RETHINK WORSHIP Part 5 Psalm 92:1-2/12-14

                    “Worship How and Why?”

 

Worship – What is your reaction to that subject – that activity?

A)I was a Christian when I was in High School and for a while – Worship was a struggle for me.

 

B)Reason: I had several friends who played guitar and sang well –

1)So I was very self conscious about how I sounded

 

C)I was also self conscious about – what my friends would think – if they saw me lift my hands

1)Or if I stood when I wasn’t told to? Would they think I was weird – trying to be ultra spiritual?

 

D)So for a time I was hindered in worship by my own SELF CONSCIOUSNESS

1)I am sure some of you here have struggled with that as well.

 

I have also been hindered in worshipping by my own personal problems.

A)I come into a gathering like this – and there is so much going on in my life – I don’t feel like singing

 

B) I really am not in the mood to worship God – that sounds silly doesn’t it?

1)I am sure you have been in that place { linger a little while longer in this meaningless conversation

C)What about this one: I have been hindered from worshipping God by my personal Preferences.

1) I don’t like that style of worship

 

D)Or I like it when that person leads worship but not so much when that other person does.

 

E)Now it is ok and quite normal to have personal preferences

1)But out personal preferences should never hinder us from worshipping God!

 

THE PROBLEM W/ ALL THOSE SCENARIOS I just mentioned IS THIS:

A) The FOCUS IS ON ME – when it should be ON GOD!

 

B)Worship is not about what I can get – but it is about giving myself and my heart to God!

 

C)That being said – there are some great benefits and blessings that we receive when we engage ourselves in true worship of God!

 

David declared in Psalm 92:1-2/12-14

   1 It is good to give thanks to the LORD,

And to sing praises to Your name, O Most High;

2   To declare Your lovingkindness in the morning,

And Your faithfulness every night,/   V.12

 

 

 

12  The righteous shall flourish like a palm tree,

He shall grow like a cedar in Lebanon.

13  Those who are planted in the house of the LORD

Shall flourish in the courts of our God.

14  They shall still bear fruit in old age;

They shall be fresh and flourishing,

 

I love this passage: Those who plant themselves in house of Lord, for the purpose of offering praise to the Lord will be like palm tree & Cedar tree

A) Palm trees stand tall in the sunshine – found in hot weather Dessert

 

B)Ceder trees in Contrast thrive in the Mountains &forest /where the climate can change drastically – snow & cold

 

C) The point is: the person who Plants himself in the house of the Lord for the purpose of giving thanks

singing  praises &  declaring His lovingkindness in the morning, And faithfulness every night,

 

D) Those people will flourish & bear fruit in every season of their lives & even in thier Old age !!!!

1) Great Promise !!!!!

 

This series we have noted that worship is a lifestyle

A)Getting God in View Wonder and Reverence – Treasuring the true beauty and worth of Christ

 

B)Letting that affect every aspect of our lives!

C)What we do here is just one expression of what really should be the heartbeat of our lives.

 

D)So our focus throughout this series has not been so much about what we do here.

 

E)Today as we finish this series – that is going to be the focus – Corporate worship.

1)Although what I am going to say – definitely applies to our times of Private worship as well

 

 

I want to consider this morning 5 Blessings of Worship: Five reasons why we should be those who are given to worshipping the Lord!

A)Reason#1 we worship  simply because Worship DELIGHTS OUR HEAVENLY FATHER :

 

B)This is not because God is vain – we answered that question in our third study.

 

C) Webster defined Vanity as being excessively proud of oneself or one's qualities or possessions.

1)Vanity is a distorted sense of one’s self worth.

 

D)Listen: God does not have a distorted view of Himself

1)He is the creator and sustainer of the Universe

2)He is Sovereign – Does what ..When .. How

3)Omnipotent – All powerful

4)Omniscient – All Knowing

5)Omnipresent – Everyone at once

But God is also a father – and as He enjoys experiencing intimacy with His Kids.

A)Psalm 22:3 God inhabits the praises of HIS PEOPLE.

 

B)Inhabits = to dwell amongst – to be enthroned upon. { Comes and Sits to listen.

 

C)I understand this – because as a Father I love it when my kids are altogether.

1)I Cherish it even more now – because they are getting older – doesn’t happen as much.

 

D)We are sitting around the table – having a meal

1)They are talking – Aaron starts being comical

All laughing – I love it.

 

E)It is an intimate and special time: Our heavenly Father feels the same way – worship.

 

Did you know that the word used the most in the NT for worship is the greek word  Pros/Ku/Neo{ Used 60 times

It means to turn towards and kiss.  It is an act of intimacy.

