Feast: The Habit of Praising God
#FT26-06A
James Beaubelle
Given 01-Oct-26; 33 minutes
description: Virtues are cultivated habits that transform right action into a natural, effortless expression of character, with the mind of Christ serving as the ultimate model. Among these virtues, praise stands out as a disciplined, daily practice that flows from a humble, grateful heart rather than mere ritual or flattery. Rooted in the fear of the Lord and exemplified by the psalmist's consistent worship and the grand glorification seen in Revelation, praise is both a personal discipline and a communal act of joyful reverence. It encompasses acknowledging God's multifaceted roles—from Creator to Healer—and extends beyond spoken words to include one's entire way of living; as illustrated by the virtuous wife in Proverbs 31, a life lived in faithful obedience becomes a continuous act of praise, inseparably linking reverence, conduct, and glory to God.
transcript:
This morning I wanted to talk about a specific virtue. One that I feel that I personally haven't done very well with. Not that I haven't done anything with it. But I see much more room for improvement in myself. But first, I wanna explain what I believe a virtue to be. The virtues we work to acquire in our lives. Or those that are gifted to us by God are generally defined as good habits that one cultivates over a lifetime of experience into their character. And by using these good habits in our conduct, we become as one who will more often than not choose what is right and maintain proper conduct and living before our God. And by their continual use, guided by God's spirit, the virtues become woven into us and they become a foundational part of our character. And they over time become something. That is not easily altered in our behavior. Virtues denote A quality of right action that enables one to perform certain activities easily and readily and has in the process of time become our normal response, a response for the person that possesses the virtue. Ted in his message on patience defined virtues. As a needed foundation for building noble character by the practice of moral excellence, I like that definition. Virtues are not the activity itself, but a quality that is gained from their use that lets one or aids one in performing good actions easily and is akin to having good skills in living. That require little thought to know that the outcome of one's actions will produce good results. I see it as a quality of choice that doesn't require much of any second thought. The possessor of the virtue by practice and by habit knows the right thing to do and readily does them. Let me make or give an illustration. I did make it up. Let me give an illustration using the virtue of honesty as an example. Imagine. You're standing behind someone in the checkout line at the grocery store. And that person ahead of you drops some paper money from their purse as they are getting ready to pay the cashier. Unnoticed by anyone but you. Without hesitation, you bend down and pick up the cash and call attention to the person in front of you. No thought crossed your mind. To pocket the money for yourself, you easily saw and did what would be the good habit of honesty without thinking much about it. When an action benefits the person performing it or it benefits others, it would be considered a good habit or a virtue, a virtuous action. And it's through the use of these good habits that one builds godly character that is not easily altered. They become a foundation in our mental mental excellence as we grow into the same mind that our Savior has. Paul in Philippians 2:5 tells us, let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus. Christ As our perfect example of how we are to live, who we know was virtuous in all his actions and performed them easily and readily. What we see of him in the scriptures is what he was 24/7. And is our role model in all things we call good. Copy him and we learn from him and can develop and fashion ourselves after him. He tells us to do this. He tells us in Matthew 11:29, to take my yoke upon you and learn from me. All of us need to do that. To have his character and reputation not just imputed to us. But to own it as our very own nature. Building upon good virtues that he has shown us can go a long way in helping to produce the good fruit that we all want to do. Not just for our own selves but for others that we could be an example too. The practice of following another's examples is a primary way we all learn. Paul stated He stated it in 2 Thessalonians, as he did in other places to follow him. Chapter 3 and verse 7 and 9 reads, for you yourselves know how you ought to follow us. He's talking about Timothy with him. We were not disorderly among you, not because we do not have authority, but to make ourselves an example of how you should follow us. Paul could have used his position only to instruct. He did instruct, but he also used his life as a teaching tool by how he conducted himself and setting an example for others, which includes us. Virtues by their definition must always produce right action. There is no such thing as a bad virtue. If the action is not easily done or opposed to the purpose of the virtue, then the source that is motivating the individual is from something else. One either has the ingrained habit for thinking and doing right actions, or they do not. Often we hear or see someone who in a particular circumstance took right action, and we would say they have this or that virtue. But later they may just as well exhibit opposite behavior. 