Tag: Psalms

The Savior’s Psalm of Suffering 

Psalm 22 

WAIT TO READ 

In a few minutes we will be observing the Lord’s Supper. 

That night almost 2,000 years ago, our Lord took the simple elements of bread and wine and left us with a reminder of what He was about to do for us. 

He broke bread – a picture of His physical suffering – and gave to His disciples to eat. 

He passed the cup – a picture of the blood that He shed – and gave His disciples to eat. 

These simple objects remind us of the price of our redemption. 

Christ does not want us to forget or even neglect His sacrifice for our sins. 

He told the disciples – “Do this is remembrance of me.” 

That is what we are doing today. 

I want to speak for a few minutes on what we are remembering. 

We can read the historical accounts of the Gospels and see the fact of the Christ’s death on the cross. 

We can read in the epistles of Paul and others the importance of Christ’s death on the cross. 

We read here in Psalm 22 the internal agony of Christ’s death on the cross. 

The psalms are poems – works of art. 

They take truth and present it in a beautiful and striking way. 

Sometimes art is more moving than fact. 

King David wrote this psalm of his own suffering, but through the inspiration of God it is also a prophecy of Christ. 

I think it and Isaiah 53 are the prophesies that move my heart the most. 

How do we know it is prophecy? 

How do we know this is about Christ? 

Well, there are numerous reasons and I will give you a few. 

First, Christ quotes from vs. 1 while on the cross. 

He said in Aramaic – “Eloi, Eloi, lama sabachthani?”, that is, “My God, My God, why has thou forsaken me?” 

Actually, I think I need to rephrase what I said. 

I do not think Christ quoted Psalm 22, I think Psalm 22 quoted Christ. 

Think about that for a little while. 

Second, Matthew 27:35 says that Christ’s clothes were gambled on as prophesied in vs. 17.   

Third, note the final phrase of vs. 16 – “they have pierced by hands and my feet”. 

How many other forms of execution do that? 

Remember, the Jews usually stoned people to death. 

This goes counter to their culture. 

Fourth, Hebrews 2:12 quotes vs. 22 as speaking about the effect of Christ’s sacrifice. 

Those are just a few reasons. 

Now, I want us to quickly run through this psalm. 

I want us to note the picture painted by its words of our Lord’s sacrifices. 

Try to make a mental image of it. 

Let it move your heart. 

Let it cause us to remember. 

I. The Crucified Christ 

Psa 22:1  My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me? why art thou so far from helping me, and from the words of my roaring?  

Psa 22:2  O my God, I cry in the daytime, but thou hearest not; and in the night season, and am not silent.  

This is the agony of Christ as our sins were placed upon Him. 

Psa 22:3  But thou art holy, O thou that inhabitest the praises of Israel.  

Christ left Heaven and humbled Himself to the cross. 

God the Father remained exalted on His throne. 

That is the distance Christ came to save us. 

Psa 22:4  Our fathers trusted in thee: they trusted, and thou didst deliver them.  

Psa 22:5  They cried unto thee, and were delivered: they trusted in thee, and were not confounded.  

Psa 22:6  But I am a worm, and no man; a reproach of men, and despised of the people.  

How many times had God delivered His children from trouble? 

But Christ became a pariah to God and man to pay for our salvation. 

Psa 22:7  All they that see me laugh me to scorn: they shoot out the lip, they shake the head, saying,  

Psa 22:8  He trusted on the LORD that he would deliver him: let him deliver him, seeing he delighted in him.  

Read the Gospel accounts. 

They stood around and mocked Him. 

No one encouraged Him in His task. 

Psa 22:9  But thou art he that took me out of the womb: thou didst make me hope when I was upon my mother’s breasts.  

Psa 22:10  I was cast upon thee from the womb: thou art my God from my mother’s belly.  

I think these verses are even more poignant when you consider that Christ came and was born of a virgin.  

Psa 22:11  Be not far from me; for trouble is near; for there is none to help.  

Christ and Christ alone had to do the work. 

No one else could aid in the least. 

It had to be Him, lifted high on a cross between God and man. 

II.  The Cruel Crowd 

Psa 22:12  Many bulls have compassed me: strong bulls of Bashan have beset me round.  

Psa 22:13  They gaped upon me with their mouths, as a ravening and a roaring lion. 

We forget just how fearsome animals could be. 

