Timeless Biblical Truth.
God is to be praised because He demonstrates repeatedly His sovereignty by delivering His people from the oppression of the nations.
- Everyone is to acknowledge God’s sovereignty revealed in His awesome acts of deliverance in which His people were tested (1-12).
- Everyone ought to acknowledge God’s sovereignty as seen in His awesome acts of deliverance (1-9). 1. Everyone ought to praise God for His awesome works (1-4). 2. Everyone must see (using their imagination to relive the experience) how His works demonstrate His sovereignty (5-7). 3. Everyone ought to bless God for preserving their life (8-9).
- God’s people should confess that God tested them with oppression before He delivered them (10-12). 1. God tested us (10). 2. God sometimes make our suffering to be severe (11-12a). 3. God brings us out of suffering into a place of blessing (12b).
- Believers must offer their praise to God for answering their prayers and delivering them (13-20).
- Believers praise God to fulfill their vow (13-15).
- The praise of believers is a public confession that God answered their prayer because He is faithful to His covenant (16-20). 1. All who fear the LORD are to hear Him (16). 2. God answers prayer when there is no sin in the heart (17-19). 3. God ought to be praised because He demonstrated His loyal love (20).
Questions for Second Milers
- Whom does the psalmist call to praise God in vv 1-12 and in vv 13-20? What reasons does the psalmist give for praising God?
- How is God related to Israel’s history?
- What are the nations to see in what God has done for Israel?
- What attributes (or qualities) does God reveal of Himself in His actions on Israel’s behalf?
- What answers to your prayers has God given you? Did you spend time praising Him for answering them? What do answers to your prayers tell you about God? and about your obligations to Him?
- Give your own short title to this psalm. Augustine: The Confessions of St. Augustine, ix. 4.
“In what accents I addressed Thee, my God, when I read the Psalms of David, those faithful songs, the language of devotion which banishes the spirit of pride. . . . How I addressed Thee in those Psalms! how my love for Thee was kindled by them! how I burned to recite them, were it possible, throughout the world, as an antidote for the pride of humanity . . . .
Lanny Tanton is the Pastor at The Bible Church of the Lakes in Horseshoe Bay, Texas – just outside of Marble Falls. Pastor Tanton welcomes you to our website and hopes that you’ll enjoy reading these insightful blog posts. Please contact us if you have further questions!!