1 may be generous or kind or courageous in a hard situation on one day. And later avoid being kind or generous or courageous. This person does not have the virtue ingrained in their character. But out of choosing what seemed right on this one occasion, Much like a politician that looks honest and loving, but away from the camera is anything but. What we often refer to as a wolf in sheep's clothing. Men who disguise their hearts, their, their hearts and what their objectives are. I think the man of sin when he arrives will be like this, or maybe he has already arrived. With so much turmoil and lies in the world, it's hard to say. Men will appear to be virtuous, but they are not. They are trying to hide under the cloak of godliness and deceive for their own evil purposes. Let's suppose in my illustration on honesty, the one who saw the money fall, started to consider how it could benefit their own needs. And in their hearts they desire to keep the cash for themselves. Even if in this situation, they did return the money to its rightful owner. We could not say they had the virtue of honesty unless the virtue is done easily and readily. The person lacks any virtue in their actions, though the actions appear from the outside to be virtuous. I think we can see what I'm saying more clearly if we compare virtues to our spiritual education. God provides to each one of us. Each week, we read our Bibles. We listen to messages from men who teach us how God would have us live as we are placed in this world. We're taught the wisdom of God and the dangers of false beliefs as we strive to increase our understanding of His expectation for us. We're shown examples from people of faith that we may gain understanding of how to walk in the ways of righteousness. And this is the knowledge we all need. But that's all it is until we put what we have learned into practical action in our daily life when we accept it to the point of internalizing it into the way that we live and we build a habit of always choosing the way God would have us to go and do. Then we will produce the fruit. And bear the work of our savior in our hearts. God's instructions to Joshua as Israel prepared to enter the promised land. is also a fitting Description for those of us today who are preparing to in our promise rest. Turn, if you will, to Joshua chapter one. I think this is the only one we turn to today. Joshua 1 and we will read verses 7 through 9. This is where God instructs Joshua to daily meditate on the book of the law and to do what is written in it. Showing the same pattern we all must follow in first, the gaining of knowledge, we need to know what God expects. And then using it And we may prosper. Joshua 1 Verse 7 Only be strong and very courageous that you may observe to do according to all the law which Moses, my servant, commanded you. Do not turn from, from it to the right hand or to the left, that you may prosper wherever you go. In verse 8 This book of the law shall not depart from your mouth, but you shall meditate in it day and night. I want to stop there for a second. Most of us would say we'd meditate on it. Here it says meditate in it, and I think we should pick up the sense that we are to totally immerse ourselves in this book. It's ours. We own it. Let's use it. OK, verse 8. This book of the law shall not depart from your mouth, but you shall meditate in it day and night that you may observe to do all that is written in it. For then you will make your way prosperous and then you will have good success. Verse 9. Have I not commanded you? Be strong and of good courage. Do not be afraid nor be dismayed, for the Lord your God, as we heard a few minutes ago, is with you wherever you go. It's true. I think God knows. It's easier for men and women. To be more fearful than it is to be courageous. Just as I think it's harder at times to be faithful than it is to be faithless. But this is the way we are called to follow. A path that leads to a great reward of personal growth and many changes in the way we live that will certainly challenge each one of us. Being called out of this world and placed into the family of God will most certainly turn a person's life upside down. Relationships you once had are destroyed as new ones are being formed. This is both On a relationship level with others. And within our spiritual battles. Surely our relationship with sin was something that we all took too lightly. And now has become one of a serious concern for each