Iliff and Saltillo UM Churches
March 3, 2002
Third Sunday of Lent
“Open Hearts”
Psalm 95
INTRODUCTION: Pilgrim worshipers sang Psalm 95 as they approached the Temple for a festival. It was a typical “entrance liturgy” where people would progress from outside the temple, through the courts of the Gentiles up to the entrance of the Priestly Court which contained the altar of sacrifice and the Holy of Holies. Later it was used as a call to worship in the synagogue spoken by a priest or Levite to the Israelites. The Psalm was not only used in the processional entrance but also served as a “psychological entrance” into the presence of God.
Psalms 95-100 have a common theme--the worship of God the creator as well as the covenant God of Israel. Last week we talked about Psalms 120-134 being the Psalms of ASCENT toward Jerusalem. The purpose of Psalms 95-100 is to help the people get FOCUSED on God.
When we come to church we are often distracted by all of the things going on in our lives during the week and our thoughts are not really centered on God. We need ways to enter into God’s presence as well as these people did. A variety of things help us to become more focused on God--the call to worship, singing, scripture, the expressing of joys, the giving of offerings, receiving communion, our response to the morning message, kneeling at the altar, and raising our hands in praise.
The Lenten season is a time for us to focus our attention on God through all of these means and to evaluate where we are in our walk with the Lord.
How can Psalm 95 speak to us today?
1. {A God of Kingly Power} The Awesome God--Creator: In the first part of the Psalm the focus is placed on God as the majestic, awesome Creator of the universe. Being able to see the greatness of God in many different places does much to lift our spirits from the problems we face in our daily lives.
The Psalm gives a call to praise the God of all creation--the God who shows up in all of the extremes--the depths of the earth, the sea, the mountain peaks, and the desert--and all that is in between. The extent of His power is limitless.
The Message Bible puts it a little more forcefully:
“Let’s shout praise to God,
Raise the roof for the Rock who saved us.
March into His presence with singing
Because God is the best--the Creator!
If we can lift our eyes up and away from our problems and look to God the Creator, it should do something to help us psychologically focus on God who can meet us at our point of need. An invitation is given here to come, to sing joyfully, to the ROCK of our Salvation. ROCK is a title of honor for God recalling the Rock of the desert which provided water for the people. (See Exodus 17:6) The altar of sacrifice would also be a Rock and remind them of God’s presence--reliable, stable, rock solid.
2. {A God of Special Grace} The Sheep of His Pasture: Once the people’s attention was focused on the awesomeness of the God of the universe, the focus shifted from the general to the specific. He is our God--He is my God. He is the shepherd which means that He is committed to care for us in a variety of ways. Verse 7 says, “We are the people of His pasture, the flock under His care.”
Many people today are only aware of God in a general sense. You hear people say, “Yes, I believe in a Higher Power” or something general like that. To the Old Testament people He says, “I am your shepherd, committed to care for you.” To New Testament people, Jesus said in John 10:14, “I AM the Good Shepherd. I know my sheep.”
He expects us to hear His voice. John 10:27 says, “My sheep hear My voice.” Hearing His voice is the same with believing and doing. It is time for us to hear his voice and to walk in His ways. The Lenten season is a time to look at where we are walking and who we are listening to. Are we far away in our hearts so preoccupied with a million other things that we miss hearing His voice? Are we “take it or leave it” Christians, serving Him only when we don’t have something better to do? Sometimes we are distracted so easily.
STORY: When a little church stopped buying from the local stationary store, they called the deacon to ask why. The deacon explained, “Remember those pencils we ordered from you so that visitors could register?”
“Sure,” the stationer replied, “Didn’t you get them?”
“Yes, but you sent us pencils from the country club that said, “Play Golf Next Sunday.”(source unknown)
3. {A God of Warning} Today is the day: The mood of this Psalm shifts once again in verse 8 when there is a call to change. “TODAY is the time to open your hearts to the gospel message. Today if by faith you open your heart to the gospel message well and good--but tomorrow it may be too late. The message to us is that today is still the moment of God’s grace.
We still have the opportunity and we need to enter into the door of opportunity that is open for us lest we become hardened by sin and apathy where we are not even aware of our sin.
You might say, “This would never happen to me.” Maybe they thought it wouldn’t happen to them either. Hardness of heart is at the bottom of all our distrust of God too. The thing that really got to God was their sin of unbelief. After all of God’s care and provision in the desert--the manna, water from the Rock, the quail He supplied--they were always wanting more proof. They got tired of the manna, they wanted something else. They were always complaining about something.
God’s awesomeness surrounded them not only in the General Sense but also in the Specific--His provisions for them personally. The straw that broke the camel’s back was their questioning, “Is the Lord among us or not?” (Exodus 17:7). God is thinking, “I can’t believe what I’m hearing. After all I’ve done for these people they are wondering, ‘Am I here with them or not?’”
STORY: It seems the pastor’s small son was told by his mother that he should wash his hands because there were germs living in all that dirt. He refused and complained: “Germs and Jesus! Germs and Jesus! That’s all I ever hear around this house, and I’ve never seen either one!”(source unknown)
The people of God were missing seeing God’s presence in their lives because they were hardening their heart toward him through their unbelief and complaining attitude. As a result they were just not seeing Him. The Psalmist in verse 10 says, “For forty years [God] was angry with that generation because they are a people whose hearts go astray and have not known my ways.” God gave them such sensible proofs of his power and nothing was more offensive to Him than disbelief in His ability and desire to fulfill His promises. They couldn’t have had any more evidences of God’s presence among them.
How often do we do the same thing. We doubt God’s willingness to do things for us personally. We wonder if He is present “among us.” Will God heal me when I am sick? Will he keep me in a job? Will he be with my family? Will He...?
I don’t think we always realize our doubt and unbelief. What does our self talk sound like at times?
“I will never get well...
“I will never get a job...
“My kids will never straighten up...
“I’m afraid that I will lose my job...
“I’m....
STORY: A farmer decided to buy a chain saw. A logging foreman sold him one that he guaranteed would cut down 15 trees in a single day. A week later, a very unhappy farmer came back to report that the power saw must be faulty--it averaged only 3 trees a day. The foreman grabbed the saw, pulled the cord, and the saw promptly went “BZZZZZ.”
“Hey,” demanded the startled farmer, “What’s that noise?” (source unknown)
How often are we kinda like that farmer--we just don’t get it. We don’t understand or don’t want to understand how faith works. All we can say is “hey, what’s that noise?”
In I Corinthians 10:11 Paul says, “The sins of others ought to be warnings to us not to tread in their steps. The murmurings of Israel were written for our admonition.”
Their sin was UNBELIEF. They tempted God and provoked Him. They asked questions about whether or not they might take his word and kept insisting on further proof before they would believe. They didn’t have OPEN HEARTS to just take Him at His word.
Our sins of doubt and unbelief not only anger the Lord but grieve Him as well. He tries so hard to give us all He can and we say, “I don’t know if I can believe that or not.” Maybe it’s not for today, maybe it’s not for me. I’m not worthy. I’m not...” Or at times we are simply afraid to trust Him.
STORY: There’s fear and then there is fear. The 82nd Airborne rangers train at Ft. Bragg, NC. The division commanding general was inspecting, and as he reviewed the ranks of paratroop trainees, he carefully scrutinized one recruit standing proudly at attention, jump wings and boots shined to perfection. The general spotted a loose thread and scowled, “Trooper, your fatigue jacket is frayed. The young private shot back, “Sir...beggin’ yer pardon, sir--but this here airborn jacket ain’t “fraid a-nothin”...SIR!”(source unknown)
We do not need to distrust God or be afraid of believing in His word.
When we do, we lose out with God. This Psalm says, that as a result, “They shall not enter into my rest.” For them it meant the promised land of Canaan which was synonomous with REST.
What keeps us from His Rest? Same things--sin, unbelief, distrust of God and His power and goodness. Psalm 103:7 says, “they have not KNOWN my ways.” To KNOW His ways and to HEAR his voice means in Hebrew to obey it or to do it. To EXPERIENCE it. The people were not EXPERIENCING what God had for them because they had HARDENED hearts--rather than OPEN hearts.
Our Christianity must be something that we EXPERIENCE through OPENING OUR HEARTS. To reach out in belief and trust rather than always backing away in unbelief and distrust. This starts by humbling ourselves before Him. Say, “Lord, sometimes I do have a difficult time believing You, but I genuinely want to. Sometimes I don’t know if You are “Among us or not” but I want You to be real in my life. Help me to open my heart just a little bit more TODAY to Your Presence. I am willing to do what you ask me to do . I will not only HEAR Your voice today but OBEY it.
Story: 5 year old Johnny was in the kitchen as his mother fixed supper. She asked him to go into the pantry and get her a can of tomato soup, but he didn’t want to go alone. “It’s dark in there and I’m scared.” She asked again and he persisted. Finally she said, “It’s OK, Jesus will be in there with you.” Johnny walked hesitantly to the door and slowly opened it. He peeked inside, saw that it was dark, and started to leave when all at once he had an idea. He said, “Jesus if you’re in there, would you hand me that can of tomato soup.”(source unknown)
We just have to take that step of faith when we don’t know for sure. Just open the door of our hearts and say, “Jesus, if you are there, let me know it. Let me experience for myself that you are there. I am reaching out to you.”
Hebrews 4:1,2 says, “Therefore, since the promise of entering his rest still stands, let us be careful that none of you be found to have fallen short of it. For we also have had the gospel preached to us just as they did; but the message was of no value to them because those who heard did not combine it with FAITH.”
Conclusion: This psalm has shown us God’s presence in both a General Way and in a Specific Way. It has shown us how those in history have gotten off track through unbelief and doubt. Yet it gives us evidence that Today is a Day of Grace and that if we will just open our hearts, He will make his Presence real to us. It gives us a warning that like the Israelites if we harden our hearts through sin and unbelief that we will not enter into His rest. Today is still a day of opportunity to respond. Will you open your hearts to him during this Lenten Season in a greater way?
Let us Pray:
