N Hilton Head Island Community Church Message Notes View this week's message notes What does Psalms say about Worship? HHICC Worship Leaders July 30, 2017 Physical Expression of Worship from Psalms Our desire SHOULD BE that we all come into this place each week to worship together as ONE people. We should come united in our desire to make the name of JESUS famous, to bring
honor and glory to GOD, and to begin our week focusing on WHO GOD IS AND WHAT HE HAS DONE - Psalm 5:7, 11-12 Worship is a VERB - it is an action. It requires something of us. 9 physical expressions of worship listed in the Book of Psalms The Spoken Voice 1. Speaking - Psalm 34:1 says, "I will extol the Lord at all times; his praise will always be on my lips." 2. Shouting - Psalm 27:6 says, "Then my head will be exalted above the enemies who surround me; at his tabernacle will I sacrifice with shouts of joy; I will sing and make music to the Lord." 3. Singing - Psalm 47:6 says, "Sing praises to God, sing praises to our King, sing praises." Our Posture 1. Bowing - Psalm 95:6 says, "Come let us bow down in worship, let us kneel before the Lord our Maker." 2. Standing - Psalm 119:120 says, "My flesh trembles in fear of you; I stand in awe of your laws." 3. Dancing - Psalm 149:3 says, "Let them praise his name with dancing and make music to him with tambourine and harp." Our Hands 1. Playing Instruments - Psalm 33:2, 3 says, "Praise the Lord with the harp; make music to him on the ten stringed lyre. Sing to him a new song; play skillfully, and shout for joy." 2. Clapping - Psalm 47:1 says, "Clap your hands, all you nations; shout to God with cries
of joy." 3. Lifting Hands - Psalm 63:4 says, "I will praise you as long as I live, and in your name I will lift up my hands." Cultural Differences in Expressions of Physical Worship Psalms 150 - Praise God with every ounce of our being. God is the same no matter the style of worship we enjoy. He deserves ALL the Glory ALL the honor and ALL the praise. Why Does Singing Matter? Worship - extravagant respect or admiration for or devotion to an object of esteem. Psalm 95:1 Come let us sing for joy to the Lord, let us make a joyful noise to the rock of our salvation. Singing prompts me to verbally express through reflection and repetition the promises and truths of God. 7 Biblical reasons why singing matters (from unlockingthebible.org) 1. When you sing, you obey. Singing isn t an option in Scripture. It s a command. Colossians 3:16: Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly, teaching and admonishing one another in all wisdom, singing psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, with thankfulness in your hearts to God. Ephesians 5:18-19: And do not get drunk with wine, for that is debauchery, but be filled with the Spirit, addressing one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual
songs, singing and making melody to the Lord with your heart God s people are more than just invited to sing we are commanded to sing. When we sing, we re doing what God asks of us! 2. When you sing, you dig deep roots in the Word. Let the Word of Christ dwell in you richly singing psalms and hymns and spiritual songs Colossians 3:16 The Apostle Paul lays out this exhortation to let God s Word dwell in us richly, and then, he tells us how to live out that command. The first, of course, is teaching. But the second, is singing! Singing is one of the two chief ways that the Word of God dwells in us richly. And, as we observed in the last point singing is a command. But also that this command comes with a promise: as we sing psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs together, we are promised that the Word of Christ will dwell in us richly which is what we should crave as believers! Our singing is more than a warm-up for the sermon or a filler in the service. Colossians 3:16 is clearly laying out for us that: Singing stands alongside of preaching as one of the two great ways that God has ordained for His Word to dwell RICHLY in each one of us! C.J. Mahaney calls church singing Take Home Theology, because the best songs we sing together end up serving you as a 3 minute, easily memorizable, deeply biblical summary of important truths from Scripture. Take for example, In Christ Alone. There, in an easily memorizable form, you ve got a thorough theology of the cross of Jesus Christ with clear and practical applications that you can use for your life this week! 3. When you sing, you build up others. First, you build up fellow believers when you sing:
Ephesians 5:19: Note specifically here that it says: addressing one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs We see the same thing in Colossians 3:13-16: the exhortation to sing comes on the heels of bearing with one another (13a), forgiving one another (13b), putting on love (14), being at peace as one united body of Christ (15), and teaching God s Word to one another (16). When we do what the Bible says and sing together as a church family, we are hearing confessions of faith all around! We are hearing hundreds join with us and sing, In Christ alone, MY hope is found! We are hearing hundreds of testimonies of faith all around us! Also know that as you sing, you re helping unbelievers. In Psalm 105:1-2, the Lord is calling the Israelites to be a light unto the nations, and to do this He tells them: Sing to Him, sing praises to Him; tell of all his wondrous works! Think of the impact on someone who doesn t know Christ to hear those hundreds of testimonies, those hundreds of confessions of faith as we sing together! This is why Pastor Tim Keller says: Good corporate worship will naturally be evangelistic (219). 4. When you sing, you make war. Chances are you didn t connect singing and warfare together, but it s a theme visible in Scripture. In Colossians 3, Paul is challenging the Colossians to literally put sin to death in their lives to kill sin. And so all the commands to love and peace and forgiveness and teaching and SINGING, are therefore, the Bible is teaching, attitudes and habits of the believer that will kill sin! We see the same thing in Ephesians 5, the command to address one another in song comes right on the heels of [make] the best use of the time, because the days are evil (Ephesians 5:16). And the more you think about this, it makes total sense: What posture must be more hated by the evil one than the posture of a believer who is singing? I can t think of many