 

The other reason why Worship delights the Father is as a Father He enjoys watching his kids do what they were created to do.

A)We understand this: A sport / Dance / Excelling in School – Creative –

 

B)We were made to worship!

Colossians 1:16 …all things were created by Him, and for Him:

 

Revelation 4:11 “You are worthy, O Lord our God, to receive glory and honor and power. For you created everything, and it is for your pleasure that they exist and were created.”

 

B)It delights the Father to see His Kids engaging in worship because He knows the benefits it has for us.

 

#2 DETHRONES OUR FLESH.

A) In the O.T. the word Shachah is the word used the most for Worship 97 times /

 

B) Shachah = To Lay Prostrate / to bow / to stoop

 

C) The idea is showing Humility in the Presence of God / It is declaring in our Hearts that He is the CENTER OF ATTENTION

 

1) Many Scriptures that bear this out Psalm 95: 6  “Oh come, let us worship and bow down; Let us kneel before the LORD our Maker.”

 

D) Now if You Think about it /the very act of Worship Announces the Absence of Self Absorption & Self Centeredness

1) In Worship we are Preocuppied w/ God – there is no other – No one else in the room –

2) All that Matters is Him !!!!!!

This is the reason I believe why many times we don’t engage in Worship / We are self Absorbed

A) We come to Church – focus – what can I get from God.

 

Aa) I hope the message is good – I want to learn –

        I need God speak to my heart

 

B) Worship is the last thing on our minds:

 

William Temple the Arch Bishop of Cantebury in the 1940’s hit the nail on the head when he declared “True Worship  is the most selfless emotion our nature is capable of & is therefore the Chief Remedy for Self Centeredness which is the original sin & the source of all sin!”

 

C) The very act of Worship DETHRONES OUR FLESH  because it enthrones the Lord.

1)Things get put into Perspective.

 

D)God is greater than I am – My self consciousness and personal preferences – should not be an issue.

 

E)God is bigger than all my personal problems

1)Eyes off of me and on to Him.

 

When we engage in worship we are saying to the Lord – It is not about me it is all about you.

 

So Delights ..Father/ Detrhones our Flesh

#3  Worship: DEVELOPS our CHURCH FAMILY

A) When we come together I often think of the different types of people who call this their Church Home

 

B) All different ages/ People from different Ethic backgrounds / economic backgrounds / family backgrounds,

1) But all of that gets put aside in Jesus & it is seen the most lift our Hearts & voices in worship

 

C) When people get together and say: “We are here to worship the Lord and express our love for Him,” there is an interesting thing that happens.

 1) There is this unity & this togetherness that Happen’s that is so very sweet 

 

There is a Neat example of this in 2 Chron. 5 turn there .

 

2 Chronicles 5:13 It came to pass, when the trumpeters and singers were AS ONE TO MAKE ONE SOUND to be heard in praising and thanking the LORD, and when they lifted up their voice with the trumpets and cymbals and instruments of music, and praised the LORD, saying:

     “For He is good,  For His mercy endures forever,”and the house, the house of the LORD, was filled with a cloud, 14so that the priests could not continue ministering because of the cloud; for the glory of the LORD filled the house of God.

 

D) What is it that brought them into oneness?

1)They came together to acknowledge the goodness of the Lord. – God Showed up in a big way

 

That's what worship does - come together as one / I lose myself

A) Become a part of something bigger than me. Family –

 

B)Peter put it this way: 1 Peter 2:5,9-10 “We as

living stones, are being built up a spiritual house, a holy priesthood, to offer up spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ.”

 

C)Alone – just a rock good for smashing; sinking

1) But together built up - spiritual house - offer praise

 

9 “But you are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, His own special people, that you may proclaim the praises of Him who called you out of darkness into His marvelous light; 10 who once were not a people but are now the people of God, who had not obtained mercy but now have obtained mercy.”

 

So  WorshipDelights ..Father/ Detrhones our Flesh

#3DEVELOPS our CHURCH FAMILY

 

#4 Worship DEFEATS our FOE!

 

A) We see a neat picture of this in 2 Chronicles 20: The army’s of Ammon and Moab & Mt Seir were coming against Judah

 

B) King Jehosophat of Judah was a godly king! –

1) He sought the Lord/ the Lord declared assemble the worship leaders  Have them go out ahead of the army – Singing

 

2 Chron 20:20-23

20 So they rose early in the morning and went out into the Wilderness of Tekoa; and as they went out, Jehoshaphat stood and said, "Hear me, O Judah and you inhabitants of Jerusalem:

Believe in the LORD your God, and you shall be established; believe His prophets, and you shall prosper."21 And when he had consulted with the people, he appointed those who should sing to the LORD, and who should praise the beauty of holiness, as they went out before the army and were saying:

 

                                 "Praise the LORD,

                           For His mercy endures forever."

