PSALM 95
COME! AM 1/8/06
This is a worship service. Here are some quotes on worship:
If worship does not change us, it has not been worship. To stand before the Holy One of eternity is to change. Worship begins in holy expectancy; it ends in holy obedience.
Richard J. Foster (1942- ) -Edythe Draper, Draper's Book of Quotations for the Christian World (Wheaton: Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., 1992). Entry 12105, Bible Illustrator 3.0
The dearest idol I have known,
Whate'er that idol be,
Help me to tear it from its throne,
And worship only thee. William Cowper (1731-1800), Draper Entry 12115
The worship of God is not a rule of safety-it is an adventure of the spirit. Alfred North Whitehead (1861-1947) Draper Entry 12119
To worship is to quicken the conscience by the holiness of God, to feed the mind with the truth of God, to purge the imagination by the beauty of God, to open the heart to the love of God, to devote the will to the purpose of God.
Archbishop William Temple (1881-1944) Draper Entry 12124
Worship is giving to God the best He has given us.
Oswald Chambers (1874-1917) Draper 12134
This is a worship service.
Based on these quotes, how are you doing so far?
Have your worshiped this morning?
Are you worshipping?
Will you worship?
Gathering for worship is not a new thing.
It has been done by the Christians for 2000 years.
It has been done by the Jewish people many centuries longer than that!
Psalm 95 is a call to worship.
The Psalmist was inviting his fellow Jews to true worship.
The Psalmist is inviting you and me to true worship.
If we are going to worship together, we should do it in a way that pleases God. So, the Psalmist invites us to come!
COME JOYFULLY – Vs. 1
COME THANKFULLY – Vs. 2
COME KNOWLEDGABLY – Vss. 3-5
COME REVERENTLY – Vss. 6-7
COME REPENTANTLY – Vss. 8-11
COME JOYFULLY – Vs. 1
Vs. 1 – The Jewish religion was a joyful religion.
Christianity is a joyful religion.
Yes, there are times of sorrow.
Yes, there are times for repentance.
Yes, there are times to grieve.
But by and large, Christianity is a religion of joy.
It is a joy to know the God of the universe personally.
It is a joy to come before God in the name of His Son, the Lord Jesus Christ.
It is a joy that God encourages us to come to Him. He’s not standoffish.
It is a joy that our sins are forgiven.
It is a joy that we have eternal life.
It is a joy that He will never leave or forsake us.
It is a joy that He protects us.
It is a joy that He heals us.
We are told to come with singing.
We are told to come with shouting, a joyful noise.
Our worship should be enthusiastic on the outside, because we are enthused on the inside.
Ephesians 5:18-19 - And be not drunk with wine, wherein is excess; but be filled with the Spirit; [19] Speaking to yourselves in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody in your heart to the Lord;
Colossians 3:16 - Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly in all wisdom; teaching and admonishing one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing with grace in your hearts to the Lord.
Our outward worship should be an expression of what is going on in our hearts!
Worship is a privilege. We should be joyful in that privilege.
Notice who we are worshipping! We are worshipping the LORD – We are worshipping Jehovah, the great “I AM”, the self existent God of the universe.
We are worshipping the “rock of our salvation”.
A rock can not be moved. Our salvation as Christians is “rock solid”! When Jesus said, “On this rock I will build my church,” the rock that He was referring to was himself.
Your salvation, if you are saved is worth singing and shouting about.
Your salvation is worth getting excited over.
Listen carefully to the words of Ephesians 2:1-7:
And you hath he quickened, who were dead in trespasses and sins; [2] Wherein in time past ye walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that now worketh in the children of disobedience: [3] Among whom also we all had our conversation in times past in the lusts of our flesh, fulfilling the desires of the flesh and of the mind; and were by nature the children of wrath, even as others. [4] But God, who is rich in mercy, for his great love wherewith he loved us, [5] Even when we were dead in sins, hath quickened us together with Christ, (by grace ye are saved;) [6] And hath raised us up together, and made us sit together in heavenly places in Christ Jesus: [7] That in the ages to come he might shew the exceeding riches of his grace in his kindness toward us through Christ Jesus.
Did you worship joyfully earlier in this service?
Do you think that you might joyfully tonight, or next Sunday Morning, or in your own personal prayers?
COME JOYFULLY – Vs. 1
COME THANKFULLY – Vs. 2
Vs. 2 – There are people I only hear from if they want something. Do you know people like that?
When does God hear from you?
And when God does hear from you, do you come with a thankful heart for all that he’s already done?
