The Perpetuity of Praise, Part 2

Since October of last year, we have been on this pathway of praise. It's a journey that takes us from the time we are saved until the time we enter into glory where our praise will fill all of heaven in the presence of the living God. And during this time, we've given you a key verse.

I'm not gonna give you a quiz this morning for fear that you might fail early in the new year, but there's a verse that we've used as the theme verse. It's in Isaiah 43, verse number 21. You should have it memorized by now.

If not, it will be good to memorize it, which says, the people that I have formed for myself, they will declare my praise. Now that is such a powerful statement because the question comes, well, how will the people that God has formed for himself declare his praise? Or why would the people that God has formed for himself declare his praise? Why is that possible? How is that possible? Well, we have just come fresh off the Christmas season. And the Christmas season is about what the angel said to the shepherds.

Fear not, for I bring you good news of great joy. The good news is that the Messiah is here. The great joy is that the Messiah's ministry will bring you joy that's incomparable to anything else.

And so that was always the theme of Christmas, that there would be the gospel that now is given that brings great joy. But if you have your Bible, turn with me to the book of Isaiah, the 61st chapter. Isaiah 61, you remember, Isaiah is writing to those who are about to go into captivity.

He is warning them about the judgment that's going to come. There will be turmoil. There will be tears.

There will be tragedy, all encompassing the Babylonian captivity. He's warning them to repent and turn, but they do not, they do not listen. But he's prophesying all that's going to happen.

In the meantime, all the prophecy centers around the light that will come in their darkness, the dawning of a new day, the coming of the Messiah, and all that that means, the man of sorrows, Isaiah 53. And Isaiah presents to us this great servant of the Lord, this Messiah, who's going to come and bring to them what they so desperately need in spite of their captivity, in spite of all that's going to happen. The Messiah is their hope.

So when you come to Isaiah 61, you have a very familiar passage. It's familiar because Jesus would read this passage in the synagogue in Nazareth in Luke chapter 4. And he would tell them that today, this scripture has been fulfilled, telling them that he was the fulfillment of what the Bible said concerning the Messiah and the spirit of the Lord being upon him.

So this is what it says in Isaiah 61. The spirit of the Lord God is upon me because the Lord has anointed me to bring good news to the afflicted. He has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to captives and freedom to prisoners, to proclaim the favorable year of our Lord.

And he closed the book and said, this has been fulfilled. When the angel said, we bring you good news of great joy, he was telling them that Isaiah 61 is going to be fulfilled. This is the good news.

Prisoners will be set free. Those in bondage to sin will be set free. The emancipator has come.

And when he frees you, he sets you free from that which enslaves you. Great joy comes. Notice what else he says about the ministry of the Messiah.

It says in the end of verse two, to comfort all who mourn. Isn't it interesting that Jesus begins his sermon in Matthew chapter five with these words. Blessed are those who are poor in spirit for theirs is the kingdom of God.

Blessed are those who mourn over the sin for they shall be comforted. Jesus is saying the exact same thing that the prophet Isaiah said about how the Messiah will bring comfort to those who mourn. In fact, he goes on and says this.

He says, to grant those who mourn in Zion, those who mourn in Zion, in other words, Israel is going to go back to Jerusalem. Israel is going to go back to their hometown. Israel is going to be there and they're going to mourn and he's going to bring comfort to those who mourn over their sin.

Then he says this, giving them a garland instead of ashes. For those who are comforted because of God's forgiveness, they are those who are crowned with God's loving kindness. God's going to give you a diadem, a tiara, a crown.

Those who mourn, mourn with ashes upon their heads to show their grief and their sorrow, but the Lord's going to replace all that with a crown. A crown that signifies His beautifulness, His loving kindness, granted to those who mourn because those who mourn are comforted, comforted by God's forgiveness. Note the next phrase.

He says, the oil of gladness instead of mourning. The oil of gladness instead of mourning. Those who are comforted with God's forgiveness and those who are crowned with His loving kindness are those who are covered with His gladness.

