Morning Worship for Sunday 31 January 2021

by Peter Blount 31 January 2021

Greetings in the name of Jesus – Joy and peace to you all.

Welcome to worship with us at Newmount Methodist Church for our online service.  Today I have tried something a little different, but I hope and pray that as we read these words here, or on paper, that the Lord will speak His personal message to each one of us.

I want us to look at Psalm 111, which is a Psalm of praise, therefore the majority of the content of this service, particularly the hymns, will focus on praise. 

Our call to worship is the first three words of Psalm 111  
‘PRAISE THE LORD’  

The opening Hymn ‘Praise My Soul the King of Heaven’ 

Prayers:-  
God of majesty and power,
Who spoke and this world was,
Who breathed and this world lived,
Who counts the hairs upon our head,
Who sees our thoughts and reads our hearts,
Who loves us more than we deserve,
How can we not bring today,
Our sacrifice of praise?
For in the child at Bethlehem
Lies the promise of intimacy
With a Saviour who would die even for me,
And the promise of an eternity
In which to praise you more each day.
God of promise we praise your name, 
Amen

The Lord's Prayer 
Our Father, which art in heaven, 
Hallowed be thy Name. 
Thy Kingdom come. 
Thy will be done in earth, 
As it is in heaven. 
Give us this day our daily bread. 
And forgive us our trespasses, 
As we forgive them that trespass against us. 
And lead us not into temptation, 
But deliver us from evil. 
For thine is the kingdom,
The power, and the glory, 
For ever and ever. 
Amen.
 

And now we join the congregation of Grace Community Church to ‘Tell out My Soul the Greatness of the Lord’

Reading 
As I said at the beginning, today we are focusing on Psalm 111 and before we go further please either - Turn to your bible and read Psalm 111 and / or listen to the psalm being read for us by David Suchet 

Message
What follows are some comments on this Psalm from ‘The Enduring Word Bible Community’ written by David Guzik and it begins with a fascinating comment which, no doubt, the Hebrew scholars among us already knew!!  

Quote 
This is another of the acrostic psalms, arranged according to the Hebrew alphabet. Except for the opening line of “Praise the Lord” (Hallelujah), each of the 22 lines of Psalm 111 begins with a successive letter of the Hebrew alphabet.

A. Thinking about the great works of God.
1. (v1) The declaration and the decision to give God praise.

a. Praise the LORD: Psalm 111 begins with the simple declaration, Hallelujah! It was as if the psalmist thought, Before I describe how I will praise Him, let me simply declare His praise. The declaration also has the idea of encouraging others to do the same – I will praise the LORD, and you should also.

b. I will praise the LORD with my whole heart: The proclamation came after the declaration. There would be nothing held back in his praise; it would be given to God with his whole heart.

 2. (v2-3) The study of God’s great works.

a. The works of the LORD are great: God should be praised for who He is, but what He has done is also worthy of praise. Here the emphasis is on His work in creation, and these works are great in their number and in their significance.

b. Studied by all who have pleasure in them: The greatness of God’s work invites close study by the scientist, the historian, and the theologian. Their findings will lead them to do their work with all their strength and take pleasure in how God’s wisdom and power are revealed through His honourable and glorious works.

c. His work is honourable and glorious: Not only are God’s works in creation great, but so is His work of guiding and arranging all things, His work of providence.

 

B. Describing the great works of God.
1. (v4-6) Remembering God’s great works.

a. He has made His wonderful works to be remembered: God designed His saving acts to be remembered among His people. It is a dishonor to him and a failure of man that the miracles of His redemption are forgotten, or worse yet denied.

b. The LORD is gracious and full of compassion: First in the mind of the psalmist was God’s great work of grace and love. He is full of these qualities in His being, and expresses them in his great works.

c. He has given food to those who fear Him: Perhaps the psalmist had in mind God’s provision for Israel through the wilderness, or the more general principle David wrote of in Psalm 37:25, that he had never seen the descendants of the righteous begging bread.

d. He will ever be mindful of His covenant: God will never forget the covenant He made with Abraham and his descendants (Genesis 12) or the covenant He made with Israel at Mount Sinai (Exodus 24).

e. He has declared to His people the power of His works: God did not hide His greatness, but declared it to His people – if they would pay attention! This declaration of His great works brought Israel into the land of Canaan (giving them the heritage of the nations).

2. (v7-9) The nature of God’s great works.

a. The works of His hands are verity and justice: What God does is true and fair, and what He commands is settled (His precepts are sure). This is seen in God’s great works in creation and in history.

b. He has sent redemption to His people: One of God’s greatest works is rescuing His people from their oppression and sin, and doing it in the context of His covenant. The psalmist likely had the exodus in mind.

3. (v10) What should be learned from God’s great works.

a. The fear of the LORD is the beginning of wisdom: Recognizing the greatness of God’s works, one should appropriately fear Him. God should be regarded with respect, reverence, and awe. This proper attitude of the creature toward the Creator is the beginning of wisdom. Wisdom cannot advance further until this starting point is established.

b. A good understanding have all those who do His commandments: Taking into account the greatness of God’s works, one should obey God – that is, do His commandments. A life of obedience reveals that one has a good understanding of the greatness of God’s works.
Unquote 

 

It is good to be reminded again that despite our temporary troubles our God is the God of yesterday, today and tomorrow, nothing is beyond His power and influence.  What is more, through Jesus sacrifice for us and the Holy Spirit living with us each and every moment, God is nearer than we can possibly imagine. 

Therefore, even in adversity, praise and thanksgiving for His faithfulness to us should be our first and constant living expression. May this psalm, and the above comments, help us all to be attentive to that requirement.  

AMEN

Prayer
Take a moment firstly to give thanks – 

Then offer your prayers for others with a sense of expectancy that all will be to God's eternal plan. 

Remembering particularly, those situations and people who need God's guidance, healing and encouragement through these difficult times.

For all things we give praise and thanksgiving. 
Amen 

 

We conclude as we sing ‘Great Is Thy Faithfulness’ and I encourage you to join in and sing along at home 

Blessing 
May God bless you ‘real good’ today - 

And may His love keep you faithful, 

may His grace keep you safe

and may His spirit keep you praising! 

AMEN