Psalms 121, 123, 124, 126, 127, 131
(If you feel this sermon is helpful, you are welcome to visit www.danachau.com for a free online course.)
For two Sundays, we have been reminded that in worship as in life, preparation makes the difference between success and failure. Whether we are competing in sports, giving a speech, going on a trip or raising up godly children, we make preparations to ensure success. Yet, few of us make the necessary preparation to succeed in the worship of God.
One of my neighbors got married two weeks ago, and neither he nor his wife goes to church. Yet, they went to the pastor of Lucas Valley Community Church for premarital counseling. They were preparing to succeed in their marriage. In worship as in life, preparation makes the difference between success and failure.
I’ve shared with you that fewer people than you think in a Sunday Worship Service ever sense God’s true presence. Even fewer ever sense that God is pleased with their worship. We should not be surprised since people rarely prepare for true worship as the Bible instructs. Most people prepare more diligently for the refreshment, the luncheons or other Sunday afternoon activities than they do for worship.
My hope is not that you will learn how to prepare for true worship of God only, but that you take action to prepare for true worship of God. This morning, we will look at another six 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 (all actions) from the Biblical recipe for true worship. The P stands for "pursue peace with believers." The R stands for "repent of sin and selfishness." The E stands for "expect God to fulfill His promises even in the negatives of life," and the second P stands for "progress toward integrity at all times." If you are interested in reviewing or learning for the first time those four ingredients, you will find them online at our church website or on audiotape.
We continue this morning with ingredient number five and six to help us prepare for true worship. We will find these listed in Psalms 121, 123, 124, 126, 127, 131
The FIFTH ingredient necessary to prepare for true worship is "affirm God’s character, His work and His relationship with us." The A in PREPARE is "affirm God’s character, His work and His relationship with us." We find this ingredient listed in Psalms 121, 123, 124, and 127. By "affirm," I mean "to believe deep down inside us and claim as true."
Psalm 121:1-6 read, "I lift up my eyes to the hills--where does my help come from? My help comes from the LORD, the Maker of heaven and earth. He will not let your foot slip--he who watches over you will not slumber; indeed, he who watches over Israel will neither slumber nor sleep. The LORD watches over you--the LORD is your shade at your right hand; the sun will not harm you by day, nor the moon by night."
This psalmist affirms the loving, sovereign, constant protective care of our God. The psalmist is affirming several of God’s character traits. Affirmation of God’s character traits prepares us for true worship.
Psalm 123:1-2 read, "I lift up my eyes to you, to you whose throne is in heaven. As the eyes of slaves look to the hand of their master, as the eyes of a maid look to the hand of her mistress, so our eyes look to the LORD our God, till he shows us his mercy."
The psalmist affirms our relationship with God, one of earth to heaven, slave to master or maid to mistress. The psalmist is also affirming our relationship with God as a recipient to the Giver of mercy. Affirmation of our biblical relationship with God also prepares us for true worship.
Psalm 124:1-6 read, "If the LORD had not been on our side--let Israel say--if the LORD had not been on our side when men attacked us, when their anger flared against us, they would have swallowed us alive; the flood would have engulfed us, the torrent would have swept over us, the raging waters would have swept us away. Praise be to the LORD, who has not let us be torn by their teeth." The psalmist affirms God’s work of protection over us.
Furthermore, we read in Psalm 127:1-3, "Unless the LORD builds the house, its builders labor in vain. Unless the LORD watches over the city, the watchmen stand guard in vain. In vain you rise early and stay up late, toiling for food to eat--for he grants sleep to those he loves. Sons are a heritage from the LORD, children a reward from him."
Here, the Psalmist affirms that God’s work behind the scene is more important than our best effort. Unless God blesses our effort, our labor is meaningless. If there is no God or if God is not involved, we are nothing more than creatures trying to stay on top of the food chain. Think about it.
Affirming God’s character and work, and affirming His relationship with us not only gives us meaning, purpose and significance in our daily human endeavors, but such affirmation daily offers consistency with Sunday worship. Can you imagine coming on Sundays to worship, honor and praise God for His character, His work and His merciful relationship with us, and then the rest of the week, doubting His sufficiency and criticizing the life He gave us? That would be hypocritical at best! We need to affirm throughout the week what we affirm on Sundays about God.
Sometime ago, the son of an Elder at another church was planning to speak on the subject of prayer at a retreat. In the application portion of his talk, he planned to use the A.C.T.S. acrostic for prayer. A is for adoration; C is for confession, T is for thanksgiving and S is for supplication.
He called me up before the retreat and asked whether I thought there was importance to the flow of the prayer: Adoration of God, Confession of our sins, Thanksgiving to God and Supplication for us and for others. Not knowing the history of this acrostic, I told him that if I were to come to someone and confess my sins to him, I would do it only if I believed deep down inside that he loves me unconditionally and can help me with my sins.
And for those two reasons, millions of people confess their sins to God more freely than they do to each other. Every part of prayer and true worship require that we first affirm the unconditional love of God and the sufficiency of His work through Christ on the cross to pay for our sins. Unless we affirm the biblical character of God and His work and the biblical relationship God has with believers, we are gathering on Sundays for lip service and not worship service.