You see, the oil was the perfume that was presented to the special guests of honor at the table. That's why David would say in Psalm 23, verse number 4, Thou preparest a table before me in the presence of my enemies and You anoint my head with oil. I am the honored guest at the table of God.

And Isaiah is telling us about those who are covered with the oil of gladness. They are honored. They are the special ones because they've been comforted by God's forgiveness.

They've been crowned with God's loving kindness and therefore, they are now comforted or they are now covered with God's great gladness. But the next phrase is where we're at. It says, the garment of praise instead of fainting or feebleness, the garment of praise.

Why is it Isaiah would say in chapter 43, the people that I have formed for myself, they will declare my praise? Why would he say that? And how can he say that? It's because the people that God has formed for himself are those who have been comforted by God's forgiveness. They have been crowned with God's loving kindness. They have been covered with God's gladness and they are now clothed with thankfulness.

You receive a garment. You receive a cloak that covers your body. Why is it Isaiah would say the people that I have formed for myself, they will declare my praise? It's because you've been covered with praise.

You've been cloaked with thankfulness. You can't help but give thanks to God. It's all-encompassing praises.

And the people of God have been clothed with this garment of praise. It covers us. It is the distinguishing mark of the believer that there's something unique about our lives that offer praise to God.

And then it says, so they will be called oaks of righteousness, the planting of the Lord that he may be glorified. All this is done so that God will be glorified. You will give praise to him so that he will be glorified.

You will be oaks of righteousness. You're not gonna be like feeble reeds that blow in the wind. You're like oaks that are planted by God.

They're immovable. They're sustainable. And it's by the righteousness of God that you are planted by him to give glory to his name.

But the key for us during our pathway to praise is that we are cloaked, covered in this garment of praise. Over in Isaiah 61, verse number 10, it says this. I will rejoice greatly in the Lord.

My soul would exalt in my God, for he has clothed me with the garment of salvation. He has wrapped me with a robe of righteousness as a bridegroom decks himself with a garland and as a bride adorns herself with jewels. Isaiah is saying what God does is you receive the garments of God.

And part of the garments are the cloak of praise. You adorn yourself with the robes of righteousness. The garments of God consist of the robe of righteousness and the garment of praise.

So much so that as the bridegroom would adorn himself, as the bride would adorn herself, making them the best possible presence to those who are there, so too is the child of God. So important to understand this. It's no wonder the psalmist said in Psalm 147, verse number 1, it is good to sing praises to the Lord for it's pleasant and praise is beautifying.

It's becoming, why? Why does praise change the scene? Why does praise enhance your situation? Because when you walk into the situation, you are covered, you are clothed with a cloak of praise. You've adorned yourself with the garments of God. Do you understand what that means? When you come to church or you go out on a date or you go to a wedding or you go someplace special, what do you do? You adorn yourself in the best that you have because you wanna present to the Lord and those around you the beauty and best that you have.

Well, God has clothed you with the best that he has so that when you walk into a room, you are clothed already with the garments of praise. You're already wrapped in the robes of righteousness. You've already been adorned by God himself.

So as we travel the pathway of praise, we can understand why Isaiah would say that the people I have formed for myself, they will, without a doubt, it's a guarantee, declare my praise. Why, because it's all about the glory of the living God. So as we journey along the pathway of praise, we find ourselves looking at the perpetuity of praise, the state or quality of longevity.

In other words, the perpetuity of praise talks about how it is praise now continues on and on and on and on and is never-ending and continues into glory. It's the perpetuity of praise. It's what makes the pathway so enjoyable.

And so we say, okay, so if that's the case, how is it I engage in never-ending praise? Well, we told you last week. We do it because we recognize that God's power, God's power is always available. He's empowered us with his spirit.

He's clothed us with all that we need. His power is always available. In other words, he is able to do exceeding abundantly above all that we ever ask or think by the power that works within us.

