Why do I worship – Because God Has Done Great Things
Question:
What makes you sing? A familiar song on the radio?
What makes you dance? A beat or rhythm with music that makes you want to move?
What makes you smile? A baby’s gurgling glance? A sunset that takes your breath away?
What makes your mouth water? An aroma of a freshly baked pie?
What makes you worship God?
Today’s answer to this question will deal with the “Great things” God has done on our behalf.
Most of us can probably describe something that we credit God for doing for us.
Occasionally we will do a service that deals with giving thanks and will ask folks to recall and describe the things God has done for them. In fact, this week in our Wednesday prayer meeting, we had an incredibly joyous time of praise because we had several reports of God’s wonderful and miraculous provision. We will hear some of those praises later today.
The Hebrew Name for God that describes this facet of His nature is Jehovah Jirah. – “God who Provides.”
There are many other Hebrew names for God:
Jehovah-Rohi The Lord my Shepherd
Jehovah-Rophe The Lord our Healer
Jehovah-Tsidkenu The Lord our Righteousness
Jehovah-M’ Kaddesh Lord our Sanctifier
Jehovah-Shammah The Lord is There
Jehovah-Shalom The Lord our Peace
Jehovah-Nissi The Lord our Banner
Jehovah-Yaway The Self Existent, Self sufficient, immutable One
Each of these names describes a specific revelation of God’s nature that has been given to His people.
And do you remember what worship is? It is the response of all I am to the revelation of who God is.
So core to the act of worship is the revelation of God.
Without the revelation of God, our worship would be pretty weak and self-oriented.
There are two kinds of “revelation:”
RHEMA and LOGOS –
Logos is the written revelation, the knowledge ABOUT God that we find written in the word of the bible or that we can ascertain from looking at creation and the universe around us.
It is not personal but it is factual.
It deals with the mind’s ability to comprehend it.
Rhema is personal revelation. It is the knowledge OF God that comes from personal interaction with the Spirit of God.
It is what happens when you open your bible and words jump off the page at you and mean something personally to you.
It is what happens when you experience a series of coincidences and come to the realization that maybe God is speaking to you.
In fact, if you think about it, the reason worship may be lacking in a church or in an individual’s life may be that there has been little interaction and RHEMA revelation between God and that person or congregation.
You may not be able to experience RHEMA if you aren’t in the LOGOS.
That is, to hear the voice of God you have to read His Word.
His voice isn’t going to come out of left field.
You must seek God with all your heart, diligently.
Why do I mention this? Because as I just mentioned, worship is a RESPONSE to the REVELATION of God.
No revelation…no response!
Has God has done great things?
God deserves our worship not because of what He has done for us, but for who He is.
What He does reflects and reveals who He is!
T hat is why experiencing and watching what He does is so important.
We will worship God when we encounter the revelation of God.
This morning I want to take you through what it means to worship God out of a response to what He has done in your life.
Some of you know that Jennifer, Kristina and I were in a serious car accident last Sunday evening on our way home from church. Our accident was just one of three that members of our congregation were in last weekend.
Our accident occurred when a woman who had been drinking, turned in front of us as we were going down Rt. 84. We barely had time to hit our brakes and found ourselves in a smoking, steaming heap of metal. Fortunately we were able to get out of the vehicle and wait for the rescue squad.
Our injuries were not serious, although Jennifer was heavily bruised and the car is totaled.
Now I wish I could honestly say that I praised God in the hour that followed the accident.
But I was deeply shaken, angry with the other driver, and worried about my family. Prayer didn’t even come out of my lips until we got to the hospital.
(that is why Christians are needed at accident scenes…to do what the victim isn’t able to do)
In the hours that followed, thanksgiving and gratitude to God began to flow,
first that we were alright,
thanksgiving that some of you rushed to our aid at the hospital while others prayed,
thanks that the other driver was not hurt,
gratitude that we had uninsured motorists protection,
thankful that our car was designed to protect us,
grateful that our air bags went off,
thankful that we had an extra car…the list went on and on.
God had done a great thing…He had protected us.
But then a question floated into my mind….God, why didn’t you PREVENT this accident from happening?
I wonder if Stephanie’s family asked the same question in her accident…I wonder if Gene and Andrea asked that question as well.
But then God led me to a passage of scripture that put my mind to rest.
In the book of Isaiah chapters 36-37, I came across the account of when Sennacharib, King of Assyria’s invaded Israel and Judah and how he surrounded Jerusalem and threatened to conquer the city under King Hezekiah.
I imagine that the Jews in Jerusalem are wondering why God is allowing this invading army to get so close to the city.
They are probably wondering why God isn’t giving their army victory.
They are fasting and praying and wondering why their doom seems at hand.
