Psalm 95.1-7
The worship of God is one of the hallmarks of being a disciple of Jesus. It is something that's built into our religion, a given, something simply assumed about being a Christian. And just because there is so much that is just assumed about worship we can miss what is important. So, this morning we're going to take a look at worship. To get at this I'm going to pose a question that I hope will get you thinking. The question is simple. Why should we worship God? Or to put it another way, what do you hope to accomplish by being here? Let's examine this to see what the Spirit will point out.
Here's one popular answer. We worship God because we're supposed to. It's commanded by God in the Bible – our text being just one example – and so we are to obey that command and worship God. And that sounds pretty good. It's hard to deny that worship is commanded. It really is in our text. But ... if that's all there is, then all you've got is duty. And while duty has its place, what kind of relationship flourishes based only on duty? Now, we are to worship God because He commands it. But does He have a reason for this command? Is there something more that we need to see?
Let me add to this. There are some who have been critical of our religion because at the heart of it all is a God who commands His creatures, 'Praise Me! Worship Me!' That sounds rather egotistical and a bit insecure to these critics. It seems that this God has a lack, a need that our worship fills. And that, according to these critics, is not very appealing. Is this what's behind God's command to worship Him? Does our worship meet some need in God? I hope that you see this as the slander against God that it is. But, if our worship is not intended to meet some need in God, then why does He command it?
So, mere duty doesn't seem right. And God being somehow dependent on our worship is just plain wrong. So, why do we worship? There is more at stake here than just getting the right answer. The answer affects how we worship. We need to get this right so that we might worship our God well.
The first step to a good answer to our question is to pose and answer another question. What is worship? Clearly, it is more than just a list of things to do on Sunday mornings. What is worship? Try this on for size. Worship is acknowledging God as the God that He is. That might sound odd, but it's in our text. Whoever wrote this Psalm is worshiping God even as he calls others to join him. Listen again to how he acknowledges God as the God that He is.
'Oh come, let us sing to the Lord; let us make a joyful noise to the rock of our salvation!'
This God is a savior. He is our savior.
'Let us come into his presence with thanksgiving; let us make a joyful noise to him with songs of praise! For the Lord is a great God, and a great King above all gods.'
Compare our God to all the rest. He is greater than all the other gods that people worship. He is the King over all.
And then the Psalmist fills out what that means.
'In his hand are the depths of the earth; the heights of the mountains are his also.'
Our God is in control of this world from the deepest place in the ocean to the highest mountaintop.
'The sea is his, for he made it, and his hands formed the dry land.'
It all belongs to Him because He is the Creator of it all.
'Oh come, let us worship and bow down; let us kneel before the Lord, our Maker!'
He has also created us.
'For he is our God, and we are the people of his pasture, and the sheep of his hand.'
Using the language of 'our God' is using the language of covenant. So, the Psalmist is telling us that more than just having created us, this God has also made a covenant with us. And that makes us more than just His creatures. We are His people, the sheep that He shepherds oh so carefully.
So, you see, the cry of the Psalmist, 'Oh come, let us worship and bow down; let us kneel before the Lord, our Maker!', makes sense. There are good reasons to worship our God. At its heart, worship is acknowledging God as the God that He really is.
However – and this is so very important – we do not acknowledge God in some abstract way. This is not an academic theology class where we discuss God in some detached, scientific way. (That's not even a good way to study theology.) Acknowledging God as the God that He really is can only happen as we acknowledge ourselves as we really are. Let's go back through the Psalmist's points, his description of our God. God is a savior. That means we are people who are in need of being saved. God is the King who rules over all. We are His subjects. God is the Creator. We are mere creatures. God is our covenant God. We are His sheep who are so dependent on Him. There are two sides of the coin that must go together. And now we have an answer to our question, 'What is worship?' Worship happens when God is acknowledged for who He really is by people who acknowledge who they really are.