There's already a power that's active. The power of God is not dormant in the life of the believer. The power of God is always active in your life.

It's always available. And therefore, when you tap into that power, the spirit of God, you praise him and give glory to his name. God's power is always available. It's actively available.

Number two, his presence or his promises are absolutely undeniable. The promises of God are absolutely undeniable. For all the promises of God are yes in Christ Jesus. Now remember, Revelation 3 tells us that Christ is called the amen. He is faithful and true. He is called the amen. It's the confirmation. It's the affirmation of all that God has promised is fulfilled in Christ.

Isaiah 65 tells us that the Messiah is the God of truth. He's the God of the amin or the God of the amen. He's the God of affirmation.

He's the God that's undeniably going to prove all that he has said. That's the promises of God. So in the book of Numbers, the 23rd chapter, it says, God is not a man that he should lie, nor son of man that he should repent. Has he said, and will he not do it? Or has he spoken, and will he not make good? Yes, he is. Because his promises are absolutely undeniable. His power is actively available.

And number three, his presence is actually unavoidable. In other words, there's no way you can get out of the presence of God. Listen to the words of Moses.

In the book of Exodus, the 33rd chapter. Very carefully listen to what he says. God says, my presence shall go with you, and I will give you rest.

The Lord is speaking to Moses. Then Moses said to him, if your presence does not go with us, do not lead us up from here. In other words, we need you.

For how then can it be known that I have found favor in your sight, I and your people? Is it not by your going with us? Said we, I and your people, may be distinguished from all the other people who are upon the face of the earth. Moses makes a statement that is so unique that so many times we miss it. What distinguishes you from the unbelieving world is the presence of God in your life.

Moses made it very clear, the only way we are distinguished from the people in the land of Canaan is because of your presence with us. How would he know that? How would Moses know that? Remember the life of Joseph? The life of Joseph is a unique and special life in the book of Genesis, the 39th chapter. Here, I want you to remember what it says about Joseph.

Remember, Moses is the author of Genesis. So he would have already written this in his life probably by now. Listen to what it says, Genesis 39.

Now Joseph had been taken down to Egypt and Potiphar, an Egyptian officer, a pharaoh, the captain of the bodyguard, bought him from the Ishmaelites. He had taken him down there. The Lord was with Joseph.

So he became a successful man, but read on. And he was in the house of his master, the Egyptian. Now his master saw, listen carefully, the master saw that the Lord was with him and how the Lord caused all that he did to prosper in his hand.

In other words, Potiphar was able to see the presence of God in the life of Joseph because that is the distinguishing mark of the believer. God's presence among us separates us from those who do not know him. Joseph is the classic example.

And you read on in Genesis chapter 39, and it says these words in verse number 21. But the Lord was with Joseph and extended kindness to him and gave him favor in the sight of the chief jailer. So it was the presence of God in the life of Joseph that distinguished him so much so that Potiphar saw the success in his life and that the chief jailer would see something different about Joseph as well because of the presence of God in his life.

Verse 23, the chief jailer did not supervise anything under Joseph's charge because the Lord was with him and whatever he did, the Lord made to prosper. You see that? What made Joseph so unique in his journey from being sold to the Israelites to going to Potiphar's house, to being lied about, thrown into prison, and then becoming the greatest leader in Israel, greater than even Potiphar or Pharaoh himself, it was because the Lord was with him. The presence of God was seen clearly in his life.

So the question comes, is the presence of God clearly seen in your life by your boss, by your teacher, by your coach, by your wife, by your husband, by your children, is the presence of God clearly seen because you are so dependent upon him for everything? That's why we praise him. The presence of God is actually unavoidable. You can't get away from him.

He's always there, which is a good thing. It's never a bad thing. And so the reason we can live a life of perpetual praise is because the power of God is actively available.

