may be a lifelong addiction; an established history of failure; a sickness in your body; a wealth of financial difficulty. All Jesus has to do is set one foot on your mountain and it will surly be cast into the sea!

The difference between Jesus and the “other” team is greater than that of a gnat and a grizzly bear! You may have just thrown a costly interception and you can hear even now the roar of the enemy’s crowd as they taunt you —anticipating your utter defeat. This is when Jesus will do what only he can do. Let him be everything: The coach; the owner; the general manager; and the quarterback, and he will deliver you from all the expectation of the enemy! We will celebrate your victory; we will boast and rave about the undefeated King of Kings and Lord of Lords Jesus Christ!!!