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Praying to God is Necessary for Obtaining Salvation through the Forgiveness of One’s Sins

July 24, 2012

It is very disturbing to read recently the statements that some Christians are making that either directly assert or clearly imply that praying to God is not necessary for salvation. According to these believers, people only need to repent and believe to be saved—they do not have to pray.

In order to be saved, a person must have his sins forgiven, and many passages in Scripture make clear either explicitly or implicitly that praying to God is necessary for obtaining forgiveness of sins:

If my people, which are called by my name, shall humble themselves, and pray, and seek my face, and turn from their wicked ways; then will I hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin, and will heal their land (2 Chron. 7:14).
I acknowledged my sin unto thee, and mine iniquity have I not hid. I said, I will confess my transgressions unto the LORD; and thou forgavest the iniquity of my sin. Selah (Ps. 32:5).
For thou, Lord, art good, and ready to forgive; and plenteous in mercy unto all them that call upon thee (Ps. 86:5).
He that covereth his sins shall not prosper: but whoso confesseth and forsaketh them shall have mercy (Prov. 28:13).
So the people of Nineveh believed God, and proclaimed a fast, and put on sackcloth, from the greatest of them even to the least of them. For word came unto the king of Nineveh, and he arose from his throne, and he laid his robe from him, and covered him with sackcloth, and sat in ashes. And he caused it to be proclaimed and published through Nineveh by the decree of the king and his nobles, saying, Let neither man nor beast, herd nor flock, taste any thing: let them not feed, nor drink water: But let man and beast be covered with sackcloth, and cry mightily unto God: yea, let them turn every one from his evil way, and from the violence that is in their hands. Who can tell if God will turn and repent, and turn away from his fierce anger, that we perish not? (Jon. 3:5-9)
And the publican, standing afar off, would not lift up so much as his eyes unto heaven, but smote upon his breast, saying, God be merciful to me a sinner. I tell you, this man went down to his house justified rather than the other: for every one that exalteth himself shall be abased; and he that humbleth himself shall be exalted (Luke 18:13-14).
And he said unto Jesus, Lord, remember me when thou comest into thy kingdom. And Jesus said unto him, Verily I say unto thee, To day shalt thou be with me in paradise (Luke 23:42-43).
Repent therefore of this thy wickedness, and pray God, if perhaps the thought of thine heart may be forgiven thee (Acts 8:22).
That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved. For with the heart man believeth unto righteousness; and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation. . . . For whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved (Rom. 10:9-10; 13).
If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness (1 John 1:9).

With the exception of babies, small children, and some others who lack the mental capacity to pray knowledgeably to God, praying to Him (either silently or aloud) is clearly necessary for the forgiveness of sins. Scripture does not support teaching that asserts that a person can be saved without praying to God.

Furthermore, a wrong handling of various salvation accounts in Scripture has resulted in the erroneous view that people are saved by repenting and believing without praying. The lack of explicit mention of a sinner’s praying to God in a condensed summary of how that person was saved is not evidence that they were saved without praying (see my post Learning Interpretation from an Examination of Jonah 3 for an example of an account that lacks such explicit mention but still makes clear that the people did pray to God).

Moreover, an unwillingness to pray to God for forgiveness shows a lack of genuine repentance (Acts 8:20-24; see my post Forgiveness of Sin through a Directive Both to Repent and to Pray for a detailed explanation of this point). A genuine belief in God includes “crying mightily unto God” (Jon. 3:5-9 [see Learning Interpretation from an Examination of Jonah 3]; Rom. 10:9-10; 13).

Saving repentance and faith includes praying to God for the forgiveness of one’s sins. Praying to Him is necessary for obtaining salvation through the forgiveness of one’s sins.

In Evangelism, Prayer, Theology

Learning from God's Specific Will about Goats

July 20, 2012

In the many previous times that I have read through the Bible, I have not understood Leviticus 16:5-10 as an important passage about the specificity of God’s will. Recently, however, God granted me illumination about the remarkable nature of its teaching concerning God’s specific will about goats.

