Lesson 187 - Junior

Memory Verse

"I will pay thee my vows" (Psalm 66:13).

Notes

Praise from All

In the first few verses of Psalm 66, the people of all lands are urged to worship the Lord. It is the duty and privilege of all people, for God is worthy to be praised.

The Psalmist tells one way in which we can worship the Lord -" by a "joyful noise." No matter where we are, we can worship the Lord by praise. That worship may not be a lovely song or a beautiful melody, but it can be joyful unto the Lord. When a person begins to praise God, his soul is blessed and he is full of joy. The giving of glory and praise to God is a joyful sound to God, to those who hear, and to the one who is praising the Lord.

Joyful Praise

No doubt you have heard people tell of their trials and their sickness, with faces sad and voices sorrowful. This is not joyful praise. You may hear someone else tell how God has been with him and blessed him through his trials and sickness. His praise is joyful and glorious, for it tells of the greatness and faithfulness of God. How thankful is such a person that he is serving the living God who answers prayer! God receives honour and glory, and others are strengthened in the faith.

Great Works of the Lord

The Psalmist tells us to consider the great works of the Lord, the things that He has done. He has made many beautiful scenes for us to enjoy. Some people like nature in all its forms yet they fail to thank God for them. When you see a flower, do you consider how God has caused it to grow? One can see the great work of the Lord wherever he looks.

God does much for all people besides furnishing things pleasant to the eye. He is responsible for our food. Does He not send the warm sunshine and gentle rain, without which nothing can grow? God furnishes the air that we breathe -" in fact, our very life. Everything good comes from God ([JAM:1:17]). No wonder the Psalmist told us to "make his praise glorious."

Worship

"How terrible art thou in thy works!" Cannot we say: How powerful, how great, how amazing, and worthy to be admired! The works of God are many -" spiritual and physical, great and small -" one miracle after another. As we observe the greatness of God, we truly feel that we should worship Him.

A day is coming when all people of the earth shall worship the Lord. "As I live, saith the Lord, every knee shall bow to me, and every tongue shall confess to God" (Romans 14:11). How much better to worship the Lord now, because you have the thankfulness in your heart, than to be forced to acknowledge Him as God some day!

Praises from God's People

"Come and see the works of God." The writer brings before us some of the ways in which God has worked for His people. Do you remember that God caused the waters of the Red Sea to separate, and the Children of Israel walked across on dry ground ([EXO:14:21-22])? Do you remember that Miriam (Moses' sister) became leprous when she and her brother Aaron rebelled against Moses, their leader, by saying: "hath the LORD indeed spoken only by Moses? Hath he not spoken also by us?" (Numbers 12:1, 2, 10)? God heard them. They were punished for being rebellious and for exalting themselves.

God hears and He sees. "The eyes of the LORD are in every place, beholding the evil and the good" (Proverbs 15:3). "The eyes of the LORD run to and fro throughout the whole earth, to shew himself strong in the behalf of them whose heart is perfect toward him" (II Chronicles 16:9).

Not only the Children of Israel whom God so wonderfully helped, should have praised Him, but all God's people should "make the voice of his praise to be heard" by telling what God has done for them.

Deliverance

Some of the blessings that are mentioned by the Psalmist are spiritual as well as physical. God has given spiritual and physical protection. He has guided His people in the time of distress. Sometimes trouble comes, but God provides a way out of it. God protected the three Hebrew children -- Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego -" when they were cast into a fiery furnace because they were servants of the living God ([DAN:3:26]). Jonah went through the water ([JON:1:15]), but God brought him to safety because he prayed ([JON:2:1]). Jonah said, "I will sacrifice unto thee with the voice of thanksgiving; I will pay that that I have vowed" (Jonah 2:9).

Tests

Sometimes God permits tests to come to His people. They are for a purpose -- to try our faith, and to prove our love to God. Christians can expect to be tested. It is not a strange happening for God's people; it is to try them ([1PE:4:12]).

In another Psalm, David asked the Lord to try him. "Search me, O God, and know my heart: try me, and know my thoughts: and see if there be any wicked way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting" (Psalm 139:23, 24).

Into a Wealthy Place

Notice that these trials are mentioned with praise because they were good for God's people. "Thou broughtest us out into a wealthy place" "- a place of many blessings. God's people are tried, as silver is tried or refined to make it pure. Job spoke of the good that he received through tests, when he said: "He knoweth the way that I take; when he hath tried me, I shall come forth as gold" (Job 23:10).

Consecration

The writer urged all people to praise God. God's own people should praise the Lord. In the last part of this Psalm, the Psalmist, himself, offered praise for God's mercy to him.

In three ways he wanted to praise the Lord. First, he wanted to pay the vows that he had made when he was in trouble. Some people do not keep their promises to God. Broken vows are a hindrance to one's spiritual life. Pay your vows unto the Lord and see how He will bless you.

Second, he wanted to praise God by making some sacrifices or consecrations. He wanted to give "fatlings," not lean or lame sacrifices, but that which was of worth and value.

Third, he wanted to praise the Lord by testimony. "Come and hear, all ye that fear God, and I will declare what he hath done for my soul." Such a testimony can bring praise to God and blessing to those who hear. His testimony was not given in pride; it was spoken for the glory of God.

Prayers Answered

The Psalmist praised God for answering prayer. He knew that God had heard his prayer because he did not regard iniquity in his heart. In the heart of God's people is no place for even a regard for sin or interest in it. The enemy of our soul will try to tempt us to feel kindly toward sin and have a respect for that thing which is sin. Satan knows that if he can entice a Christian to consider and regard sin, the deadly work has begun. "If I regard iniquity in my heart, the Lord will not hear me." In what a dangerous position is one whose prayer will not be heard! Soon any faith and confidence is gone and Satan has another victim.

A regard for iniquity can be a first step to sin. It may be just an interested look, then tolerance; and soon that particular sin may not appear to be as bad as it is; next, one may find himself doing the thing which is evil in God's sight. A praise was on the lips of the Psalmist, for his heart was clean before God. The Lord had shown great mercy to him, had heard and answered his prayer. As we consider God's mercy to us and the way He hears our prayers, let us have a praise not only in our hearts but also on our lips. Let us be faithful always to praise the Lord.

Questions

1. What kind of praise pleases the Lord?

2. How can a person worship the Lord?

3. Name some of the miracles that the Lord performed for the Children of Israel.

4. Name some of the blessings that God gives today.

5. Why does a Christian have tests?

6. What did the writer mean when he said that the Lord had brought them "into a wealthy place"?

7. Tell the three ways by which the Psalmist would praise the Lord.

8. What are consecrations?

9. Why should a person pay his vows?

10. What happens if a person regards iniquity in his heart?