Let me say all of that using a more familiar model. We are children of God, and in worship we are coming to meet with our Father. While coming to Him as His children means that we come as those who are privileged to come, it also means that we come with needs. We come, with those needs, to the One who can meet those needs. And so, we come so that those needs might be met. We come in need of a fresh experience of God's kindness. We come in need of greater clarity about what it means to follow Jesus well. We come in need of our spirits being lifted up by reminders of the beauty of the Gospel. We come in need of having our sins pointed out and then gloriously forgiven. We come in need of the assurance that the Spirit gives. We come in need of getting to know our God – Father, Son, Spirit – better. So, why do we worship? We worship because we are in need, and we know that God alone can meet those needs. That's just another way to say we worship God by acknowledging Him as He really is, as we acknowledge ourselves as we really are.
Now, I know that there some in the Church at large who would go ballistic if they heard any of this. They would say, 'Wait a minute! That can't be right. The focus isn't supposed to be on us in worship. It's supposed to be on God. What you've described is so selfish, so man-centered. Worship is about Him, not about us!' A young boy asks his dad if he can talk to him about something. So, his dad takes him aside and the boy says, 'I used to think that girls were ucky. But now, I'm not so sure. I think that I'm liking them, especially one. What's going on? What do I do?' The boy comes to his dad with a need, and his thoughts are focused on that need. But consider what he is saying by his actions, by coming to his dad. 'You're my Dad. You've always been there to take care of me. You must know about this girl stuff that I have no clue about. I trust you to steer me straight. Help me now.' The boy is honoring his father by all of this. He is acknowledging his dad as his Dad with all that that means, and he comes to his Dad acknowledging himself as his very needy son, with all that that means. So, how will his father respond? Do you think his father will reply, 'Son, you're only thinking of yourself and your need. If you want to honor me properly, come back when you are ready to focus on me and not on yourself. Come back when you get our relationship right'? Does that make any sense? Any good dad would be ecstatic with a son like this. He would relish the opportunity to guide and comfort his confused son. He would rejoice in being able to be all that 'Dad' means to his son. This would be a glorious moment in their relationship. But there's more to my little story. After the son receives the help that he was looking for, what will he think about his Dad? What is he going to tell his buddies? 'My Dad is the best. He's the greatest Dad. I know that he loves me and that he's going to take good care of me. He is always there for me. Man, my Dad is great!' What is that? It praise, authentic, heartfelt praise for his Dad. No one told him he had to do it. It just shows up. He came as a needy son, and he found his Dad to be all that a dad is supposed to be. Praise is inevitable. And that's what worship is. Worship is acknowledging God as the God he really is – Creator, Savior, Father, and all the rest – as we acknowledge who we really are – creatures, sinners, needy and loved sons and daughters. The inevitable result of our coming to this God in this way is praise.
Back to duty. Duty is not worship. But duty is important. Duty will get you here to worship. Ever have this conversation with someone in your family or maybe even with yourself: It's Sunday; time for worship. I don't want to go. Too bad. It's Sunday; time for worship. Okay, okay, I'm going. Duty is important. It will get you here when nothing else will. But duty is a poor motivation for worship. There needs to be more than just a sense of obedience to some command of God. And yet, please note God's kindness in giving us that command to worship Him. In that command He is telling us, 'You have needs – some you know about, most you don't. Those needs will be met in the context of worship. So, get there to worship Me.' We come as needy children. We come to our Father who loves to give good gifts to His needy children. And as we come – acknowledging Him as He really is as we also acknowledge ourselves as we really are – the inevitable result is praise.
And now, our text makes a bit more sense. Oh come, let us sing to the Lord; let us make a joyful noise to the rock of our salvation! Let us come into his presence with thanksgiving; let us make a joyful noise to him with songs of praise! For the Lord is a great God, and a great King above all gods. In his hand are the depths of the earth; the heights of the mountains are his also. The sea is his, for he made it, and his hands formed the dry land. Oh come, let us worship and bow down; let us kneel before the Lord, our Maker! For he is our God, and we are the people of his pasture, and the sheep of his hand.