In the ancient world wild bulls and pigs were some of the meanest, deadliest threats to our safety. 

Here the agony of the cross is described as vicious beasts tearing at Christ.  

Psa 22:14  I am poured out like water, and all my bones are out of joint: my heart is like wax; it is melted in the midst of my bowels.  

Psa 22:15  My strength is dried up like a potsherd; and my tongue cleaveth to my jaws; and thou hast brought me into the dust of death.  

I have that this is an accurate description of the slow and painful death of the cross. 

Most people died from not being about to breathe, not from blood loss. 

Psa 22:16  For dogs have compassed me: the assembly of the wicked have inclosed me: they pierced my hands and my feet.  

Can you see Christ surrounded by a jeering crowd that mocked Him as He suffered? 

Imagine too the spiritual world around that scene as the demons joined in. 

Again, note the accurate descrption of crucifixion – “they pierced my hands and my feet.” 

Psa 22:17  I may tell all my bones: they look and stare upon me.  

Psa 22:18  They part my garments among them, and cast lots upon my vesture.  

Christ, stripped of His clothes, exposed to all. 

Adding to the mockery the soldiers gamble for His last shred of dignity. 

Psa 22:19  But be not thou far from me, O LORD: O my strength, haste thee to help me.  

Psa 22:20  Deliver my soul from the sword; my darling from the power of the dog.  

Psa 22:21  Save me from the lion’s mouth: for thou hast heard me from the horns of the unicorns.  

The KJV says unicorn – I don’t want to waste time on this, but that is probably a rhinoceros.   

A prayer for deliverance from the agony, pictured as ravening beasts that maul Him. 

III.  The Crucifixion’s Consequences 

Psa 22:22  I will declare thy name unto my brethren: in the midst of the congregation will I praise thee.  

Psa 22:23  Ye that fear the LORD, praise him; all ye the seed of Jacob, glorify him; and fear him, all ye the seed of Israel.  

Psa 22:24  For he hath not despised nor abhorred the affliction of the afflicted; neither hath he hid his face from him; but when he cried unto him, he heard.  

Psa 22:25  My praise shall be of thee in the great congregation: I will pay my vows before them that fear him.  

The Cross was not a defeat – it was a victory! 

Today we honor the Cross for what Christ did for us. 

Christ is praised forevermore for that victory. 

Psa 22:26  The meek shall eat and be satisfied: they shall praise the LORD that seek him: your heart shall live for ever.  

Psa 22:27  All the ends of the world shall remember and turn unto the LORD: and all the kindreds of the nations shall worship before thee.  

Psa 22:28  For the kingdom is the LORD’S: and he is the governor among the nations.  

Christ died for all men, now all men may find salvation in Him and join in His everlasting praises.   

In giving HIs life for mankind, He further establishes Himself as our Sovereign. 

Psa 22:29  All they that be fat upon earth shall eat and worship: all they that go down to the dust shall bow before him: and none can keep alive his own soul.  

Psa 22:30  A seed shall serve him; it shall be accounted to the Lord for a generation.  

Psa 22:31  They shall come, and shall declare his righteousness unto a people that shall be born, that he hath done this.  

The news of the Gospel is the lifeline for mankind. 

From generation to generation it remains the Greatest Story Ever Told. 

It’s power is just as real today as ever. 

O Taste and See 

Psalm 34 

Psalm 34 has a couple of my favorite verses in it. 

The whole thing is good, but there are couple of diamonds in the setting that sparkle a little brighter than the others in my eyes. 

Let me go through these verses quickly so you can see them in their proper light. 

Note the heading. 

This was written after David had a narrow escape.  

When he went on the run from Saul in I Samuel 21 he sought refuge with the Philistines. 

It was a mistake and he realized it almost too late. 

He had to pretend that he had lost his mind so they would think him insane and let him go. 

That theme of deliverance is woven throughout this psalm. 

It opens in vs. 1-3 with David praising the Lord – “I will bless the Lord at all times!” –  and calling others to join him – “O magnify the Lord with me!” 

In vs. 4-7, we find we find a pattern established. 

David called on the Lord. 

The Lord heard David. 

The Lord delivered David. 

In vs. 8-14 is the pinnacle of the psalm. 

David has seen the goodness of God in his deliverance from sure death. 

He now calls on others to “taste and see” that goodness for themselves. 

