Magnify the Lord With Me
Psalm 34:3
Intro: The word MAGNIFY is interesting to me.
I looked it up in the 1828 Webster’s Dictionary.
MAGNIFY, verb transitive [Latin magnifico; magnus, great, and facio, to make.]
· To make great or greater; to increase the apparent dimensions of a body. A convex lens magnifies the bulk of a body to the eye.
· To make great in representation; to extol; to exalt in description or praise. The embassador magnified the king and queen.
· To extol; to exalt; to elevate; to raise in estimation.
NOTE: A Magnifying glass does not make anything bigger. It only makes it look bigger to the one that is looking.
We cannot make God any bigger than He already is!
We serve a Big God!!!
· 1 Kings 8:27 But will God indeed dwell on the earth? behold, the heaven and heaven of heavens cannot contain thee; how much less this house that I have builded?
Psalm 113
· 4 The LORD is high above all nations, and his glory above the heavens.
· 5 Who is like unto the LORD our God, who dwelleth on high,
· 6 Who humbleth himself to behold the things that are in heaven, and in the earth!
READ ISAIAH 40:12-28
Make no mistake: we cannot make God any bigger than He already is.
But we can live our lives in such a way that we magnify Him before others!
We can do that by praising and magnifying God.
We just came out of a week of revival.
One of the products of revival is PRAISE!!
· Psalms 85:6 Wilt thou not revive us again: that thy people may rejoice in thee?
I. The Continuation of my Praise – vs. 1 “…at all times…his praise shall be continually be in my mouth.”
· Psalms 71:6 By thee have I been holden up from the womb: thou art he that took me out of my mother’s bowels: my praise shall be continually of thee.
· Psalms 71:14 But I will hope continually, and will yet praise thee more and more.
· Hebrews 13:15 By him therefore let us offer the sacrifice of praise to God continually, that is, the fruit of our lips giving thanks to his name.
It is very interesting when you understand the time of David’s life that he was going through in this chapter.
A. It was a time of Fearfulness.
1 Samuel 21:10-15 Achish (same as Abimelech)
David was in one of the worst times of his life.
The name Achish means – “I will terrify a man.”
David was terrified of Saul – 1 Samuel 21:10
David was terrified of Achish – 1 Samuel 21:12
B. It was a time of Forgetfulness.
He was sore afraid of the king of Gath, after he had just killed their champion!
How do we explain being afraid of a the king of Gath when David had just killed Goliath in chapter 17?
C. It was a time of Foolishness.
He changed his behavior and feigned himself mad.
He scrabbled on the doors of the gate and let his spittle fall down upon his beard.
The king called him mad in verse 14 and 15.
David was going through a time in his life when he was completely out of sorts.
We see David feeling ways and acting ways that we never find him doing before or after.
But what did David not forget to do?
He didn’t forget to bless the Lord.
God is always worthy of our praise – regardless of our state of mind or our level of faith.
II. The Center of my Praise – vs. 2 “My soul shall make her boast in the Lord…”
David realized after his ordeal in Gath that he didn’t have much to boast about.
He didn’t boast in:
A. His Reputation in the World
David had brought about a great victory in chapter 17.
The people had sang to him in the streets – David has killed his 10,000’s.
The king of Gath had even heard about it.
B. His Relationship with God
Twice in 1 Samuel 18:12, 14 the Bible tells us that the Lord was with him.
He didn’t boast in that.
C. His Respect from the People
He was made the captain of 10,000 soldiers in 1 Samuel 18:13.
He behaved himself wisely and as a result, Saul feared him (vs. 12, 15)
Twice in chapter 18 the Bible tells that the people of Israel respected and revered David.
Vs. 13 and 16 tells us that they loved him and that he went out and came in before the people.
Yet David didn’t boast about any of these things.
He realized his fearfulness, his forgetfulness, his foolishness didn’t give him much to boast about.
It’s hard to boast in yourself when you’ve been acting like a fool.
He chose to boast only in the Lord. – Psalm 34:2
· Psalms 44:8 In God we boast all the day long, and praise thy name for ever. Selah.
III. The Challenge of my Praise – vs. 3 “O magnify the Lord with me, and let us exalt His name together.”
I love the fact that David wanted others to magnify the Lord with him.
God’s people were called to praise and magnify God.
· 1 Peter 2:9 But ye are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, an holy nation, a peculiar people; that ye should shew forth the praises of him who hath called you out of darkness into his marvellous light:
· Hebrews 13:15 By him therefore let us offer the sacrifice of praise to God continually, that is, the fruit of [our] lips giving thanks to his name.
We have PLENTY to praise God for! WE CAN MAGNIFY THE LORD:
1. Because He HEARETH – vs. 4, 6, 15, 17
2. Because He DELIVERETH – vs. 4b, 6, 7, 17, 18, 19
3. Because He COMFORTETH – vs. 5
4. Because He ENCAMPETH – vs. 7
5. Because He BLESSETH – vs. 8
6. Because He PROVIDETH – vs. 9, 10
7. Because He SEETH – vs. 15
8. Because He AVENGETH – vs. 16
9. Because He SAVETH – vs. 6, 18
10. Because HE KEEPETH – vs. 20
11. Because He REDEEMETH – vs. 22
12. Because He KEEPETH – vs. 22b
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