one of us. Efforts we spent on pleasing the self now are efforts put forth in a desire to please God. Virtues we never possessed are, as I said, being woven incrementally into our character and through the change, although the changes can often feel slow to arrive. We should and can look back to the days before our calling. And see that we have changed. We're becoming more patient. More generous, more hopeful, and more faithful. We begin to believe the goal of growing into the stature of Jesus Christ starts to look somewhat possible to us. It is possible We are frightened That our own weaknesses will make us unacceptable to God. Yet we learn and then we learn to believe we are covered by the reputation of our savior and stand as Peter said in I Peter 2:9, and this is a scripture we've heard three times so far this feast. I was counting. It's a familiar scripture. Before God's own special people, verse 9 says, but you are a chosen generation. It's true, a royal priesthood, it's true, a holy nation, his own special people, that you may proclaim the praises of Him who called you out of darkness into his marvelous light, who once were not a people but are now the people of God who had not obtained mercy but now have obtained mercy. All of us have been chosen, we've heard this before, individually by God to achieve our purpose within His will and His purposes. that he seeks to complete. And it is here we are greatly aided by the virtues we have acquired. And more importantly, by the virtues God has infused into each one of his children. These are gifts Given by God that we can succeed. He never stops supporting us. These virtues are often referred to as the spiritual virtues by theologians given to us that we may take actions for seeking after God. These are listed as faith. Hope, love. And without these gifts and many other things that he provides, our worship of God doesn't work. We all remember the words written in Hebrews 11:6. It says, But without faith, it is impossible to please him. For he who comes to God must believe that he is, and he is rewarder of those who diligently seek Him. God, we might say, jumpstarts his children by these gifts, and we need that. This is what keeps us tracking our lives in the right direction as we seek the kingdom of God. All the while remembering we must consciously choose to use these gifts to have them become the habit of our life that is not easily altered. OK. That was my opening. I learned that from Richard. It's here in my message, I want to pivot from my opening to on the background of virtues to lead to my main point about the subject of praising God. That's the one I said in the beginning, and I felt I haven't done as well as I should be doing. And though I have never heard it being called a virtue, it appears to meet all the requirements of one. A good habit that the possessor of does easily and readily fits perfectly for what is required of God's people. I know we praise Him often from a heart that is joyful in his abundant care for us. The praise is also a commanded offering we are to do. Each and every day. Repeatedly in the Psalms, we read a tagline at the end of the Psalm. Praise the Lord. This I see as more of a command than a suggestion. The psalmist in Psalm 119 and verse 164 says, 7 times a day I praise you. And then he adds why he does this. Because of your righteous judgments. Have we done this? Considering that every judgment of God is done with perfect equity and to the benefit of all, they certainly are praiseworthy. Whether it's a judgment of a person or on a whole nation, we are going to ask you to turn to Revelation 19. I guess I had another one in here. Praising the Father and the Son can be just something we do alone in our prayers or like we read here, done with the voices of many as we do when we come to services. We sing songs of praise to God. Starting in verse 1 and reading down to verse 6 where God is praised for his judgment against Babylon. Verse one After these things, that was the destruction of Babylon. After these things, I heard a loud voice of a great multitude in heaven saying, Hallelujah. Praise God. Salvation and glory and honor and power belong to the Lord our God. For the true and righteous are his judgments, because he has judged the great harlot who corrupted the earth with her fornication, and he has avenged in her the blood of his servants shed by her. Verse 3 again they said hallelujah. For smoke rises up forever and ever. And the 24 elders and the 4 living creatures fell down and worshiped God, who sat on the throne, saying, Amen. Hallelujah It's finished. Praise God. Then a voice came from the throne saying, Praise our God, all you, His servants and those who fear Him. Both small and great. And I heard, as it were, the voice of a great multitude as the sound of many waters. It must have been pretty loud. And a mighty thundering saying hallelujah for the Lord omnipotent range. This is praise on a very large scale. But most of the praise we do. By is done by oneself through our