Do you begin your approach to the “throne of grace” with a thankful heart?
We train our children and our grandchildren to say, “thank you”.
We think it terribly rude when others do not thank us.
It is a common courtesy to say, “thank you”.
God keeps you alive. Do you say “thank you”?
God answers your prayers. Do you say “thank you”?
God has saved you and given you eternal life. Do you say “thank you”?
God provides you with food, clothes and shelter, do you say “thank you.”
God listens when you hurt. Do you say “thank you”.
If I were to ask you if it is hard to know the will of God, some of you would say “yes”.
Let me share with you one simple thing that is God’s will.
When we give thanks to God, we are doing God’s will.
1 Thessalonians 5:18 - In every thing give thanks: for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus concerning you.
George Herbert wrote:
Thou hast given so much to me,
Give one thing more – a grateful heart:
Not thankful when it pleases me,
As if thy blessings had spare days,
But such a heart whose pulse may be Thy praise.
COME JOYFULLY – Vs. 1
COME THANKFULLY – Vs. 2
COME KNOWLEDGABLY – Vss. 3-5
The better we know about God, and the better we know God, the more joyful and thankful we will be when we come into his presence.
Vs. 3 - There are so many ways that God is a great God, many we have already mentioned. But I think that two of the greatest things about our God are His holiness and His omnipotence. Nothing is impossible to Him.
God is great because He is holy. He is totally set apart from all that is evil, wrong, and wicked in this world. This puts God in a league of His own.
1 Samuel 2:2 - There is none holy as the Lord: for there is none beside thee: neither is there any rock like our God.
Isaiah 6:1-4 - In the year that king Uzziah died I saw also the Lord sitting upon a throne, high and lifted up, and his train filled the temple. [2] Above it stood the seraphims: each one had six wings; with twain he covered his face, and with twain he covered his feet, and with twain he did fly. [3] And one cried unto another, and said, Holy, holy, holy, is the Lord of hosts: the whole earth is full of his glory. [4] And the posts of the door moved at the voice of him that cried, and the house was filled with smoke.
God is holy, and therefore worthy of our worship.
God is all-powerful, omnipotent, with Him nothing is impossible. Again, He is worthy of our worship.
Jeremiah 32:17 - Ah Lord God! behold, thou hast made the heaven and the earth by thy great power and stretched out arm, and there is nothing too hard for thee:
Luke 1:37 For with God nothing shall be impossible.
Luke 18:27 - And he said, The things which are impossible with men are possible with God.
The more we have a working knowledge that nothing is impossible with God, the more we will trust Him
When it says that God is a great king above all gods, the psalmist is not saying that other gods are real. He is acknowledging that there are things that people have made to be gods, and God is superior to all of them.
Psalm 96:5 - For all the gods of the nations are idols: but the Lord made the heavens.
Vs. 4 – God is in control of the deepest places in the earth, some of which man has never been to.
God is also in control of the highest mountain peaks.
Vs. 5 – God made the sea and everything in it.
God made the dry land and everything in it.
Psalm 19:1 - The heavens declare the glory of God; and the firmament sheweth his handywork.
In 1715 King Louis XIV of France died after a reign of 72 years. He had called himself “the Great,” and was the monarch who made the famous statement, “I am the state!” His court was the most magnificent in Europe, and his funeral was equally spectacular. As his body lay in state in a golden coffin, orders were given that the cathedral should be very dimly lit with only a special candle set above his coffin, to dramatize his greatness. At the memorial, thousands waited in hushed silence. Then Bishop Massilon began to speak; slowly reaching down, he snuffed out the candle and said, “Only God is great.” Today in the Word, April, 1989, p. 24. http://www.bible.org/illus.asp?topic_id=626
Only God is great! The more working knowledge we have of this fact, the more adamant we will be in our worship of Him.
COME JOYFULLY – Vs. 1
COME THANKFULLY – Vs. 2
COME KNOWLEDGABLY – Vss. 3-5
COME REVERENTLY – Vss. 6-7
Vs. 6 – When we worship we give honor and glory to God.
The word “worship” in Hebrew means to prostrate oneself. We know what it means to bow and kneel.
When we are reverent, we are humbling ourselves before God.
In this church we don’t literally kneel when we pray or worship. But we should be kneeling in our hearts, submitting to God. I recommend that you kneel to pray when and if you can at home.
I see a general lack of reverence in church.
It wouldn’t hurt to save our visiting with neighbors until after the service is over, and prepare our hearts for worship before the service starts.
