Come And Worship! Series

SERMON OUTLINE:

A Call to Rejoice (1-5)

A Call to Reverence (6-7a)

A Call to Respond (7b-11)

SERMON BODY:

Ill:

• Stuart Sacks tells the story of when he was serving as a missionary in Paraguay,

• A Maka Indian named Rafael came to sit on my porch.

• Stuart was eating and went out to see what he wanted.

• Raphael the Maka Indian responded, "Ham, henek met."

• So Stuart again asked him; “What can I could do for you?”

• And once again the answer was: "Ham, henek met."

• Stuart understood the language but he did not understand its significance:

• Raphael the Maka Indian was saying:

• "I don’t want anything; I have just come near."

• Later on when Stuart shared the incident with another missionary.

• The other missionary explained that it was Rafael’s way of honouring him.

• He really didn’t want anything; he just wanted to sit on his porch.

• He found satisfaction and pleasure just being near to him!

• TRANSITION:

• This Psalm is a Psalm of worship;

• We are called to draw close to God and find pleasure in him!

(1). A call to rejoice (vs 1-5).

“Come, let us sing for joy to the LORD;

let us shout aloud to the Rock of our salvation.

2 Let us come before him with thanksgiving

and extol him with music and song.

3 For the LORD is the great God,

the great King above all gods.

4 In his hand are the depths of the earth,

and the mountain peaks belong to him.

5 The sea is his, for he made it,

and his hands formed the dry land”

Note: This passage gives us at least 5 characteristics of worship.

(1). WORSHIP IS COLLECTIVE.

• Did you notice that Three times in verses 1 and 2 we read, “Let us…”

• i.e. “Let us sing for Joy”

• i.e. “Let us shout aloud the Rock of our salvation”

• i.e. “Let us come before him with thanksgiving”

• While worship should have a private element to it throughout the week,

• The psalmist here is stating that worship is designed to be congregational,

• Not merely individual.

Note:

(a).

• In the Old Testament God again and again and again;

• Called his people Israel to come together and worship him;

• This Psalm is one example of that!

(b).

• In the New Testament when the Church came together;

• One of the ways they expressed their faith was through collective singing;

• i.e. Ephesians chapter 5 verses 19 & Colossians chapter 3 verse 16.

• The instruction is to “…sing ‘psalms, hymns and spiritual songs”.

(c).

• In heaven we read that collective worship is one its key features:

• i.e. Revelation chapter 7 verse 9:

“After this I looked, and there before me was a great multitude that no one could count, from every nation, tribe, people and language, standing before the throne and before the Lamb. They were wearing white robes and were holding palm branches in their hands”.

• So while worship can and should have a private element to it throughout the week,

• The psalmist here is stating that worship is designed to be congregational,

• God enjoys his people coming together to sing his praise.

(2). WORSHIP IS VOCAL.

• Verse 1: "Sing".

• Verse 1: "Shout".

Ill:

• Cornish tin miner Billy Bray,

• Had what for some was the annoying habit of shouting out “Hallelujah”.

• Some people in the Church promised him a new pair of boots if he kept quiet.

• Half way through the preachers sermon he shouted out: “Boots or no boots, HALLELUJAH!”

We are encouraged in this Psalm:

• To express ourselves audibly:

• Throughout Christian history this has been happening:

ill:

• One church may chant the Psalms in prose,

• Another may sing them in metrical form,

• Another congregation may read them out loud,

• Another may sing them in the form of a hymn or chorus,

But whichever way you prefer or practice – do it!:

• Praise is rooted in a person’s heart & mind,

• And expresses itself as an audible noise.

• Because you cannot "Sing, or shout, or speak",

• Without coming out with some sounds.

Ill:

• Some people have natural talents,

• Some people have spiritual gifts.

• Note: There is no gift of praise, there is no gift of prayer!

• One is a response, and one is a discipline.

(3). WORSHIP IS VIBRANT AND VIGOROUS.

• Verse 1: "Sing".

• Verse 1: "Shout".

• Verse 2: “…extol him with music and song.”

• According to this Psalm;

• We are to participate with joyful, grateful praise and to be enthusiastic in our worship.