SERMON OUTLINE:
A Call to Rejoice (1-5)
A Call to Reverence (6-7a)
A Call to Respond (7b-11)
SERMON BODY:
Ill:
• Stuart Sacks tells the story of when he was serving as a missionary in Paraguay,
• A Maka Indian named Rafael came to sit on my porch.
• Stuart was eating and went out to see what he wanted.
• Raphael the Maka Indian responded, "Ham, henek met."
• So Stuart again asked him; “What can I could do for you?”
• And once again the answer was: "Ham, henek met."
• Stuart understood the language but he did not understand its significance:
• Raphael the Maka Indian was saying:
• "I don’t want anything; I have just come near."
• Later on when Stuart shared the incident with another missionary.
• The other missionary explained that it was Rafael’s way of honouring him.
• He really didn’t want anything; he just wanted to sit on his porch.
• He found satisfaction and pleasure just being near to him!
• TRANSITION:
• This Psalm is a Psalm of worship;
• We are called to draw close to God and find pleasure in him!
(1). A call to rejoice (vs 1-5).
“Come, let us sing for joy to the LORD;
let us shout aloud to the Rock of our salvation.
2 Let us come before him with thanksgiving
and extol him with music and song.
3 For the LORD is the great God,
the great King above all gods.
4 In his hand are the depths of the earth,
and the mountain peaks belong to him.
5 The sea is his, for he made it,
and his hands formed the dry land”
Note: This passage gives us at least 5 characteristics of worship.
(1). WORSHIP IS COLLECTIVE.
• Did you notice that Three times in verses 1 and 2 we read, “Let us…”
• i.e. “Let us sing for Joy”
• i.e. “Let us shout aloud the Rock of our salvation”
• i.e. “Let us come before him with thanksgiving”
• While worship should have a private element to it throughout the week,
• The psalmist here is stating that worship is designed to be congregational,
• Not merely individual.
Note:
(a).
• In the Old Testament God again and again and again;
• Called his people Israel to come together and worship him;
• This Psalm is one example of that!
(b).
• In the New Testament when the Church came together;
• One of the ways they expressed their faith was through collective singing;
• i.e. Ephesians chapter 5 verses 19 & Colossians chapter 3 verse 16.
• The instruction is to “…sing ‘psalms, hymns and spiritual songs”.
(c).
• In heaven we read that collective worship is one its key features:
• i.e. Revelation chapter 7 verse 9:
“After this I looked, and there before me was a great multitude that no one could count, from every nation, tribe, people and language, standing before the throne and before the Lamb. They were wearing white robes and were holding palm branches in their hands”.
• So while worship can and should have a private element to it throughout the week,
• The psalmist here is stating that worship is designed to be congregational,
• God enjoys his people coming together to sing his praise.
(2). WORSHIP IS VOCAL.
• Verse 1: "Sing".
• Verse 1: "Shout".
Ill:
• Cornish tin miner Billy Bray,
• Had what for some was the annoying habit of shouting out “Hallelujah”.
• Some people in the Church promised him a new pair of boots if he kept quiet.
• Half way through the preachers sermon he shouted out: “Boots or no boots, HALLELUJAH!”
We are encouraged in this Psalm:
• To express ourselves audibly:
• Throughout Christian history this has been happening:
ill:
• One church may chant the Psalms in prose,
• Another may sing them in metrical form,
• Another congregation may read them out loud,
• Another may sing them in the form of a hymn or chorus,
But whichever way you prefer or practice – do it!:
• Praise is rooted in a person’s heart & mind,
• And expresses itself as an audible noise.
• Because you cannot "Sing, or shout, or speak",
• Without coming out with some sounds.
Ill:
• Some people have natural talents,
• Some people have spiritual gifts.
• Note: There is no gift of praise, there is no gift of prayer!
• One is a response, and one is a discipline.
(3). WORSHIP IS VIBRANT AND VIGOROUS.
• Verse 1: "Sing".
• Verse 1: "Shout".
• Verse 2: “…extol him with music and song.”
• According to this Psalm;
• We are to participate with joyful, grateful praise and to be enthusiastic in our worship.
Music in the Church has always often led to disagreements:
• i.e. Christians argue over whether they should we sing old hymns or praise choruses?
• i.e Should the musical style be traditional, rock, contemporary, or…other!
• i.e What instruments should we use:
• i.e Organs and pianos, or guitars, flutes, trumpets and drums?
• Well, every Church has its own interpretations of what is right and wrong for them;
• In my experience it is often their personal preference that wins the argument!
• Because the Bible only gives to us principles not a hard-line prescription of ‘how to do it’
• This Psalm and many other similar Psalms encourage us to be vibrant and vigorous;
• When it comes to our times of collective worship.
• Quote: Vance Havner who said:
• “Most Churches start at 11.00am sharp and end at 12noon dull!”
• The Psalm tells its original readers to collectively express their worship;
• Vocally with vibrancy and exuberance with thanksgiving.
• When we sing these songs of praise;
• They should not be time fillers – just allowing us to stretch our legs!
• They should be expressions of joyful gratitude, song for the Rock of our salvation.
• Quote: Oswald Chambers:
• “A joyful spirit is the nature of God in my blood.”
• In other words when God Himself so penetrates our lives;
• We ought to be consumed by a desire to worship Him,
• And that worship may involve times of joyful praise.
(4). WORSHIP IS GOD-CENTERED.
Ill:
• After attending a praise and worship time at church one Sunday evening;
• A little boy knelt at his bedside that night and prayed,
• “Dear God, we had a good time at church tonight…you had been there!”
• TRANSITION:
• I guess we have all experienced so called times of praise and worship;
• That in truth were little more than entertainment evenings;
• That may have satisfied the emotional needs of those who attended;
• But so often leave you feeling that we have missed the point!
• Praise and worship times should be reminders to must be producers in worship,
• And not just consumers,
• When we walk through those doors on a Sunday,
• We need to ask ourselves afresh; “what am I bringing as my offering to God?”
Quote: Leonard Ravenhill:
“Prayer is preoccupation with my needs,
“Praise is preoccupation with my blessings,
“Worship is preoccupation with God alone”
• And this Psalm reminds us very clearly;
• That God alone must be the focus of our praise & worship;
• Let’s read verses 1-5 again:
“Come, let us sing for joy to the LORD;
let us shout aloud to THE ROCK of our salvation.
2 Let us come before HIM with thanksgiving
and extol HIM with music and song.
3 For the LORD is the GREAT GOD,
the GREAT KING above all gods.
4 In HIS HAND are the depths of the earth,
and the mountain peaks belong to HIM.
5 The sea is HIS, for HE made it,
and HIS hands formed the dry land.”
• This Psalm reminds us very clearly that God alone;
• Is to be the focus of our praise & worship!
Notice the psalmist draws our attention to a variety of facts concerning God:
• He is faithful and dependable – “the Rock”.
• He is a God who has saved, rescued, liberated us – “the Rock of our salvation”.
• He is almighty, invincible and above everyone and everything:
• He is – “the great God, the great King above all gods.”
• He is the creator God, the maker and sustainer of heaven and earth:
• “In his hand are the depths of the earth, and the mountain peaks belong to him.
• The sea is his, for he made it, and his hands formed the dry land.”
• Those expressions “depths,” “peaks,” “sea” and “dry land”;
• Emphasize the totality of His creation and his control of the earth.
• The psalmist calls each of us to rejoice in God:
• Our creator and our saviour!
(2). A Call to Reverence (vs 6-7a):
“Come, let us bow down in worship,
let us kneel before the LORD our Maker;
7 for he is our God
and we are the people of his pasture,
the flock under his care”.
Ill:
• Many years ago;
• An explorer spent a long period of time among a tribe of Indians in the Amazon jungle;
• He paid the native Indians to be his guide and his luggage bearers.
• He wanted to explore uncharted territory and the way was hard and hot and dangerous;
• And he tried to force the natives to march through the jungle at an extraordinary speed.
• All went well for two days.
• On the third morning all the natives were sitting on their packs looking very solemn.
• The Chief explained:
• 'They're waiting for their souls to catch up with their bodies.'
• TRANSITION:
• Verse 7: give us the second invitation to worship a call to reverence:
• An opportunity 'for our souls to catch up with our bodies.'
Notice:
• There is a distinct change of tone in these verses:
• We have moved on from enthusiastic loud songs of joy;
• To awe-inspired reverence and humility before God.
• We are called to move from praise to prostration.
• Notice in verses 1 and 2, the worshipper stands in God’s presence,
• But now, in verse 6, the worshipper falls on His face before God in humbled silence.
• It is never either or:
• Worship involves both animated rejoicing and speechless reverence.
Notice:
• Not only has the mood of the Psalm changed, so has the focus.
• It is now no longer God our Creator who is in view;
• But it is rather God as our Redeemer and Saviour.
• We are the flock under His care and the people of His pasture.
• God is our loving shepherd who pays close attention to each of us personally.
• This should cause us to bow down in worship and to kneel before the Lord our Maker.
• Question: Why do we worship?
• Answer: Because he made us, and he saved us, and he cares for us!
• Bowing and kneeling helps us get “low” before God,
• Which is really the essence of worship.
• We accept our place before Him;
• While we acknowledge His place before us.
Ill:
• Our English word 'Worship' originates from an Anglo-Saxon word,
• And that word means `worth-ship' or `worthiness'.
• (a). In the Old Testament the most common word for worship;
• Is the Hebrew word ‘hishtahvah’ (or some related form of that word).
