Praise The LORD
Psalms: Soundtracks 4 Life | Week 4
Pastor Brian Blair
September 5, 2021

“Praise the LORD”

Psalm 66

“Shout for joy to God, all the earth!
Sing the glory of his name;
make his praise glorious.”

Praise the LORD: God Of All The Earth (v. 1-4)

Join The Party! (v. 1-2)

How To Praise God (v. 3-4)

Praise the LORD: God Who Works For His People (v. 5-7)

Praise the LORD: The God Over Hard Things (v. 8-12)

A New Category of Praise

4 Kinds of Hard:

  1. The kind of hard you bring on yourself because of your own sin.

  2. The kind of hard that’s brought on to you because you live in a fallen world with other sinners.

  3. The kind of hard of hard you willing participate in an effort achieve a desired objective .

  4. The kind of hard that God, himself leads you into.

Praise the LORD: He Takes Your Place (v. 13-15)

Praise the LORD: He Gives You Grace (v. 16-20)

The Big Takeaways:

  1. The God of ALL the Earth is to be praised - Join the party

  2. God works for the good of His people - ALWAYS

  3. God is with you in your hard moments - That’s where He does His best work
    (In your actual life - He cares about your affairs)

  4. God took your place & gives you grace - The God of all the Earth Loves YOU - who can be against you?

“This is a promise from a righteous, just and powerful God: He WILL take care of business.”

-Pastor Brian Blair

Discussion Questions:

Getting to Know Me

  1. What stuck with you from the sermon?
  2. How hard is it to “praise” everyday things? (e.g. your favorite sports team, or your favorite ice cream flavor, that memory of that awesome trip, etc.) Does “praising” these things add to your enjoyment of them?
  3. Do you find it harder or easier to praise God? Why is that so?

Into the Bible

  1. Why do you think God has included Psalm 66, with its examples of praise, instructions for praise, and exhortation to praise, in the Bible?
  2. Look through Psalm 66 and list what we’re told to do. (e.g. v.1 “shout joyfully”, v.2 “sing” …) How do these compare with what you typically do to praise God?
  3. Point out samples of praise included in the psalm. What does the writer praise God for? (e.g. v.3 awesome works and great power, v.4 your name …) How could you use the Psalmist’s example to praise God?
  4. In v.6, two instances are noted of God smoothing a path for his people. What are they? Do you ever notice God working to smooth your path? What are some examples from your own life?
  5. In v.10-12, the writer points out some “hard times.” What does he say God was doing though those hard times? Why does he praise God even in the trials?

Application

  1. What was your main takeaway from this weekend’s service? What will you do about it?
  2. If praising our favorite ice cream, our favorite sports team, music, etc., adds to our enjoyment of it, what might we learn from that with respect to praising God?
  3. What is one thing God is asking you to do, or one prayer God is calling you to pray, as a result of listening to this sermon?