#887 Your Renown

Praise the Lord!

Praise the name of the Lord,

give praise, O servants of the Lord,

2 who stand in the house of the Lord,

in the courts of the house of our God!

3 Praise the Lord, for the Lord is good;

sing to his name, for it is pleasant!

4 For the Lord has chosen Jacob for himself,

Israel as his own possession.

5 For I know that the Lord is great,

and that our Lord is above all gods.

6 Whatever the Lord pleases, he does,

in heaven and on earth,

in the seas and all deeps.

7 He it is who makes the clouds rise at the end of the earth,

who makes lightnings for the rain

and brings forth the wind from his storehouses.

8 He it was who struck down the firstborn of Egypt,

both of man and of beast;

9 who in your midst, O Egypt,

sent signs and wonders

against Pharaoh and all his servants;

10 who struck down many nations

and killed mighty kings,

11 Sihon, king of the Amorites,

and Og, king of Bashan,

and all the kingdoms of Canaan,

12 and gave their land as a heritage,

a heritage to his people Israel.

13 Your name, O Lord, endures forever,

your renown, O Lord, throughout all ages.

14 For the Lord will vindicate his people

and have compassion on his servants.

15 The idols of the nations are silver and gold,

the work of human hands.

16 They have mouths, but do not speak;

they have eyes, but do not see;

17 they have ears, but do not hear,

nor is there any breath in their mouths.

18 Those who make them become like them,

so do all who trust in them.

19 O house of Israel, bless the Lord!

O house of Aaron, bless the Lord!

20 O house of Levi, bless the Lord!

You who fear the Lord, bless the Lord!

21 Blessed be the Lord from Zion,

he who dwells in Jerusalem!

Praise the Lord! Psalm 135 ESV

A mosaic Psalm.

Praise the Lord -  As men we often seek the praise of our fellow, but if for looks then we had little to do with that. If we have altered them then we might praise the plastic surgeon, but then we would still want praise for how we now appear. Men will accept it for the car they drive, but did not build, the thoughts they pronounce from the mind they did not create. When we look upon the things that God has made, His name, which is above all names, His redemptive acts in history, His election of Jacob, a sinner reconciled, there is no one more worthy. When we consider that we are His servants, standing in His courts, breathing the air He made with the lungs he made to receive it, purchasing the time we have in this life upon the promise of His sacrifice, let the congregation sing. 

Who makes lightnings for the rain - Echoing the voice of Jeremiah.

…12 God made the earth by His power; He established the world by His wisdom and stretched out the heavens by His understanding. 13 When He thunders, the waters in the heavens roar, and He causes the clouds to rise from the ends of the earth. He sends lightning with the rain and brings the wind from His storehouses. 14 Everyone is senseless and devoid of knowledge. Every goldsmith is put to shame by his idols. For his molten images are a fraud; they have no breath in them.… Jeremiah 10: 12-14

And gave their land as a heritage - We remember the acts of God's judgment, but finding the same depravity in ourselves and our own camp, we remember His acts of mercy, unmerited favor.

Your name, O Lord, endures forever - You are the great I Am, the eternal, timeless God. You are the first cause of all that comes to be, before all things and above all things.

…14 God said to Moses, “I AM WHO I AM. This is what you are to say to the Israelites: ‘I AM has sent me to you.’” 15 God also told Moses, “Say to the Israelites, ‘The LORD, the God of your fathers— the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob— has sent me to you.’ This is My name forever, and this is how I am to be remembered in every generation. 16 Go, assemble the elders of Israel and say to them, ‘The LORD, the God of your fathers, the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, has appeared to me and said: I have surely attended to you and have seen what has been done to you in Egypt.… Exodus 3: 14-16

Those who make them become like them - An idol is nothing, a god that you can make or hold in your hand is silly. Materialism is foolishness, it is trusting in something that is fading, counting on things that will not come with you when you die. Ideals that suggest there is nothing after death are idols supporting the hope that there is no just God, that all that can be gained is here and now. The word of God has gone out, but you cannot hear, the Son of God has come, but you cover your eyes so you cannot see.

…25 I will also sprinkle clean water on you, and you will be clean. I will cleanse you from all your impurities and all your idols. 26 I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit within you; I will remove your heart of stone and give you a heart of flesh. 27 And I will put My Spirit within you and cause you to walk in My statutes and to carefully observe My ordinances.… Ezekiel 36: 25-27

Bless the Lord, Praise the Lord.