• Its basic meaning is "bow down," with the sense of reverence and respect and honour.
• (b). The word commonly translated `worship' in the New Testament:
• Is the Greek word; `Proskuneo', meaning: ‘to kiss the hand toward’.
• Scholars tell us this expression derived from the slave's manner of greeting and homage;
• When he entered the presence of his master,
• The act of ‘bowing down kissing the hand of the master’.
• Was a mark of reverence and respect, and it also implied affection.
• Both Hebrew and Greek words are reminding us that to ‘worship’;
• Is to humble ourselves and submit to a higher authority – one who is worthy!
(3). A Call to Respond (vs 7b-11).
• The last part of verse 7 appears to be a transition:
• “Today, if you hear His voice.”
• On the one hand it serves to conclude the first part of the psalm.
• At the same time, it also serves as an introduction to the final part of the Psalm;
• Which is an invitation, it is a call to respond.
• Quote: The Message translation puts it this way:
• “Drop everything and listen, listen as He speaks and don’t turn a deaf ear.”
Notice again the change of mood in the Psalm:
• In verse 1-5: We have the command to rejoice, to give God jubilant praise.
• In verses 6-7a: we have the command to come with reverence and humility.
• Now in verses 7b-11: We have the command to listen and to act!
• It is a solemn warning that cannot be taken lightly.
Notice: That there is also a change in speaker in these verses;
• In the first seven verses, the psalmist has been the one speaking;
• But now he is silent and it is God Himself who completes the Psalm.
“Do not harden your hearts as you did at Meribah, as you did that day at Massah in the desert, where your fathers tested and tried me, though they had seen what I did. For forty years I was angry with that generation; I said, ‘They are a people whose hearts go astray, and they have not known my ways.’ So I declared on oath in my anger, ‘They shall never enter my rest.’”
• When we offer our praise and worship to God – he is listening to our voice;
• But true worship is more than a one way conversation;
• It should be a time when we also hear voice as the Word of God,
• Is read, preached and taught.
Ill:
• An elderly man stopped at a hearing aid centre and asked about prices.
• The salesman said “We have them from £25,000 down to £1.50,”
• “What’s the £25,000 one like?”
• The salesman said “Well it translates three languages.”
• “And what about the one for £1.50?”
• “It’s this button attached to a string,” said the salesman, pushing it across the counter.
• “How does it work?”
• “It doesn’t” replied the salesman said;
• “But if you put the button in your ear and the string in your pocket,
• You’ll be surprised how loud people talk!”
• TRANSITION:
• When God wants to speak to us he does not need to shout!
• But we do need receptive hearts and willing spirits.
Note:
• The writer of this Psalm reaches back into Jewish history:
• He brings to our attention two tragic events from Israel’s past;
• Massah and Meribah are not just geographical names,
• But they also designate two evils,
• Both of which illustrates the behaviour of God’s people who had hardened hearts.
• Massah recalls the events of Exodus chapter 17 & Numbers chapters 20.
• Here the nation, the people of God were complaining and grumbling and testing God!
• The people blatantly ignored all that the LORD had done for them;
• And they unashamedly overlooked all that God had continued to do for them.
Note: These two incidents reveal a common problem in every generation:
• We are all susceptible to grumble and moan;
• And we are all prone to put God to the test.
• That is why in the New Testament this passage is quoted as a warning!
• Hebrews chapter 3 verse 7 to chapter 4 verse 1.
Ill:
• If you go on holiday abroad to a hot country;
• One thing you are grateful for is air-conditioning;
• But your comfort comes with a price;
• At night as your head lays on your pillow;
• The air-con can sound like 10 hoovers all going off at the same time.
• The first night it is a real pain, the second night still annoying;
• Yet several nights into your stay you find yourself unaware of it.
• Somehow your mind has blotted it out;
• It is still there, it is still loud but you have become hardened to it!
• TRANSITION:
• The same hardening process occurs when God speaks to our hearts;
• And we don’t respond.
• Eventually, we stop hearing His voice;
• Because our hearts have become hard.
Quote: Leonard Sweet, in his book called Aquachurch:
• Points out that we like to sing and praise God,
• But we often don’t want to go beyond that.
• He writes this: “Our pews are occupied by people who want to be moved,
• But who don’t want to move.”
• Let’s make sure that our worship always leads to action.
• Let’s come on Sundays not wanting to be moved, but with a commitment to move!
In conclusion:
• What is the message of this Psalm?
• We should worship, both by our rejoicing and by our reverence.
• And true worship responds in obedience to the voice of God.
Quote:
• “To give God the service of the body and not of the soul—is Hypocrisy:
• To give God the service of the soul and not of the body—is Sacrilege:
• To give God neither is Atheism:
• To give God both is Worship.”