The Lord directed Moses to instruct Aaron about the offerings that he was to make as an atonement for the people of Israel:

Lev 16:5 And he shall take of the congregation of the children of Israel two kids of the goats for a sin offering, and one ram for a burnt offering. ⁶ And Aaron shall offer his bullock of the sin offering, which is for himself, and make an atonement for himself, and for his house.

⁷ And he shall take the two goats, and present them before the LORD at the door of the tabernacle of the congregation. ⁸ And Aaron shall cast lots upon the two goats; one lot for the LORD, and the other lot for the scapegoat.

⁹ And Aaron shall bring the goat upon which the LORD’S lot fell, and offer him for a sin offering. ¹⁰ But the goat, on which the lot fell to be the scapegoat, shall be presented alive before the LORD, to make an atonement with him, and to let him go for a scapegoat into the wilderness.

Aaron was to take two male goats (see Heb.) from the people for a sin offering (16:5). The people would have brought to him goats that met the requirements for the sin offerings (Lev. 4-5), and Aaron would receive them to present to the Lord at the door of the tabernacle (16:7).

Having brought the two goats to the door, he then had to cast lots for them to determine which one would be offered as the sin offering to the Lord and which one would be the scapegoat (16:8). Aaron thus was not left to his own wisdom to decide which one to use in which way.

Because the Lord was the One who determined the outcome when lots were cast (Prov. 16:33), this instruction makes clear that it was the Lord who thereby specified to Aaron which goat he would use for which purpose. The Lord, therefore, had a specific will for each goat and a specific will for Aaron about how he was to use each one.

This passage teaches us that the Lord had a specific will about matters (choice between the goat to be used for an offering and the one to be used for a scapegoat) that we would otherwise surely have thought that there would have been no difference in the choices that were to be made. If the Lord had a specific will about these goats and a specific will about which one Aaron was to use for each purpose, how credible is it to assert that He does not have a specific will for clearly important matters for us today such as who a person is to marry?

In Interpretation, Theology

Is God's Love for a Believer Unconditional?

July 12, 2012

Jesus taught His disciples in the Upper Room Discourse, “At that day ye shall ask in my name: and I say not unto you, that I will pray the Father for you: For the Father himself loveth you, because ye have loved me, and have believed that I came out from God” (John 16:26-27). He seems in this teaching to say plainly that the Father Himself loves the disciples because they have loved Jesus and have believed that He came out from God.

If God’s love for a believer is unconditional, as nearly almost everyone argues that it is, how do we explain Jesus’ teaching at this time to His disciples that the cause of the Father’s love for them was that they had loved Him and had believed that He had come out from God?

In Interpretation, Theology

Did Jesus Love a Man Who Was Not One of the Elect?

May 28, 2012

Mark informs us that Jesus evangelized a rich young ruler who asked him what he should do that he might “inherit eternal life” (Mk.10:17). After Jesus’ initially challenged him (Mk.10:18-19), the man showed by his response that he was yet lacking full understanding of his sinfulness (Mk.10:20).

In response, Jesus “beholding him loved him” (Mk. 10:21) and proceeded to evangelize him further but to no avail. Given that this encounter was not some chance event that just happened to take place, we must hold that God sent Jesus into the world to love this sinful man as He did and confront him with the exact information that he needed to be brought to repentance.

Although Jesus confronted this sinful man in love with his need to repent (Mk.10:21), the man left the encounter unrepentant and unconverted (Mk.10:22). Scripture does not give us any more information about him, which leaves us with no indication that he was ever saved. Based on the available data, it seems that we should hold that he was not one of the elect.

On that reading, this passage provides explicit biblical teaching that Jesus loved a man who was not one of the elect. Those who hold that John 3:16 and other similar biblical teaching about the love of God for sinners only applies to the elect should thus at least adjust their theological systems to account for Jesus’ loving this man who from all that we are able to know was not one of the elect.