The promise of God is absolutely undeniable. And the presence of God is actually unavoidable. And we praise him for that.

Here's the next one. The providence of God is admittedly unsearchable. The providence of God is admittedly unsearchable.

2025 is past, 2026 is present. As you look back on 2025, there are things that have taken place in your life that you have no understanding of. You don't know why things happened the way they did.

You don't know why God did what he did. You have no understanding of that. As you embark on a brand new year, you're gonna face all kinds of things that you'll shake your head at.

You'll scratch your head at. You'll wonder what it is God is doing, but the providence of God is unsearchable. In other words, you're never going to understand it.

You must come to grips with that. And that's what causes us to praise him because he's in charge and you're not. Remember, God's sovereignty is the entire show.

God's providence are the details that define the show. That's how you tell the difference. God's sovereignty is how God has this complete and total show that's happening.

But the providence of God are the details on how the show was ran. And those details are unsearchable. You're gonna ask the question, why? That's always the wrong question.

The question is always who? That's why when Job asked the question, why, he never received an answer. He never received an answer as to why. Even after the Lord gave him twice as much as what he had before, he never understood why.

Because the providence of God is unsearchable. And God wanted Job to understand like he wants you to understand that it's not a question of why, it's a question of who. It's who I am, it's a revelation of who I am.

God does all these things in your life, whatever they may be, to demonstrate his person, who he is, because he wants you to worship him for who he is. He's the God who is sovereign over all. He rules over all.

Let me just read to you a couple of verses to set this in your mind. Some of them will be familiar to you, others will not. Romans 11:33, oh, the depth of the riches both of the wisdom and knowledge of God, how unsearchable are his judgments and unfathomable his ways.

For who has known the mind of the Lord or who became his counselor? Or who has first given to him that it might be paid back to him again? For from him and through him and to him are all things. To him be the glory forever, amen. All things are from him, all things go through him and all things come back to him again.

Paul would say to him be the glory, praise him for this. His ways are unfathomable, his will is unsearchable, his wonder is unimaginable. You cannot conjure up in your mind, in a finite mind, all the things that God is doing, but to him be the glory, to him be the praise forever and ever, because we know this, it's all from him, it goes through him and back to him again, because it's all about God.

See, what is happening to you in 2025 and what will happen to you in 2026 is never really about you, it's about the Lord and all that he's doing in and through you that he might be glorified. That's why his providence is admittedly unsearchable, but to him be the glory and praise forever and ever, amen. How about this, Deuteronomy 32, Song of Moses.

He's closing out his life, he's about to die. He's gonna give a historical perspective on Israel and then a prophetical perspective for Israel. It's a great song, he says this, verse one.

Give ear, O heavens, and let me speak and let the earth hear the words of my mouth, let my teaching drop as the rain, my speech distill as the dew, as the droplets on the fresh grass, as the showers on the herb, for I proclaim the name of the Lord, ascribe greatness to our God, the Rock. His work is perfect, all his ways are just. A God of faithfulness and without injustice, righteousness and upright is he.

Our God is the Rock and even though you might not understand anything about him, he is immovable, he is unchangeable. There is stability in God and all his ways are perfect. None of his ways are imperfect, they're all perfect.

Why, because they're couched in his righteousness, in his judgments that are pure and right. He goes on to say this in verse number eight. When the Most High gave the nations their inheritance, when he separated the sons of man, he set the boundaries of the peoples according to the number of the sons of Israel.

God did this, God gave you your inheritance, God set your boundaries. In other words, God gives you what you have and God shows you where you live. He sets the boundaries and the parameters of your home.

God does all that. We think we buy our house. That's so funny.

We think we buy our house, we think we get our jobs. We think we do all, we are so narcissistic, we think we do all that stuff. God grants you the inheritance, and God grants you the boundaries by which you live.

God does all that. He goes on to say this in verse number 10. He encircled him, he cared for him as Israel.