In vs. 15-18 the formula of calling, hearing, and delivering is repeated that we saw previously. 

This time it is applied not just to David but to all the Righteous. 

You see, David’s experience was personal was it was not unique. 

God can and will deliver His children. 

In the final section of vs. 19-22 I see the contrasting fates of the righteous and the wicked. 

The righteous may suffer, but God delivers them and blesses them. 

The wicked may seem to prosper, but God will judge them. 

That is an overview of the flow of ideas in this psalm. 

I love vs. 18. 

It is one of my favorite verses in all of Scripture. 

Psa 34:18  The LORD is nigh unto them that are of a broken heart; and saveth such as be of a contrite spirit.  

We will see someone upset and crying, and say to ourselves, “The just need a few minutes to themselves.” 

Tears will often drive people away. 

But that is not the Lord. 

He gets closer when our heart is broken. 

He makes sure He is right next to that person who has lost all hope. 

That is the God we serve! 

He helps the helpless and consoles the inconsolable.   

I think of Christ’s words here: 

Mat 11:28  Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.  

Mat 11:29  Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me; for I am meek and lowly in heart: and ye shall find rest unto your souls.  

Mat 11:30  For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.  

Also: 

Joh_6:37  All that the Father giveth me shall come to me; and him that cometh to me I will in no wise cast out. 

Our tears touch the heart of God and move Him to action. 

They are not cried in vain. 

Psa_56:8  Thou tellest my wanderings: put thou my tears into thy bottle: are they not in thy book? 

None of that really has much to do with my sermon, but I just could not help but spend a little time there. 

As much trouble as many of us have had lately, it is a good reminder. 

No, the verse I want to focus on – the title gives it away – is vs. 8 

Psa 34:8  O taste and see that the LORD is good: blessed is the man that trusteth in him.  

David has just laid out a personal case for the goodness of God. 

He had prayed, God had heard, and God had delivered him from the mess he made. 

God could have said, “Now, David, you made that bed so now go lie in it for a little while.” 

But God swooped in like an eagle after its prey and yanked David out of his deadly peril. 

David knew he was just being smart by fooling the Philistines. 

He knew without God’s hand he was a goner. 

A lot of us need to remember that. 

Without God, we are nothing. 

Without God, we have nothing. 

Without God, we will have nothing. 

But God pours out His grace upon us. 

He grants us not only salvation but sonship in His family. 

He has a place prepared for each of children to dwell in forevermore. 

None of that is because of how great we are  – it is all about how great He is! 

That is why this is such positive song of praise. 

When we face our darkest trials: we can call on God, He will hears, and He will deliver. 

As David is reminiscing about his deliverance, he looks around at everybody else. 

Did they know how good God was to him? 

Did they know how good God is to all the redeemed? 

There is a challenge here – TRY IT OUT! 

I will admit, this illustration I am about to use is largely the inspiration for this sermon. 

I know we do not have a ton of soccer fans around here. 

I also know that most people here could not care less about the World Cup that is going on. 

But there has been something fascinating and uplifting happening in conjunction with it. 

People are travelling in from all of the world to cheer for their country’s teams. 

Many are coming to America, or at least parts of America, that they have never been to. 

Do you know what is happening? 

They are blown away by our country and our people. 

They have a hard time processing some of the things we take for granted. 

I have seen videos of Europeans going to Walmart for the first time. 

Now, to us going there is a drudgery – my wife does the Walmart+ thing and has her groceries delivered so she doesn’t have to go. 

But there is nothing like a Walmart or Costco in Europe. 

They have a bunch of specialized little shops, or small supermarkets with only a few items. 

Here, we have 47 kinds of peanut butter. 

And you can buy them in the same store as tires, clothes, and tvs. 

I saw another video of I think a lady from Britain. 

She said back home she could only by like 15 Tylenol pills at a time. 

Even that you had to give them your ID. 

She picked up a two pack of 1,000 count bottles of Tylenol, bought them at a self-checkout, and said she felt like a drug dealer walking out of the store. 

She did just to say she could – she did not even know if they would let her take them on the plane! 

Speaking of planes, did you see that so many people are having their bottles of ranch dressing taken away that they try to bring in the carry on that they are going to start making airline-friendly sizes? 

I saw another video were a couple went to a swamp because the wanted to see a real live alligator. 