Now, all of this is impossible without Jesus. To be sure, there is the obvious. Sinners like us cannot come, dare not come, to worship a holy God. But Jesus has taken care of that. He has dealt with our sin. He has made us sons and daughters who are now welcomed by the Father. This much should be obvious to you. But there is another aspect to what Jesus has done that has a crucial role in our being able to worship God. By definition, sin is the refusal to worship. Sin is the refusal to acknowledge God as He really is, Creator, King, the only Savior. Sin is also the refusal to acknowledge ourselves as we really are, mere creatures, subjects of the King, needy sinners. Now, we are the saved. We are sons and daughters who are welcomed by the Father. And yet, we still sin. And that would make worship, real worship, impossible for us – if it were not for one thing. And that one thing is not a good sermon on worship. Being able to worship God properly is not a matter of changing some ideas in your head so that you can adjust your behavior. Right thinking is important, crucial even. But right thinking alone is powerless against sin, absolutely powerless. Remember the Pharisees who knew their Bibles really well. They were still enslaved to their sin, and that showed in their worship. Trying harder because of some new ideas will not do. That will not save you from your sin and how it affects your worship. Only Jesus saves from sin. The only reason that we are able to worship is because Jesus has given us His Spirit. It is the Spirit who causes us to cry out with the words that are of the essence of worship, 'Abba, Father', the cry of needy children who know where their needs can be met. We are able to worship only because the Spirit of Jesus is doing His work in our souls. Without the Spirit, the command to worship would only frustrate and discourage us. Any command of God, apart from the Spirit, would do the same thing. True worship, worship that acknowledges God as He really is as we acknowledge ourselves as we really are, comes from hearts where the Spirit is doing His work of renovation. Worship that pleases God and satisfies us comes from hearts where the Spirit is busy. This is the Gospel.
I don't usually remember where a sermon first comes from. But it seems to me that this sermon started a few weeks back when I heard someone refer to what Jesus said to the Pharisees. 'You hypocrites! Well did Isaiah prophesy of you, when he said: "This people honors me with their lips,but their heart is far from me; in vain do they worship me..."' I hope that this applies to none of us. But there is a very real danger. And that's what hit me; the danger of vain worship. It was out of that sense of danger that I wanted to teach you about worship. So, let me encourage you to consider what I have taught you and to discuss it with the Father so that you might worship your God well and in this way enjoy what it means to be one of His children.
The worship of God is one of the hallmarks of being a disciple of Jesus. It is something that's built into our religion, a given, something simply assumed about being a Christian. And just because there is so much that is just assumed about worship we can miss what is important. So, this morning we're going to take a look at worship. To get at this I'm going to pose a question that I hope will get you thinking. The question is simple. Why should we worship God? Or to put it another way, what do you hope to accomplish by being here? Let's examine this to see what the Spirit will point out.
Here's one popular answer. We worship God because we're supposed to. It's commanded by God in the Bible – our text being just one example – and so we are to obey that command and worship God. And that sounds pretty good. It's hard to deny that worship is commanded. It really is in our text. But ... if that's all there is, then all you've got is duty. And while duty has its place, what kind of relationship flourishes based only on duty? Now, we are to worship God because He commands it. But does He have a reason for this command? Is there something more that we need to see?
Let me add to this. There are some who have been critical of our religion because at the heart of it all is a God who commands His creatures, 'Praise Me! Worship Me!' That sounds rather egotistical and a bit insecure to these critics. It seems that this God has a lack, a need that our worship fills. And that, according to these critics, is not very appealing. Is this what's behind God's command to worship Him? Does our worship meet some need in God? I hope that you see this as the slander against God that it is. But, if our worship is not intended to meet some need in God, then why does He command it?
So, mere duty doesn't seem right. And God being somehow dependent on our worship is just plain wrong. So, why do we worship? There is more at stake here than just getting the right answer. The answer affects how we worship. We need to get this right so that we might worship our God well.
The first step to a good answer to our question is to pose and answer another question. What is worship? Clearly, it is more than just a list of things to do on Sunday mornings. What is worship? Try this on for size. Worship is acknowledging God as the God that He is. That might sound odd, but it's in our text. Whoever wrote this Psalm is worshiping God even as he calls others to join him. Listen again to how he acknowledges God as the God that He is.
'Oh come, let us sing to the Lord; let us make a joyful noise to the rock of our salvation!'
This God is a savior. He is our savior.
