Psalms 120, 128, 132
(If you feel this sermon is helpful, you are welcome to visit www.danachau.com for a free online course.)
Last Sunday, we saw that in worship as in life, preparation makes the difference between success and failure. Most of us want to succeed in school, in work, in marriage, in family and in worship of God, but if we do not prepare ourselves to succeed, we will almost certainly fail.
If we prepared for our classes or work the way we prepared for worship, we would flunk our classes and we would be fired for incompetence. We should not be surprised when we read that on average less than 20% of the people in a Sunday Worship Service ever sense God’s presence. If we do not prepare ourselves to succeed, we will almost certainly fail.
This morning, we will look at three of fifteen "songs of ascents" from the book of Psalms to identify and apply two more ingredients to preparing us for true worship. The word, P.R.E.P.A.R.E., is used as an acrostic to hang the seven ingredients from the Biblical recipe for true worship.
By way of review, we need to recognize that God is not obligated to receive our worship until we make right our relationship with other believers. The P in PREPARE is "pursue peace with believers." To prepare for true worship, work out our differences with other believers and do not allow anger to build up. Ask for forgiveness when you hurt someone and forgive others as Christ forgave you. Pursuing peace with believers is easier preached than done, but forgiveness can and must be practiced in preparation for true worship.
Second, we need to recognize that God has not obligated His special presence to be with us on Sundays, if we choose and use thoughts, words and actions that shame God’s image and His standards Monday through Saturday. The R in PREPARE is "repent of sin and selfishness." To prepare for true worship, agree not just with your lips, but agree in your life with God on what He says is right and wrong. Turn from sin and selfishness and turn toward God and His ways. Again, turning from our sins is easier preached than done, but repentance can and must be practiced in preparation for true worship.
We continue this morning with ingredient number three and four to help us prepare for true worship. We will find these listed in Psalms 120, 128 and 132.
The third ingredient necessary to prepare for true worship is expect God to fulfill His promises even in the negatives of life. The first E in PREPARE is "expect God to fulfill His promises even in the negatives of life." We find this ingredient listed in Psalms 120 and 132.
Psalm 120:1 reads, "I call on the Lord in my distress, and He answers me.
Psalm 132:11-18 read, "The LORD swore an oath to David, ’One of your own descendants I will place on your throne--if your sons keep my covenant and the statutes I teach them, then their sons will sit on your throne for ever and ever.’
"For the LORD has chosen Zion, he has desired it for his dwelling: ’This is my resting place for ever and ever; here I will sit enthroned, for I have desired it--I will bless her with abundant provisions; her poor will I satisfy with food. I will clothe her priests with salvation, and her saints will ever sing for joy.’
"Here I will make a horn [strong one, a king] grow for David and set up a lamp for my anointed one. I will clothe his enemies with shame, but the crown on his head will be resplendent." That’s confidence in the promises of God.
When life is good and we have abundance, we can easily claim that God fulfills His promises. But what happens when we lose our job? What happens when we lose our health? What happens when we lose a loved one? Can we say with Job, "Though He [God] slay me, yet will I hope in Him (Job 13:15)"?
If we worship God only when life is good, we may not be worshipping God but worshipping the gifts from God. If I worship God only when life is going my way, I am worshipping myself. True worship expects God to fulfill His promises even when our lab results are outside of range, even when our children are not doing well, and even when we cannot pay our bills. We have not prepared for true worship if we doubt that God will fulfill His promises even in the negatives of life.
God promises peace under pressure (not peace without pressure); He promises eternal life after death (not life without death); and He promises a resurrected body that will never break down (not that our current body will never break down). When we know what God promises, we don’t have to live in denial but in anticipation.
A very bright high school boy from a Sunday School class I taught several years back, now no longer believes in God. He experienced one negative event too many in his life. A Christian friend he had greatly respected failed morally. Several months later, he was robbed and beaten up on his way home. Where was God in all of this?
True worship of God requires that we expect God to fulfill His promises even in the negatives of life. My bright young friend did not worship God; he worshipped his intellectual understanding of God until his intellect could not sustained the contradictory events in his life.
Fred Smith noted that the same God who delivered Daniel from the lion’s den permitted Steven to be stoned to death. Christians do not worship a God who promises a life free of negatives. In fact, Jesus said, "In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world (John 16:33)."
Christ’s death on the cross is the perfect example that God fulfills His promises even in the negatives of life. While the cross of Christ looks like another negative in an innocent man’s life, we know that this sacrifice of Christ overcame the evil intentions of Satan and of sinful men to fulfill God’s promise, the salvation of those who believe. Do you believe that Christ’s death was God’s fulfilled promise to provide payment for our sins?
You have failed again and again in your pursuit of holiness. You wonder if God can ever use you. The negative habit has you chained to guilt and shame. Remember God’s promises in Paul’s words, "... that he [God] who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus (Philippians 1:6)." Continue your pursuit of holiness, because God will fulfill His promises even in the negatives of life.
