It is good to praise our God.
“Praise the LORD. How good it is to sing praises to our God, how pleasant and fitting to praise him!” (Psalms 147:1)
At 6 o'clock on Wednesday evening, I had a privilege to lead a viewing service. About 1 year and 6 months ago, in the same place, in front of the same pulpit, I led the viewing service of my beloved third uncle pastor Andrew Kim. After the viewing service, as I watched the condolers trying to comfort the bereaved family members, I thought this and that. And one of the thoughts was Ecclesiastes 7:2 – “It is better to go to a house of mourning Than to go to a house of feasting, Because that is the end of every man, And the living takes it to heart.” I had deep thoughts about my own death since we will all die some day. After the bereaved family greeted all the visitors, we prayed together in front of the deceased's coffin. The children kept crying and it really broke my heart. Indeed, it was a time to reaffirm that the only hope in this earth is Jesus.
After the viewing service, I couldn’t eat with the bereaved family and had to come to church because there was a Wednesday night prayer meeting. As I praised God during the prayer meeting, I sang ‘I love you, my Jesus.’ It was because I wanted to confess my love to Jesus who is my true hope, joy, and life. In the midst of that, when I began to proclaim the word of God, I stopped at Psalms 147, “Praise the LORD. How good it is to sing praises to our God, how pleasant and fitting to praise him!” Although I meditated the whole chapter Psalms 147 and prepared my sermon on it, I was only able to meditate and preached on verse 1. I was blessed by just verse 1. And my soul was enriched by just verse 1. I meditated on three things regarding Psalms 147:1.
First, it is good to praise our God.
Our God is good. The saints who taste and know the goodness of God (Ps. 34:8) cannot but praise God. In particular, as in Romans 8:28, the believers, who have experienced God causing all things to work together for good to those who love Him, those who are called according to His purpose, cannot help but praise God’s goodness. That’s why we sing the gospel song “God is so good”. Even if we look at the grief of our loved one's death, we still can praise God's goodness through the hopeful Lord. This is because I believe that God will reveal His goodness in all these things in His sovereign providence. Clearly, I believe that the good God will turn our sorrows into joy. Therefore, I praise God for His goodness.
Second, it is pleasant to praise our God.
One day my wife came home from someone's funeral and said to me: ‘I saw the glory of man.’ It makes sense when I hear my wife's words that she saw the glory of man at the funeral but she saw the glory of God at my third uncle, Pastor Andrew Kim’s funeral. If we live for the glory of God and die, then our death is very beautiful in the sight of the Lord. When we see the glory of God through such beautiful death, we cannot but praise the high and greatness of the Lord. When we see God's beauty through beautiful death, we cannot but praise God. Our God is beautiful. The saints who see the beauty of God with their spiritual eyes praise God. I remember the words of Psalms 27:4 – “One thing I have asked from the LORD, that I shall seek: That I may dwell in the house of the LORD all the days of my life, To behold the beauty of the LORD And to meditate in His temple.” As we behold the beauty of the Lord, I hope and pray that we will praise Him forever in the house of the Lord.
Third and last, it is fitting to praise our God.
Our God is worthy to be praised. The saints who experience His goodness and beauty are compelled to praise God. No matter how painful or difficult we may be, the saints who believe in a good and beautiful God praise Him. The reason is because no matter what situation they may be in, they know that it is fitting to praise God. Paul and Silas in Acts 16 did that. Although they were in prison, they prayed to God and praised Him (Acts 16:25). Praise is not driven by circumstances. Praise transcends circumstances and offers to God. Therefore, we praise God only by faith. We praise Him in faith because we know that it’s fitting to praise God.
I still remember when I went to see my grandfather who was suffering from cancer, he was lying on a bed and then sat down and asked me to sing the hymn “O Thou, in Whose Presence”. I just want to share two verses: (v. 1) “O Thou, in whose presence my soul takes delight, On whom in affliction I call, My comfort by day, and my song in the night, My hope, my salvation, my all! (5) “Dear Shepherd! I hear, and will follow Thy call; I know the sweet wound of Thy voice; Restore and defend me, for Thou art my all, And in Thee I will ever rejoice. A-men. I praise the Lord who is my joy, my life and my true hope. I want to praise God for His highness and greatness until I die. I want to praise God’s great love until my last breath in this earth. The reason is because it is good, pleasant and fitting to praise God.
Praise the Lord, O my soul!,
James Kim
(As I remember that joyful moment of learning that God has been doing His work of salvation among the bereaved family after yesterday graveyard worship)