The Purple Chapters of Psalms: Praise Him!

The Purple Chapters, Sermon I:  Praise Him!  Psalm 103  3/1/2020

Bless the Lord, O my soul; And all that is within me, bless His holy name!

2 Bless the Lord, O my soul, And forget not all His benefits: -- Psalm 103:1-2

Why should we make time to praise (bless) The Lord?

1.  He is Worthy of Praise!  (Complacency)

•  Do what the Psalmist did, make a list of all He has done for you!

9 He will not always strive with us, Nor will He keep His anger forever.  10 He has not dealt with us according to our sins, Nor punished us according to our iniquities.  11 For as the heavens are high above the earth, So great is His mercy toward those who fear Him;  12 As far as the east is from the west, So far has He removed our transgressions from us. -- Psalm 103:9-12

1.  Because it Reinforces Gratefulness and Contentment, it improves our attitude!

•  Statistics on Depression

•  Statistics on Happiness in America

•  Statistics on Gratefulness in America

(Electricity and Plumbing, along with almost all other modern conveniences have commonly developed in the last 100-150 years)

1.  Because it adds depth and volume to our prayer life.  (Stale Prayers)

•  When something is stale it is no longer fresh, it becomes dry and unpleasant to eat.  In a way, all the life is gone from it.

• How deep could your prayer life go if you explore the depths of gratefulness?

• How much more often, and how much longer, would you pray if you prayed like the Psalmist?

Let us pray.

Depression Statistics

Major depressive disorder affects approximately 17.3 million American adults, or about 7.1% of the U.S. population age 18 and older, in a given year. (National Institute of Mental Health “Major Depression”, 2017)

1.9 million children, 3 – 17, have diagnosed depression. (Centers for Disease Control “Data and Statistics on Children’s Mental Health”, 2018)

Substance use: Over 20%  of Americans with an anxiety or mood disorder such as depression have an alcohol or other substance use disorder (both alcohol and other substances) experience depression. (National Epidemiologic Survey on Alcohol and Related Conditions 2001 – 2006)

Depression is the leading cause of disability worldwide and is a major contributor to the overall global burden of disease. (World Health Organization, 2017)

Depression is the cause of over two-thirds of the 30,000 reported suicides in the U.S. each year. (White House Conference on Mental Health, 1999)

Suicide was the second leading cause of death among individuals between the ages of 10 and 34, and the fourth leading cause of death among individuals between the ages of 35 and 54. (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, National Center for Injury Prevention and Control. 2018)

From 2001 through 2017 for the total population, the total suicide rate increased 31% from 10.7 to 14.0 per 100,000. (National Institute of Mental Health, 2018)

Happiness Statistics

Since the 1990’s the number of people surveyed shows that levels of happiness have decreased in the US by 50%

Republicans have maintained much higher rates of happiness since the 1970’s, the survey shows, regardless of who was in the White House, due to their “religiousity” which is linked in other studies to more happiness and satisfaction.

Gratefulness Statistics in US

Upper Middle Class has increased since the 70’s from 13%-30%

More than half of ALL Americans are considered high income, by global standards, and only 2%  are considered poor.

“Fantastic” products are cheaper than ever before requiring the time spent to earn for a refrigirator to drop over 52%, Microwave over 95%, and a gas range by 65%.

Yet, less than half of the people surveyed in 2018 claimed they were proud to be an American….

The Purple Chapters of Psalms: Praise Him!