Come and Worship

[0:00] Well, good morning again, and welcome to faith. We are going to be in Psalm 95 this morning. So if you have your Bibles, you would turn with us to the 95th Psalm, and we're going to be spending primarily our time in about three of the verses here, but we are going to read through Psalm 95 as we go through this today. And in today's text, the psalmist invites us to worship in this morning's psalm, and that's what we have, I trust, been doing, and that's what I trust you have been doing throughout the week as you go through your daily routine as we read God's Word, as we pray, as we communicate with Him. Just simply spend time with God this week. I trust that you have been preparing for this morning, because worship doesn't just happen corporately on Sunday mornings when we get together and we sing and we preach God's Word. Worship is something that we're able to do anytime, day or night, and it includes a number of different aspects. And individual worship should be part of our daily routine, should be an important part of our lives. And we also enrich our lives as we invite others to worship with us. It may be, as the Bible says, where two or more are gathered together in my name. It could be to study God's Word. It could be to pray together.

[1:30] It could be to fellowship together, pray for one another. Maybe you're going through a difficult time and you invite someone else to help you pray for a particular matter, whatever that is.

[1:43] And in today's psalm, the psalmist's call reveals three dimensions of worship. And I believe we're going to be seeing those born out this morning as we take a look at the 95th psalm. We're going to begin in verse number one, Psalm 95, verse number one.

[2:06] Oh, come, let us sing to the Lord. Let us shout joyfully to the rock of our salvation. Let us come before His presence with thanksgiving. Let us shout joyfully to Him with psalms. For the Lord is the great God and the great King above all gods. In His hand are the deep places of the earth.

[2:32] The height of the hills are His also. The sea is His, for He made it, and His hands formed the dry land. Oh, come, let us worship and bow down. Let us kneel before the Lord, our Maker. For He is our God, and we are the people of His pasture and the sheep of His hand. Today, if you will hear His voice, do not harden your hearts as in the rebellion, as in the day of trial in the wilderness. So first off, He says, Oh, come, let us sing to the Lord. Secondly, He says, let us come before His presence with thanksgiving. And then thirdly, He says, Oh, come, let us worship and bow down. So let's break down these three dimensions. The psalmist calls us to this morning. And we begin, number one, I believe with music facilitates worship. Now, I'm just, I'm not talking about instruments necessarily. I'm just talking about song, about the music, what we sing back to God. We see that in verse number one. Oh, come, let us what? Let us sing to the Lord. Let us shout joyfully to the rock of our salvation. So here we have an invitation to sing to the Lord. And singing has always been a very, very important part of worship. If you go to the Old Testament and we look at the history of the Jews, of God's people, their song has always been a part of their life, part of their worship. There are songs of ascent as God's people were walking to the temple. There were songs of sorrow when they were in trouble and when they had been under persecution and when they were they were going through difficult times, they would sing songs about remembering the way things were and how sad they were, much like the spirituals that we have of old. While they were toiling, there were songs that were sung kind of somewhat lift the spirits, but to remember. So we see

[4:58] God's people, the Jews, singing songs in times of worship, singing songs of praise, singing songs of worship. So music song has always been a part of worship. Songs tell the story of changed lives, also of deep dedication to God. People have used this down through the ages.

[5:24] Also, our praising songs need to be a joyful noise. Now, some of you may say, well, when I try to sing, that's all it is, is a noise. But whether you feel that you can sing well or not, and whether you can or not, and if you can, some of us, maybe we can't carry a tune in a bucket if it had handles on it, and it was on a dolly. We maybe can't carry a tune, but we can at least sing to God joyfully.

[5:55] And it may just be noise to us. It may be noise to the bystanders. But to God, it is lovely music because one of His dear children who love Him are singing to Him or singing about Him. And so our songs of praise need to be joyfully sung. We sing, as the psalmist says, to the rock of our salvation.

[6:20] Now, worship songs, there are different types of songs. There are psalms, there are hymns, there are spiritual songs, as the Bible talks about. And there is a breakdown of what each would be. And I believe that worship song, if we call a song a worship song, it focuses on the cross and it focuses on the attributes of God.

[6:43] A worship song is not about us. A worship song is about God because we are worshiping the Creator. We are worshiping the God of the universe. So a worship song is not about us. A worship song is not about things that we feel or that we do. A worship song is to God. Now, as we have our corporate worship and we sing about God, I believe that a worship song is more a song that we sing to God. Now, there are some worship songs that are about God. But when we are worshiping personally, I really believe that if we change the pronouns or if we change the way we sing it and we're actually singing it to God, I believe it means more. I think it means more to us than it means more to him because we are personalizing it. We're not just singing about a God up there. We are singing to our God. So we also have to realize we have to remember that. And I've heard some people say, well, I just don't like singing.

[7:55] I don't like music. I don't like singing. And there are some who who, you know, wait until the song time is over till they come into worship. And that's all well and good. But sometimes we forget and we don't remember that what will we be doing as God's people around the throne of God.

[8:21] We will be worshiping. And part of that is going to be. Song, look at Revelation. Let's look at Revelation together. Revelation five verses nine and 10. And this is referring to the redeemed.

[8:34] These this is referring to those that have been redeemed by the blood of the lamb. And this is in the throne room of God. And these are God's people that have been saved by grace through the blood of Jesus Christ. And verse nine says, and they what?

[8:54] They were singing and they sang a new song, saying, you are worthy to take the scroll and to open its seals for you were slain and have redeemed us to God by your blood out of every tribe and tongue and people and nation and have made us kings and priests to our God.

[9:14] And we shall reign on the earth. So they're singing in heaven. Now, their popular culture talks about angels singing.

[9:28] And how there's a song, the song of the angels and how we sing like an angel. And I'm not going to definitively say one way or the other, but suffice it to say this.

[9:42] There is nothing in the Bible that ever shows or talks about an angel singing. Every time something comes out of an angel's mouth, the Bible says, and the angels said.

[9:57] So the angels never sing. It is never recorded in God's word that angels sing. Now, don't go and say, Pastor says, Pastor Leje said, angels don't sing.

[10:08] I don't know. All I can say is definitively, the Bible never records an angel singing. It is. And there may be some reasons why I think there may be some theological reasons why that's the case, because who of all of God's creation have the reason to sing the most?

[10:31] Those of us who have been redeemed, those of us who have been who have been saved through the blood of Jesus Christ, those of us who know now that we have a hope secure for us in heaven.

[10:41] Once we were lost, once we were headed to the lake of fire because we were separated from God. Jesus Christ, God loves us so much that Jesus died on the cross in our place.

[10:52] And simply for our asking and for us coming to him and realizing that we are sinners. And through our belief on Jesus Christ, our sins are forgiven.

[11:05] We are made part of God's family and we receive God's Holy Spirit. We of all people of all of God's creation are the only ones who truly have reason to sing.

[11:17] And so we'll be singing in heaven. And so we might as well sing here, whether we feel like you carry a tune or it's just a joyful noise. I believe music facilitates worship.

[11:28] I believe when we sing to him, whether it's walking, doing our daily walk or driving down the road. And there may be a song on the radio or not.

[11:39] It may just be music in our heart that we're singing or humming to him. I believe music facilitates worship. And these songs are about redemption by the blood of Christ.

[11:50] And they will focus on the miracle of salvation. These songs that will be sung around the throne of God. It will be about who God is and about what Jesus Christ did for us.

[12:03] So music is an important part of our worship. Not just corporate worship. If we look again also at the Old Testament, God even told his people to hire musicians, hire skilled musicians, hire musicians that were basically professional musicians.

[12:29] He said hire them. And they're the ones who provided the music for worship. And so music, musical instruments, has always been a part of worship from the Old Testament even to today.

[12:44] So we're thankful for our musicians who are here and for the gifts that God has given them and the practice they put in. Because it's not just being gifted. It is time.

[12:56] It takes a lot of effort. So for our singers, for our musicians. But it's not just about what shows up here on the stage. Music is anywhere we are.

[13:08] And we hum, we sing, and we lift our praise to God. So music facilitates worship. Secondly, what we see in verse number two, and that is thanksgiving fuels worship.

[13:23] It is our gratefulness that fuels our worship to a holy and a great God. We see that in verse number two. Let us come before his presence.

[13:33] How? With thanksgiving. Not because we deserve to be there. Or not with a feeling of entitlement.

[13:45] And well, God's God. God's a God of love. And so therefore he has to accept me. And we come to him with an entitlement attitude. Or we come to him proudly because we are good people.

[13:58] No, we come before him grateful with thanksgiving. Let us shout joyfully to him with psalms.

[14:09] So thanksgiving flows from grateful hearts. And grateful hearts that remember God's provision. When we remember what God's done for us, I believe what it does is it promotes thankfulness.

[14:24] It promotes our gratitude. It promotes our gratitude. When we remember, you know what? I've got a lot of things that I don't deserve. I have a lot of things that God has provided.

[14:34] God, peace, joy, family. All of these things that we think about that if we realize we didn't have the strength and the power unless God gave us air to breathe and God kept us alive.

[14:52] And everything that we have truly is a gift from him. When we wake up in the morning, we can know that the laws of the universe that God put into place are still in effect.

[15:05] We don't have to wake up one morning and wonder if gravity will still be there. We don't have to wonder whether or not the sun, whether the earth is going to rotate around the sun in our 24-hour revolution, that in the morning that there's going to be a sunrise.

[15:23] We may not see it. The clouds may be covering it. But we know the sun is going to be there somewhere in the sky. So the laws that God has put into place are there.

[15:35] We know that God provides so many things for us. And God is worthy of our joyful praise. That is mentioned in verses 1 and 2 because of his majesty, because of his power, because of his being everywhere present, because of who he is.

[15:54] And he is the great king over all gods. Now, verse number 3, as we look at verse 3, For the Lord is a great God, and the great king above all gods.

[16:05] So mentioning these little g gods or idols doesn't acknowledge their reality.

[16:16] I need to remember that. We need to understand that just because the Bible talks about little g gods doesn't mean they're real. It doesn't mean that they exist.

[16:28] It is simply a statement of God's sovereignty and His superiority over every force, real and imagined. Because there were people who worshipped all types of gods during these times when the psalmist was writing this.

[16:42] And so when he says God is a great God and king above all gods, it doesn't say that they're real. It just means that He is superior over everything, real and imagined.

[16:56] So God is a great God, and He deserves our worship. And here's the thing. We should be consistently aware of all His blessings.

[17:11] Let's look at Psalm 103. We're not going to go through the entire psalm, but the first two verses. Where the psalmist here in 103 says, Bless the Lord, O my soul, and all that is within me.

[17:25] Bless His holy name. And this entire psalm goes through talking about this. And in verse number two, he says, Bless the Lord, O my soul.

[17:36] And we are encouraged not to what? Not to forget what God does for us. Not to forget His benefits. