Open Hearted Worship Series

Sermon: Open Hearted Worship

True Worship Originates From An Open Heart

Big Idea: True Worship Starts in an Open Heart to God

Big Aim: motivate people to seek to worship God with heart wide open to Him

Dylan makes it plain when he likes something: I like-a Tom’s Truck, Daddy! I like-a Daddy’s red car (8 times before we make it 1 ½ blocks outta the ‘hood.) I like-a juice/this food/church. I don’t like the Y. “That’s fun, daddy, that’s fun!”

Heart of the matter

Cupid

Heart Attack

New heart.

Left my heart in SF (heaven?)

Who do you want to have your heart.

Ps 14: fool says “there is no God” in his heart

Ps 15: he who dwells with God speaks truth in his heart

Ps 26:3 for your love ever before me,

and I walk continually in your truth.

Jesus: What comes from the heart is what makes one clean or unclean (worshipping or not)

Big Idea: True Worship Starts in an Open Heart to God

Heart & Mind/Kidney/Reins

Tesh: “my deepest affections and innermost thoughts” (Psalms, vol 1, College Press, p. 227)

all use kidneys as a symbol of the innermost being. This is probably so since in dismembering an animal the kidneys are the last organ to be reached. In this usage it is frequently paralleled with heart (as it is at least once in Ugaritic). Jeremiah seems to be emphasizing this innermost idea when he says that the religion of the wicked is superficial, on their lips, but far from their kidneys

It is because the heart stands for human personality that God looks there rather than at our actions to see whether we are faithful or not. We are called upon to seek God with all our heart (Deut 4:29; 6:5), so that is where he looks to see if we are his people (1 Sam 16:7).

Jer 17:9 --10

My heart is not always focused and ready for contact with the Lord. Too busy, too hard, too divided, too scattered.

When I pray or think to God, sometimes I realize how distant I am.

Character, personality, will, mind are modern terms which all reflect something of the meaning of ‘heart’ in its biblical usage. (But cf. *Body where mention is made of synecdoche.)

H. Wheeler Robinson gives the following classification of the various senses in which the words lēḇ and lêḇāḇ are used.

a. Physical or figurative (‘midst’; 29 times).

b. Personality, inner life or character in general (257 times, e.g. Ex. 9:14; 1 Sa. 16:7; Gn. 20:5).

c. Emotional states of consciousness, found in widest range (166 times); intoxication (1 Sa. 25:36); joy or sorrow (Jdg. 18:20; 1 Sa. 1:8); anxiety (1 Sa. 4:13); courage and fear (Gn. 42:28); love (2 Sa. 14:1).

d. Intellectual activities (204 times); attention (Ex. 7:23); reflection (Dt. 7:17); memory (Dt. 4:9); understanding (1 Ki. 3:9); technical skill (Ex. 28:3) (latter two = ‘mind’ in rsv).

e. Volition or purpose (195 times; 1 Sa. 2:35), this being one of the most characteristic usages of the term in the OT.

As a broad general statement, it is true that the Bible places the psychological focus one step lower in the anatomy than most popular modern speech, which uses ‘mind’ for consciousness, thought and will, and ‘heart’ for emotions.

‘Mind’ is perhaps the closest modern term to the biblical usage of ‘heart’, and many passages in rsv are so translated (e.g. Ec. 1:17; Pr. 16:23). The ‘heart’ is, however, a wider term, and the Bible does not distinguish the rational or mental processes in the way that Gk. philosophy does.

The Deepest Depth show our allegiance. Or, IF the Deepest depths bear out.

Behind the Scenes: is it what the store front says?

The Psalmist is definitely comparing himself as on the opposite side of the wicked. We explored that David is not saying he is PERFECT, though he seems to use such language. WE know from David’s life that he wasn’t perfect, and he was deeply aware and openly acknowledged his sins.

He may have been a man that wanted the Lord to come to his aid: accusations or trouble, hard times, trials. If so, maybe v2 is pleading his cause that God will listen to him.

On the other hand, he may be a man who has been reflecting on the Lord’s word, and such Psalms as 1 which compares the way of the righteous with that of the wicked man. In that case, he may be wanting the Lord to test him and receive a reassuring word (vindicate) that the Lord sees him as being on the way of the Lord

Either way, he wants nothing to do with the ways of the wicked and wants to be found as true to God. His desire, his heart, is to be found with the Lord.