Listen to our nanosermons on:
Soul Food Gospel Radio every Monday, repeated every Wednesday, at 10.00am UK time.
Heartsong Live Radio Scotland (DAB) Mondays – Sundays 8.30am & 2.30pm UK time.
So Arise Radio Antigua & Barbuda Mondays and Fridays at 7:30 AM AST (11.30 am GMT).
FitFM Jamaica every Sunday at 10am EST (3pm GMT).
(Atlantic Standard Time is always 4 hours behind GMT. Eastern Standard Time is always 5 hours behind GMT).
More nanosermons and teachings →
Know the mind of God. Read the whole Bible in one year:
ORDER OUR ‘LAMPLIGHT’
BIBLE READING PLAN →
Watch this nanosermon here:
Nanosermon Script:
The heart of every Christian should be one of praise. ‘Praise the Lord’ is what the word ‘Halleluiah’ means. And that greatest of the psalms, Psalm one hundred and nineteen and verse seven, shows us the best way of all to praise God. Here it is:
Psa 119:7 I will praise thee with uprightness of heart, when I shall have learned thy righteous judgments.
This is not just great literature. Every verse of this psalm carries the most profound spiritual truth. Every verse pulls us up and makes us look deeper and deeper. We need to read it again:
‘I will praise thee with uprightness of heart, when I shall have learned thy righteous judgments’.
OK, we know praising God is good, but praising God with an upright heart is the way to do it. We know that even when we are in the depths of despair we must keep praising the Lord.
Praising the Lord pleases the Lord
Psalm sixty-nine says, at verse thirty:
Psa 69:30 I will praise the name of God with a song, and will magnify him with thanksgiving. 31 This also shall please the LORD better than an ox or bullock that hath horns and hoofs.
Praising the Lord pleases the Lord. But it must be done with an upright heart. And how do we do that? By learning his righteous judgments. Where are they? All through the Bible, but particularly, in context, the Psalmist will be thinking of the law-word of God, his teaching, the Hebrew word is the Torah, in the first five books of the Bible, Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers and Deuteronomy.
And note how the psalmist says these judgments of the Lord God are righteous. Our legislators and the media today are exactly like those people the Apostle Paul spoke of in Romans chapter one and verse eighteen, who hold the truth in unrighteousness.
Our rulers are fallen
Their hearts are no longer upright but fallen. And sadly, so many people follow them in saying and doing the opposite of what God says in his word. Killing a child in his mother’s womb? God’s word says murder is a sin and crime. Our society calls it abortion, and it’s OK. God’s word says sodomy is a sin and crime. Our society calls it diversity, and brings in gay marriage. God’s word speaks of peace, but our rulers love war. I could go on.
And the danger is that Christians can be sucked into the ways of the world and we too can begin to hold the truth in unrighteousness. We can start to disrespect God’s righteous judgments. And then, God’s word says, our uprightness of heart disappears, and our praise is of no value. So this, my friend, is serious.
The great Puritan Thomas Manton wrote of this verse: ‘There is no way to please God entirely and sincerely until we have learned both to know and do his will. Practical praise is the praise God looks after.’
Praise as you learn
But Charles Spurgeon points out that the second half of this verse should properly be not, ‘when I have learned,’ but, ‘in my learning’ of God’s righteous judgments. So God will open his heart to you as you are reading your Bible and learning prayerfully, not wait until you know everything of his law before blessing you.
And which of us will ever say he has reached the end of knowing the mind of God, which is where his law-word takes us? Spurgeon also says there is ‘no music like that which comes from a pure soul which standeth in its integrity’. And to the sinner, he says the Lord: ‘would teach him the art of living so that he should clean escape from his former misery.’
Thomas Manton goes on: ‘The best of God’s servants are but scholars and students in the knowledge and obedience of his word.’
So the message to you is to read your Bible, keep learning and understanding his laws, view them as righteous, make up your mind to honour them and keep them and praise God with an upright heart.
SCRIPT ENDS
Bible Reading Plan
In the link below you’ll find a Bible reading plan to help you read through the Bible in one year in a smart and structured way. It’s only a pound or two and worth every penny. It’s helped me, and it’ll help you.
ORDER OUR ‘LAMPLIGHT’
BIBLE READING PLAN →
If you only start half-way through a year, it’s no matter. You’re going to want to read it again and again anyway, aren’t you? So don’t lose any time, start reading your Bible now and holding those in office to account before King Jesus.
Support us!
We appreciate your support; it enables our research and helps us inform your prayers.
So click below to support Christian Voice and stand up for the King of kings
Click on the social media links below to share this post:
