‘I
will exalt You, O Lord’(Psalm 30:1). God is not exalted because we exalt Him. We exalt Him because He is exalted.: ‘He is exalted, for ever
exalted, and I will praise His Name’(Mission Praise,217). How do
we come to the point where we say, ‘I will exalt You, O Lord’? We
realize our need of Him - ‘when You hid Your face, I was dismayed’(Psalm
30:7). We look to Him for mercy - ‘To You, O Lord, I called; to the
Lord, I cried for mercy’(Psalm 30:8). God hears and answers our prayer -
‘You turned my wailing into dancing; You removed my sackcloth and
clothed me with joy’(Psalm 30:11). God calls us to worship Him - ‘Sing
praises to the Lord, O you His saints, and give thanks to His holy
Name’(Psalm 30:4). ‘The joy of the Lord’, His ‘unutterable and exalted
joy’, gives us ‘strength’(Nehemiah 8:10; 1 Peter 1:8). We worship God:
‘O Lord my God, I will give thanks to You forever’(Psalm 30:12).
We have come here to praise the Lord. Why do we praise the Lord? "Lord my God, You are very great." God is great in power. His power can impress us, but it will not save us until we are touched by a special power - the power of His love. God is great in holiness. His holiness (Isaiah 6:3) shows us our sin (Isaiah 6:5). It's His love that brings us salvation (Isaiah 6:7). When we see the greatness of His love, we can truly say, "Praise the Lord."
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