Magnify the LORD with Me (Psalm 34)

2018 is virtually over. 2019 will be upon us before we realize it. And we’re already thinking about what we’ll do differently, maybe make some New Year’s resolutions.

But they don’t last. 80% of New Year’s resolutions have been abandoned by February. Another 12% are forgotten by the end of the year. So, only 8% of New Year’s resolutions work.

Why do we fail when we know we need to change?

The experts say that we make too many, too general, too costly, and unmeasurable. We try to do too much, without counting the cost, or really knowing how to do it, and we don’t even know if we’ve achieved it.

So, how can we change? There is a guaranteed way to change, and it’s not a 30-day, money-back guarantee. It always works. The way to change is to ask God help you be what He promises to make you.

God tells us His will for us in 1 Thessalonians 4:3: “This is the will of God, your sanctification.” So, if we ask God to sanctify us, to make us holy, He will.

Today, we’re going to think about just one way God makes us holy: in our thoughts and in our words. In Psalm 34, David tells us the resolution he made, a resolution that changes our hearts, our thoughts and our words:

1. Make A (New?) Resolution: Continual Praise (v1-3)
2. Feel An Eternal Motivation: Fear (v4-14)
3. Depend Upon God’s Action: Keeping (v15-22)

Notice that the change doesn’t depend on our will-power. It depends on what God has done and keeps doing. That’s how we know we can change, and that’s why this change will last: it depends on God. So, what change is God calling us to as the New Year begins?

Sunday 30th December 2018

Review questions:

• What change does God guarantee (1 Thessalonians 4:3)?
• What is worship?
• Our words reveal our __________ (Luke 6:45)
• How do we worship God (v1, Colossians 3:16, Romans 12:1-2)?
• Why should we praise God (v4-10)?
• ‘The fear of the LORD’ means ___________ that leads to ____________ (v7)
• We learn to fear God by ________________________________ (v11-14)
• What should we do in trouble (v15, Romans 8:14-17)?
• Where is God when I suffer (v18)?
• God kept __________, so He can __________ us, if we trust Him (v20, John 6:38-40).
• A question I have:
• A truth to share:
• Something to pray about:
• How I should live: