How Do You Honor God The Father In Worship?

How do you Honor the Father in Worship?

One little boy's definition of Father's Day went like this, "Well, it's just like Mother's Day only you don't spend so much." Well we fathers can concede that. Someone said, "A father is someone who carries pictures where his money used to be." And the phone company tells us that calls on Father's Day are not as high in number as calls on Mother's Day and most of them are collect.

Many of us have been blessed by godly, loving earthly fathers. Some of us have had imperfect fathers, and some of us had no earthly father for reasons beyond our control. But regardless of the circumstances of your earthly family, each of have something in common, a deeper connection to one another, we have a Heavenly Father who loves us profoundly…so much so that he sent His only begotten son, Jesus, to die in our place of punishment for the forgiveness of sins against His Holy Being and His Holy Word. And so it seems fitting on this Father’s Day that we would Honor him in this worship service.

And to do this, to truly honor The Father, we must look to these scriptures to guide us and instruct us. Do you recall the word of Jesus in John 4:23 (ESV) — 23 But the hour is coming, and is now here, when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth, for the Father is seeking such people to worship him.

The greatest way to honor God the Father, is to worship Him rightly, in Spirit and in Truth!

So please turn with me to Psalm 103, Psalm 103 - A Psalm of David. Say 'Word' when you get there!

Did you know Psalm 103 is part of duet of Psalms, the second being Psalm 104. Together they form a pair of praise psalms. As one writer put it, “In the galaxy of the Psalter these are twin stars of the first magnitude.”3 (Derek Kidner)

Another Said, Psalm 103 is “one of the finest blossoms on the tree of biblical faith” (A. Weiser)

For you and me, this Psalm is “key” to unlocking the right attitudes and right actions of worship. My prayer for you today is that this passage will renew your mind and kindle afresh intimate worship with your Heavenly Father.

TRANSITION

So the question before us today and the title of this sermon is “How do you Honor the Father in Worship”?

PROPOSITION

From Psalm 103, David provides us 5 critical steps in building a foundation to honor rather than dishonor God the Father in our worship.

They are as follows:

OVERVIEW OUTLINE

1) Commence Worship by Blessing the Father (Psalm 103:1) Personal praise

2) Cease from Forgetting the Father’s Benefits (Psalm 103:2-5) Personal Praise

3) Comprehend the Limits of the Father’s Anger (Psalm 103:6-12) National Praise

4) Consider the Father’s Compassion (Psalm 103:13-18) National Praise

5) Continue in Worship by Obeying the Father’s Word (Psalm 103:19-22) Universal Praise

TRANSITION

Let’s begin by looking with me at verse one:

I. Commence Worship by Blessing the Father (Psalm 103:1)

Psalm 103:1 (ESV) — 1 Bless the LORD, O my soul, and all that is within me, bless his holy name!

This psalm begins with a most amazing word Bless. Circle or underline this word! It is used 7 times in this psalm. Verse 1, Verse 2, Verse 20, Verse 21, Verse 22. Every use but one is a command. And since it is a command, it is an act of our will. Therefore worship cannot begin until you and I, by the act of our will, take action to worship. It is not passive, but active! But what does it mean to bless? After a thorough study of this word bless in the Old Testament, there are three meanings wrapped into one word:

First, it means to praise, to acknowledge His Word, His Character, His Deeds, for example

Second, it means to adore, being affectionate, to love, do you recall

Third, it means to exalt, to yield in submission to Him

This is how we bless our God – by praising, adoring, and exalting!

Not only is worship an act of our will, but it engages our complete being.

David writes, “O my soul, and all that is within me”

Your soul is your true person, it is your spirit, and all that is within me is not referring merely to your organs, but referring to your complete material being. I think Deuteronomy 6:5 expresses this best: 5 You shall love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your might.

God Honoring Worship therefore cannot be compartmentalized. We cannot come to worship knowing there are areas of our life not in submission to Him. We should not dare to enter worship without being full engaged with Him, undistracted. We have to rightly align our thinking and our lives to honor God in worship because He is Worthy. And that’s why the Psalmist directs us to Bless is Holy Name