Lesson 8: God loves us to praise Him.

Here is lesson eight.

Lesson 8: God loves us to praise Him.

References: Matthew 21:1-11, Psalm 18:3, Mark 16:16, Hebrews 12:28-29

God is worthy of our praise. Jesus is worthy of our praise. The Holy Spirit is worthy of our praise. Praise is to show you approve of, to show admiration or respect, to give grateful homage (honor, worship). God is worthy of all of these things. Psalm 18:3 says, “I call upon the Lord, who is worthy to be praised.” There are different ways that we can praise God. We can praise Him by singing, dancing, praying, reading His Word… there are many different ways to show God that we honor Him and love Him. All that we do should be worship and praise to God. When Jesus came into Jerusalem the people praised Him. In Matthew 21:1- 11 we see how they showed Jesus respect with hearts full of praise. Matthew says, “Now when they drew near to Jerusalem and came to Bethphage, to the Mount of Olives, then Jesus sent two disciples, 2 saying to them, “Go into the village in front of you, and immediately you will find a donkey tied, and a colt with her. Untie them and bring them to me. 3 If anyone says anything to you, you shall say, ‘The Lord needs them,’ and he will send them at once.” 4 This took place to fulfill what was spoken by the prophet, saying, 5 “Say to the daughter of Zion, ‘Behold, your king is coming to you, humble, and mounted on a donkey, and on a colt, the foal of a beast of burden.’” 6 The disciples went and did as Jesus had directed them. 7 They brought the donkey and the colt and put on them their cloaks, and he sat on them. 8 Most of the crowd spread their cloaks on the road, and others cut branches from the trees and spread them on the road. 9 And the crowds that went before him and that followed him were shouting, “Hosanna to the Son of David! Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord! Hosanna in the highest!” 10 And when he entered Jerusalem, the whole city was stirred up, saying, “Who is this?” 11 And the crowds said, “This is the prophet Jesus, from Nazareth of Galilee.”

The people were shouting and speaking praises about Jesus. They laid down their cloaks (jackets) and branches from trees on the road for Him to ride on the donkey over. It was as if they were laying down a carpet for Him to walk on. They were treating Him as King, which He was. They did not understand all of who Jesus was, but they gave Him praise, which His is worthy of. Today we know more about Jesus than they did because we have the Bible that tells us about His life, death, resurrection, and future coming. We should praise Him too for the King that He is. We cannot see Him or lay down branches for Him to walk on, but the way we live can be a form of praise and worship to Him. But before we can praise God, we have to believe in Him. Mark 16:16 says, “Whoever believes and is baptized will be saved, but whoever does not believe will be condemned.” So, let us believe in Jesus and praise God with how we live our lives. Hebrews 12:28-29 tell us, “Therefore let us be grateful for receiving a kingdom that cannot be shaken, and thus let us offer to God acceptable worship, with reverence and awe, for our God is a consuming fire."