The Four Pulleys of Praise

Isaiah 25:1-4 O LORD, thou art my God; I will exalt thee, I will praise thy name; for thou hast done wonderful things; thy counsels of old are faithfulness and truth. 2 For thou hast made of a city an heap; of a defenced city a ruin: a palace of strangers to be no city; it shall never be built. 3 Therefore shall the strong people glorify thee, the city of the terrible nations shall fear thee. 4 For thou hast been a strength to the poor, a strength to the needy in his distress, a refuge from the storm, a shadow from the heat, when the blast of the terrible ones is as a storm against the wall.

I.  What is a pulley?

 

A.  A simple machine consisting essentially of a wheel with a grooved rim in which a pulled rope or chain can run to change the direction of the pull and thereby lift a load.

B.  If you have a weight of 100 pounds suspended by a rope, it will take 100 pounds on the other end of the rope to continue the suspension.

C.  To lift that same 100 pounds it will require any weight over 100 pounds.

1.  Even the use of one pulley will require extra effort to raise the load.

D.  In order to lift a load that is heavier than you, you must use more pulleys.

E.  The use of 4 pulleys is called a block and tackle.

F.  As you add pulleys to the load the easier it is to lift the load.

At this juncture, use the diagram and object lesson.  Use one of the little children in the congregation who cannot lift more than 30 pounds.

II.  There are burdens we carry and barely suspend.

 

A.  Notice I said suspend.  We don’t gain the mastery of the burdens.  We don’t overcome the burdens.  We are in a state of just suspending them.

B.  I believe God has given us the power to do more than just suspend our burdens.

1.  God has given us power to lift our burdens.

2.  Those who lift their burdens gain the master over them.

C.  Verse 1 of our scripture text tells us Isaiah will praise the Lord because He has done wonderful things.

D.  Verse 2 tells us how God overthrows the enemy.  How God overcomes our obstacles.

1.  A defended city brings to mind the city of Jericho.

a.  Jericho was the first obstacle standing in the way of Israel possessing the promises of God.

b.  No one had ever conquered Jericho.  It was too well defended.

c.  How was Jericho conquered?……through praise!

2.  The palace of strangers speaks of the fortress of the enemy.

a.  Christ already told us the gates of hell shall not prevail against the church.

b.  Hell is not afraid of a quiet church.

c.  The devil is undisturbed by a complacent church.

d.  The enemy of your soul laughs with scorn at someone who has no strength to lift the burdens they carry.

E.  Verse 3 speaks of the strong people glorifying God.

1.  The reason is because with all their innate strength, they will never be able to stand against God.

2.  You don’t need to be physically strong to be victorious in God.

3.  You will never have enough ability to move your burdens.

III.  You need the four pulleys of praise.

A.  Pulley number one is a desire to praise.

Psalm 145:2 2 Every day will I bless thee; and I will praise thy name for ever and ever.

1.  You’ve got to have the want to.  Nobody can make you praise God.

2.  This is our freewill offering of ourselves to Him.

B.  Pulley number two is accepting the responsibility to praise Him.

Psalm 139:14 14 I will praise thee; for I am fearfully and wonderfully made: marvellous are thy works; and that my soul knoweth right well.

1.  Because we are fearfully and wonderfully made it is our responsibility to                                     praise God.

2.  If we have breath, it is our responsibility to praise God.

C.  The third pulley is the effort or actually doing it.

Psalm 111:1 Praise ye the LORD. I will praise the LORD with my whole heart, in the assembly of the upright, and in the congregation.

1.  We have to make up our minds we will praise God.

2.  This will always take an effort on our part.

3.  That effort is magnified by the work of the other pulleys.

D.  Pulley number four is maintaining that level of praise.

Psalm 146:2 2 While I live will I praise the LORD: I will sing praises unto my God while I have any being.

1.  No matter what, as long as we live, we will praise Him.

2.  The song says, praise Him in the morning, praise Him in the noontime, praise Him when the sun goes down.

3.  Too many times we have the desire, we accept the responsibility, we make the effort but when victory or deliverance does not come immediately we don’t maintain that level of praise.

IV.  If you are carrying burdens and loads you can’t seem to move, try the four pulleys of praise.

A.  Get the desire to praise God.

B.  Accept your responsibility to praise God.

C.  Just do it.

D.  Maintain it.

V.  The next thing you know, your burdens seem lighter.

A.  The effort is not as great.

B.  The load is easier to move.

C.  Put your hand to the rope and praise!!!!!