Clarifying Worship. Psalm 145

Transcription

1 Blake Jennings Grace Bible Church Suthwd Clarifying Wrship Psalm 145 We will wrship Gd fr all eternity because it is His highest pririty fr ur lives. But d we really understand wrship? Discver the true meaning f wrship as we clear up cmmn miscnceptins and learn hw t practice this mst vital discipline. Turn t Psalm 145 My relatinship with Julie did nt begin well and it s all my fault - we were friends fr mnths; we c-led a ministry at ur church - didn t take lng t realize I wanted mre than just friendship - big deal fr me s I prayed, strategized with rmmates, asked mutual friends fr advice, gt my pastr s permissin - and then I blew it! instead f, Can I take yu ut n a date? asked, Want t meet fr cffee? - since we led a ministry tgether, she assumed I wanted t meet t plan - she said yes, planned accrdingly, until the day f the date friend: S I hear yu have a date with Blake tnight. Julie: I d? - Guys, dn t ever put a girl yu like in that situatin! - Be clear with yur wrds. Dn t just assume she knws what yu mean. We d the same thing in church: we use wrds carelessly, assuming peple understand. Our failure t clarify creates cnfusin and misunderstanding. Tday: clarify a cmmnly misunderstd wrd yu hear ften in church: WORSHIP Reasn we re talking abut this tday: - we are abut t jump back in t 1 Crinthians - rest f the bk chapters cver tpics that all relate t the wrship service in church S, let s take this week and just talk abut that wrd wrship What is wrship? - Psalm 145 written by King David ne f the best passages t find ut what wrship means David uses a lt f different wrds and ideas t describe the cncept f wrship - read Psalm 145: Hw des David describe wrship? v1: t extl = t lift up, t exalt raise smene up s all can see their greatness v1: t bless yur name = t declare the greatness f Gd s attributes and actins v2: t praise = Halal Halleluiah = t prclaim the greatness f Gd v4: declare yur mighty acts = declare t thers the great things Gd has dne v5: meditates n Gd s splendr and wrks He s reminding Himself v6&7: men shall speak tell utter shut f Gd s greatness v10: Gd s wrks shall give thanks t Gd v12: we make knwn Gd s mighty acts and glry

2 All f thse verbs describe wrship and help us arrive at a simple, straight-frward definitin. wrship is simply t declare the great wrth f Gd t prclaim hw great Gd is and what great things Gd has dne That s actually the riginal meaning f the English wrd wrship - derived frm: wrth-ship = t declare the great wrth f smene r smething As we saw in Ps 145, we re declaring Gd s wrth t Gd, t urselves, and t ne anther - wrship ges up, in, and ut UP t Gd speaking praise and giving thanks IN t urselves meditating n Gd s gdness, attributes, actins OUT twards thers declaring t ne anther & the wrld hw great Gd is But hw d we actually d this thing called wrship? Hw d yu declare Gd s wrth? - When mst peple think abut wrship, what d they think abut ding? SINGING that s certainly a big part f wrship - But wrship is much mre than just singing in a big grup f peple - In the bk f Psalms wrship is described by a hst f verbs: Sing, shut, speak, tell, prclaim, rejice, exalt, give thanks, praise, be glad, call upn, cme near, bw dwn, kneel, bring an ffering, serve, remember, meditate verbs f thught: remember, meditate verbs f speaking and singing verbs f ding: bring an ffering; serve - SO wrship is any thught, wrd, sng, r deed that prclaims the greatness f Gd Practically speaking, yu are wrshipping when - yu sing sngs t Gd tgether with us n Sunday mrnings - yu listen t wrship music in yur car and let it engage yur mind & emtins - yu read a Psalm and pray its truths back t Gd - yu serve yur elderly neighbr & tell him it s because yu lve Jesus - yu give yur mney t a fellw student in need because yu lve Jesus - yu even wrship when yu re at wrk if yu d yur wrk as a service t the Lrd 17th century French mnk named Brther Lawrence every day befre starting wrk in the mnastery kitchen prayed O my Gd, yu are always with me. Since I must nw in bedience t yur will fr me, apply my mind t my day s wrk, grant me the grace I shall need t cntinue thrugh it in yur presence. Help me t d this wrk t yur glry. Receive it as a spiritual ffering. And let my desire be nly t please yu. turned a menial jb int wrship by ding well with a jyful attitude - Anything can be turned int wrship if yu use it t declare the greatness f Gd Wrship is simply: declaring the great wrth f Gd, t Gd t urselves and t ne anther in thught, wrd, sng, r deed With that definitin in mind we can finally clear up a few cmmn miscnceptins

3 WORSHIP IS 1) nt always jyful Listen t KSBJ always upbeat; happy; makes yu feel gd Read Psalm 55:1-2,4-5 Give ear t my prayer, O Gd, and d nt hide yurself frm my plea fr mercy! Attend t me, and answer me; I am restless in my cmplaint and I man My heart is in anguish within me; the terrrs f death have fallen upn me. Fear and trembling cme upn me, and hrrr verwhelms me. I m just waiting fr the Chris Tmlin sng abut hrrr verwhelming me!! Lk at David s emtins in wrship: Heartache, lneliness, fear, anguish That s nt what sells in Christian music but it is wrship! Wide range f emtins that accmpany wrship jy, thankfulness srrw, despair anger, grief bredm, apathy I ve experienced them all jy singing a cappella hymns n tp f Enchanted Rck anger singing abut Gd s faithfulness while ging thrugh infertility thankfulness singing abut Gd s faithfulness after He gave us Luke & Gracie anguish singing abut Gd s lve when s many peple I lve aren t here and smetimes I dn t seem t feel anything at all tired, bred, distracted The essence f wrship: nt a particular emtinal state, but the chice t declare Gd s wrth in the midst f whatever emtins yu re feeling David was a great wrshipper because he tk his happiness, anger, fear t Gd He didn t suppress his emtins r feel guilty He acknwledged his emtins & asked Gd t invade and reveal Himself I hpe this will be FREEING fr sme f yu Feel like less f a Christian because yu dn t feel happy, jyful, passinate, int it Feel pressure t feel a certain way I struggled with that fr a lng time until I studied the Psalms G t Breakaway and everyne else seems s int it Felt guilty because I didn t feel jyful and passinate and int it Gd must really be disappinted in me! NO! He s nt because the quality f my wrship is nt determined by a particular emtinal state it s determined by my chice t declare the wrth f Gd regardless f my emtins at the mment S whatever emtins yu re feeling when it s time t wrship acknwledge yur emtins t Gd He already knws! ask Gd t invade yur mind, heart, and emtins and draw yu near t Him ask Him t use bth yur jy and yur pain t grw yur lve fr Him 2) nt a perfrmance In the Old Testament there were prfessinal wrship leaders = Levites they led But it was never a cncert it was never entertainment All the Israelites participated in wrship That s even mre bvius when we get t the New Testament n mentin f leaders r bands One f the few New Testament references t musical wrship Eph 5:18-19 be filled with the Spirit, addressing ne anther in psalms and hymns and spiritual sngs, singing and making meldy t the Lrd with yur heart This is a cmmand t all f us, nt wrship leaders and band When we gather fr wrship, we are all expected t participate

4 Wrship is nt a spectatr sprt where we watch prfessinals perfrm a passive exercise where we watch thers wrship n ur behalf n ne else can wrship fr yu YOU must chse t declare Gd s wrth S what des that mean? 1. When we gather t sing n Sunday mrnings yu ve gt t sing! Yu are nt wrshipping unless yu are actively participating But what if yu re nt a gd singer? Desn t matter! I m nt either! Eph 5 desn't give an escape clause unless yu can t carry a tune Think abut it: Gd gave yu yur vice AND cmmanded yu t sing He s nt surprised r embarrassed And if peple arund yu are bthered that s their prblem! 2. It desn't matter whether yu enjy the music r nt This is hard fr us! We all have strng preferences abut wrship music hymns, Chris Tmlin, gspel, a cappella me: give me 100 men belting ut A Mighty Frtress is Our Gd!! When ur preferences aren t met, we feel frustrated harder t wrship Hw was wrship this mrning? I didn t really get anything ut f it That statement tells us we re missing the pint f wrship. If it was a U2 cncert it wuld matter if we gt smething ut f it because it s a perfrmance it s abut entertainment But this is NOT a perfrmance this is wrship Desn t matter what WE get ut f it - Matters what GOD gets ut f it Desn t matter if WE enjyed it - Matters if GOD enjyed it Wrship is FOR GOD ur enjyment is nt the pint S the measure f great wrship: nt ur enjyment; ur participatin Did we chse t participate whether we liked the sngs r nt? Practical: if yu dn t enjy a particular sng r wrship leader find yurself struggling bw yur head, remind yurself this isn t abut yu, it s abut Gd pray fr Gd s help t fully participate 3) nt just singing sngs In Isaiah 29, the Lrd was angry with His peple Israel and tld them why in v13 Isaiah 29:13 this peple draw near with their wrds and hnr Me with their lip service, but they remve their hearts far frm Me, and their reverence fr Me cnsists f traditin learned by rte Their wrship was just lip-service sang right sngs; went thrugh right mtins but didn t mean it; just ritual, ceremny That s nt wrship It s nt enugh t just sing the right wrds real wrship requires engagement yu must mean what yu are saying it must engage yur heart and mind, nt just yur muth S if yu are singing the wrds but thinking abut Aggie s next game nt wrship! But what if yu can t stp thinking abut the Aggies?! Hw d yu fcus yur distracted mind n wrship?

