Psalm 95
Be thankful for who God is/ and that He desires to have a relationship with you.
Be thankful for what God has done for you.
Thankfulness is the opposite of selfish, a selfish person says,
“ I deserve what comes to me!,”
“ I have made a sacrifice!”
“ I worked hard to get to where I am!”
A grateful person, a mature person realizes that life is a gift from God, and any blessings we receive come from Him.
One says Thank-me! And pats himself/herself on the back.
The other says that everything I have , everything that I am belongs to God.
Everything he has given me, everything He has done for me is reason to praise God for His goodness.
2.Thankfulness is Acknowledging God
Thankfulness is not only acknowledging God when He does great things for you. It is acknowledging God for who
He is ….. The God of the universe.
The Psalm has two elements woven in:
1. Call to praise the Lord of the universe.
A call to praise the creator of all the universe. Talk about overwhelming thoughts. The creator of the universe desires to have a relationship with me.
The one that created gravity to keep you right now from floating away.
The God that declares to us that every good and perfect gift comes from God above.
The God that said He knew you from your mothers womb.
Listen,
. When is the last time you just said thank you to the Lord?
. When is the last time you reflected on His goodness to you?
. When is the last time you came to him without an agenda? You came just because you wanted to be with Him.
“Let us come into His presence with thanksgiving, let us make a joyful noise to Him with songs of praise.”
2. Acknowledge by submissive attitude and obedient heart the Lord’s kingship over His people.
Thankfulness is not only acknowledging God when He does great things for you. It is acknowledging God for who
He is ….. The God of the universe.
Why did Israel praise God?
Because He was above all gods!
There was no corner in the universe that was not in his hand.
The pagans worshipped all kinds of different gods and acknowledge them only as they felt they were receiving something from them.
Society today, willing :
to push ands shove to touch a celebrity hand
camp out days in a line to receive a concert tickets
Willing to spend money they don’t have to see someone they had put on a pedestal of their heart before God.
My God (4)
“In his hand are the depths of the earth, and the mountain peaks belong to him. The sea is His , for He made it, and His hands formed the dry land. Come let us bow down in worship, let us kneel before the Lord our maker, for He is our God and we are the people of his pasture, the flock under His care.”
The mountaintop and the sea and everything in between belongs to the Lord. He created it. It is an exhortation to submit to the Lord with obedient hearts.
A bent knee is not enough, we are the people of His pasture and we are called to praise Him.
God , I am thankful for what you have done and I come to you this morning with no other agenda than to thank you.
No sermons or jobs to carve out.
No bills to pay.
No relationships to repair.
I just want to come into your presence and say thank you.
I get excited when I think of you as my redeemer.
I get excited when my darkness turns to light.
I get that I have to have enemies so that you can work in my life and do the things that need to happen.
I thank you lord for the love you have shown me in my life.
I thank you Lord that death has no more sting in my life.
I thank you there is now no condemnation for those who are committed in Christ Jesus, because you have set me free.
I thank you Lord when I ask you “why you made me like this? You answered “That I raised you for this very purpose, that I might display my power in you and that my name might be proclaimed in all the earth.”
http://www.sermoncentral.com/sermons/an-inviation-to-worship-brian-bill-sermon-on-worship-definition-58339?page=2
God’s invitation to worship:
A Call to Rejoice (1-5)
A Call to Reverence (6-7a)
A Call to Respond (7b-11)
Call to Rejoice in verses 1-5:(God our Creator )
This passage gives us at least 5 characteristics of worship.
1. Worship is collective.
2. Worship is vocal.
3. Worship is vibrant and vigorous.
When we are to told to “shout aloud” in the second half of verse 1, the Hebrew literally means to “raise a shout.” This was done when the Israelites were anticipating a battle or celebrating a triumph.
This expression was used in Joshua 6:20, when the Israelites were marching around the walls of Jericho: “When the trumpets sounded, the people shouted, and at the sound of the trumpet, when the people gave a loud shout, the wall collapsed…” It’s also found in 1 Samuel 4:5, where we read about what happened when the Ark of the Covenant was brought into the camp, “…All Israel raised such a great shout that the ground shook.”
David’s joyful enthusiasm in 2 Samuel 6. We see in verse 12 that when David brought the ark into Jerusalem, he did it with “rejoicing.” Verse 14 tells us that he danced before the Lord with all his “might” and verse 15 says that his worship was filled with “…shouts and the sound of trumpets.”
4. Worship is God-centered.
This is a good reminder because we are not to just get emotional or sing loudly for our own sake. Our focus should not be on how worship makes us feel. Our worship must be centered on God alone. Notice these first two verses. We are to “sing for joy to the Lord,” we are to “shout aloud to the Rock of our salvation,” we are to “come before Him with thanksgiving,” and we’re to “extol Him with music and song.” David danced and shouted, but he did it “before the Lord.”
John 4:23 tells us that God is seeking worshippers who will adore Him in spirit and in truth.
John 16:13 spirit of truth
5. Worship is founded on truth.
In verses 3-4, the sovereignty of God is given as a basis for our worship. Verse 3 expresses God’s rule in general terms: “For the Lord is the great God, the great King above all gods.” We are to shout aloud, sing for joy, and extol the Lord with music and song for He is supreme. The supremacy of God is the foundation for our joy.
A Call to Reverence (God our Redeemer & Savior)
Verse 6 and the first part of verse 7 give us the second invitation to worship a call to reverence:
Now, in verse 6, the worshipper falls on His face before God in humbled silence. Worship involves both animated rejoicing and speechless reverence.
Not only has the mood of the Psalm changed, so has the focus. It is now no longer God our Creator who is in view but it is rather God as our Redeemer and Savior.
God is our loving shepherd who pays close attention to each of us personally. This should cause us to bow down in worship and to kneel before the Lord our Maker. Bowing and kneeling helps us get “low” before God, which is really the essence of worship.
Luke 5:8 says that Peter fell at Jesus’ knees and said, “…Go away from me, Lord; I am a sinful man!” Knowing the Lord is the means to fearing Him. Experiencing God’s caring hand in our lives should induce us to greater submission and reverence. Those who have little reverence for God may also have little intimacy with Him.
Before we move on to the final part of God’s invitation, I want to make the point that our corporate worship services should always contain elements of both expressive rejoicing and contemplative reverence.
A Call to Respond
I see the last part of verse 7 as a transition: “Today, if you hear His voice.” On the one hand it serves to conclude the first part of the psalm. At the same time, it also serves as an introduction to the final call of the invitation the call to respond. The Message translation puts it this way: “Drop everything and listen, listen as He speaks and don’t turn a deaf ear.”
In the first seven verses, the psalmist has spoken, now we will hear from God Himself as He warns us against the dangers of a hard heart.
Essentially, what God wants in worship is this: that we would listen to His voice. More than just coming together to sing, He wants us to live out what we hear. That’s why we look at our entire service as corporate worship, not just the singing times. Part of worship is listening and responding to God’s Word as it is preached.
Exodus 17 mentions the first instance of Massah and Meribah. God had recently set His people free from the bondage in Egypt by parting the Red Sea. In chapter 15, the people sang a song of praise to God for His redemption. When the Israelites thirsted and began to grumble at Marah, God sweetened their water and gave them both manna and meat.
In chapter 17 the people began to quarrel with Moses because they had run out of water. Moses told them that they were really grumbling against God and the people threatened to stone Moses. God then instructs Moses to strike the rock with his rod. Water gushed out and the people were able to drink. The place was named Massah and Meribah because the people had grumbled and tested God. Exo17:7
The second account is found in Numbers 20:12-13. Here only the term Meribah is used. The event is similar to the one in Exodus, but this one happened nearly 40 years later, when the people were just about to enter the Promised Land. The people are grumbling and complaining again. Moses and Aaron fall on their faces before God and His glory appears to them.
God instructs Moses to speak to the rock so that water will come out. Instead of obeying God, in anger Moses scolded the people and twice struck the rock with his rod. While water came out, God indicted Moses for his unbelief and lack of reverence before the people. We see this in verse 12: “Because you did not trust in me enough to honor me as holy in the sight of the Israelites, you will not bring this community into the land I give them.” As a result, Moses was not allowed to lead the Israelites into Canaan. In Exodus 17, it was the people who sinned. In Numbers 20, it was the people and their leaders.
These two accounts reveal a common problem in every generation we are all prone to grumble and put God to the test. If the truth were known, each of us can be demanding of God as we try to coerce Him into satisfying our wants. While it not wrong to ask God for help, we do have to be careful about our complaining attitudes.
Concluding Thoughts
I want to make two conclusions. First, worship is to be primary. The invitation from God to worship is fundamental. He is worthy of our worship and He longingly seeks people who are committed to worship Him in spirit and in truth. When we fail to worship, our hearts will become hardened which can lead to disobedience and even discipline. Someone has said that there are two times to praise ad worship God when we feel like it and when we don’t.
Second, worship is to be persistent. Every day is “today” with God. Ruth Graham keeps a sign above her kitchen sink that says, “Worship services held here three times a day.” We can’t put off God’s invitation. When we do, it’s to our own peril. Instead of waiting until another time, do it today or it may be too late.
——
Closing,
Remember, I said this Psalm had two elements:
1. Call to praise the Lord of the universe.
2. Acknowledge by submissive attitude and obedient heart the Lord’s kingship over His people.
The God that desires our praise is the God of our salvation.
The God who proclaims that before you were born, He knew you! That He has a plan for your life!
How/ Why you enter into Church
• We come to find peace and quiet after a hectic week.
• We come because we are “a quart low,” and are looking to be “refilled.”
• We come because we enjoy the music.
• We come because we enjoy the people.
What you want to do in his presence? Ps 95: 1-6, Ps 100: 1-5, Ps 126:2
To be moved 🙂
I want be moved,…
I want be moved to sing,…
I want be moved today to pray,…
I want be moved to tell my love one about Christ,..
I want be moved to help teach a Sunday school class,…
I want be moved to do anything that might take some of my time,…