He guarded him as the pupil of his eye, like an eagle that stirs up its nest that hovers over its young. He spread his wings and caught them. He carried them in his pinions.

The Lord alone guided them. In other words, he's reviewing Israel's history and saying, look, you are where you are because God protected you, God guarded you, God took you from where you were and placed you right here. God did all this.

He's saying don't take credit for anything. Give God all the credit for everything because God did it. It says in verse number 39, see now that I, I am he, and there is no God beside me.

It is I who put to death and give life. God does this. Nobody dies unless God puts them to death.

Nobody lives unless God gives them life. He says I have wounded and it is I who heal and there is no one who can deliver from my hand. Moses is accentuating the providence of God in the life of Israel that they might learn to sing praises to his name and glorify him because God is in charge of everything and directing every aspect of your life. What a marvelous statement.

So Nebuchadnezzar had a vision. He needed someone to interpret the vision so he chose the chief of the magicians, Daniel, and Daniel would tell him of his vision of the great tree and told him what was going to happen in his life but Nebuchadnezzar never repented.

12 months later, everything happened just as the vision was prophesied. After seven years, Nebuchadnezzar says this. At the end of that period, I, Nebuchadnezzar, raised my eyes toward heaven and my reason returned to me and I blessed.

I praised the Most High and praised and honored him who lives forever for his dominion is an everlasting dominion and his kingdom endures from generation to generation. All the inhabitants of the earth are counted as nothing but he does according to his will in the host of heaven and among the inhabitants of earth and no one can ward off his hand or say to him what have you done.

This is Nebuchadnezzar. He's realized that God is providentially in charge, that God is the king and Nebuchadnezzar is not the king. God's the true king. He says in verse 37, now I, Nebuchadnezzar, praise, exalt, and honor the king of heaven for all his works are true and his ways just and he is able to humble those who walk in pride.

Again, he is acknowledging the providence of God working in his life because God is king over all. He is the one who's to be praised and exalted because he is the one in charge of everyone and everything and that's why his providence is admittedly unsearchable. He says, Nebuchadnezzar, who can ever say what have you done? But we say that.

Lord, what are you doing? Lord, why do you do this? And Nebuchadnezzar, the pagan, says, look, you can't say what have you done. Let's let God do what he does and rest in his providence because he's in charge. And then you have, of course, Psalm 104, verse 24, which says, O Lord, how many are your works? In wisdom, you have made them all.

The work of God is done by his wisdom. It's the wisdom that causes God to work the way he does. In every child that's born, in every event that happens, in every circumstance that goes by, it's all under the work of God formed by the wisdom of God.

The earth is full of your possessions, he concludes. How about this? Ecclesiastes 3, verse number 1. There is an appointed time for everything and there is a time for every event under heaven.

This is Solomon speaking. There is an appointed time for everything. In other words, everything that happens is done by divine appointment, everything.

Nothing is by accident. Everything is by divine appointment. And then he goes on to say, and he has made everything beautiful in its time.

That's in verse number 11. Not only is everything appointed, but everything that's appointed is beautiful in its time because God is the author of beauty and God, through his wisdom, performed the works that he did in order to bring about his glory.

Then he says this, verse 12. I know that there is nothing better for them than to rejoice and to do good in one's lifetime or over. And every man who eats and drinks sees good in all his labor, it is the gift of God. I know that everything God does will remain forever.

There is nothing to add to it, there is nothing to take from it, for God has so worked that men should fear him. I know that you can't change anything God does. And in fact, you can't add to what God has done.

And you can't take away to what God is going to do because what he has done, he has done so that man will learn to fear him. Other words, God's plan is concrete and God's plan is complete because you can't do anything to change it, add to it to make it any better or worse than it is. And then he says these words.

That which has been already and that which will be has already been for God seeks what has passed by. In other words, God requires an account for how does he respond to all that has taken place. And then he says in chapter seven of Ecclesiastes, these words, verse 13, consider, mathematical term, which means to look at all the facts, add them all together, consider the work of God.

For who is able to straighten what he has bent? In the day of prosperity, be happy. But in the day of adversity, consider that God has made the one as well as the other so that man will not discover anything that will happen after him. God's providence is unsearchable.

No way will you be able to ever understand why God does what he does. You have a finite mind. He has an infinite mind. So you rest in what he says and does.

Earlier in the book of Proverbs, Solomon would have said these words. Verse, chapter 16, verse number 1. The plans of the heart belong to man, but the answer of the tongue is from the Lord. You have plans for 2026? The answer, the final word, is from the Lord. Verse four, the Lord has made everything for its own purpose, even the wicked for the day of evil.

God makes everything for his own purpose. He even makes the wicked boss, the wicked coach, for the day of evil. Verse number 9 of chapter 16. The mind of the man plans his ways, but the Lord directs his steps. Again, man has a plan. We set goals and objectives, but it's God who directs the steps.

Then you go over to verse 33, same chapter. The lot is cast into the lap, but it's every decision is from the Lord. God has the final word on everything.

Chapter 19, same author. Verse number 21, he says these words. Many plans are in a man's heart, but the counsel of the Lord will stand.

We have plans, but the counsel of the Lord stands. Chapter 20, verse number 24, says this. Man's steps are ordained by the Lord.

How then can man understand his way? Answer, he can't. You have plans? You have plans to get married? You have plans to move? You have plans for a new job? You ever ask yourself why I can't find a husband? Why I can't find a wife? Where are they? So you make a plan. You make a plan to find a wife.

You make a plan to find a husband. I think God laughs at those plans because God in his providence has ordained that person already. God's gonna bring them to you in his time.

He's in charge. Man has a plan, but God directs his steps. God is in complete charge of everything, and yet we can't understand why because Solomon made it very clear.

He says your steps are ordained by the Lord. How can you ever understand his ways? You can't. So what do you do? You just praise him.

To him be the glory and honor forever and ever. Lord, your ways are unsearchable. Your wonder is unfathomable.

Your will is unimaginable. There's no way I can grasp what you're doing. Why did you take my wife? Why did you take my husband? You'll never get an answer to that.

God is not obligated to answer the why question, but he always gives you the answer as to who. He gives life, he puts to death. He's in charge.

He has a plan. In the providence of God, this was what he ordained to happen. Although we don't have an answer, we sit back and say, Lord, I rest in the providence of the living God.

And even though I can never understand why you did what you did, I praise you because you did what you did. You are the God in charge. And I thank you, Lord, that I'm not.

And that's a good thing. You don't wanna be in charge of your life because you're gonna make it a mess. God's in charge.

Let him do what he does and rest in his providence. Psalm 31, verse 14. But as for me, I trust in you, O Lord.

I say you are my God. This should be your verse for 2026. But as for me, I trust in you, O Lord. I say you are my God. And then verse 15, my times are in your hands. Isn't that great? That is so good.

That should be your theme verse. Psalm 31:14-15 for 2026. Lord, I trust you.

You are my God. And all my times, all my days, all my events, all my circumstances, because you have made everything beautiful in its time and you've appointed all things to happen at a particular time, my times are in your hands.

My dating life is in your hands. My marriage life is in your hands. My work life is in your hands. My school life is in your hands. My emotions in your hands. Everything about me, Lord, is in your hands. I trust you.

Why? Because you are my God. And I praise you. Let's pray.

Father, we thank you for today. There is so much to read in your word that will help us get a better grasp on all that happens, but yet we realize, Lord, that you are in control of everything. Our prayer today, Lord, is that we would be the kind of people who trust you and believe in you and never waver in our commitment to you and that, Lord, we would trust you because our times are in your hands.

May that be a theme for our lives as we leave this planet one day into your presence. Until that time, may we be found faithful in praising our God as we travel the pathway of praise. In Jesus' name, amen.