5 This is where yur bdy can help! Wrship in the Bible is remarkably active: kneel, bw, fall n face, lift hands, dance they gt a wrkut!! Advantage t all that physical mvement: it engages ur minds & hearts Yur bdy and spirit are united ne effects the ther Yu can fcus yur mind & stir yur heart by mving yur bdy! S if yu re struggling t fcus use yur bdy! Try lifting yur hands up That will feel weird t sme f yu frm a reserved backgrund Yu wnder what peple will think It desn t matter what ther peple think! That s their prblem. The Bible fully supprts raising hands in wrship S if that helps yu engage in wrship d it! Sit, bw yur head, and pray ask Gd t help yu fcus; pray fr thse arund yu G lwer nt yur knees yu can d that here! That s actually the mst cmmn biblical psture f wrship Sign f reverence humbling And it s hard t be distracted when yu re n yur knees! When we return t wrship in a few minutes: I hpe sme will be raising hands, sme will be sitting, sme kneeling There is freedm here t use yur bdy biblically t help yu engage A few practical ideas t help yu imprve yur wrship - Gd wants yu t grw as a wrshipper! - In fact, wrship is His highest pririty fr yur life It s what yu ll be ding fr all eternity In heaven, n evangelism, prayer, Bible study just wrship! - Since that s ur eternal jb descriptin, Gd wants us t get better at it! - Here s sme practical ways t grw yur wrship 1) LEARN abut the One we wrship - True wrshippers will wrship in spirit and truth - Jhn 4:23 But the hur is cming, and is nw here, when the true wrshipers will wrship the Father in spirit and truth, fr the Father is seeking such peple t wrship him. in spirit = yur spirit engaged with Gd nt just ceremny r lip-service in truth = what yu are saying abut Gd is TRUE - There s lts f peple in this wrld wh wrship - But that wrship desn t hnr Gd because it s nt true wrship they are nt declaring truth abut the One true Gd they are wrshipping false gds and false ideas abut Gd - Wrship that hnrs Gd must be built n truth - And truth abut Gd begins with Jesus Jesus said, I am the way, and the truth, and the life. N ne cmes t the Father but thrugh Me. Ultimate prblem fr Muslims, Hindus, Jews they dn t cme t Gd thru Jesus the cme thru rituals, pillars, laws, gd deeds N! The nly way t find the One True Gd is thrugh Jesus, His Sn wrship begins with belief that Jesus is the Sn f Gd died rse Yu cannt wrship Gd in truth unless yu cme t Him thrugh faith in Jesus

6 - Fr thse f us wh have trusted in Jesus fr us t grw in wrship, we must grw in truth - D smething this semester that will deepen yur knwledge f Gd Read a part f the Bible yu ve nt read befre r haven t read in a lng time Ask yurself, What is this teaching me abut Gd? Jin a small grup Bible study Read Tzer s The Knwledge f the Hly 2) ROOT OUT sin in yur life - Wrds fr wrship in Hebrew & Greek bth mean t bw dwn t bw dwn befre smene was an act f submissin yu were dedicating yur life and service in bedience t that persn that s why it s almst impssible in Hebrew & Greek t separate cncept f wrship frm submissin and bedience - Biblically, yu cannt wrship a gd whm yu will nt bey Yur disbedience invalidates yur wrship falsifies it - S if yu re living with uncnfessed sin Mn-Sat, yur wrship n Sun is wrthless Gd desn t accept it because it s a lie Desn t mean yu have t live a perfect life just means yu must REPENT f sin cnfess that it s wrng cmmit t fight against with Gd s help If yu will repent, then Gd will cleanse yu f sin and receive yur wrship - S if there is sme sin that yu ve been living with g befre the Lrd and repent 3) PRACTICE thrughut the week - A.W. Tzer If yu will nt wrship Gd seven days a week, yu d nt wrship Him n ne day a week. - Our participatin in public wrship n Sundays is directly related t ur practice f private wrship the rest f the week Sunday wrship will be anemic if we ve nt spent time privately with Gd all week The Jews: required t wrship Gd every day in their hmes privately and with their families that prepared them t wrship tgether n the Sabbath - S if yu want t get better at wrship, find a way t practice every day get alne with a Psalm r with an ld-schl hymnal listen t wrship music in the curse f yur day get with yur rmmates r yur kids and spend time giving thanks t Gd - Find ways t wrship everyday s that wrship becmes a habit! Nw we re ging t take the rest f the mrning t practice wrship tgether - Phil will lead us in a cntemprary sng and then a hymn variety! - Think abut the wrds yu re singing engage yur mind - Use yur bdy t help yu engage and express yur wrship raise yur hands ½, ¾, all the way r sit and pray r get n yur knees - Abve all remember: this is nt abut the style f music, nt abut ur enjyment - It s abut Gd declaring hw incredibly wrthy He is!