Worship: Style Verses Substance
Part II
Psalm 96:1-13
Purpose: To describe how to get closer to our God.
Aim: I want the listener to work at intentionally worshiping God.
INTRODUCTION: The media industry is obsessed with glory. Magazines and other publications seek to display the beauty and the talents, that is: The glory of actors, singers and other famous people. It doesn’t matter if its Sport’s Illustrated, American Idol, or dancing with the stars, they all exist to display the glory various people. We have an inborn desire to be associated with glory. Our goal as Christians, though, should be to be to focus on the glory of God instead of the glory of people or things in this world.
Paul said that we are sinful people because we have, “...worshiped and served the creature rather than the Creator, who is blessed forever. Amen” (Romans 1:25 NAU).
REVIEW:
I. What Is Worship?
✔ Biblical worship is an expression of intense love for God with a deep sense of reverence.
II. How Can We Tell When Worship is Real?
A. Worship is not ritual
B. Worship does not require a place
C. Worship requires a revelation of God
D. Worship must be through Christ alone
III. How is Worship Expressed?
A. Worship is expressed through joyful praise
B. Worship is expressed through thankfulness
C. Worship is expressed in our self-sacrifice
D. Worship is expressed in our love for others
E. Worship is expressed in music
LESSON:
IV. What Are the Results of Worship?
A. Real worship brings a greater awareness of the presence of God
☛ In 2 Chronicles 5:13 we find what God required before He revealed His presence: in unison when the trumpeters and the singers were to make themselves heard with one voice to praise and to glorify the Lord, and when they lifted up their voice accompanied by trumpets and cymbals and instruments of music, and when they praised the Lord saying, “He indeed is good for His lovingkindness is everlasting,” then the house, the house of the Lord, was filled with a cloud, (NAU)
Psalm 100:2 Serve the Lord with gladness; Come before Him with joyful singing. (NAU) Psalm 100:4 Enter His gates with thanksgiving And His courts with praise. Give thanks to Him, bless His name. (NAU)
✔ Psalm 16:11 . . . In Your presence is fullness of joy . . . . (NAU)
B. Real worship brings greater strength to serve God
☛ 2 Chronicles 20:15-22 15 and he said, “Listen, all Judah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem and King Jehoshaphat: thus says the Lord to you, ‘Do not fear or be dismayed because of this great multitude, for the battle is not yours but God’s. 16 ‘Tomorrow go down against them. Behold, they will come up by the ascent of Ziz, and you will find them at the end of the valley in front of the wilderness of Jeruel. 17 ‘You need not fight in this battle; station yourselves, stand and see the salvation of the Lord on your behalf, O Judah and Jerusalem.’ Do not fear or be dismayed; tomorrow go out to face them, for the Lord is with you.” 18 Jehoshaphat bowed his head with his face to the ground, and all Judah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem fell down before the Lord, worshiping the Lord. 19 The Levites, from the sons of the Kohathites and of the sons of the Korahites, stood up to praise the Lord God of Israel, with a very loud voice. 20 They rose early in the morning and went out to the wilderness of Tekoa; and when they went out, Jehoshaphat stood and said, “Listen to me, O Judah and inhabitants of Jerusalem, put your trust in the Lord your God and you will be established. Put your trust in His prophets and succeed.” 21 When he had consulted with the people, he appointed those who sang to the Lord and those who praised Him in holy attire, as they went out before the army and said, “Give thanks to the Lord, for His lovingkindness is everlasting.” 22 When they began singing and praising, the Lord set ambushes against the sons of Ammon, Moab and Mount Seir, who had come against Judah; so they were routed. (NAU)
✔ Psalm 18:3 I call upon the Lord, who is worthy to be praised, And I am saved from my enemies. (NAU)
“Worship prepares the heart and makes prayer, Bible study, and obedience a great privilege and joy, a real delight instead of a duty.” Walter Werner
C. Real worship brings greater contentment with God
☛ Psalm 63:1-5 1 You are my God; I shall seek You earnestly; My soul thirsts for You, my flesh yearns for You, In a dry and weary land where there is no water. 2 Thus I have seen You in the sanctuary, To see Your power and Your glory. 3 Because Your lovingkindness is better than life, My lips will praise You. 4 So I will bless You as long as I live; I will lift up my hands in Your name. 5 My soul is satisfied as with marrow and fatness, And my mouth offers praises with joyful lips. (NAU)
Worship is all about God. The question we should ask about our worship is, “What will glorify God,” NOT “What makes me feel worshipful.”
