Sing In Exultation Series

I mean, think about it. Are we any better today? We come to church. We worship God, we praise God. We bow down and kneel before the Lord, our Maker … and then we do like the Israelites in the wilderness and we test God and put Him to the proof even though we have seen His work.

Remember that baby in the manger? “Everyone then who hears these words of mine,” Jesus tells us, “will be like a wise man who built his house on rock” (Matthew 7:24) … the rock of our salvation mentioned in Psalm 95, perhaps? “The rain fell, the floods came, and the winds blew and beat on that house, but it did not fall, because it had been founded on rock. And everyone who hears these words of mine and does not act on them will be like a foolish man who built his house on sand. The rain fell, and the floods came, and the winds blew and beat against that house, and it fell – and great was its fall!” (Matthew 7:25-27).

If we listen to the voice of the Lord, then we will find rest because we’ve built our faith upon the rock of our salvation. We will have no rest if we build our house on sand because we will be constantly looking out the window for rain, amen?

The great miracle of Christmas is the fact that this little baby wrapped in bands of cloth, this child lying in a manger is God with us. This little baby came to live the perfect life. He never disobeyed His Father’s plans and He lived perfectly so that He would be a perfect sacrifice on the cross. He rose from the dead after His death in order that He would be able to offer us the gift of hope … the gift of Heaven … the gift of eternal peace and rest. “Come to me all who are weary and heavy laden,” He calls, “and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me for I am gentle and humble of heart and you will find rest” (Matthew 11:28-30). The author of Hebrews uses Psalm 95 as a text for a sermon exhorting the early church not “to fall away from the living God” (Hebrews 4:1) so that they may complete their wandering in the wilderness of this world and enter into the rest of God … today because we listen to His voice … today because our faith is built upon the rock of our salvation … today because we know that when our wandering in this world is done we have the sure and certain hope of Heaven because of a little child born in a manger 2,000 years ago.

Psalm 95 is an invitation, a summons to authentic worship, which is a matter of word and deed. It identifies God as sovereign of all and as shepherd of the church and then teaches us that “worship is the devotion of life, trust, and obedience to this God and to God alone” (Mays, Ibid., p. 307). This same call to worship the True God of true God is also found in “O Come, All Ye Faithful:

“Child, for us sinners poor and in the manger, we would embrace thee with love and awe. Who would not love Thee, loving us so dearly? Yea, Lord, we greet thee, born this happy morning, Jesus, to thee be all glory given. Word of the Father, now in flesh appearing (stanzas 5 and 6).