In Interpretation, Theology

Paul or John: A Noteworthy Comparison

May 12, 2012

Who went further in the knowledge of God—the apostle Paul or the apostle John? The following comparison points to an answer to this question that may be at odds with certain perspectives that many believers have been taught, especially concerning their understanding of gospel ministry.

COMPARISON

Based on the information that we have available, eight points of comparison between Paul and John should be noted:

Contact with John the Baptist

Paul : no information about his having contact personally with John the Baptist

John: disciple of John the Baptist

Discipleship experience with Jesus

Paul: disciple of Jesus after His resurrection appearance to Him; no information that Paul knew Him personally during His earthly ministry

John: disciple of Jesus since His earthly ministry who knew Him personally

Extent of knowledge of Jesus’ Miracles

Paul: no information that he knew of the miracles that Jesus did that were not recorded in Scripture

John: had first-hand knowledge of a multitude of signs that Jesus did that were not recorded in Scripture

Contact with Mary

Paul: no information about contact with Mary, the mother of Jesus

John: knew Mary personally; cared for her in his home after the Crucifixion; thus he very likely knew a vast amount of information about Jesus that we have no way of determining if Paul also had that information

Contact with the glorified Jesus

Paul: saw the glorified Jesus

John: last disciple to see the glorified Jesus

Vision of heaven

Paul: had a vision of heaven and saw and heard things that he was not allowed to share; thus we have no way of determining what Paul did or did not know as a result of that vision

John: had a vision of heaven and saw and heard a vast number of things that he was directed to write about for our profit; we have no way to know if Paul ever knew of this information or not; it is very likely that he never knew all that John knew in this respect

Profiting from other Scripture

Paul:

-likely had no knowledge of what John wrote in at least his letters and in Revelation;

-perhaps he also had only limited knowledge of much of what John wrote in his Gospel;

-may have profited from 1 & 2 Peter and Hebrews

-very likely did not have any access to the book of Jude

John:

-likely profited from all of Paul’s epistles for at least a decade and a half before writing any of his books

-very likely profited from 1 & 2 Peter and Hebrews

-likely profited from the book of Jude

Authoring of Scripture

Paul:

-Wrote 13 epistles; did not write a Gospel; did not write any book comparable to Revelation

-Did not write any of the final five books of the NT in the current topical order

-Did not write any of the final five books of the NT chronologically

John:

-Wrote 3 epistles (7 more epistles in Revelation 2-3); wrote the final Gospel long after the Synoptic Gospels (and also all the Pauline epistles) had been written; also wrote Revelation— John thus wrote three different genres of inspired NT books while Paul only wrote one; he has the unique honor of being the only one chosen by God to do so

-Wrote four of the five final books of the NT in the current topical order, including the last book

-Wrote all five of the final books of the NT chronologically; John thus gave us all the final inspired revelation that we have

DISCUSSION

Based on this information, it seems that we should hold that John, and not Paul, had the most profound knowledge of the things of God of any of the writers of Scripture. His writings, therefore, should be viewed as at least as theologically advanced as anything that Paul wrote.

Thus any analysis of a subject that does not thoroughly account for whatever John may have written about that subject is necessarily lacking and should not be accorded ultimate authoritative status for the doctrine and practice of the people of God. Moreover, when formulating our understanding of any subject, we should value whatever John may have written about that subject at least as much as anything that Paul has written.

APPLICATION

A key area in which our understanding of biblical truth and our practice needs to be addressed in light of the discussion above is our understanding of apostolic gospel ministry. Specifically, we must recognize that God did not give us everything that we need to know about this subject through Paul’s writings. For if he had, what need would there have been for yet another Gospel to be written after the Synoptics and the Pauline Epistles had already been written?

