WHY WE EXTOL THE LORD

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In Christ, Mark

The scriptures. May God bless the reading of His holy word.

Praise the Lord.

I will extol the Lord with all my heart in the council of the upright and in the assembly.

Great are the works of the Lord; they are pondered by all who delight in them. Glorious and majestic are His deeds, and His righteousness endures forever.

He has caused His wonders to be remembered; the Lord is gracious and compassionate. He provides food for those who fear Him; He remembers His covenant forever. He has shown His people the power of His works, giving them the lands of other nations. The works of His hands are faithful and just; all His precepts are trustworthy. They are established forever and ever, enacted in faithfulness and uprightness. He provided redemption for His people; He ordained his covenant forever — holy and awesome is His name.

Psalm 111:1-9

This ends this reading from God's holy word. Thanks be to God.

“I will extol the Lord with all my heart.”

These are the words of the psalmist in the 111th Psalm.

Now we don’t typically use the word extol in our every day vernacular but that doesn’t mean we don’t do it regularly. In other words, I believe we are extolling much of the time, with all our heart just like the psalmist, and not even realizing we are doing it.

A look at the dictionary tells us a little about the word “extol.” We learn it is derived from a Middle English term “extollere” which means “to lift up.” And so we lift our hearts up to the Lord in the highest sense of praise. We proclaim His glory and power with an overwhelming spirit of thanksgiving, bestowing on Him all our honor and admiration. This is what is means to extol the Lord and as stated, I believe we all can say we have done so once we know what the word means.

So why do we extol the Lord? Why do we lift His name up above all other names?

Well, we only need to look to the scriptures for our reasoning, a reasoning we need to be ready to tell others about, those who have no knowledge of the Lord. Consider the following things from a passage found in Job and in our psalm reading for today:

“God is exalted in His power. Who is a teacher like Him? Who has prescribed His ways for Him, or said to Him, ‘You have done wrong’? Remember to extol His work, which people have praised in song. All humanity has seen it; mortals gaze on it from afar. How great is God — beyond our understanding!”  Job 36:22-26b 

Praise the Lord.

I will extol the Lord with all my heart in the council of the upright and in the assembly.

Great are the works of the Lord; they are pondered by all who delight in them. Glorious and majestic are His deeds, and His righteousness endures forever.

He has caused His wonders to be remembered; the Lord is gracious and compassionate. He provides food for those who fear Him; He remembers His covenant forever. He has shown His people the power of His works, giving them the lands of other nations. The works of His hands are faithful and just; all His precepts are trustworthy. They are established forever and ever, enacted in faithfulness and uprightness. He provided redemption for His people; He ordained his covenant forever — holy and awesome is His name. Psalm 111:1-9

Why do we extol the Lord?

1. Because He’s got infinite power that He reveals regularly to His people.

2. Because He is great beyond our understanding.

3. Because there is no greater Teacher than Him.

4. Because great are His works.

5. Because He is glorious and majestic.

6. Because His righteousness endures forever.

7. Because He is gracious and compassionate.

8. Because He provides for our needs.

9. Because He remembers His covenant.

10. Because He is faithful and just.

11. Because His precepts are trustworthy.

12. Because He is a Lord of redemption.

13. Because He is faithful and upright.

In the end translation, no one or nothing is as great as the Lord. No one or nothing can do for us what He can. No one or nothing will ever love us like He does.  And so when it comes to extolling, only the Lord is worthy of it, now and forever more.

Amen

In Christ,

Mark

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