There was a redneck guy putting his boat in, and he invited them to go for a ride so they could see some. 

They ended up hanging out and swimming – he even let them shoot a gun for the first time. 

How about the people who go to Buc-cee’s for the first time? 

They said they have special tour buses from Houston just to take people to one. 

How about the people from all over the world eating Texas barbecue for the first time? 

They don’t have anything like that anywhere else! 

Little things blow these visitors away. 

Things like free chips and salsa before a meal and unlimited free refills on drinks. 

I also see people talking about friendly and safe America is. 

Most of the world it is not safe to walk around a neighborhood or a park. 

Why is this reaction so amazing? 

Because for years they have just heard about dirty and nasty and mean that America is. 

But now, they have tasted and they have seen. 

Someone said that 20 years of liberal, anti-American propaganda was wiped out by visiting just one gas station in the South. 

My wife and I have talked a lot about this phenomenon that going on as people discover real America. 

We have been beaten down for so long and told how horrible our nation is. 

Many of the elite want to make us more like Europe. 

Friends, those Europeans have got a taste of the good life here and they want to move here! 

I tell you, I think this has been a major shot in the arm for our Nation going into the Semiquincentennial, or rather, the 250^th anniversary of the establishment of the greatest nation in the world. 

We have such a tendency to always have to put down things: 

Our country is great, but… 

I think it is a wonderful thing that we get reminded just how insignificant most of those gripes are. 

Now, I may have preached a little there, but that is not the message. 

My message is this: 

Sometimes we need a reminder that God is good. 

Sometimes if you eat some food too much it starts to taste bland. 

You just get numb to things. 

Sometimes we forget just how good things are. 

I have two things for you to help you with that. 

First, watch someone else taste it. 

Ever take a friend to one of your favorite restaurants for the first time? 

How much satisfaction do you feel when they taste it and find it is everything you told them and more? 

Sometimes in the Christian race we sort of tune everything out and lose focus. 

It is good to be reminded every now and then just how good God is! 

To see the joy in a child, the zeal of a new convert, or the passion of a missionary. 

It stirs you up and reminds you just how sweet it all is. 

Second, take another taste for yourself. 

Sometimes we get into our heads that we do not like some food. 

When I was a teenager, one time I ate a cookie dough blizzard from Dairy Queen. 

Turns out I was getting sick and did not know it, and my stomach decided to reject it. 

I would not eat cookie dough for months. 

I knew it wasn’t the cookie dough, but that association was stuck in my mind. 

Until finally I got another cookie dough blizzard. 

I tasted and I saw what I had been missing. 

Friends, if serving God has turned to drudgery, maybe its time to step back and take a taste again. 

Take some time. 

Savor it. 

You see, this verse is a fact stated like a promise. 

God is good. 

If you put Him to the test, He will be good. 

CONCLUSION 

1. One of the reasons we forget the sweetness of the Lord is because of other things we are consuming. 

1. I do not think there is a better, more refreshing drink on earth than a big, cold, glass of ice water. 

2. But if you are drinking too many Dr Peppers, that water just won’t cut it. 

3. That’s what our hearts are like. 

2. I challenge you to put God to the test. 

1. Pray – see what happens. 

2. Serve Him – see what happens. 

3. Once you get a taste of the blessed life, turning back from it will be hard. 

3. Taste and see salvation. 

The Goodness of God

Psalm 103

Perhaps the greatest fact in all the universe is that God is good.

He does not just do good things, He IS good.

There is a difference there.

Bad people can do good sometimes, yet their hearts remain corrupt.

But God does good because He IS good.

This fact is stated multiple times in Scripture:

Exo 34:6  And the LORD passed by before him, and proclaimed, The LORD, The LORD God, merciful and gracious, longsuffering, and abundant in goodness and truth, 

1Ch 16:34  O give thanks unto the LORD; for he is good; for his mercy endureth for ever. 

Psa 25:8  Good and upright is the LORD: therefore will he teach sinners in the way. 

Psa 145:9  The LORD is good to all: and his tender mercies are over all his works. 

Psa 27:13  I had fainted, unless I had believed to see the goodness of the LORD in the land of the living. 

Psa 33:5  He loveth righteousness and judgment: the earth is full of the goodness of the LORD. 

Psa 34:8  O taste and see that the LORD is good: blessed is the man that trusteth in him. 