We must not, therefore, attach undue importance to passages such as 1 Corinthians 15:3-4 at the expense of key truths that we are taught through John’s record of Jesus’ own dealings with people in salvation accounts. For example, when each of the salvation accounts in John 3, 4, and 5 are thoroughly analyzed, we see that Jesus evangelized lost people with an emphasis on truths that are not mentioned explicitly in 1 Corinthians 15:3-4 (e.g., Jesus as the One sent by the Father; Christ as God’s judicial agent).

Our understanding, therefore, of apostolic gospel ministry cannot be limited basically to what Paul taught in this passage. We must fill out our understanding of it through truths that are taught in many other key passages, including several that are found in John 3-5.

In Gospel, Interpretation, Theology

Repentance unto Eternal Life!

February 25, 2012

Through Peter’s preaching of the gospel in Caesarea, God saved a Gentile centurion and his entire household (Acts11:14). When Peter’s ministering to them was later called into question by some in Jerusalem (11:2), he defended himself by relating how God had given the Gentiles the Spirit on that occasion, as He had also done previously for Peter and others “at the beginning” (11:15).

Peter then recalled how on that occasion he had remembered the Lord’s teaching about how the apostles would be baptized with the Holy Spirit (11:16). Based on that statement and how the experience of the Gentiles matched that of the apostles (11:17a), he asserted through a question that he was in no position to oppose what God was doing (11:17b).

Hearing these things, those who had objected earlier were satisfied, “and glorified God, saying, ‘Then hath God also to the Gentiles granted repentance unto life” (11:18). Saying this, they acknowledged that those Gentiles had been saved by God’s granting them that repentance.

When, however, the preceding account of what happened in Caesarea (10:1-48), including Peter’s message, is examined, we find no specific statements about what these Gentiles had to repent of so that they would be saved. Despite this lack of information, we can reasonably infer many likely aspects of their repentance by analyzing carefully the information given about them and about what Peter preached to them.

Information provided about Cornelius and those who were with him

Cornelius was a Roman centurion who was devout, feared God with his entire household, gave much alms to the people, and prayed to God always (10:2). He was also a just man who had a good reputation among the entire nation of the Jews (10:22).

Furthermore, Cornelius and those who were with him when Peter preached to them had heard about the word that was “published throughout all Judaea, and began from Galilee, after the baptism which John preached” (10:37). He thus had familiarity with the ministry of John and what had taken place throughout that entire Judean region after his ministry. This statement also informs us that they had some prior information about Jesus because John preached about Him when he preached his baptism of repentance (cf. Luke 3:1-18).

Cornelius’ having a good reputation among all the Jews suggests that he was not one who had openly differed with them in his perspectives about what he had heard about Jesus. Otherwise, we would hardly expect the Jews to have spoken well of him.

Hostile Jewish views about Jesus versus Peter’s preaching about Jesus

Many of Peter’s statements in his message directly controverted key aspects of hostile Jewish’ perspectives about Jesus:

The Jews did not believe that Jesus was Lord of all, but Peter preached that He was (10:36).

The Jews blasphemed the Spirit by saying that Jesus cast out demons by Satan’s power. In stark contrast to their assessment of Jesus, Peter preached that God had anointed Jesus with the Spirit and with power, and that He went about doing good and healing all who were oppressed of the devil, because God was with Him (10:38). He thus trumpeted that Jesus did all that He did and triumphed over the devil through the Spirit and the power that God had given Him.

The Jews believed that Jesus was a lawbreaker and a deceiver, but Peter preached that Jesus went about doing “good” (10:38).

The Jews did not believe in the resurrection of Jesus. They said that the disciples came and stole the body. Peter, however, preached that God raised Jesus bodily from the dead and attested to that by testifying that he and others had seen Him, and eaten and drunk with Him after His resurrection (10:40-41).

The Jews condemned Jesus for His asserting that they would see Him coming one day in the clouds of heaven, which signified to them that He was claiming to be the Danielic Son of Man who would come and judge the world. In contrast, Peter declared the same essential truth that Jesus did when he testified that the God-raised Jesus had commanded them to proclaim that God has appointed Him to be the Judge of the living and the dead (10:42).

