The Shepherd & The Sheep 3
Hear God’s Voice Through Worship
You shall put the mercy seat on top of the ark, and in the ark you shall put the Testimony that I will give you. 22 And there I will meet with you, and I will speak with you from above the mercy seat, from between the two cherubim which are on the ark of the Testimony, about everything which I will give you in commandment to the children of Israel. Exodus 25:21-22 (NKJV)
Lord Prepare me to be a sanctuary… went into that service not knowing what tomorrow would bring. Not knowing if I even wanted to face tomorrow…
But something happened during that worship. During that song… I was struck anew with mercy, peace, and love of God.
God showed me that day that He was still good no matter the extreme hardship happening in my life…
The singing of songs is actually a vehicle by which we can worship the Lord and connect with His Person, it’s a place in time when God can reveal His character to us.
We can enter into an awareness of His presence and commune with God. We can see God for who He truly is and then respond accordingly.
Worship can happen anywhere at anytime. Staring at a sunset and your heart begins to sing, singing songs of praise in the shower...
In a small group setting, hiking on a remote trail, in the quiet of our hearts as we lay in bed… worship is an encounter with God.
We often hear God’s voice best in times of worship…. God often speaks loudest and clearest to us when we are worshipping…
3 things that happen when we worship God and see how it is that by worshiping Him we can better hear His voice.
1. During Worship God Meets with us and speaks to us.
22 And there I will meet with you, and I will speak with you Exodus 25:22 (NKJV)
Think about the two clauses there, they are both so important. God is speaking and He says, I will meet with you and speak WITH you…
Today we can meet with people, be in the same vicinity and never say a word to them… or we can speak with people while never being near them.
On the mercy seat God says I will meet with and speak with… that is my prayer for all of us, that as we worship, God will meet with us and speak to us.
That we would have a true encounter with God. God invites us to come to a place where we give him our fear, worries anxiety and stress… and in exchange we receive from Him
But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, Galatians 5:22 (NIV)
We come to a time of worship with fear in our hearts and we leave with Faith. We come with stress and we leave with peace.
The things which you learned and received and heard and saw in me, these do, and the God of peace will be with you. Philippians 4:9 (NKJV)
God wants to speak WITH you… that means He wants a true dialogue.
2. During Worship We Gain Perspective
Do you want joy? Do you want to be refreshed? Do you want perspective for your life today?
You make known to me the path of life; you will fill me with joy in your presence, with eternal pleasures at your right hand Psalm 16:11 (NIV)
19 Repent therefore and be converted, that your sins may be blotted out, so that times of refreshing may come from the presence of the Lord, Acts 3:19 (NKJV)
Times of refreshing come FROM the Presence of the Lord… From the Presence of God into the Presence of our present circumstances.
When I put together our service flow, I do it with the intention of Presenting the Lord and His Character to His Sheep…
In a way you can say it’s a presentation, but not in the sense of a play or a skit but in the way of Presenting someone to someone..
In English this has a more Authoritive connotation, “Ladys and Gentlemen I Present to you The President of the USA”…
But in Spanish it has a more relational connotation, “ es un amigo migo, como se llama, me llamo es Carlos, ven y te lo present"
You see one is more of a doctrine of TRANCENDECNE would be like presenting the One and Only right?
But the doctrine of Immanence is like presenting the one that is right next to you… knowing God is by your side should change your perspective about your life
We aim to present to you the Great and powerful God of the universe, the master creator… who is also our friend…
I aim to present his Presence to you through times of worship… His closeness to you, to your heart… right where you are…
that you would know that He is in the center of your life right now, no matter what you are going through.
I aim to present His Love by serving you, by praying for you and with you
I aim to present His power through the word…. But in worship we present his presence because His presence in found in worship..
Worship is our invitation to see God for who He is. When we truly see how great He is, then we can easily see how small our problems are in light of Him…
It changes our perspective of things doesn’t it?
Psalm 73:1-17
Notice how the psalmist begins with one perspective about how he was in despair, envious of the boastful, jealous of the prosperity of the wicked…
He was tempted by the thought that following God was a waste of time (verse 13)
Then everything changed. Notice the word UNTIL (verse 17) He was thinking the wrong way and almost fell UNTIL
…he went into the sanctuary of God and began to worship… his perspective changed when he went into the sanctuary of God
…and MET WITH HIM and TALKED WITH HIM. Then he says in (Verses 23-26)
Its when he goes into the sanctuary of the Lord that his whole outlook shifted. Who needs to shift their outlook?
This is a picture of a believer drawing near to God. He puts his trust in God, and he worships HIM. His perspective changes and he is ready to be led forth…
3. During worship are Emboldened and Empowered.
Worship can happen anywhere, anytime we enter into His presence; we can see a fresh glimpse of God and hear His voice.
Behold, I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears My voice and opens the door, I will come in to him and dine with him, and he with Me. Revelation 3:20
If anyone HEARS MY VOICE… and OPENS THE DOOR… its about being in communion with God. The emphasis is on the one with whom we are dining.
When we worship the Lord, we look intently at Him, we listen to His voice, and we learn from Him… and we are emboldened and Empowered by Him.
Now Moses was tending the flock of Jethro his father-in-law, the priest of Midian. And he led the flock to the back of the desert, and came to Horeb, the mountain of God. 2 And the Angel of the LORD appeared to him in a flame of fire from the midst of a bush. So he looked, and behold, the bush was burning with fire, but the bush was not consumed. 3 Then Moses said, “I will now turn aside and see this great sight, why the bush does not burn.”
4 So when the LORD saw that he turned aside to look, God called to him from the midst of the bush and said, “Moses, Moses!”
And he said, “Here I am.”
5 Then He said, “Do not draw near this place. Take your sandals off your feet, for the place where you stand is holy ground.”
Come now, therefore, and I will send you to Pharaoh that you may bring My people, the children of Israel, out of Egypt.” Exodus 3:1-5,10 (NIV)
Moses was empowered as he drew near to God. Take off your sandals, this is no ordinary meeting.
Prepare yourself as you enter-then- “come now”. Worship can happen anywhere, anytime we enter into the awareness of His presence…
…We can have an encounter with God as we respond to His presence accordingly
I will send you to Pharaoh (empowered) and you may lead my people (empowered) all this took place as He drew near to worship
In God’s presence we can learn from HIM…
He made known his ways to Moses, his deeds to the people of Israel: Psalm 103:7 (NKJV)
Worship team…. Come up
Friends the singing of worship songs is not merely the singing of songs. And the singing portion of a service is not merely the warm up for the message.
Rather the singing of songs and the “so called” “preliminaries” of a service (such as the offering and scripture reading) are actually…
Vehicles by which we can worship the Lord. We can enter into His presence and commune with God
When our hearts focus is right, we hear the message as God having a conversation with us.
Worship is an encounter with God, we can often hear Gods voice more clearly in worship. If you are seeking to hear from the Lord…
Then I encourage you to enter into a time of worship, quiet your heart, focus on the Lord, learn from Him and let Him guide you.
