The Act Of Worship Series

The Act of Worship

Psalm 29:2

Intro

A young man came to his parents one day and informed them that he would start to receive his meals at the dinner table but would take them back to his room.

The father, quickly informed him of his nice try, but they would be eating all their meals together as a family, in one room at one table; just like they had been doing for so many years.

The young man replied to his parents, I was just trying to help you all out, so you wouldn’t have to put up with my rolling eyes, deep sighs, and the other stuff you don’t like.

The father informed his son, that they would find some way to survive all that somehow. The dinner table attendance is an absolute, not an option, for this family.

The young man was pretty upset by his new policy being put down, but the point is that some things are just right – such as families spending a certain amount of time together.

The father had it right. The family dinner table is one of life’s longstanding cross-cultural traditions for a reason: It’s simply the right thing to do. I could list many other things that fall under that category also. For instance, I know that I must share my faith. I might do so with strangers on an airplane, or I might do so through inviting some neighborhood friends to a get-together. But Jesus has commanded me to spread the gospel, so I won’t opt out.

Worship is another example. Like family life, it should be enjoyable. It should feel us and mature us, preparing us for life and leaving its stamp upon us forever. Worship and family life, when done right, are things we would never think to question. We would realize their value and beauty.

So this morning I want us to look at what actually is the art of worship.

I. An Act of Obedience

a. Some people have come to believe that worship is an optional Christian activity.

b. I’ve heard Christians say, “Bible study is the thing for me. I’m not much for singing hymns or mouthing praises. That’s okay for people who go in for that sort of thing, but I’m more of a cerebral person, and I express my faith through studying.”

c. Unfortunately that approach is never set forth in the Scriptures.

i. Throughout the Bible we find that worship is no more an option than eating or breathing.

ii. Stop doing either of those and you’ll die physically.

iii. Stop worshipping and you die spiritually.

iv. If you don’t worship – and I mean truly worship, not simply attend a weekly service – you’ll never experience God.

v. It’s that simple.

d. Imagine trying to make one weekly appointment to do all your breathing.

i. Every Sunday you drive to the local oxygen tank, where you and a group of fellow air breathers talk about the quality of air, encourage each other to be better breathers, sing a few air songs, then do the week’s breathing.

ii. Unfortunately, you’d be gasping for air before you even got out of the parking lot.

iii. Worship in church is essential, but so is your personal, ongoing worship.

iv. You need to take it with you every day.

READ Psalm 29:2

Give unto the Lord the glory due to His name;

Worship the Lord in the beauty of holiness.

95:2, 6

Let us come before His presence with thanksgiving;

Let us shout joyfully to Him with psalms…

Oh come, let us worship and bow down;

Let us kneel before the Lord our Maker.

96:4,6, 9

For the Lord is great and greatly to be praised;…

Honor and majesty are before Him.

Strength and beauty are in His sanctuary…

Oh, worship the Lord in the beauty of holiness!

e. According to the Scriptures, our Lord is to be loved by His creatures with all their hearts, souls, and minds.

i. He is to be praised, blessed, gloried in, rejoiced in, exalted, feared, extolled, and thanked.

ii. The idea is that we worship God with all that we have.

iii. Worship come from obedience and a grateful heart.

f. Worship is not a spectator sport, but rather a contact sport.

i. Each one of us in present to come into contact with the Spirit of God, and our worship happens not simply though hearing, but through being wholly involved in all that goes on as we come before Him.

ii. EXAMPLE: If you’re going swimming, you don’t stand forever at the edge of the pool.

1. Ultimately you dive in.

2. There is no way to swim without using your whole body, unless you want to sink and drown.

3. If you’ve ever tried to swim across a lake or even across the pool, you know that it takes a total commitment of your body, including your eyes, mouth, lungs, arms, and legs.