Worship Him!
Notes
Transcript
God-Centered Worship
God-Centered Worship
It is a great privilege
The story is told of a Japanese war lord who was known as Hitioshi who was in Japan in the late 1500’s. He decided that he wanted a colossal statue of Buddha created to put in a temple there in Kyoto Japan. So he got 50,000 workers that worked on it for 5 solid years. Think about that. 50,000 workers for 5 years solid. Around the clock they worked. They had just completed this colossal Buddhist statue and erected it there in the temple. And then the earthquake of 1596 struck. It brought the roof down on the shrine and ruined the statue. In a rage Hitioshi was so angered that he fired an arrow at the fallen Buddha and yelled out, “I put you here at great expense and you can’t even look after your own temple.”
That’s the problem of a false god. It can’t hear you. It can’t see you. It’s not aware of you. It’s not real. It’s a god of your own making.
But the true God, the living God, not only can take care of a temple, He can take care of you. He sees you. He knows about you. He cares about you. He hears you. He is interested in you.
That is why we worship Him. Because He is worthy. We worship a God who is worth it. He deserves our praise.
The word worship means to ascribe worth or value to some one or some thing. We worship that which is worthy, that which we value. [1]
God is Worthy, and We Must:
Worship Him!
Lexham Survey of Theology Worship in the Life of the Church
In worship human beings recognize God for his attributes and express this through adoration, praise, thanksgiving, service, and living holy lives. Worship constitutes the primary calling of humans.
Today we will observe a passage that will help know how to:
Worship Him!
23 Sing to the Lord, all the earth!
Tell of his salvation from day to day.
24 Declare his glory among the nations,
his marvelous works among all the peoples!
25 For great is the Lord, and greatly to be praised,
and he is to be feared above all gods.
26 For all the gods of the peoples are worthless idols,
but the Lord made the heavens.
27 Splendor and majesty are before him;
strength and joy are in his place.
28 Ascribe to the Lord, O families of the peoples,
ascribe to the Lord glory and strength!
29 Ascribe to the Lord the glory due his name;
bring an offering and come before him!
Worship the Lord in the splendor of holiness;
30 tremble before him, all the earth;
yes, the world is established; it shall never be moved.
31 Let the heavens be glad, and let the earth rejoice,
and let them say among the nations, “The Lord reigns!”
PRAY WITH ME
Today we want to build a theological foundation for God-Centered Worship, which is one of our core values. We want to understand what worship is and how we are to worship God. We believe that God-Centered worship is not just an act on Sunday, but a way of life everyday. God is looking for worshippers, who will worship Him in spirit and truth.
What is Worship?
What is Worship?
True biblical worship so satisfies our total personality that we don’t have to shop around for man-made substitutes. When we understand authentic worship, we will crave and desire it, for we are designed to Woship God. Everyone worships something. It’s my hope and prayer that you Worship Him.
William Temple made this clear in his masterful definition of worship: For worship is the submission of all our nature to God. It is the quickening of conscience by His holiness; the nourishment of mind with His truth; the purifying of imagination by His beauty; the opening of the heart to His love; the surrender of will to His purpose-and all of this gathered up in adoration. The most selfless emotion of which our nature is capable and therefore the chief remedy for that self-centeredness which is our original sin and the source of all actual sin. (The Integrity Crisis by Warren W. Wiersbe, Thomas Nelson Publishers, 1991, p. 119).
Worship is to feel in your heart and express in some appropriate manner a humbling but delightful sense of admiring awe and astonished wonder and overpowering love in the presence of that most ancient Mystery, that Majesty which philosophers call the First Cause, but which we call Our Father Which Are in Heaven.
A.W. Tozer, quoted in D.J. Fant, A.W. Tozer, Christian Publications, 1964, p. 90.
Worship is an overwhelming sense of wonder at the greatness of God.
Worship is an absolute admiration of His absolute majesty (2x).
Worship is a total surrended reverence for God that cries out you are Holy, Holy, Holy. Worship is the condition of the heart that points toward the glory of God and says you are glorious and I am but a vapor in this existence. Worship is a posture of the beleiver that declares you are worthy oh GOd, you are worthy.
Those previous definitions are a bit wordy so let’s simply the definiation.
“True worship is a valuing or a treasuring of God above all things.”
John Piper
To worship God is to recognize his worth or worthiness; to look God-ward, and to acknowledge in all appropriate ways the value of what we see. We worship God for He is worthy, so worthy of our worship. He is radiant beuaty and majesty on High. He is glorious. We Worship Him and the Bible calls this activity "glorifying God" or "giving glory to God.”
2 Ascribe to the Lord the glory due his name;
worship the Lord in the splendor of holiness.
31 So, whether you eat or drink, or whatever you do, do all to the glory of God.
The Bible views glorifying God as the ultimate end, and from one point of view, the whole duty of man.
The Westminster Chatechism gives a question and answer about the Worship of God.
Q. 1. What is the chief and highest end of man?
A. Man’s chief and highest end is to glorify God, and fully to enjoy him for ever.
The main point and the highest means of life is the worship of God.
We are created to…Worship Him
We are called to…Worship Him
We are privileged to…Worship Him
Since worship is the chief and highest end of man, shouldn’t we Worship Him. We should and we must give God the glory. We are created to glorify Him.
Scripture views the glorifying of God as a sixfold activity:
praising God for all that he is and all his achievements
thanking him for his gifts and his goodness to us
asking him to meet our own and others' needs
offering him our gifts, our service, and ourselves
learning of him from his word, read and preached, and obeying his voice
telling others of his worth, both by public confession and testimony to what he has done for us.
So then we might say that the basic committments (formulas) of worship are these:
Praise God- "Lord, you are wonderful"
Thank God- "Thank you, Lord"
Petition God- "Please Lord"
Give to God-"Take this, Lord"
Learn from God (His Word)-"Yes, Lord"
Tell About God-Evangelism-"Listen everybody!"
This then is worship in its largest sense: petition as well as praise, preaching as well as prayer, hearing as well as speaking, actions as well as words, obeying as well as offering, loving people as well as loving God. However, the primary acts of worship are those which focus on God directly -- and we must not imagine that work for God in the world is a substitute for direct fellowship with him in praise and prayer and devotion.
James Packer, Your Father Loves You, Harold Shaw Publishers, July 1986, P. 15.
Using this framework of worship committments we will observe our passage. However, there are five specific areas of worship to focus on this will help us to understand the content of worship.
What is the content of worship?
Essentially every aspect of worship is to, for, or from God. The content of our worship all points to God, which is why our core value is God-centered Worship.
The Word
Prayer
Singing-Praise, Hymns, songs of adoration
Giving-Time, Resources, Energy
Relationship-With God, With Believers and With the Lost
These five aspects give us practical ways to worship God. Often when you talk about worship, many people think you are talking about the songs before the sermon. Today we want to break through that idea and provide content and committments to help you Worship Him.
Let’s observe our passage.
23 Sing to the Lord, all the earth!
Tell of his salvation from day to day.
This passage from 1 Chronicles has a powerful context. ***David praises God and leads the people in worship. This is a chapter of celebration. With the ark of the covenant now safely in Jerusalem, the symbol of the Lord’s presence in the midst of his people was where it should be. Not only was the Lord symbolically at the heart of the nation, but also his praise was to be at the heart of their worship. This called for a joyful song which shows us what true praise is all about.
Here are two themes that are always central to biblical worship: what God is like, and what he has done. [3]
Here we see the first content of worship is singing. The chronicler invites the entire world to join in the worship of God. However, this is more than a subtle suggestion. The word sing is an imperative, or a command. If fact, this passage is loaded with commands, things that must be done. We are commanded to sing. I know there are some that feel that singing is not their gift, so they would rather not. However, it’s not the sound that is produced that matters to God, that’s what matters to men. It’s the condition of the heart that is rendered to God which matters. Men observe the appearance, or those things which are able to be undersood, God observes the heart.
This passage is a Psalm of Praise and is rightly called so. There is this powerful emotion that springs forth from the text. There is a sense of spiritual fervor and action that explode from these verses.
You will see that worship is not some passive, quietist attitude, but an all-consuming experience. Worship is to permeate and saturate all of life.
As the ark comes into the tabernacle the people are to sing. Yet, this celebration is not just for them, it is for all the earth. The God of the universe has prepared a moment for the world to stop and worship.
The same thing is happening for us this morning. Despite all the business of life, the God of the universe has prepared this exact moment in time, by His powerful sovereign hand for us to Worship Him. What an incredible privelige that He allows us to be part of, what an overwhelming experience that we get to partake in.
We too should sing to the Lord. Our gratitude should burst forth from us. There should be a sense of exhiliration and enthusiasm, that the Lord of Glory would allow us to come into His presence, we shouldn’t come timidly and quietly. We should come with exuberance and excitement, with a song in our hearts. We should live the power of Psalm 96:1 which echoes our verse here.
1 Oh sing to the Lord a new song;
sing to the Lord, all the earth!
Sing, people, sing. Make a joyful noise to the Lord, let the melodic tones of adoration come forth. May a harmony of emotion and reverence for your God bubble up out of your soul in a crescendo of life that can only be called worship. Worship Him! Why?
The rest of the verse tells us.
23 Sing to the Lord, all the earth!
Tell of his salvation from day to day.
Tell of His salvation. This too is an imperative command. This is not optional. Tell of His salvation. This aligns with the committment to tell about God and the content of relationship. The people of God have something to tell, they have something to share with the world. As one of my favorite Christmas songs says, “Go tell it on the mountain.”
In this first verse we have two action words; Sing and Tell.
We are to sing His praises and we are to tell of His saving grace. Both of these are ways to Worship God. We worship in song and we worship in proclaiming the gospel. When we share the message of hope, the message of salvation, we are worshipping God. Tell of His salvation from day to day. This verse would emphasize the saving work God had already done, yet foreshadow the ultimate saving work of Jesus sacrifice on the cross. That any who would believe in Him would not perish but have eternal life. The message of the glorious gospel of Jesus Christ is woven into the entire narrative of Scripture and we see the allusion of salvation in Christ alone here.
Yet, we must remember in the context here David is establishing worship in the tabernacle. He is setting up a pattern for worship for all the people of God to replicate.
Is this the pattern of worship in your life? Do you sing to the Lord? Beyond the Sunday morning worship service are you singing to Him? One characteristic of redeemed people is the joyful sounds they delight in.
19 addressing one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody to the Lord with your heart,
Do you make a melody in your heart toward the Lord? Do you worship Him through song? If you don’t, will you consider making singing to the Lord part of your life.
Another aspect of worship addressed here is telling. When is the last time you told someone about your God? When is the last time you shared your testimony? When is the last time you put God on display and told of your salvation? Has it been a while? Perhaps you’ve never shared with someone all that God has done in your life. We can worship God through the telling of His work through us. Will you consider sharing your faith with someone this week. Tell of your great God who has saved you from sin and death. I’m sure it will be a story that people will want to hear.
Next the Chronicler gives another command.
24 Declare his glory among the nations,
his marvelous works among all the peoples!
Declare His glory. As one who is writing the Chronicles of the hebrew people, this word choice for declare is perfect. The word means to recount the deeds, specifically here it refers to the wonderous deeds that God has done. Declare to the whole world what God has done. Go tell of the marvelous works.
But what are these marvelous works?
These are the works that only God can do. We see the artistry of God in creation. From the peak of Mt. Everest at 29, 035 ft, which is 5.5 miles above see level, or the beauty of amazing creatures like giraffes, who have been uniquely crafted with a heart large enough to pump blood all the way up to their brain, but also precise enough to regulate the blood flow when they drop their neck down to eat food off the ground. These are marvelous works.
However there is another use of marvelous works.
Scholars calls these works “salvific deeds” or works of salvation. God has always been in the business of saving people. He has a long history of rescuing those who trust in Him. Here the Israelites would be reminded of their rich history with God.
God rescued them from the bondage of Egypt and provided the means of the passover upon their Exodus, which foreshadows the lamb of God Jesus Christ, who was slain to take away the sin of the world. These marvelous works have been revealed by God to preserve His people.
These wonderous deeds have been catlogued in the Scripture and have been experienced by His faithful servants through the generations and as these works were rehearsed and retold, a sense of awe and wonder would well up in the hearts of the people. The retelling of God’s deeds would be handed down from one generation to the next. The new generation would have a greater knowledge and fuller experience of God. Their view of God would grow and they too would declare His marvelous works.
Opening Up 1 Chronicles Covenant Praise (vv. 16–22)
In C. S. Lewis’s Prince Caspian, Lucy meets Aslan the lion (who represents Christ in the story) after a long time apart. She says, ‘Aslan, you’re bigger.’ ‘That is because you are older,’ responds Aslan. Lucy then asks, ‘Not because you are?’ Aslan explains, ‘I am not. But every year you grow, you will find me bigger.’5 That should be true of us and our view of God, too.
As we gain a greater understanding of God, our view of God grows. We begin to sing about our great God, tell about our mighty God and declare His wonderous deeds. We have a fuller view of who He is and we worship Him! The psalm continues...
25 For great is the Lord, and greatly to be praised,
and he is to be feared above all gods.
The character and attributes of God are condensed down into one word here, great. We don’t appreciate the power of this word becasue we use it so often in english. That was a great song, or a great dinner, or a great game, but when used to talk about God we need to magnify the power of the word. There is this expansive depth to the greatness of God.
The word great means to weave or twist together.
So, when we are talking about God we are taking His attributes and weaving them together. When we add His love, to His mercy, and add His grace, and His justice, and His wisdom, we begin to see that God is becoming larger in our own minds. We tend to take parts of God when we think about Him and separate his character.
But when you begin to understand Him and your knowledge of Him grows, you see God as greater, and becoming greater in your own mind. He is already eternal and infinitue, but your view of God expands. However, when we weave togther the character of God in our minds and study who He is we begin to become overwhelmed by His greatness.
It’s as if you stand beside the ocean of God’s character and gaze as far you can see and know there is even more beyond your vision, so is the same with our understanding of the vastness and greatness of God. This understanding should produce praise.
Yes, we should praise Him! Worship Him! When we declare God’s character in the presence of others we recognize His greatness. We affirm His goodness and His infinate worth. When we praise Him we are holding up His perfect moral nature for all to see. We are putting God on a pedestahl for everyone to gaze upon His beauty. Unlike the broken Buddha statue who laid in a pile of ruin, the God of the universe can never be usurped, he can never be laid to waste, he will never weary and never ruin. He is worthy, oh so worthy of our Worship, we must worship Him.
26 For all the gods of the peoples are worthless idols,
but the Lord made the heavens.
This is further confirmation of his excellency and worth. Every other god, little g, is a figment of the imagination. Every other god, is made up by man. Every other god is a worthless idol. Every other god is made by the hands of man, the God of the universe made man Himeslf. Those other gods are worthless idols.
The imagry here is wonderful. The Hebrew word for worthless bring such a vivid picture to life with these lifeless idols.
Hebrew scholars suggest the word ʾelil is used with debilitating intention and with scornful undertones in all OT passages where it occurs, it seems to have been created expressly for this purpose. The word is seen used in anology saying of worthless idols that they are:
“dungy things, balls of dung,”
“horrible things, monsters,”
“the rotting things”
“old rags, scraps”?
These are all ways which are used to ridicule idols, they are worthless, vanity, pointless, scraps of material.
Dagan illustration:
There is a powerful illustration found in 1 Samuel 5. The Philistines had captured the Ark of the Covenant, the same one that is being placed in the tabernacle here in our passage. They took the ark of God and placed it in the temple for their false god Dagon. Dagon was a fish god that the Philistines worshipped.“carried the ark into Dagon’s temple and set it beside Dagon. When the people of [the city of] Ashdod rose early the next day, there was Dagon, fallen on his face on the ground before the ark of the Lord!
The Philistines then took Dagon and put him back in his place. But the following morning when they rose, there was Dagon, fallen on his face on the ground before the ark of the Lord! His head and hands had been broken off and were lying on the threshold; only his body remained. That is why to this day neither the priests of Dagon nor any others who enter Dagon’s temple at Ashdod step on the threshold.
The Lord’s hand was heavy on the people of Ashdod and its vicinity; he brought devastation on them and afflicted them with tumors. When the people of Ashdod saw what was happening, they said, ‘The ark of the god of Israel must not stay here with us, because his hand is heavy on us and on Dagon our god’” (verses 2-7).
Dagon was just a statue, an idol made by hands. He had no power, in fact the people had to put him back in place. He is a worthless idol.
Yet, here is the cotrast between these gods made by man and the one true God. The one true God is unlike anything else.He has power over everything, he is all-powerful, and the gods made by hands are nothing compared to him. There really is none like Him, that is why we Worship Him. This is also why it is foolish to worship anything that is made by the hands of man. The chronicler goes onto tell us of his magnificence.
27 Splendor and majesty are before him;
strength and joy are in his place.
You can’t help but be in awe of these words that begin to describe God. Here we learn from the Word of God and see, Lord, you are wonderful. This truth produces praise in our lives.
Splendor and Majesty are before Him:
Splendor: brilliant or gorgeous appearance, magnificence, grandeur; glory; brilliant distinction
Majesty:regal, lofty, or stately dignity; imposing character; grandeur: supreme greatness or authority; sovereignty:
There is this superior greatness and magnificecee to God. Splendor, Majesty, Strength and Joy. He is so worthy, He is worth it. So we must worship Him. We must worship Him! This Psalm of David is pointing us to marvel and gaze at God. These words are to drive us to Behold our God, who is seated on His throne, we should all be moved in our hearts to come and adore Him. The Chronicler continues...
28 Ascribe to the Lord, O families of the peoples,
ascribe to the Lord glory and strength!
V28- Ascribe- “commit to God (that which) he has given thee (or) laid on thee,” [2] Give to God what is rightly His. Committ to God, Ascribe to Him His worth and worship Him. O families, o people, cry out to God, fall on your face, hit your knees, raise your hands, make a joyful noise and give God the glory! Give God the glory!
He is so worthy. He is worthy of our praise, our adoration, our songs. He is worthy of our life surrendered to Him in worship. Will you worship Him?
The Psalm of David suggest you should.
29 Ascribe to the Lord the glory due his name;
bring an offering and come before him!
Worship the Lord in the splendor of holiness;
Give to God the glory! Remember, glorifying God and worshipping Him are the same. This Psalm of praise from David addresses the heart of God’s people and the heart of worship, which is God. This is why our core value is God-Centered Worship. It’s not about man, it’s not about our feelings. Worship is not about some emotional response, although our emotions are one aspect of worship. Worship is about complete surrender and total adoration of the King of Kings and Lord of Lords. We are not at the center of worship, He is. We are to keep God the focus of our worship, and Him alone. He is worthy, so we must worship Him.
One way to worship is through our giving. We can bring an offering to the Lord. When we come to gather we can bring our gifts of sacrifice and present them to our King. We worship Him through:
Learning from His Word
Praying to Him
Singing to Him
Giving to Him
Relationship to Him and others
When we do these things, we are Worshipping Him. We should all Worship Him! As the final part of the verse suggests.
Worship the Lord in the splendor of holiness...
Yes, Yes, and Yes.
Praise Him, Thank Him, Petition Him, Give to Him, Learn From Him. Worship Him in the splendor of His holiness. Worship Him!
30 tremble before him, all the earth;
yes, the world is established; it shall never be moved.
This verse tells that all of creation is submissive to God. Nature is bound by the God. The earth does exactly what is was created to do and stands firm as commanded by God. God is worthy of worship for He is sovereign ruler over the earth, yet he is ruler over the heavens too.
31 Let the heavens be glad, and let the earth rejoice,
and let them say among the nations, “The Lord reigns!”
Here we see the great cresendo of this Psalm of Praise. The heavens, the earth and the people join in the celebration of God. All nature responds with joy. There is gladness, there is rejoicing, there is celebration. The stars sing, the rivers dance and the mountains clap in celebration of God. The people worship. Worship Him, for He is the supreme ruler over all. Why?
This Lord Reigns... let’s say this another way. “God is the Supreme King.” ; “The universal king”; “God is the greatest king,” or “There is no chief like God,” or “God rules the people of the world.”
The Lord Reigns! He is worthy of our worship.
Let us all put into practice these components of worship:
praising God for all that he is and all his achievements
thanking him for his gifts and his goodness to us
asking him to meet our own and others' needs
offering him our gifts, our service, and ourselves
learning of him from his word, read and preached, and obeying his voice
telling others of his worth, both by public confession and testimony to what he has done for us.
So then let us commtt to:
Praise God- "Lord, you are wonderful"
Thank God- "Thank you, Lord"
Petition God- "Please Lord"
Give to God-"Take this, Lord"
Learn from God -"Yes, Lord"
Tell About God -"Listen everybody!"
This Psalm of praise was given by David as the people began to worship God as the Ark of the Covenant arrived at the tabernacle. This passage gives us the committments of worship. It lays out the content of our worship and it empowers us to Worship Him with all that we are. This is one of our core values we call God-Centered Worship.
As we digest the Word of God let us be motiviated by His great love for us and Worship Him. These words should stir up the fire in our heart and say.
Behold our God seated on His throne
Come let us adore Him
Behold our King nothing can compare
Come let us adore Him!
Pray with Me!
[1] Laurie, G. (2014). The Greg Laurie Sermon Archive. Riverside, CA: Harvest Ministries.
[2] Gesenius, W., & Tregelles, S. P. (2003). Gesenius’ Hebrew and Chaldee lexicon to the Old Testament Scriptures (p. 336). Bellingham, WA: Logos Bible Software.
[3] Thomson, A. (2011). Opening Up 1 Chronicles (p. 67). Leominster: Day One Publications.