Why Do I Worship?
1 Chronicles 13:1-14, 15:1-16
Why do I worship?
We are coming to the end of a series of sermons on different attitudes that we need to change. Today, we are going to talk about changing my attitude about worship.
What was the reason that the people in this passage decided to worship God? What is the reason that you and I decide to worship God? DO you and I come here to worship God because we like to sing? Do you and I come here to worship God because we like the kind of music that we hear at this worship service? Do you and I worship God here because we like the time of day that it is done? Do you and I come here to worship God because you and I have to do it as a job? Why do you worship?
I want to challenge you this evening to look at worship in a different way. You see, there is a right way to worship and a wrong way to worship.
The Ark of the Covenant is the metaphor for worship in these verses. More importantly, the Ark of the Covenant represents the presence of God. The Ark was a reminder to the people of Israel of the power and presence of God in their lives. The Ark held the Ten Commandments, and the Aaron’s staff. These objects represented the ways and powers of God that He had showed in the lives of the people. But the Ark when it was carried properly, allowed God to speak to the people and lead the people. When the Ark (as a symbol of His presence) was carried, the people could see God in their lives.
Worship, as seen here is defined as "seeking the presence of God."
and let us bring back the ark of our God to us, for we did not seek it in the days of Saul."
(1 Chronicles 13:3 NASB)
Worship is therefore seeking the presence of God. How do you seek the presence of God? How should we worship? We should worship or seek the presence of God in a way that God wants it. We should worship God or seek Him in a way that honor and glorifies God, not me.
Let us first talk about what the presence of God is NOT. God wants worshipers who worship Him in spirit and truth. So how do I seek God’s presence in my life?
THE PRESENCE OF GOD IS NOT:
PROP - You don’t worship the tools of worship. You don’t worship the Ark (the container of the covenant.) You don’t worship the guitar, the piano, the screen, the overhead projector, or any other thing.
PERFORMANCE - You don’t worship the worshipers who seek God, nor should you worship the style. Worship cannot be planned for maximum efficiency. You can’t simply say that we need to worship in this order with so many songs. Worshiping God is not the same as going to a concert.
The presence of God is not a performance. You can’t plan "How to get into the presence of God." Entering the presence of God is an art, not a science. You cannot fake worship. Worship is not like watching TV. You go to the TV to turn off your MIND. You go to worship to turn on your HEART. Real worship requires your head and your heart.
PLACE - You don’t worship the location. This church is no holier a place to worship God than any other place. Until this point in the history of God’s people - the people of Israel, there was no place for them to worship. The tabernacle was simply a tent. The ark rested in a tent.
We went to a museum of Jewish history while we were in Paris this past week. I was amazed at how many props that were used in worship in the life of Israel. There were pieces of clothing. There were rings, bells, and the shofar horn. There were objects used in the sacrifice of the animals before God. There was a podium where the Word of God was read. There was even an object used to help a person point to the words of God. But there was no place.
After the Babylonians came to Israel and scattered the Jews, they built boxes that held all these tools. But in their entire history, there was no actual place. Now David help with his son Solomon to build a building that would house the ark and could be used to show the presence of God. But God never was limited to a place. He has never been limited to any place. Wherever there have been worshipers who have seeked God, they have found Him. He said this many times.
The LORD will stay with you as long as you stay with him! Whenever you seek him, you will find him. But if you abandon him, he will abandon you.
(2 Chronicles 15:2 NLT)
With my whole heart I have sought You;
Oh, let me not wander from Your commandments!
(Psalms 119:10 NKJV)
And you will seek Me and find Me, when you search for Me with all your heart.
(Jeremiah 29:13 NKJV)
It is good to seek God with your whole heart.
I love those who love me,
And those who seek me diligently will find me.
(Proverbs 8:17 NKJV)
If you seek God, you will find Him.
"I was sought by those who did not ask for Me;
I was found by those who did not seek Me.
I said, "Here I am, here I am,’
To a nation that was not called by My name.
(Isaiah 65:1 NKJV)
Even if you are not seeking God, even if you don’t have a relationship with God, He is seeking you.
The presence of God is not a PROP, a PLACE, nor a PERFORMANCE. The presence of God, which is symbolized by the ark, is a POSITION. The presence of God is a position in which we stand with God.
So I should seek the presence of God in my life. I worship because I recognize that I need God. I need God and so I seek His presence. I propose to you this evening that the way to seek God’s presence is to "raise sounds of joy."
Read with me the second passage for this sermon:
1 Chronicles 15:1-16
Notice in this second passage that David realized that the people had been seeking God (or worshiping God) in the wrong way. They never bothered to ask God how He wanted to be worshiped. They never looked to God and His ways. This is the reason why Uzzah was killed. He was not killed because God hated the man. God had an order to how He should be worshiped and the people had not looked to God for that order. In the Old Testament times, there were one tribe called to carry the ark. That tribe were the Levites. Uzzah was not a Levite. God was saying, worship Me in a way that honors Me. Seek Me and I will show you how to worship Me in a way that honors Me.