prayers and we could say all prayer is praise, for all prayer recognizes God as sovereign in our lives. It's a message to our Father. But not all prayer is directly focused on praising God. Prayers we know can be about many things. We often seek God to intervene for us as we work through a difficult problem we are up against. Or we all have needs in keeping our physical life moving along at a comfortable level. And look for his aid in this. We have prayers of thanksgiving for the blessings and daily support he provides us with. Or we may be seeking his forgiveness when we miss the mark, we've cut our foot up into sin. We're entangled There is a host of things we want to get from God, and often he is very willing and very generous as we make supplications for our needs. And this is fine that we should do this, even to the point of it being very needful in our relationship with him. But we should consider that prayer can be as much about giving as it is about getting, and what we should be giving is our praise from a humble and a contrite heart. I think any time one of his children offers up praise, he is pleased. In Luke 11 Verse 1 through 4. Christ gave his disciples an outline after they had asked him to teach them to pray. What's referred to as the model of prayer. This is not to be used in repetition of our prayers as some interpret these verses to mean. But as a template of a good prayer structure. And it starts by showing God reverence and esteeming His purpose and His will above our own. It acknowledges him as sovereign over all his creation and then moves to seeking his oversight and help. And it closes with blessing and honoring his name, also known as praising him. God is very good at giving. We all know that. But he is glorified when his own children, who are covered by the reputation of Jesus, come before Him and praise His name. Those whom he has revealed himself to Those who know Him and strive as Christ said to the woman at the well in John 4:23, telling her that God was seeking those who would worship in spirit and in truth. Reading verse 24, God is spirit, and those who worship Him must worship in spirit and truth. A well thought out prayer that is humble and reverent before God, that makes known to God what is in your heart and what help you are seeking and will praise Him for who He is from a thankful heart meets the outline Christ gave us. This format is not set in stone. Some prayers are all about giving thanks for a blessing, an outpouring from a grateful heart. Many times we will receive a blessing or some help before we even ask for it. But that makes sense since we are always under his watchful care and he knows our needs, probably at times before we even know our needs. We also find in our lives that some something comes up upon us quickly and we go right to asking to God for help. That happens probably more often than we know. This too is part of a normal course of life. All of us get tested. God will test all of us. All of us can be tempted. And we all endure suffering and prayer is flexible enough to seek God anytime, anywhere to find a need to reach out when you find a need to reach out to Him. That being said, We should daily find the time to praise God as the psalmist spoke. 7 times a day I praise you. It's a good example for all of us. Over time, I hope to be, to do more with this myself, praising God easily and readily, building a habit or active virtue every day that is not easily altered. This would be the fruit of our lips. Another way that one can praise God is through music and singing. The Psalm is Psalms as we know, are rich with songs of praise for God. Most of what we sing each week are the words of the Psalms put to music. Please turn to Psalm 149. This suggests not only singing. But includes dancing. I'm not sure how that works, but to look at it, it's just an expression of joy before God. Psalm 149 and starting in verse 1. Praise the Lord. Sing to the Lord a new song. And his praise in the assembly of the saints. Let Israel rejoice in their Maker. Let the children of Zion be joyful in their King. Let them praise his name with the dance. Let them sing praises to Him with the tremble and harp. For the Lord takes pleasure in His people. He will beautify the humble with salvation. We all want that. Let the saints be joyful in glory. Let them sing aloud in their beds. Let the high praises of God be in their mouth and a two-edged sword in their hand. Drop down to verse 9 to execute on them the written judgment, dishonor have all the saints. Praise the Lord. This chapter shows us that in a variety of situations, singing, dancing, playing instruments, are working with God to execute His judgments, we have opportunity to praise Him. Since we are right next door to chapter 150, let's take the time to read that. These 6 short verses show us who, what, where, why, of praising God, and what we find in the end. Is everything with breath is called to praise, to the praise of the Lord. Psalm 150. Praise the Lord. Praise God in his sanctuary. Praise