The Jews did not believe Jesus’ claims that He was the Messiah whom the prophets had spoken of that would come, but Peter asserted that He was that Christ (10:36, 38) of whom all the prophets are still testifying (10:43).

The Jews condemned Jesus for saying to people that their sins were forgiven and that He had authority on earth to forgive sins. Peter, however, triumphantly declared (10:43) that the Jesus whom he had been preaching (10:36-42) was the promised One spoken of by the prophets through Whose name all who would believe in Him would receive forgiveness of sins.

These seven points show that Peter’s message forced Cornelius and all who were with him to repent of their holding any of these false Jewish perspectives about Jesus.

Eternal life through repentance of false views about Jesus

Repenting of any of these false views of Jesus that they had previously held, Cornelius and the ones who were with him would now have to believe what Peter preached to them about each point in order to be saved. They were saved in that manner because God granted such repentance unto them (11:18)!

Their repentance was a God-given “repentance unto life” (11:18). Because this statement pertained obviously to people who were already physically alive, we understand that they were granted repentance unto eternal life!

Appreciating fully the universal value of what Peter preached for bringing about repentance unto eternal life

This analysis has argued that Peter’s message pointedly called his hearers to repent of any false Jewish views that they held about Jesus concerning at least seven key truths about Him:

He is Lord of all.
He did all that He did through the Spirit and the power that God gave Him.
All that He did was good.
God raised Him bodily from the dead.
God has appointed Him to be the Judge of the living and the dead.
He is the Messiah about whom all the prophets are still testifying.
He is the promised One through Whose name anyone who believes in Him receives forgiveness of sins.

These are all key truths that Peter preached about Jesus to the Gentiles; through their reception of these truths as well as the other key truths that he preached (e.g., the crucifixion; 10:39), God granted them repentance unto eternal life. His people later glorified Him for doing so!

We would do well to proclaim all of these truths to every Gentile whom we desire to be saved through their receiving the same “repentance unto life” (11:18). Through such proclamation from us, may God be glorified through His bringing many Gentiles to Himself!

In Evangelism, Interpretation, Theology

Ten Points about Personal Revival; New Song

February 22, 2012

In January, I read through Psalms in 16 days without having any idea that I would be having an opportunity to minister in February on the topic of personal revival. After I found out that this was to be the topic of my message for an upcoming men’s meeting, it became clear to me why God had directed me to be immersed in Psalms: at least as much as any other book of Scripture, Psalms is the book of personal revival.

To prepare for my upcoming time of ministry, I have been reading through the book of Psalms for the second time this year as well as studying other key passages. (I plan to finish reading Psalms at least by the morning before I speak.)

Here are ten points that I plan to treat about personal revival:

An earnest desire and longing for God is necessary for revival to come to a person.
Because revival is the work of God in His people, we must pray fervently for Him to revive us.
When God revives His people, they are satisfied with His goodness and His mercy, and therefore they rejoice in Him and are glad all their days. They bless and praise Him while they have life.
A humble and contrite repentance of sin is essential for revival to come to God’s people; there must be a turning away from all idolatry, conformity to the world, and fellowship with the works of darkness.
Delighting supremely in God’s Word is central to being revived and is a hallmark of a person who is experiencing revival.
Loving righteousness and hating iniquity are essential for revival.
Revival is the fruit of the fullness of the Spirit whom God gives to those who love righteousness and hate iniquity.
A vital relationship to God’s house, day, and leaders is necessary for revival.
Revival will be a glorious worldwide reality in the millennial kingdom.
An unwavering resolve to be a revived people while we await His coming is needed greatly in our day.

Last weekend, God also gave me new music for singing a key passage about revival (Psalm 63:1-2). I look forward to how God will use both my message, Ten Points about Personal Revival, and my song, O God, Thou Art My God!