'Let us come into his presence with thanksgiving; let us make a joyful noise to him with songs of praise! For the Lord is a great God, and a great King above all gods.'
Compare our God to all the rest. He is greater than all the other gods that people worship. He is the King over all.
And then the Psalmist fills out what that means.
'In his hand are the depths of the earth; the heights of the mountains are his also.'
Our God is in control of this world from the deepest place in the ocean to the highest mountaintop.
'The sea is his, for he made it, and his hands formed the dry land.'
It all belongs to Him because He is the Creator of it all.
'Oh come, let us worship and bow down; let us kneel before the Lord, our Maker!'
He has also created us.
'For he is our God, and we are the people of his pasture, and the sheep of his hand.'
Using the language of 'our God' is using the language of covenant. So, the Psalmist is telling us that more than just having created us, this God has also made a covenant with us. And that makes us more than just His creatures. We are His people, the sheep that He shepherds oh so carefully.
So, you see, the cry of the Psalmist, 'Oh come, let us worship and bow down; let us kneel before the Lord, our Maker!', makes sense. There are good reasons to worship our God. At its heart, worship is acknowledging God as the God that He really is.
However – and this is so very important – we do not acknowledge God in some abstract way. This is not an academic theology class where we discuss God in some detached, scientific way. (That's not even a good way to study theology.) Acknowledging God as the God that He really is can only happen as we acknowledge ourselves as we really are. Let's go back through the Psalmist's points, his description of our God. God is a savior. That means we are people who are in need of being saved. God is the King who rules over all. We are His subjects. God is the Creator. We are mere creatures. God is our covenant God. We are His sheep who are so dependent on Him. There are two sides of the coin that must go together. And now we have an answer to our question, 'What is worship?' Worship happens when God is acknowledged for who He really is by people who acknowledge who they really are.
Let me say all of that using a more familiar model. We are children of God, and in worship we are coming to meet with our Father. While coming to Him as His children means that we come as those who are privileged to come, it also means that we come with needs. We come, with those needs, to the One who can meet those needs. And so, we come so that those needs might be met. We come in need of a fresh experience of God's kindness. We come in need of greater clarity about what it means to follow Jesus well. We come in need of our spirits being lifted up by reminders of the beauty of the Gospel. We come in need of having our sins pointed out and then gloriously forgiven. We come in need of the assurance that the Spirit gives. We come in need of getting to know our God – Father, Son, Spirit – better. So, why do we worship? We worship because we are in need, and we know that God alone can meet those needs. That's just another way to say we worship God by acknowledging Him as He really is, as we acknowledge ourselves as we really are.
Now, I know that there some in the Church at large who would go ballistic if they heard any of this. They would say, 'Wait a minute! That can't be right. The focus isn't supposed to be on us in worship. It's supposed to be on God. What you've described is so selfish, so man-centered. Worship is about Him, not about us!' A young boy asks his dad if he can talk to him about something. So, his dad takes him aside and the boy says, 'I used to think that girls were ucky. But now, I'm not so sure. I think that I'm liking them, especially one. What's going on? What do I do?' The boy comes to his dad with a need, and his thoughts are focused on that need. But consider what he is saying by his actions, by coming to his dad. 'You're my Dad. You've always been there to take care of me. You must know about this girl stuff that I have no clue about. I trust you to steer me straight. Help me now.' The boy is honoring his father by all of this. He is acknowledging his dad as his Dad with all that that means, and he comes to his Dad acknowledging himself as his very needy son, with all that that means. So, how will his father respond? Do you think his father will reply, 'Son, you're only thinking of yourself and your need. If you want to honor me properly, come back when you are ready to focus on me and not on yourself. Come back when you get our relationship right'? Does that make any sense? Any good dad would be ecstatic with a son like this. He would relish the opportunity to guide and comfort his confused son. He would rejoice in being able to be all that 'Dad' means to his son. This would be a glorious moment in their relationship. But there's more to my little story. After the son receives the help that he was looking for, what will he think about his Dad? What is he going to tell his buddies? 'My Dad is the best. He's the greatest Dad. I know that he loves me and that he's going to take good care of me. He is always there for me. Man, my Dad is great!' What is that? It praise, authentic, heartfelt praise for his Dad. No one told him he had to do it. It just shows up. He came as a needy son, and he found his Dad to be all that a dad is supposed to be. Praise is inevitable. And that's what worship is. Worship is acknowledging God as the God he really is – Creator, Savior, Father, and all the rest – as we acknowledge who we really are – creatures, sinners, needy and loved sons and daughters. The inevitable result of our coming to this God in this way is praise.
