Kuching Trinity Methodist Church English congregation was privileged to hear a wonderful message preached by Ps. James Chin on 15 Nov 2009. His text was taken from Psalms 113.
He began by citing some aspects of hero worship, how some of us went to great lengths in idolizing singers, actors, heroes, etc….
He himself used to admire a sports athlete (he loves sports) during his younger school days and one day in the midst of exams, he heard a psst sound from behind and he turned round to find his hero wanting to copy his answers. Pastor James complied but of course they were both caught!
We can praise either rightly or wrongly. But Jesus Christ is the only one who truly deserves our attention. So let’s take a glimpse of the character of our great and humble God. Ps. 113-118 is ‘hallel’ – that means praise. Ps 113-114 is a song before the Passover feast and Psalms 114-118 are psalms that are sung after the meal. Pastor James elaborated on Ps 113 in two parts:
Part 1 – The greatness of God
Part 2 – The humility of God
God desires our praise and its something He wants. Ref. Is. 43:21
Like how prophet Isaiah saw God on the throne. Ref Is. 67
In Rev 4:8 , the vision of John
Like Don Moen who sang ‘Praise looks good on you’
Part 1 references: HIS GREATNESS –nature of praise
We need to be more passionate, more devoted and have more love when we praise God. Not just mere singing but really worshipping Him. We must have the conviction and a sense of awe while declaring His praise. It is interesting how many people during the football season can get so excited and passionate over a goal but when it comes to praising God they seem to lack the same excitement and heartfelt, genuine praise.
So what does it mean to praise God continually?
We are to praise Him in bad times, in good times and all the time. We have to speak highly of our God and exalt His name on high. Like Job said in the Bible ‘Blessed be the name of the Lord’ and we all know what Job went through. We can sing praises in our offices and make His name known. We should not be shy. For example, some of the football stars drew a sign of cross on the ground before they play but after they have won, they forgot about Him altogether. They should at least ‘mouth’ the words – “Praise the Lord!” when they faced the cameras and make His name known.
Part 2 – HIS HUMILITY- focus of praise
Who is like the God our God? No one!
God is the one who sits on the throne on high. He not only sits on the throne but His presence is everywhere. God makes Himself low enough to know us. In v. 6 - He stoops down to look at the heavens and earth.
V.7 – 9 – He focuses on the poor and needy. He listens to the cries of the barren women. That’s how humble our God is. What God has done can never be returned by us. V.9-14 – He prepared a meal and in John 21 –His acts of humility – He washed the feet of the disciples. He went to the cross and died for us, rose again to give us a hope so we can have eternal life. This calls for us to worship Him even more, give our best adoration and sing more praises to Him from our hearts.
Ps. James concluded by asking us to read Philippians chapter 2 and to reflect on it. He closed with a prayer.
The writer was much convicted by the meekness and majesty of our Lord Jesus who has conquered death through His sacrifice. She was at the same time overwhelmed with gladness in her heart to see seven youths being baptized that same day! She can only give praise to His Holy name!
By Jenny Wong
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