You give your time, energy and money to God’s work through the church. Others don’t seem to care. God planted a mission in your heart, but the plans are not unfolding favorably. Remember the words of Job, "I know that you [God] can do all things; no plan of yours can be thwarted (Job 42:2)." Continue to be a generous steward of God’s resources to achieve the mission God has given this church, because God will fulfill His promises even in the negatives of life.
You chose him to be your lifelong companion. Yet, you wonder if you’ve made a mistake. He makes you wish you never met him. Agree with the words of Joseph, "’Don’t be afraid. Am I in the place of God? You intended to harm me, but God intended it for good to accomplish what is now being done, the saving of many lives. So then, don’t be afraid. I will provide for you and your children.’ And he reassured them and spoke kindly to them. (Genesis 50:19-21)." Continue to love and provide for the needs of your spouse and your children because God will fulfill His promises even in the negatives of life.
The Apostle Paul writes, "I consider that our present sufferings are not worth comparing with the glory that will be revealed in us. The creation waits in eager expectation for the sons of God to be revealed (Romans 8:18-19)." These are the words of a true worshipper, one who can suffer now, and yet expect God to fulfill His promises.
We may have taken a shower and put on our Sunday best. We may have even warmed up our voices and written the check above our tithe amount. But until we can expect God to fulfill His promises even in the negatives of our lives, we have not prepared for true worship of God.
The next ingredient to true worship is progress toward integrity at all times. The first "P" in PREPARE is "pursue peace with believers." The first "R" in PREPARE is "repent of sin and selfishness." The first "E" in PREPARE is "expect God to fulfill His promises even in the negatives of life." The second "P" in PREPARE is "progress toward integrity at all times." We find this ingredient listed in Psalm 128.
Psalm 128:1-6 read, "Blessed are all who fear the LORD, who walk in his ways. You will eat the fruit of your labor; blessings and prosperity will be yours. Your wife will be like a fruitful vine within your house; your sons will be like olive shoots around your table. Thus is the man blessed who fears the LORD. May the LORD bless you from Zion all the days of your life; may you see the prosperity of Jerusalem, and may you live to see your children’s children. Peace be upon Israel." God blesses the man or woman who fears Him in every arena of life and at all times, because the fear of God produces integrity in one’s life.
Someone tells about a group of college students flying out to Las Vegas for Spring Break. One guy boards the plane with a great big Bible.
His friends asked him, "Frank, what’s with the Bible?"
Frank replies, "Well, I hear the sights are great, the gambling is terrific, and the adult entertainment is something else. If all they say are true, then I may want to stay through Sunday, and I’m afraid to miss church."
Frank may fear missing church, but he has no fear of a God who sees all and has standards. Frank has no integrity when it comes to living a life worthy of God’s holiness. To prepare for true worship, a man or a woman needs to practice integrity in every arena in life and at all times.
Steve Brown noted, "If you’ve been with God and have not been afraid, you’ve not been with God. But if you’ve been with God and have only been afraid, you’ve not been with God." The fear of God is not like the fear of injustice, the fear of natural disaster or the fear of evil. The fear of God is the fear of justice, the fear of loving discipline and the fear of disappointing the One Who loved us enough to send His Son to pay the penalty of our sin.
I set a lifelong goal on April 6, 2000 to have the same attitude, values and behaviors in the presence and absence of Susan and Esther, and in the presence and absence of Christians and non-Christians. I’m not there yet, but I’m making progress. I knew that God would not bless my family or my ministry, if I did not have integrity. Integrity means we are the same person when someone sees us, as we are when no one sees us, because we know that God is always seeing. The fear of an all-knowing, Holy God and a God who loves us just as we are but loves us too much to leave us that way, calls us to account, to integrity and to true worship.
Jesus reminds us in Matthew 5:8, " Blessed are the pure in heart, for they will see God." The pure in heart are those who have integrity and not duplicity or hypocrisy. Unless we practice integrity or purity of motive and action, any sense of God’s presence is simply emotionalism. Without integrity in our lives, there can be no true worship.
To your co-workers, supervisor and clients, to your husband or to your wife and to your children, are you the same person all the time as the one at 11 am to 12 noon on Sundays? Young people, to your teachers, classmates, parents and brothers and sisters, are you the same person all the time as the one at 11 am to 12 noon on Sundays? God knows we won’t be perfect, for Christ is our only hope. But preparation for true worship requires that we progress toward integrity at all times.
Next week, we will continue our preparation for true worship by looking at two more ingredients from the other eight psalms of ascents.
Zig Ziglar said that he invited a friend to go to church with him. The man answered, "Well, I’d like to go. But the church is so full of hypocrites."
Ziglar replied, "That’s okay. There’s always room for one more."
You can come to church just as you are, full of doubt and hypocrisy. We welcome you with the love of Jesus Christ. But only those who pursue peace with believers, repent of sin and selfishness, expect God to fulfill His promises even in the negatives of life and progress toward integrity at all times are prepared to truly worship God.
(If you feel this sermon is helpful, you are welcome to visit www.danachau.com for a free online course.)
