Sermon Tone Analysis

/So on the first day of the seventh month Ezra the priest brought the Law before the assembly, which was made up of men and women and all who were able to understand.

He read it aloud from daybreak till noon as he faced the square before the Water Gate in the presence of the men, women and others who could understand.

And all the people listened attentively to the Book of the Law/.

/Ezra the scribe stood on a high wooden platform built for the occasion.

Beside him on his right stood Mattithiah, Shema, Anaiah, Uriah, Hilkiah and Maaseiah; and on his left were Pedaiah, Mishael, Malkijah, Hashum, Hashbaddanah, Zechariah and Meshullam/.

/Ezra opened the book.

All the people could see him because he was standing above them; and as he opened it, the people all stood up.

Ezra praised the LORD, the great God; and all the people lifted their hands and responded, “Amen!

Amen!”

Then they bowed down and worshiped the LORD with their faces to the ground/.

/The Levites—Jeshua, Bani, Sherebiah, Jamin, Akkub, Shabbethai, Hodiah, Maaseiah, Kelita, Azariah, Jozabad, Hanan and Pelaiah—instructed the people in the Law while the people were standing there.

They read from the Book of the Law of God, making it clear and giving the meaning so that the people could understand what was being read/.

One priority in worship is the preaching of the Word of God.

Though multiplied churches today have exchanged this central feature of worship for book reviews, lectures on sociology, or even anaemic studies in voodoo economics, the Word of God has been central to worship of the saints God since God first gave His Word.

In this Age of Grace, God has given His Holy Spirit to His people and the Spirit of God yet speaks to His people through the written Word of God.

Underscore in your mind that truth: *God’s Spirit applies the truth of the Word to the open heart as the Word is read*.

In our text is painted a scene of major importance to all who long to worship God.

After seventy years of captivity the people of God were permitted to return to Zion.

Nehemiah was specially commissioned by Artaxerxes, king of the Medes and the Persians, to return with the remnant of the Jews to Jerusalem to rebuild the walls of the ruined city.

These returning Jews persevered despite severe opposition from the inhabitants of the land, and the walls were again raised around the city.

After the walls were rebuilt, the people declared a day of praise and worship to the Lord God of Israel.

On the appointed day of observance, the first day of the seventh month, Ezra brought the book of the Law and opened it before the people.

The text is quite specific in noting that assembled there were men and women and all who could understand.

There was no children’s meeting.

If an individual could understand – that one was present.

Moreover, the worship consisted of reading the Law … *for more than six hours*!

The seventh month in the Jewish calendar would have begun near the middle of September, according to our calendar.

Daybreak would be around six a.m. in those latitudes.

Therefore, the reading of the Word continued for at least six hours.

As the Torah was read, the Levites would provide exposition, explaining and applying the Word of the Lord in turn.

That is my kind of church, where the preacher can read and preach for six hours and the congregation does not get restless!

I remember the days in which I worshipped in a black church in the Oak Cliff section of Dallas.

At the time I was not welcomed among the white churches because too many blacks had been converted during my early prison ministry.

So, I worshipped with my black brothers and sisters, rejoicing in God’s goodness and grace.

Brother George Pryor, pastor of New Birth Baptist Church, would chide me on occasion, “Little white brother, you folk are in too big a hurry to get done.

We come to church to worship.”

And worship they did.

The service began at eleven in the morning with singing, prayer and reading of the word until about twelve noon.

The sermon continued for at least one hour, and more frequently for an hour and a half or even longer.

The invitation in one memorable instance continued for one hour, and only after an hour did we have a response from one man who decided to join the church.

Then there was the evening service…  I confess that I sometimes miss those days among those dear folk.

The people in our text came to worship, and their attentiveness to the Word humbles us.

I’m not placing all the blame on those occupying the pews, they have a hard time staying awake in too many of our services.

We who handle the Word of God stand condemned too often for our attitude toward the Word.

I was often reminded by a great teacher, Dr. H. Leo Eddleman, that the unpardonable sin for a preacher was to be boring.

Having sat under a few preachers I can tell you that I have great sympathy for those who sit under a droning mouthpiece who has no fresh message from the Living God.

Worship is an act which requires the whole of the Body of Christ, however.

Pastor and parishioner are responsible to insure that God is honoured and that together we meet with the Risen Son of God.

The people must prepare themselves to meet God, and the pastor must insure that he has a word from the Lord when the people arrive.

That was the case in our text as Ezra read the Word to an expectant people.

Open your Bibles, then, to *Nehemiah 8:2-8* to discover again the place of the Word in worship.

*/Worship as Seen in the Word/* – Why did you come to church today?

What do you expect to gain by being here today?

What have you done in the week past to insure that your expectations are met?

If you seek God’s presence and power you will have invested time with Him through prayer and through reading the Word to discover His will for your life.

Then, you will have endeavoured to be obedient to His revealed will.

Essentially, we get out of worship what we put into our preparation for that divine activity.

If we choose to come to church with a chip on our shoulder and seeming to dare God to make us rejoice, we will probably receive little of value from the time we spend with the People of God.

If, on the other hand, we have sought the Lord’s blessing */before/* we come to His house we are quite likely to meet Him in the midst of His people.

The people in our text waited expectantly as Ezra stood to read the Word.

As he opened the book, the people all stood up.

It was a spontaneous response to the opening of the Word.

They expected to hear from God and they would honour Him as He spoke through His Word.

/Ezra praised the Lord, the great God, and all the people/ responded in the Baptist fashion by lifting their hands and exclaiming “/Amen!

Amen!/”

Then, they bowed down and worshiped the Lord with their faces to the ground.

God met with His people and they did not consult an analytical concordance to prove that He met with them that day.

They were overcome with a sense of awe and wonder in the presence of His holiness.

Most of what passes for worship in this day is like prairie wildfire … generated by our own enthusiasm and just as quickly extinguished after our enthusiasm dies down.

I note that Hebrew worship was noisy.

Many people today would not be comfortable around the Israelites as they worshiped.

There was singing accompanied by loud music.

How else shall we understand the Psalms which speak such of /joyful music/?

The *one hundred fiftieth Psalm* speaks of praising the Lord with /trumpet/, harp, lyre, tambourine and dancing, strings and flute, and with cymbals clashing and resounding.

Singing and shouting seem to have marked the services of the Hebrew people according to the Psalms.

In that context take note of *Psalm 33:1-3*.

/Sing joyfully to the LORD, you righteous; /

/it is fitting for the upright to praise him.

/

/Praise the LORD with the harp; /

/make music to him on the ten-stringed lyre.

/

/Sing to him a new song; /

/    play skilfully, and shout for joy/.

A harp and what would be akin to a guitar together with practised music and shouts of joy appear to have been part of the worship of God at that time.

Also, take special note of *Psalm 98:4-9* which speaks of the noise of all creation uniting in praise to our God.

/Shout for joy to the LORD, all the earth, /

/burst into jubilant song with music; /

/make music to the LORD with the harp, /

/with the harp and the sound of singing, /

/with trumpets and the blast of the ram’s horn— /

/shout for joy before the LORD, the King/.

/Let the sea resound, and everything in it, /

/the world, and all who live in it.

/

/Let the rivers clap their hands, /

/let the mountains sing together for joy; /

/let them sing before the LORD, /

/for he comes to judge the earth/.

Again, there is jubilant song and loud music which burst forth from the hearts of worshippers.

Did you notice that there were /trumpets/ and the blast of /the ram’s horn/, the /shofar/?

As well there are /shouts of joy/.

The hearts of the people are full and they cannot help but rejoice in loud song and joyful music.