Psa 100:5  For the LORD is good; his mercy is everlasting; and his truth endureth to all generations.

That is just a sampling of the Scriptures that teach us the fact that God is good.

But what good is a fact without evidence?

Do we have proof that God is good?

To that, again we find proof again and again in Scripture.

God was good in creating this wonderful world of ours.

God was good when had mercy on Adam and Eve and provided means of atonement for their sins.

God was good when He spared Noah and his family in the Flood.

God was good to Abraham when He made him the father of the Jewish nations and provided an heir.

God was good to the children of Israel time and time again in delivering them from Egypt, guiding them through their wilderness journeys, and ultimately in giving them the land of Canaan.

God was good in that He sent His Son to be sacrifice for our sins.

Well, that may be academic.

               Illus – kid asking if they will ever use math in real life.

What about to us personally?

Friends, if you are breathing today, it is because God is good to you.

Anything good that has come your way is because of God:

Jas 1:17  Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, and cometh down from the Father of lights, with whom is no variableness, neither shadow of turning. 

If you are saved this morning it is because of God’s goodness to you as a sinner.

No matter how slice it, the fact is indisputable that God is good.

Our text this morning is a beautiful psalm written by David that reminds us of the fact that God is good.

Sometimes we need a reminder that God is good.

We get our eyes off of Him and see the storms and troubles of life.

We forget about His love and care because of the heavy burdens we may carry.

When you get that phone call in the middle of the night, when the doctor gives you the diagnosis you were dreading, when your heart is broken into millions of tiny shards – oh, these things do not negate the goodness of God.

The presence of evil and darkness does not eradicate the good and the light.

I tell you this morning that it is not the good days when you really sense the goodness of God.

It is that dark days – the valley of the shadow death – that you really experience the goodness of God.

God is good all the time, all the time God is good.

Psalm 103 reinforces this.

It is more of a celebration of God’s goodness than an encouragement for the dark times.

It may have been written as one of the songs sung by the people as they brought the Ark of the Covenant to Jerusalem.

A remarkable aspect of it is that is an escalation of praise for the goodness of God.

It begins with the individual, spreads to the nation, spreads to all of mankind, then finally too all of creation.

I will follow these divisions as we escalate our own praise and thanksgiving for the goodness of God.

I. The Goodness of God to the Individual

Psa 103:1  Bless the LORD, O my soul: and all that is within me, bless his holy name. 

Psa 103:2  Bless the LORD, O my soul, and forget not all his benefits: 

Psa 103:3  Who forgiveth all thine iniquities; who healeth all thy diseases; 

Psa 103:4  Who redeemeth thy life from destruction; who crowneth thee with lovingkindness and tender mercies; 

Psa 103:5  Who satisfieth thy mouth with good things; so that thy youth is renewed like the eagle’s. 

We begin with a call to praise God for His goodness to us personally.

It is an internal call – Bless the Lord, O MY SOUL.

This is not a call to just repeat some phrase or mantra.

No, it is call to recognize the goodness of God and properly respond to it.

We must recognize the “benefits” of vs. 2

David said in another Psalm:

Psa_68:19  Blessed be the Lord, who daily loadeth us with benefits, even the God of our salvation. Selah.

How light our burdens become when we realize the benefits God bestows upon us!

Our text lists a few, the first three are His mercy upon us:

Who forgiveth all thine iniquities;

who healeth all thy diseases;

Who redeemeth thy life from destruction;

The second two are His grace upon us:

who crowneth thee with lovingkindness and tender mercies;

 Who satisfieth thy mouth with good things

Can you relate to these five benefits this morning?

If you can, then you know the goodness of God on a personal level.

If you know that, you need to praise Him for it!

II. The Goodness of God to the Nation

David shifts here from the first person SINGULAR in the first five verses, these next nine verses are in the first person PLURAL.

Psa 103:6  The LORD executeth righteousness and judgment for all that are oppressed. 

Psa 103:7  He made known his ways unto Moses, his acts unto the children of Israel. 

Psa 103:8  The LORD is merciful and gracious, slow to anger, and plenteous in mercy. 

Psa 103:9  He will not always chide: neither will he keep his anger for ever. 

Psa 103:10  He hath not dealt with us after our sins; nor rewarded us according to our iniquities. 

Psa 103:11  For as the heaven is high above the earth, so great is his mercy toward them that fear him. 