If we talk and carry on with our neighbors or friends during a service we are not practicing reverence, but disrespect for God.
Vs. 7 gives us reasons for the reverence we should show to God.
First of all, The Lord is our God. You reverence what you worship. If God is truly your God, you will reverence Him.
Also notice that we should reverence God because we are the people in his pasture, and thus, the sheep of his hand, or “under his care”.
Please say the 23rd Psalm with me thinking of God’s care for you.
The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want. [2] He maketh me to lie down in green pastures: he leadeth me beside the still waters. [3] He restoreth my soul: he leadeth me in the paths of righteousness for his name's sake. [4] Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil: for thou art with me; thy rod and thy staff they comfort me. [5] Thou preparest a table before me in the presence of mine enemies: thou anointest my head with oil; my cup runneth over. [6] Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life: and I will dwell in the house of the Lord for ever.
Is this Psalm true?
Then, reverence the shepherd.
COME JOYFULLY – Vs. 1
COME THANKFULLY – Vs. 2
COME KNOWLEDGABLY – Vss. 3-5
COME REVERENTLY – Vss. 6-7
COME REPENTANTLY – Vss. 8-11
In spite of this great invitation to come and worship, there is also a warning and an abrupt warning at that.
This warning also calls us to repentance.
Vs. 8 - If we will hear God’s voice calling us to worship Him, (Vs. 7), let’s not harden our hearts.
Something that is hardened is not soft and pliable, not flexible, and not moldable. Stubborn is probably a good synonym.
Hearing the Word of God, obeying it, and applying it to your own life, will make you constantly repentant of the sins that God reveals to us. This will make you pliable, molable in God’s hands.
Failure to obey God’s Word and failure to believe God will lead to harden hearts.
When the children of Israel were relatively recently out of Egypt and headed for the Promised Land they came to a place called Rephidim (Exodus 17). There was no water there. The people complained against Moses and God instead of trusting God. Moses was told by God to strike a rock and water came out of the rock.
The place was called Massah and Meribah, or in English, test and quarreled. They tested God’s patience with their unbelief and quarreled with Moses.
Vs. 9 – This is one example of what went on during the time of Israel’s wilderness wanderings.
They were constantly testing and proving God, although they had constantly seen God’s miracles in Egypt and in the wilderness.
Their ultimate unbelief was shown when 12 spies checked out the Promised Land. Ten of them brought a bad report of the Land God wanted them to enter. Two spies, Joshua and Caleb believed that God would give them victory in the land.
The Children of Israel however griped and complained, and even wanted to return to the bondage of Israel. The end result was 40 years of wandering. All the adults except Caleb and Joshua died in the wilderness because of their unbelief. Their children entered the land.
Israel’s bottom line problem was unbelief.
Vs. 10 – God was grieved with this generation because erred in their hearts and did not know God’s ways.
Should they have believed? Yes! They saw so many miracles.
Should they have known God’s Ways? Yes! Moses was teaching them.
Vs. 11 – Because of their unbelief these people never entered the rest of the Promised Land.
The Psalmist is telling us not to be like these people!
When it comes to worshipping God, don’t be stubborn.
Don’t be hard hearted.
Worship God by believing what he says and doing it!
Repent of those things that keep us from entering Spiritual rest!
Hebrews 3:18-19 - And to whom sware he that they should not enter into his rest, but to them that believed not? [19] So we see that they could not enter in because of unbelief.
True worship involves resting in God.
In what ways do you show your unbelief as you try to Worship?
Do you worry?
Do you allow your mind to wander?
Do you make something or someone else in your life more important than God? That’s worshipping idols!
Do you do things that the Word of God tells you not to do?
How do we fix this problem? Ezekiel 14:6 - Therefore say unto the house of Israel, Thus saith the Lord God; Repent, and turn yourselves from your idols; and turn away your faces from all your abominations.
Turn away from anything that is keeping from true worship.
Matthew 6:24 - No man can serve two masters: for either he will hate the one, and love the other; or else he will hold to the one, and despise the other. Ye cannot serve God and mammon.
Trying to worship God and trying to hold on to your own selfish ways is like a man trying to keep two wives. Besides being illegal and against God’s will, it just doesn’t work! One will be loved more than the other and neither will be happy!
God wants you to worship Him!
He wants you to come!
COME JOYFULLY – Vs. 1
COME THANKFULLY – Vs. 2
COME KNOWLEDGABLY – Vss. 3-5
COME REVERENTLY – Vss. 6-7
COME REPENTANTLY – Vss. 8-11