Then something miraculous happens. The first biological weapon of mass destruction is released against the Assyrian camp and 185,000 soldiers are killed. So the king of Assyria leaves and goes back to Assyria and Jerusalem is spared.
What is the attitude of the Israelites at that point? How do they feel?
Are they still wondering why God “allowed” the King of Assyria to attack them…or are they now focused upon their miraculous deliverance?
Are they focused upon themselves or upon God?
Of course, they are looking at God who has revealed Himself by providing for them at just the right moment.
They are worshipping Him!
During the War of 1812: Fall of 1814, British troops move toward DC. The young US soldiers cannot repel them and cannot stop them.
People are evacuating DC, praying for deliverance.
The very thought that after 35 years of freedom that the nation might return to captivity is terrifying!
The British burn DC mercilessly, the capital, the white house, every single govt. building but the post office.
Then the unimaginable happens. The strongest hurricane ever to hit the East coast strikes at the moment that DC is burning, extinguishing the flames.
Then, as if the very hand of God had reached down in indignation...tornadoes strike the occupying British troops and kill more than the defending army had.
The British retreat from DC, battered and worn...not from battle but from what insurance companies used to call an "Act of God."
The History Channel’s account remains secular, but I try to imagine what the reaction of President Madison and the residents of DC was after witnessing this event.
There must have been a certain feeling of doom and hopelessness they would have experienced as they watched the city burn...even with faith, they had to be discouraged.
They had to be asking…why hasn’t God protected us? Where is God when we need His help?
Then, when the storm strikes, they have to wonder, they have to have a sense of awe, especially as they watch the British evacuate.
Not unlike the siege of Jerusalem during Hezekiah’s reign, when Senacharib threatened the city and was ready to destroy it.
Nothing but the literal hand of God could deliver them.
How did they feel? What was their reaction? What would they do when they found deliverance? When they watched God work? They did what we would do, they worshipped the God who had saved them!
In the same account from Isaiah, we find that after this miraculous deliverance, Hezekiah falls ill and is told his illness is one that will take his life. Hezekiah prays for healing and after weeping bitterly, finds out from the prophet Isaiah that he will live because God has heard his prayer. He is told he will have 15 more years to his life.
Imagine you are King Hezekiah.
You find out you have terminal cancer…and that there is no hope. No cure.
You despair. You cry out to God. And then the unimaginable happens…you go for your checkup with the doctor and he says the cancer is gone! You have got a lifetime still ahead of you.
What is your response?
Are you going to be angry with God for letting you get sick in the first place?
That is the attitude of someone who thinks God owes them an easy comfortable life.
That attitude is one that is really something that has become the norm only in the past 50 years or so, in America.
It is an attitude that somehow believes that we DESERVE to live lives that are problem free.
We act as if God owes it to us to have wealth, health and no trouble.
But we don’t deserve it.
In fact the bible says, “The righteous man may have many troubles.” (Ps. 34:19)
No one has an easy life guaranteed to them.
The hard truth is that trouble is the norm…and the miracle is that we don’t suffer more than we do.
1 Peter 4:12 “Do not be surprised at the painful trial you are suffering, as though something strange were happening to you.”
James 1:12 “Blessed is the man who perseveres under trial”
Did you see it? Trial and trouble is part and parcel to life.
Our blessing isn’t being spared trouble, but comes through perseverance through it!
We also must recognize that God doesn’t owe us anything.
We owe Him everything. We deserve nothing but death itself. But by His great love and grace, He hasn’t given us what we deserve…instead, He has given us what we don’t deserve.
The bible says that, “All of us also lived among them at one time, gratifying the cravings of our sinful nature and following its desires and thoughts. Like the rest, we were by nature objects of wrath. But because of His great love for us, God, who is rich in mercy, made us alive with Christ even when we were dead in our trespasses.” (Eph 2:3-5)
2 Cor 1:3-4 “Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of compassion and the God of all comfort, who comforts us in all our troubles.”
God is our refuge in our time of trouble. Trouble is guaranteed. But it is our choice on what we do when we are faced with it.
Let’s look at Hezekiah’s situation and the choices he makes
Isaiah 38:12-20
Living Bible:
12 My life has been blown away like a shepherd’s tent in a storm. It has been cut short, as when a weaver cuts cloth from a loom. Suddenly, my life was over.
Have you ever felt that way…faced with disaster, pain, illness, some kind of loss, or grief?
There is a despair that blows in when we are in trouble.
There is a confusion that sweeps over us when we are stricken with tragedy or a trial.
13 I waited patiently all night, but I was torn apart as though by lions. Suddenly, my life was over.
In this verse, you can probably relate to the struggle Hezekiah is going through. He is praying, he is waiting on God and not getting an answer. He sees the end of his life. The sign says, “End of the Road”.
14 Delirious, I chattered like a swallow or a crane, and then I moaned like a mourning dove. My eyes grew tired of looking to heaven for help. I am in trouble, Lord. Help me!"