Psa 103:12  As far as the east is from the west, so far hath he removed our transgressions from us. 

Psa 103:13  Like as a father pitieth his children, so the LORD pitieth them that fear him. 

Psa 103:14  For he knoweth our frame; he remembereth that we are dust. 

David appeals to the history of Israel as proof that God is good.

That is true – God has been good to His chosen people from the call of Abraham and will continue to be on through the day when they accept Christ as their Messiah and He rules and reigns upon this earth.

I love the fact that David makes this shift from himself to his people.

The reason is because it goes beyond personal observation to a greater proof that God is good to others also.

We can see His goodness in our families, our churches, our communities, our own nation!

I love that God not only moves on the local level but on greater levels, caring not just for personal needs but also controlling national and international affairs.

Do we deserve such goodness?

Did Israel deserve such goodness?

No, but it is not about our own merit or righteousness.

The fact is that God is good.

If you are an American this morning and enjoy the freedoms only we possess in this world, you should thank God for His goodness to you.

III.  The Goodness of God on the Human Race

David shifts now from the first-person plural to third person singular.

He pulls back his focus even further than individual or nation and looks at the entirety of humanity.

Psa 103:15  As for man, his days are as grass: as a flower of the field, so he flourisheth. 

Psa 103:16  For the wind passeth over it, and it is gone; and the place thereof shall know it no more. 

Psa 103:17  But the mercy of the LORD is from everlasting to everlasting upon them that fear him, and his righteousness unto children’s children; 

Psa 103:18  To such as keep his covenant, and to those that remember his commandments to do them. 

The Bible’s honest assessment of humanity is not positive.

We are broken and sinful, doomed under the judgment of the holy and righteous God.

David asked the question in an earlier psalm:

Psa_8:4  What is man, that thou art mindful of him? and the son of man, that thou visitest him?

What do we offer to God?

Isa_64:6  But we are all as an unclean thing, and all our righteousnesses are as filthy rags; and we all do fade as a leaf; and our iniquities, like the wind, have taken us away.

Yet, in spite of sinfulness and our rebellion and rejection of God, God is good to us.

He could have, and would have been justified in doing so, eradicated us as soon as Adam and Eve sinned.

He could have obliterated us immediately upon birth because He knows our sinful nature and the future sins we will commit.

But God is good to us.

Joh 3:16  For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life. 

Joh 1:12  But as many as received him, to them gave he power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on his name: 

Joh 1:13  Which were born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God. 

IV.  The Goodness of God to all Creation

This psalm ends in a crescendo.

We have seen God’s goodness on the personal, national, and global levels.

Now we pull back even further and see the goodness of God in all of Creation from a Heavenly perspective

Psa 103:19  The LORD hath prepared his throne in the heavens; and his kingdom ruleth over all. 

Psa 103:20  Bless the LORD, ye his angels, that excel in strength, that do his commandments, hearkening unto the voice of his word. 

Psa 103:21  Bless ye the LORD, all ye his hosts; ye ministers of his, that do his pleasure. 

Psa 103:22  Bless the LORD, all his works in all places of his dominion: bless the LORD, O my soul. 

God is good.

He will always be good.

The angels who witness this firsthand are called to join the symphony of His praise.

All of creation – all the universe – is called to add their voices.

Doesn’t that make our problems look pretty insignificant?

It makes us look rather insignificant! 

Why, oh, why would God care about us amid all the angels and planets and stars, the number of which we cannot being to comprehend?

Because He is good!

Why does He love us?

Because He is Good!

Why does He care for us?

Because He is good!

Why does He provide our needs?

Because He is good!

Why would Christ endure the agony of the cross to bear our sins?

Because He is good!

CONCLUSION:

1. We have no excuse to not praise God for His goodness.
   1. It is not debatable – He Is Good!
   1. Because He is good, He deserves to be praised.
   1. Because He is good to us personally – that is irrefutable, He deserves to be praised.
2. Note the progress of the praise here.
   1. It does not start with peer pressure – the universe pressing us to join in.
   1. It starts with one person, then spreads to his family and community and nation until it fills the universe.
3. Have you tasted the goodness of God?
   1. If you have not experienced the goodness of God in salvation – there is not time like today!
   1. Psa_34:8  O taste and see that the LORD is good: blessed is the man that trusteth in him.

Psalm 100

Psalm 110