Back to duty. Duty is not worship. But duty is important. Duty will get you here to worship. Ever have this conversation with someone in your family or maybe even with yourself: It's Sunday; time for worship. I don't want to go. Too bad. It's Sunday; time for worship. Okay, okay, I'm going. Duty is important. It will get you here when nothing else will. But duty is a poor motivation for worship. There needs to be more than just a sense of obedience to some command of God. And yet, please note God's kindness in giving us that command to worship Him. In that command He is telling us, 'You have needs – some you know about, most you don't. Those needs will be met in the context of worship. So, get there to worship Me.' We come as needy children. We come to our Father who loves to give good gifts to His needy children. And as we come – acknowledging Him as He really is as we also acknowledge ourselves as we really are – the inevitable result is praise.
And now, our text makes a bit more sense. Oh come, let us sing to the Lord; let us make a joyful noise to the rock of our salvation! Let us come into his presence with thanksgiving; let us make a joyful noise to him with songs of praise! For the Lord is a great God, and a great King above all gods. In his hand are the depths of the earth; the heights of the mountains are his also. The sea is his, for he made it, and his hands formed the dry land. Oh come, let us worship and bow down; let us kneel before the Lord, our Maker! For he is our God, and we are the people of his pasture, and the sheep of his hand.
Now, all of this is impossible without Jesus. To be sure, there is the obvious. Sinners like us cannot come, dare not come, to worship a holy God. But Jesus has taken care of that. He has dealt with our sin. He has made us sons and daughters who are now welcomed by the Father. This much should be obvious to you. But there is another aspect to what Jesus has done that has a crucial role in our being able to worship God. By definition, sin is the refusal to worship. Sin is the refusal to acknowledge God as He really is, Creator, King, the only Savior. Sin is also the refusal to acknowledge ourselves as we really are, mere creatures, subjects of the King, needy sinners. Now, we are the saved. We are sons and daughters who are welcomed by the Father. And yet, we still sin. And that would make worship, real worship, impossible for us – if it were not for one thing. And that one thing is not a good sermon on worship. Being able to worship God properly is not a matter of changing some ideas in your head so that you can adjust your behavior. Right thinking is important, crucial even. But right thinking alone is powerless against sin, absolutely powerless. Remember the Pharisees who knew their Bibles really well. They were still enslaved to their sin, and that showed in their worship. Trying harder because of some new ideas will not do. That will not save you from your sin and how it affects your worship. Only Jesus saves from sin. The only reason that we are able to worship is because Jesus has given us His Spirit. It is the Spirit who causes us to cry out with the words that are of the essence of worship, 'Abba, Father', the cry of needy children who know where their needs can be met. We are able to worship only because the Spirit of Jesus is doing His work in our souls. Without the Spirit, the command to worship would only frustrate and discourage us. Any command of God, apart from the Spirit, would do the same thing. True worship, worship that acknowledges God as He really is as we acknowledge ourselves as we really are, comes from hearts where the Spirit is doing His work of renovation. Worship that pleases God and satisfies us comes from hearts where the Spirit is busy. This is the Gospel.
I don't usually remember where a sermon first comes from. But it seems to me that this sermon started a few weeks back when I heard someone refer to what Jesus said to the Pharisees. 'You hypocrites! Well did Isaiah prophesy of you, when he said: "This people honors me with their lips,but their heart is far from me; in vain do they worship me..."' I hope that this applies to none of us. But there is a very real danger. And that's what hit me; the danger of vain worship. It was out of that sense of danger that I wanted to teach you about worship. So, let me encourage you to consider what I have taught you and to discuss it with the Father so that you might worship your God well and in this way enjoy what it means to be one of His children.
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