I Will Give Thanks to the Lord...In the Congregation
Psalm 111:1-4
Praise the Lord!
I will give thanks to the Lord with my whole heart,
in the company of the upright, in the congregation.
Great are the works of the Lord,
studied by all who delight in them.
Full of splendor and majesty is his work,
and his righteousness endures forever.
He has caused his wondrous works to be remembered;
the Lord is gracious and merciful.
Praising God is a good thing to do. In fact, it’s better than a good thing to do. It’s what our life is about. It’s why we were made. God made us to know him, to experience his goodness through his word and works, and to praise him for it. We were made for worship. But in Psalm 111:1, the psalm-writer goes farther than that. He says he will give thanks to God in a particular place: “in the company of the upright, in the congregation.” Now why is that? Isn’t praise more personal than that? Isn’t it about my personal relationship with Jesus?
While we certainly should praise God personally, the manifold reasons we have to praise God ought not stay with us. And Psalm 111:2 tells us why: “Great are the works of the LORD, studied by all who delight in them.” The church (i.e. “the congregation”) is the gathering place of all those who have made God-exalting, Christ-centered, Spirit-empowered worship the delight of their lives. Read that again: the local church is the gathering place of all those who have made God-exalting, Christ-centered, Spirit-empowered worship/praise the delight of their lives. So, when you stand in front of the congregation to testify about God’s work in your life, what used to be reason for one person to thank and praise God has now become reason for hundreds of Christians (depending on the size of the congregation!) to thank and praise God.
Towards the end of 2017, Pastor Conley preached a series of sermons on the topic of Testifying to our church family. Then, at the start of 2018, we began having members of our church testify during our Evening Gathering about God’s goodness and faithfulness in their lives. We’ve heard testimonies of God’s faithfulness in trials. We’ve heard testimonies of God’s graciousness in salvation. We’ve heard testimonies of God’s work in evangelism. We’ve heard testimonies of God’s power at work around the world from gospel partners. We’ve heard testimonies of God’s leading in bringing members into our church family. And we’ve praised God together for these things. For those who have sat through these testimonies, you’ve often heard a murmur of praise to God when they finish. It's a murmur of Psalm 111:3: “Full of splendor and majesty is his work, and his righteousness endures forever.”
In early 2019, we began saving the recordings of these testimonies and posting them on a secure page of our website for our members to view after the fact. We’ve often heard from members who are away on a Sunday that one of the main things they miss is the testimony on Sunday nights. Since 2019, we’ve gathered over 80 of these testimonies. I would encourage you to take some time to look over this page and watch the ones you’ve missed, or re-watch some that you’ve forgotten. Contact the HP office for the password. Watching these will cause your heart to swell with gratitude, giving you new reasons to delight in God’s works. “He has caused his wonderous works to be remembered; the LORD is gracious and merciful” (Psalm 111:4).