stances you can take that identifies you with Christ and against Satan more than eyes, heart, mind and voice lifted to heaven in song! It s very hard to lie, be greedy or to look at something inappropriate when, you re singing and making melody to the Lord with your heart (Ephesians 5:19). Simply, a heart that s doing that will not easily give in to temptation. A singing heart is a heart at war with the work of the evil one and the power of sin. 5. When you sing, you are spiritually strengthened for trial. Often times, we think only of singing when we re happy and times are good, but singing bringing strength for trial comes out in Acts 16. Paul and Silas are unjustly imprisoned for the sake of the Gospel, and what do they do while they re in prison? Sing! (Acts 16:25) And this truth is confirmed in the lives of persecuted believers throughout history. Hear the words of one pastor recently imprisoned for his faith: When we were in prison we sang almost every day because Christ was alive in us they put chains on our hands and feet. They chained us to add to our grief. Yet we discovered that chains are splendid musical instruments!when we clanged them together in rhythm, we could sing, This is the day (clink, clank), this is the day (clink, clank), which the Lord has made (clink, clank), which the Lord has made (clink, clank). ( Source) Our persecuted brothers are showing us the truth we see in Acts 16 with Paul & Silas. Singing strengthens you and helps you persevere in the face of trial. If it can strengthen them in the face of these trials what can it do for you? Even in suffering, SING! 6. When you sing, you walk a God-designed pathway to joy. Here is a sample of what the Psalms say about singing:
Psalms 5:11: Let all who take refuge in you rejoice; let them ever sing for joy, and spread your protection over them, that those who love your name may exult in you. Psalms 9:2: I will be glad and exult in you; I will sing praise to your name, O Most High. Psalms 51:14: Deliver me from bloodguiltiness, O God, O God of my salvation, and my tongue will sing aloud of your righteousness. Psalms 59:16: I will sing of your strength; I will sing aloud of your steadfast love in the morning. For you have been to me a fortress and a refuge in the day of my distress. Psalms 63:7: For you have been my help, and in the shadow of your wings I will sing for joy. If you still don t believe me, here s a clincher from James 5:13: Is anyone cheerful? Let him sing praise. And as you study Scripture on this point you ll notice that sometimes singing gives birth to joy and sometimes joy gives birth to singing. But persistently in Scripture, joy and singing are bound together. You can t study one of those two biblical themes without encountering the other. If you struggle for joy SING! If you are joyful SING! In God s perfect design and in His perfect understanding of the human condition He has bound joy and singing together for His people. The first 6 reasons get summed up with this: 7. When you sing, you glorify God. Truly obedience, deep roots in the Word, building up others, making war against Satan and sin, persevering, finding joy in God all of these things bring glory to God each person s chief goal and chief purpose in life.
Colossians 3 & Ephesians 5 bring this out simply but powerfully telling us to sing to God and to the Lord because He is the object of our praise. Ephesians 5:19: singing and making melody to the Lord with your heart. It is to HIM and about HIM that we sing! Singing has such a unique way of bringing your heart, soul, mind, and strength together to focus entirely and completely on God. In an age of distraction singing grabs the attention of all our senses and focuses us on God. In Revelation 7:9-10, the Apostle John describes a glimpse of eternity with a great multitude of people from every tribe, peoples, and languages singing before the Lamb, Salvation belongs to our God who sits on the throne, and to the Lamb! Eternity awaits. Will you on that day be one of the great multitude that no one could number, singing the song of the Lamb, singing His praises? I hope you ll be there, singing the song of our Savior, Jesus Christ. Sing now. Sing forever. Singing matters. And it matters that we do it together. The Spoken Word & My Participation Worship Can be Awkward Worship can be a melodic prayer - declaring hope, weakness, singing out that you need God and praising Him that He is mighty. Don t let your preferences get in the way of your worship. He is always God and worthy of all of your worship. English Standard Version (ESV) The Holy Bible, English Standard Version Copyright 2001 by Crossway Bibles, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers. www.biblegateway.com
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