So David goes back to God in prayer and He discovers when He reads God’s Word some ways in which God wants His people to seek Him. Here is what He discovered.
Then David spoke to the leaders of the Levites to appoint their brethren to be the singers accompanied by instruments of music, stringed instruments, harps, and cymbals, by raising the voice with resounding joy.
(1 Chronicles 15:16 NKJV)
The way to seek God’s presence is to RAISE SOUNDS OF JOY.
There were many ways in which the people were asked to raise sounds of joy.
There were people who played MUSICAL INSTRUMENTS:
All kinds of musical instruments can be used to worship God. God does not forbid the instruments of music. You can play the drums and worship God. You can play a gong and worship God. You can play any instrument and use it to worship God.
There were people who sang SONGS:
13:16 and 13:19 shows that these worshipers played and sang.
There were people who KEPT THE GATES:
and with them their brethren of the second rank: Zechariah, Ben,[1] Jaaziel, Shemiramoth, Jehiel, Unni, Eliab, Benaiah, Maaseiah, Mattithiah, Elipheleh, Mikneiah, Obed-Edom, and Jeiel, the gatekeepers;
(1 Chronicles 15:18 NKJV)
The word used here for gatekeeper is the same that is used for the word janitor or custodian. There were thousands of these custodians in the nation of Israel. There were many people who were needed to take care of the physical matters related to worship. If these people were here, they would be preparing the baptistery, running the technical parts of music. So these people can help raise sounds of joy in a way that is clearly understood.
There were people who CARRIED THE ARK:
How do I raise a sound of joy by carrying? If the Ark represents the presence of God. So the people who carried the Ark carried the presence of God into the lives of the people. Everyone of us worships God when we carry the presence of God into our lives.
Let’s go back to the definition that we saw earlier. We noted that worship is when we seek the presence of God, and that we should seek God’s presence by raising sounds of joy. Since we learned that God’s presence is not found in just one place, we can carry God’s presence with us. Just as people carried God’s presence in the midst of the people, you and I can carry God’s presence in our lives to other people around us.
This joy that we express to God today should be carried to other people who need that joy. You carry the laws of God in your heart. You carry the example of Jesus in your life. What is carried is meant to be shared. You don’t seek the presence of God so that you can be joyful for your own sake. You can carry that joy and give it to other people.
The ark of God remained with the family of Obed-Edom in his house three months. And the LORD blessed the house of Obed-Edom and all that he had.
(1 Chronicles 13:14 NKJV)
Charles Spurgeon said about this text: We are responsible to God for our faith; we are bound to believe what he tells us to believe, and our judgment is as much bound to submit to God’s law as any other power of our being. When we come before God, it will be no excuse for us to say "My Lord, I did wrong, but I thought I was doing right." "Yes, but I gave you my law. but you did not read it, or, if you read it, you read it so carelessly that you did not understand it, and then you did wrong, and you tell me you did it with a right motive.
So they carried the ark of God on a new cart from the house of Abinadab, and Uzza and Ahio drove the cart.
(1 Chronicles 13:7 NKJV)
I want you to notice the reason why God struck Uzzah. Because it all has to do with blessing. It all has to do with how we carry the blessing of God when we have seeked Him. The Ark stayed in the house of Abinadab - the father of Uzza. When David had the ark moved, the ox falls and Uzzah panics. We don’t know the reason why he panics. We only knows that he tries to take the Ark and save it. God became angry. Why? Uzzah stopped seeking the presence of God with joy and became worried about the tool of God’s presence. He took His eyes off of what God wanted him to do. Now, Uzzah’s reasons may have been honorable. He did not want to see the Ark break into pieces. But God was angry because Uzzah stopped seeking the presence of God. I agree with Spurgeon in that I don’t think Uzzah lost his eternal salvation. I also agree with Spurgeon. I believe we should be responsible with our faith. And I believe his death was an example to the people. Uzzah and Obed-Edom have one thing in common. Both were blessed. As they decided to seek God’s presence with joy, God honored that quest and blessed the family. However, when Uzzah decided to stop looking for God’s presence in his life and start to worry about other things, the consequences came. They were personally difficult consequences. When we decide to not seek God’s presence in our lives with joy, we run the risk of the consequences that Uzzah encountered.
When you and I seek the presence of God in our lives, God is honored. When we carry God’s presence to other people, He blesses us.
So to answer our question that we posed at the beginning. Why do I worship? I worship because I want to seek God’s presence with joy, and I want to carry that presence with me to other people. As I do this, I will take the blessing that God shares with me and share that blessing with other people.