Psalm 18:3 I call upon the Lord, who is worthy to be praised, . . . (NAU)
Here is the most basic reason for our praise to God: He is “worthy to be praised” [Hebrew halal, “praise with a loud voice”].” The most primitive meaning of halal is “to cause to shine.” Thus, with our praise, we are throwing the spotlight on our God, who is worthy and deserves to be praised and glorified. The more we put the spotlight on Him, the more He causes us to shine. Modern medicine attests to the value of bringing a depressed person into a brightly lighted room, acknowledging that light greatly helps to heal their depression. How much more will praise introduce the light of God and bring us into the joy of the Lord. [Hayford, J. W., & Thomas Nelson Publishers. (1995). Hayford’s Bible handbook. Nashville - Thomas Nelson Publishers.]
Worship is not a feeling because worship is not about us, but worship will produce a greater feeling of satisfaction with God and His will.
D. Real worship brings a desire to worship more
Psalm 71:14 But as for me, I will hope continually, And will praise You yet more and more. (NAU)
Hebrews 13:15 Through Him then, let us continually offer up a sacrifice of praise to God, that is, the fruit of lips that give thanks to His name. (NAU)
V. How Can We Get Close to God in worship?
☛ Notice how worship is describe in Hebrews 10:22 let us draw near with a sincere heart in full assurance of faith, having our hearts sprinkled clean from an evil conscience and our bodies washed with pure water. (NAU)
LET US DRAW NEAR is a call to worship.
A. We must have a single focus in order to worship “a sincere heart”
Our complete purpose must be to glorify God. We are not worshiping if we are trying to feel better about ourselves, or if we would really rather be doing something else.
Worship begins with a commitment to worship. Psalm 146:1-2 1 Praise the Lord! Praise the Lord, O my soul! 2 I will praise the Lord while I live; I will sing praises to my God while I have my being. (NAU) Psalm 9:1 I will give thanks to the Lord with all my heart; I will tell of all Your wonders. (NAU)
B. We must trust Christ’s forgiveness in order to worship “in full assurance of faith”
We must believe that we are completely accepted by God and forgiven because of what Jesus has done for us. We cannot worship God thinking that we are earning some favor with God.
Look at the context of this verse. Hebrews 10:10 By this will we have been sanctified through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all. (NAU) Hebrews 10:19-21 19 Therefore, brethren, since we have confidence to enter the holy place by the blood of Jesus, 20 by a new and living way which He inaugurated for us through the veil, that is, His flesh, 21 and since we have a great priest over the house of God, (NAU)
C. We must have humble hearts in order to worship
“our hearts sprinkled clean from an evil conscience”
We can only come into God’s presence when we see ourselves as loathsome sinners that God has forgiven.
The blood of Christ is the only reason we can be in God’s presence.
D. We must turn away from any know sin in order to worship “Bodies washed with pure water”
The picture here is the daily washing of the body. Before we can worship, we must deal with any sins that we know of. 1 John 1:9 If we confess our sins, He is faithful and righteous to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. (NAU)
Matthew 5:23-24 23 “Therefore if you are presenting your offering at the altar, and there remember that your brother has something against you, 24 leave your offering there before the altar and go; first be reconciled to your brother, and then come and present your offering. (NAU)
CONCLUSION: Maybe you have been attending church for years, but you’ve never really experienced the nearness of God. Maybe you have never sensed His nearness even in your own private devotions and prayers.
Now you have heard that Christ gave Himself to pay for your sin on the Cross so that you could worship Him. Worship is the reason why you were created.
Spend some time every day learning what God is like from the Bible. More and more you will experience what it is to worship God in spirit and truth.
We may be truly said to worship God, though we lack perfection; but we cannot be said to worship Him if we lack sincerity. Stephen Charlock
[Thomas, I. (1996). The golden treasury of Puritan quotations. Includes index of authors. General index created by Christian Clasics Foundation. (electronic ed.). Simpsonville SC: Christian Classics Foundation.]
