Why We Should Praise God

[Psalm 117]

This morning at the dawn prayer meeting, I meditated on the Bible verse 2 Peter 2:8:
“This righteous man, living among them day after day, was tormented in his righteous soul by their lawless deeds he saw and heard.”
Living in this world like Sodom and Gomorrah, I reflected on how, like Lot, what we see and hear—the immoral deeds of this sinful world (verse 7) and lawless acts—inevitably wounds our righteous soul.
So, what should we do when our righteous soul is wounded?

1. We must have assurance of salvation (verse 9).
   We need to be confident and look forward with the certainty that God will rescue (save) the righteous and destroy the wicked.

2. We must stand firm in strong faith (3:17).
   The Bible tells us that false teachers (2:1) “seduce unstable souls” (verse 14) and also “with licentiousness entice those who barely escape from the defilements of the world” (verse 18).
   Therefore, we must stand firm so that we are not deceived and do not sin against God.

3. When our righteous soul is wounded and suffers because of all the sinful things we see, hear, and feel in this sinful world, we should meditate on the suffering and passion of Jesus on the cross.
   By doing this, our pain will lessen, and we will experience the Lord binding up and healing our broken hearts.

After sharing this message, I read a news article in the morning about a young Korean man who shot and killed his friend multiple times, then dumped the body somewhere near the 110 freeway heading to the L.A. Dodgers stadium, and was later caught while gambling.
I wondered how a seemingly normal young Korean man could commit such an act, and once again thought about this morning’s prayer meeting message.
Indeed, this is a sinful world.
We live in a world rampant with lawless deeds.
So, what should we do when we live in such a world and witness, hear, and experience these sinful things?
Personally, I tell myself, “This world is not my home,” and “I am someone who is heading toward the heights.”
In the midst of this, the Lord has promised to come again, to come and take us to the prepared place, and so we eagerly await His coming.

The apostle Peter says in 2 Peter 3:12-13:
“Looking for and hastening the coming of the day of God, because of which the heavens will be dissolved, being on fire, and the elements will melt with fervent heat; nevertheless, we, according to His promise, look for new heavens and a new earth in which righteousness dwells.”
As those who look forward to the new heavens and new earth, we must be thankful for God’s grace of salvation and cannot help but praise Him until the moment we breathe our last.
Also, as those who pray, hope for, and await the second coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has completed and will complete salvation, we ought to offer praise and worship to God.

When we look at Psalm 117:1 in today’s Bible reading, the psalmist says:
“O praise the Lord, all ye nations: praise him, all ye people.”
Why does the psalmist say that all of God’s people should praise God?
He gives the reason like this:
“For his mercy is great toward us: and the truth of the Lord endureth forever. Hallelujah!” (verse 2)
From this, we can consider two reasons why we should praise God.

The first reason is because of God’s great mercy toward us.

We often call November the season of gratitude.
That is likely because of Thanksgiving, which falls in this month.
However, when we think about God’s love for us, we should consider that every month, every day, every moment is a time for gratitude, for we are children of God who cannot help but be thankful.
Of course, although we know from the Bible that we should give thanks in all circumstances, there are countless times when we fail to give thanks when we face difficult and painful situations.
The reason is that we have not fully experienced God’s great love.
In other words, when we face hardship and difficulty, we do not realize God’s great love even in those trials, and so we fail to give thanks and praise to God.
An interesting fact is that in verse 1 of today’s passage it says “the mercy of the Lord is great,” and the Hebrew word for “great” here is “gabal,” which means “increasing” (according to Park Yoon-sun).
This is interesting because God’s merciful love toward us grows stronger over time (Park Yoon-sun).
How contrasting this is to human love!
Human love tends to decrease as time passes, but God’s love increases even more.
What matters is whether you and I feel, experience, and live in that increasing love of God as time goes on.
Especially, the more difficult our circumstances are, do we realize, know, and feel that increasing love of God toward us even amid those trials?

Psalm 139:17-18 says that the number of God’s thoughts toward us is more than the sand.
As we live our faith, especially serving in the body of Christ, the church, loving one soul, there are times when we are filled with many thoughts and worries, and our hearts become burdened with anxiety and concern.
Even then, do we remember God’s love toward us, the countless thoughts God has toward you and me, and toward the soul we love?
Do we feel that love?
Therefore, do we thank God and offer Him praise?
If today we decide, according to God’s Word, to praise God because of His great (increasing) love toward us, we must never stop praising Him.
We must love our neighbors with that great love of God.
Our love for each soul must progressively increase.
If our love toward a soul loved by God does not increase but decreases, we cannot say that we are true worshipers who rightly praise God’s great mercy.
Those who truly praise God’s great mercy toward us must have love for their neighbors that grows stronger as time passes.
Therefore, you and I must gradually reveal the light of God’s great love to our neighbors.

The second reason is because of God’s eternal faithfulness toward us.

When the late Choi Jin-sil committed suicide, I remember seeing various news articles that used the phrase “Choi Gasik” instead of her real name, “Choi Jin-sil.” What does “Gasik” mean? According to an online dictionary, it means “to pretend or act as if one’s words or actions are correct or sincere.” I don’t know why some people treated her name like that or why such articles were published, but the tragic suicide of this mother of two—who could not endure the painful words and criticism from others—was probably one of the top entertainment news stories of the year.

I still cannot forget the advice of an elderly deaconess. When I went with my grandmother to a senior apartment, we met an older deaconess who was walking toward the apartment supported by my grandmother. At that time, my grandmother told her that I would become a pastor. Upon hearing this, the deaconess turned to look at me and said just one word: “Be truthful.” I have never forgotten those words. Sometimes I wonder how many pastors must have been insincere for her to say that to me. At the same time, I feel the heavy responsibility to be truthful myself.

In today’s passage from Psalm 117, the psalmist says that the second reason all people should praise God is because of God’s eternal faithfulness toward us. What does this mean? What does it mean that God’s faithfulness to you and me is eternal? It means that God faithfully fulfills the promises He has made to us. The amazing fact is that even if we fail to faithfully fulfill our responsibilities as recipients of God’s promises, our God still faithfully carries out His promises toward us.

Psalm 117:1, the passage today, is quoted by the Apostle Paul in Romans 15:11. This is because, as God promised in the Old Testament, He allowed the gospel to be preached not only to the people of Israel but also to the Gentiles (for example, through Paul), calling them also His chosen people and His own (according to Park Yoon-sun). Therefore, both Gentile believers and the people of Israel should together praise God, as both the Apostle Paul and the psalmist of today’s passage declare.

One of the promises God has given us in Jesus Christ is found in Hebrews 4:9: “There remains, then, a Sabbath-rest for the people of God.” God has promised you and me eternal rest. On the day Jesus returns, the Lord will lead us into that eternal resting place. God, whose faithfulness is everlasting, will surely fulfill this promise.

What is our responsibility? The author of Hebrews says: “Let us, therefore, make every effort to enter that rest, so that no one will perish by following their example of disobedience” (verse 11). We must strive to enter that eternal rest with hope. In other words, we must live a faithful life by faith. We need to listen to the voice of the Lord, obey, and move forward toward that high place.

I am reminded of the lyrics of the gospel song “To Us Has Come the Lord”:

(Verse 1)
“The Lord’s great mercy toward us is very great, very great (2x)
(Verse 2)
The Lord’s faithfulness toward us is eternal, eternal, eternal (2x).”

Praising the Lord’s great mercy and eternal faithfulness toward us,

Shared by Pastor James Kim
(“We want to love, we want to be sincere.”)