In Interpretation, Ministry, Preaching, Theology

Questions to Ponder about the Baptism of Believers That Took Place at Pentecost

February 11, 2012

Pentecost took place before Paul had written any of his teaching about baptism in Romans, Galatians, 1 Corinthians, or any of his other books. In fact, it took place some time before he was even saved.

When, therefore, after his message at Pentecost, Peter responded to his hearers’ question about what they should do (Acts 2:37) by saying, “Repent, and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins, and ye shall receive the gift of the Holy Ghost” (2:38), what baptism did he have in mind and what was his understanding of its significance?

Moreover, what understanding of baptism and its significance did those people have who heard his word, gladly received it, and were baptized (2:41)?

If these who were baptized were given the truths by Peter (as perhaps part of the information that 2:40 summarizes) that Paul teaches in Romans 6, Galatians 3, etc., then what Paul wrote many years after Pentecost in those passages was not new essential revelation to the Church at large about the fundamental significance of baptism. On the other hand, if what he wrote there was new essential revelation about the fundamental significance of baptism, then how were these who believed and were baptized at Pentecost baptized without that information?

Scripture provides no hint that these who were baptized at Pentecost had an incomplete understanding of anything essential about the importance and significance of baptism. Nor does it say anything about a vast number of believers being re-baptized once Paul came on the scene and wrote what he did in his Epistles about baptism (e.g., Romans 6). What, therefore, should we conclude about the importance of giving the Pauline epistolary teaching on baptism that we now have to new believers in our day prior to their being baptized?

Peter preached that those who would repent and be baptized would receive the gift of the Holy Spirit (2:38). Incredibly, Luke, however, does not say that those who gladly received his word received the Spirit. Instead, he only comments that they were baptized and added to those who were already believers prior to Pentecost (2:41). Why does Luke not say anything about their receiving the Spirit in relation to their being baptized after having received the message?

In Interpretation, Theology

Questions for Conservative American Christians to Ponder about Presidential Politics

February 1, 2012

As a fairly recent newcomer to American presidential politics, I have been pondering the very difficult challenges that our current political situation poses. Here are some thoughts that have come to me recently as I have been prayerfully trying to discern how God would have us to approach answering some important questions.

1. Had there been news polls at the time of Saul, David, and Goliath, what would they have said about David’s chances of beating Goliath?

2. Suppose that at that time there had been an 8-foot tall former Philistine warrior who nominally became pro-Israel and engaged in occasional worship of Jehovah but not in the same way as the Israelites did. This Philistine is an arms producer and decides to volunteer himself to go up for Israel against Goliath. Would the polls not have ranked him much higher than David? If so, would the establishment leaders in Israel not have clamored for him to be the Israelite’s choice to go up against Goliath instead of the comparatively speaking puny David?

3. Ephesians 2 teaches that the children of disobedience are being energized by the prince of the power of the air. Should the righteous support such presidential candidates as the ones who would best advance the kingdom of God and His righteousness in the US and the world because the polls say that they would fare best against the opposing parties’ candidates?

4. Just how exactly does the Bible itself teach us to vote for the lesser of two evils?

5. Does the Bible teach us that the character of a presidential candidate does not matter that much in view of other supposedly more important considerations because we are voting for a president and not for a preacher?

6. Is there not a God in heaven who can turn the hearts of the “precious” moderates to support a righteous candidate for president so that we do not have to settle again for a candidate that we have to tolerate because the polls say that he is the only one who can win?

In Discipleship, Interpretation, Theology

The Marvelous Ending of Psalms

January 30, 2012

The book of Psalms ends with a profound emphasis on praising the Lord. This emphasis is revealed by the following points in the final five Psalms:

A. Each Psalm begins and ends with the same command, “Praise ye the LORD” (146:1, 10; 147:1, 20; 148:1, 14; 149:1, 9; 150:1, 6).

B. Commands to praise the Lord occur at least 36 times, with a magnificent crescendo consisting entirely of commands to praise Him in Psalm 150:

—146:1 [2x]; 10;

—147: 1, 12 [2x]; 20;

—148:1 [3x]; 2 [2x]; 3 [2x]; 4; 5; 7; 13; 14;

—149:1; 3; 6; 9;

—150: 1 [3x]; 2 [2x]; 3 [2x]; 4 [2x]; 5 [2x]; 6 [2x]).

C. Through these commands, God teaches us many truths about the theology of praise:

1. Praise must be given to the LORD, who is my God, your God, and our God: His name is to be praised!

2. The commands to praise Him are directed universally—all must praise Him: everyone who reads these Psalms; the believer’s own soul; Jerusalem and Zion; all His angels and His hosts; the sun, moon, and all the stars; the heaven of heavens; the waters that are above the heavens; the dragons and all deeps; fire, hail, snow, vapors, and stormy wind; mountains and all hills; fruitful trees and all cedars; beasts and all cattle; creeping things and flying fowl; kings and all people; princes and all judges; young men, maidens, old men, and children; everything that has breath.

3. God must be praised everywhere: from the earth and the heavens; in the heights; in the congregation of the saints; in the dance; in His sanctuary; in the firmament of His power.

4. God demands praising Him with singing and numerous musical instruments: upon the harp, the loud cymbals, and the high sounding cymbals; with the timbrel, harp, psaltery, the sound of the trumpet, stringed instruments and organs.

5. God must be praised for a vast number of reasons:

—He is the help and hope of His people;

—He keeps truth forever;

—He executes judgment for the oppressed, feeds the hungry, looses the prisoners, opens the eyes of the blind, raises up those who are bowed down, loves the righteous, preserves the strangers, relieves the fatherless and widows, and turns the way of the wicked upside down;

—He will reign forever;

—He builds up Jerusalem, gathers together the outcasts of Israel, heals the brokenhearted and binds up their wounds, and tells the number of stars and calls them all by their names;

—He is great, of great power, and His understanding is infinite;

—He lifts up the meek and casts the wicked down to the ground;

—He covers the heaven with clouds, prepares rain for the earth, makes grass to grow on the mountains, and gives food to the beasts and the young ravens;

—He delights not in the strength of horses and does not take pleasure in the legs of man;

—He takes pleasure in those who fear Him and hope in His mercy;

—He has strengthened the bars of the gates of Jerusalem and blessed her children within her;

—He makes peace in her borders and fills her with the finest of wheat;

—He sends forth His commandment on the earth, and His Word runs very swiftly;

—He gives snow like wool, scatters the hoarfrost like ashes, casts forth His ice like morsels, and none can stand before His cold;

—He sends forth His Word and melts His ice;

—He causes His wind to blow and the waters flow;

—He shows His Word unto Jacob, His statutes and judgments to Israel;

—He has not dealt in this way with any other nation, and no other nation has known His judgments as Israel has;

—His name alone is excellent;

—His glory is above the earth and heaven;

—He exalts the horn of His people, the praise of all His saints, even the children of Israel, a people near Him;

—it is good to sing praises to our God;

—praising Him is pleasant and comely;

—He commanded and all things were created;

—He has also established His creation forever and made a decree that will not pass;

—He takes pleasure in His people and beautifies the meek with salvation;

—His mighty acts.

6. God specifies that we praise Him according to His excellent greatness, and with thanksgiving and dance.

7. All His saints have the honor of having His high praises in their mouth along with a two-edged sword in their hand in order to execute vengeance on the heathen and punishments upon the people, to bind their kings with chains and their nobles with fetters of iron, and to execute upon them the judgment written.

D. In addition to these commands, statements of resolve to praise the Lord occur two times (146:2 [2x]).

In view of the immense divine emphasis directing us to praise Him that we find in this marvelous ending of the book of Psalms, let us with the Psalmist resolve to praise Him while we live, while we have any being!

Praise ye the Lord.

In Exhortation, Music, Theology

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