What are some ways to affirm the character and work of God and the relationship God has with believers? First, find out what the Bible says are the character and work of God and the relationship God has with believers. You cannot affirm what you do not know. Second, when you read the Bible, realize you are not reading a few religious writers’ opinions. You are reading the specific revelation of God in written form. Believe deep down inside what you read about God and about you. Finally, align your actions with what you believe. Otherwise, neurosis or all sorts of mental, emotional, psychosomatic problems will occur in you when the way you live contradicts your convictions.
The Apostle Paul reminds us, "Therefore, I urge you, brothers, in view of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as living sacrifices, holy and pleasing to God--this is your spiritual act of worship. Do not conform any longer to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is--his good, pleasing and perfect will (Romans 12:1-2)." While the culture says, "It doesn’t matter what you believe or how you live, as long as you are sincere," Paul says true worship of God requires that we affirm in our minds and lives the biblical character and work of God and our relationship with God.
The SIXTH ingredient in preparing for true worship is "rejoice in what we affirm about God." That means we don’t just affirm intellectually and physically, but we affirm with our emotion. How else can we love God with all of our heart, soul, mind and strength? The second R in PREPARE is "rejoice in what we affirm about God." We find this ingredient listed in Psalm 126 and 131.
Psalm 126:1-3 read, "When the LORD brought back the captives to Zion, we were like men who dreamed. Our mouths were filled with laughter, our tongues with songs of joy. Then it was said among the nations, ’The LORD has done great things for them.’ The LORD has done great things for us, and we are filled with joy."
The psalmist affirmed the work of God on His people’s behalf, and rejoicing broke out. Realize that the psalmist rejoices not so much because of the circumstances God rendered, but because the Lord God was the one who rendered the circumstances. The focus of the rejoicing is on God and His work on His people’s behalf.
Psalm 131:1-3 read, "My heart is not proud, O LORD, my eyes are not haughty; I do not concern myself with great matters or things too wonderful for me. But I have stilled and quieted my soul; like a weaned child with its mother, like a weaned child is my soul within me. O Israel, put your hope in the LORD both now and forevermore."
Sometimes rejoicing in what we affirm doesn’t have to involve laughter, but simply contentment and hope. At the recent memorial service I officiated for a man who received Christ before his death, I rejoiced silently at God’s mercy in his life.
Rejoicing in what we affirm about God is a central ingredient to preparing for true worship. First, this ingredient involves the correct emotional response, and second, this ingredient involves the correct focus -- on God and not on our circumstances.
When we rejoice only because we get our way in life, whether that means a certain career, income, material possession, even the healing of relationships or healing from certain illness, we are not prepared to truly worship God. We are prepared to worship ourselves, our relationship, our career or our possessions, but not God.
My favorite Bible teacher, Steve Brown, really understands the problem of "Prosperity Theology," the belief that God wants us to be wealthy, healthy and happy all the time. He says, "I just can’t see how things could be so good for the followers of a religion [speaking of Christianity] whose founder ended up on a cross and whose chief spokesman [the Apostle Paul] had a physical problem that God wouldn’t remove."
You have physical problems? That’s not unusual for those who worship God. You bear the sins of others? That’s also not unusual for those who worship God. Preparing for true worship of God is not about rejoicing in our life circumstances. We are to rejoice in the character of God, the work of God and our relationship with God.
A friend of mine was depressed because of a circumstance in his life. I asked, "Jim (and that’s not his name) do you believe God is in control of your situation?"
Jim didn’t answer.
Then I said to him, "Jim, if you don’t think God is in control of your situation, you ought to be more depressed than your circumstance produces. But if God is in control, you can cheer up some."
The Apostle Paul reminds Christians that we should be free to grieve at the loss of our job, our spouse, our health and our loved one at death, but we ought not to grieve as those who have no hope. We are not Pollyanna positive thinkers; who deny the injustice, failures, brokenness and troubles in our lives. We are people who have hope and courage to face the injustice, failures, brokenness and troubles, because our focus is on God’s character, His work and His relationship with us.
In order to prepare for true worship, take the focus off ourselves and focus on God. When we focus on God, we can rejoice in what we affirm about God. And when we rejoice in what we affirm about God, we prepared our emotions for true worship of God.
Next week, we will finish our mini-series on preparing for true worship by looking at the seventh ingredient from the remaining two psalms of ascents.
Someone tells about a little girl who was off to a corner drawing a picture. Her teacher came up behind her and asked, "What are drawing, Sally?"
Sally replied, "I’m drawing a picture of God.
The teacher smiled and said, "But no one knows what God looks like."
Sally looked up to explain, "They will when I get done."
Do you know what God is like? His character? His work? His relationship with you? You don’t have to wait for Sally to finish her drawing. God has already revealed Himself in the Bible and in His Son, Jesus Christ. If we affirm what God is really like, rejoicing would come naturally, and so would true worship.
(If you feel this sermon is helpful, you are welcome to visit www.danachau.com for a free online course.)
