Title: The Power of Praise
Text / Psalm 108:1 - 5
1. The three fundamental structures of the spiritual life
Raising the problem - The three elements that protect the spirituality of believers are the Word, prayer, and praise. Look at the scene of Jesus' Last Supper. There are the words of Jesus (Mark 14:22-25, the farewell sermon in John 13-16), the final prayer (Mark 14:32-42, John 17), and the praise (Mark 14:26). These days, there is a buzzword called spiritual ministry for future ministry. What is the essence of spirituality? No matter how much you change your words, isn't spirituality the life of <Word, Prayer and Praise>? However, there are many sermons on the Word and prayer, but there are relatively few sermons on praise.
2. Various Evidences of Praise in the Bible
*Praise with song - The LORD is my strength and shield; my heart trusts in him and has found help; therefore my heart rejoices greatly, and with my song I will sing praise to him (Psalm 28:7).
*Clap your hands and praise - Clap your palms, all you peoples, and cry out to the LORD with a joyful voice: Praise him, praise him, praise God (Psalm 47:1)
* Praise with Psalms of Wisdom - Praise, praise, praise God, praise our King, praise him with Psalms of Wisdom, for God is King of all the earth (Psalm 47:6-7).
*Praise with my tongue (with testimony) - Let them always say, Great is the LORD, who gladly calls and rejoices in those who delight in my righteousness, and delights in the prosperity of his servants. Ida (Psalm 35:27-28)
*Praise with hope - I will always hope and praise you more (Psalm 71:14).
* Raise your hands and praise - Raise your hands toward the sanctuary and bless the LORD (Psalm 134:2).
*Dance and praise - Dance and praise his name (Psalm 149:3)
* Praise him with all kinds of musical instruments; praise him with the trumpet and lyre; praise him with the trumpets and dances; praise him with the strings and trumpet; praise him with the loud cymbals; praise him with the loud cymbals (Psalm 150:3). -4)
*Praise with your heart - Speak to one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody to the Lord with your hearts (Ephesians 5:19)
* Praise with thanksgiving - Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly in all wisdom, teaching and admonishing one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, praising God with thanksgiving in your hearts (Colossians 3:16)
If you look at the Bible verses listed as examples above, you can see that they are praising God by dedicating all of human beings, including human heart, mind, will, logos, ethos, pathos, and human existence. Especially Colossians 3:16, doesn't it well show that the Word and praise are always at the same time? Martin Luther and Hymn 384 My Lord is a strong castle, and we must not forget that Billy Graham, gospel singer Anita Bryant, and Martin Luther King Jr. and We shall over come, great words and great praises have always been together. In particular, considering how much influence music is having on young people today, our church will have to work hard to refine the spirituality of this song in the future.
3. The power of praise