 

22 Now when they began to sing and to praise, the LORD set ambushes against the people of Ammon, Moab, and Mount Seir, who had come against Judah; and they were defeated.23 For the people of Ammon and Moab stood up against the inhabitants of Mount Seir to utterly kill and destroy them. And when they had made an end of the inhabitants of Seir, they helped to destroy one another.

The Enemy was defeated when? When  they began to worship!

A)  So too our enemy: Satan hates worship - / Kicked out of heaven.

 

B) See He desires people to worship him / last thing he likes to see is people worshipping God.

1) Fingers on a Chalk board / Drill in the dentist Chair / Drives him crazy – he bails the scene!

 

C)In a setting like this – He shows up – He wants to distract us and Hinder us in anyway that He can from worshipping God – when We do

 

D)He is defeated – Lost cause – go somewhere else.

 

So  Worship Delights ..Father/ Detrhones our Flesh

DEVELOPS our CHURCH FAMILY

#4 Worship DEFEATS our FOE!

 

#5 Worship: DECLARES OUR FAITH.

A) Now there are 6 Hebrews words for Praise each one - gives us insight into how worship declares our faith.

 

1st word is Barak used in Judg. 5:12 / Psa. 72:12-15 /   Barak speaks of silent praise from the Heart.

A) There is no statement of vocal expression in this word. /

 

B) But it is active in the sense that kneeling - is associated w/ it.

 

B) It means to kneel to bless - to salute ! It is a word that speaks of a deep Reverence !

 

2nd word is Yadah means to throw out the hands: It is used in Psalm 7:17 and in several other the Psalms

A) The idea w/ this word is to throw out the hands to touch the throne of God!

 

B) It speaks of a thankful expression of worship

 

3rd word is Zamar is also used in that same verse it speaks of using instruments to praise God

A)It lit. means to touch the strings to celebrate in song

 

B)David as a worship leader was always inventing musical instruments to be used in worship.

 

 

Expanded translation of Psalm 7:17

“I will throw out my hands in praise the Lord according to His righteousness, and will sing and use musical instruments to praise  the name of the Lord Most High.”

NKJV

 

4th Word is Halal - which is the most common word for praise found in the Bible - 99 times in O.T. & in 1/3 of the Psalms

A) Halal is the root of the word Hallelujah which literally means to praise the Lord.

 

B) Halal means to shout / to celebrate / to rave / to boast / & to sing loudly !

1)  It is a word that speaks of a radical outward expression of worship- a real letting go - and worshipping the Lord.

 

 

5th  word is Towdah also involves the hands - Towdah means to lift our hands - it is the most common word for thanks in Israel today.

A) It speaks of lifting the hands in thanks for what God is going to do!

 

B) The outward lifting of the hands speaks of the inward lifting of the heart.

1) Lamentations 3:41 declares “let us lift our heart with our hands.”

 

C) Yadah speaks of giving - Towdah anticipates receiving - daddy pick me up

1) The need or attitude of the heart is displayed in the way we lift our hands

 

 

 

6th word is Shabach = to commend to triumph to glory and shout with a loud voice !

A) - Now you get the idea here w/ most of these words aside from Barak/  that God intends worship to be a loud very expressive thing.

 

B) Excitement about the Lord and his presence in our lives!

 

Someone once said that Loud praise is not because God is deaf or hard of hearing - or far away , but it is because He deserves great commendation, His glory & majesty are worthy of praise.

 

C)At the very beginning of this study we said that we wanted to RETHINK WORSHIP

1)See what the Bible says – and align our hearts with that.

 

D)No one is going to force you to worship – Sit there ok – Sad missing out –

 

At the same time – There is freedom: Stand – hands

Be loud – bow – Freedom to do that here.

A)Just don’t make a spectacle of yourself

 

B)Be expressive – whatever that means to you.

1)You watch a football game – small clap – fine

 

C)You be you

C) We see a very costly & expressive act of worship in John 12:

1) Mary takes a bottle of very costly perfume. Dowry – yrs wage $10,000 dollars and pours it on Jesus.

 

It was an expression of her faith: She caught on to what everyone else missed Jesus was going to die for them.

A) Anointed him for burial –

 

B) Interesting to note Mary wasn’t at the Crucifixion: I believe it was because she believed he was going to rise

 

C) Mary’s faith was declared in her worship

As she anointed Jesus that day:

1) That fragrance filled the room / Her hair