He has run out of gas. He has no more strength. He barely can even look to heaven. One more time he cries out, “Lord help me!”
It is in the place where we have nothing left, no more energy, no more strength, that the cry finally comes from our heart. We cry from the depths of our being and not just from our head.
15 But what could I say? For he himself had sent this sickness. Now I will walk humbly throughout my years because of this anguish I have felt.
As he gets news of his healing, he gains perspective on life and on God. He has glimpsed a sight of God’s love and provision for him. He is no longer looking at the tragic illness and trial…”for He Himself had sent this sickness.” Rather he is now looking at God who has shown His great power in deliverance.
16 Lord, your discipline is good, for it leads to life and health. You have restored my health and have allowed me to live!
There are those who would rather have an easy life and not have God.
But there are also those who would rather have God more than they would anything else. God is for eternity.
17 Yes, it was good for me to suffer this anguish, for you have rescued me from death and have forgiven all my sins.
Has your trial brought you to the place where you have been broken before Him?
Has your trial brought you to the place where you have given up trying to live on your own strength and chosen to live for Him, no matter the outcome?
Has your trial led you to experience God?
All of God’s discipline, all of our hardship is wasted if it does not turn us to God.
Do you really want to waste the pain you have endured?
Then don’t change, don’t look for God in the midst of it.
Stay bitter, stay angry at God.
Or you can look to God.
18 For the dead cannot praise you; they cannot raise their voices in praise. Those who go down to destruction can no longer hope in your faithfulness.
19 Only the living can praise you as I do today. Each generation can make known your faithfulness to the next.
20 Think of it—the LORD has healed me! I will sing his praises with instruments every day of my life in the Temple of the LORD.
These last three verses are filled with worship. He has experienced God and counts that far better than anything God can give him. He has tasted and seen that the Lord is Good.
Hezekiah has come to the place of seeing God in a way He had never seen Him before.
Have you?
How about you?
Maybe the question for someone here today isn’t “Why do I worship” but rather, “Why don’t you worship?”
What barriers have you put up against encountering God?
Has your life been so filled with trouble, have things not gone right for you…and you are angry with God?
Here is a question for you:
Has God changed?
Have His promises been nullified?
God doesn’t change and He doesn’t back away from us. We back away from Him.
Have you stepped away from Him?
Have you been demanding God be your personal genie instead of God?
When He is God, He is the center of the universe not you.
If the question for you today is “Why don’t I worship” instead of “why do I worship” then you may need to examine where you are at with God.
Jesus laid down his life for you when you didn’t deserve it.
The bible says that “whosoever believes (places his trust) in Him will have eternal life.”
But you have to turn from being the center of the universe to letting God be God.
Are you willing to do that today?
Will you turn from that self directed life…or will you let all of the suffering and trials you have experienced go to waste?
As Hezekiah said, “Yes, it was good for me to suffer this anguish, for you have rescued me from death and have forgiven all my sins”
Won’t you let Him forgive all your sins today?
The rest of us may be at a place where we aren’t paying attention to what God is doing for us.
But when we stop long enough to count our blessings, we see that we can honestly say, “I worship You because of the great things You have done!”
Like when God provided free food for my family while I was trying to support my family on a part-time job in seminary.
Like the testimony you will hear after the service from Sabrina.
What about you?
What do you give God credit for? What are you thankful for His work in doing? What great things has He done in your life?
If you will stop long enough to write them down, you will see how worthy He is of worship!
I have heard of this fantasy of what heaven is like.
All of the believers in Jesus Christ will come and be gathered in this great and massive sanctuary and we will spend the first 10,000 years (if time is even relevant) in worship, for we will see God for the glory of who he is.
Then, after 10,000 or so years these gigantic monitors, like at a Bill Gaither concert, will come up and we will watch the history of the world unfold, from start to finish.
We will see how God has been intimately involved in the unfolding of human history.
We will look at spiritual warfare as it has been.
We will see the dynamics behind W.W.II.
We will see that God has done mighty things in the course of human history.
After seeing all that, we will spend another 10,000 years praising God for the good things that he has done.
Then we will go off into little separate rooms, nicely furnished according to your style, and these 27-inch TVs are going to pop up with surround sound.
For another 10,000 or 20,000 years or so, and we will watch every moment of our own personal lives, with the Holy Spirit as our companion.
We will see how God was involved in everything in our lives, how he has blessed us more than we could have ever known, and how he has redeemed every pain that we have ever experienced. Everything.
And then, after that, what do you do when God has done great things in your life?
You gotta’ let it out.
And we will come back into this massive sanctuary and we will praise the Lord, who has done great things in our lives. We will worship God saying. “Great things you have done!”
Will you let God do great things in your life? Surrender to Him today!