him in the mighty firmament. Praise him for his mighty acts. Praise him according to his excellent greatness. Praise him with the sound of the trumpet. Praise him with the lute and the harp. Praise him with the tremble and the dance. Praise him with the stringed instruments and flutes. Praise Him with the loud cymbals, praise Him with clashing cymbals. Let everything that has breath, praise the Lord. Praise the Lord. What an honor the saints have that so few in this world can come before God and praise Him. Those who have been cleansed by the blood of Christ, those who carry the reputation of Christ right into the throne room. Can come before him with praise. Let us not forfeit such a great privilege. I think we can honestly say. That men in the world and men generally do not praise God enough. Most, I think Hold the idea of praise and low esteem in its application towards God. And are more concerned about what God can do for them in fulfilling their wants rather than looking at themselves and asking, What does God want from me? The praise as we read in John 4 must be offered in an outward expression with the help of the Holy Spirit God has given us. Meaning from a heart filled with love and gratitude towards our Creator. Always done in the uttermost of reverence, knowing there is God and there is no other. We must speak to him only in truth. Using honest words from her heart. Never flattery speech or words of flattery to try to persuade him of anything. But a personal heartfelt discussion. That always recognizes his position in and over our lives. Words that we can truly believe are the words we know that need to be said. We can then praise and glorify Him because we know Him and are known by Him. The list of what we can praise God for is very large. We spoke about his judgments, but there is so much more. As creator and the giver of life, no one else can do these marvelous works. As a defender of the Fatherless and the widow, God stands as their help and instructs us to do likewise. As our lawgiver that leads us in the way of righteousness. If not him, who would help us? Of his sacrifices that we may have a future and a hope and as our healer in our time of need. He is our teacher. He takes away our ignorance and provides us with wisdom as he provides our daily needs. He knows the end of the matter before it begins, and he inhabits all eternity. We can go on and on speaking of his greatness and of his mighty works and yes one day we will see more works that have yet to be done and we will praise him for those as well like I said I haven't praised God as well as I should, but he's given me some time here and I'm going to do better. My last thought for today may seem a bit odd, but when one thinks about virtues and something praiseworthy. I see these two topics come together in Proverbs 31 that speak of the virtuous wife. She has shown to us as an active partner in her relationship with her husband. And we see the trust and we get the sense of equality between them. Well, this makes sense that we would think this way. Eve, as we know, was not brought forth from Adam's back or his foot. But from his side, God showing us early on that both man and woman stood as equals before Him. In this proverb, I see a correlation between the husband and wife as an example, a representation of Christ and his bride or church. I also see what a great amount of liberty she has to conduct the family business. That's what we do here. Completely trusted as verse 11 says by her husband. She has not spoken about her physical beauty, but in her strength, that you could read in verse 17 and in verse 25 will give an account. We will not go through all of her virtuous traits, that'll take a while, that are mentioned, but say she represents the second way we praise God. And that is how we live, how we diligently conduct ourselves before him as we live before God in our day to day living. I will mention one of the virtues that stands out in support of all the others she has, and this is in the fear of the Lord, she keeps in the forefront of her mind. For this is certainly praiseworthy and it always will be. Verse 30 and 31 reads, Charm is deceitful and beauty is passing. But a woman or a man that fears the Lord, she or he. shall be praised. Verse 31, give her the fruit of her hands and let her own praise. Let her works praise her in the gates. Certainly God bless blesses and will praise those who fear Him. Certainly praising God is a virtue we all should seek to have all the more of. I'm going to close now. I will close on reading Psalm 128 1 through 4. Blessed is everyone who fears the Lord, who walks in His ways. When you eat the labor of your hands, you shall be happy, and it shall be well with you. Your wife shall be like a fruitful vine in the very heart of your house. Your children like olive plants all around your table. Behold Thus shall the man be blessed who fears the Lord. Let us all continually fear and praise our great God.
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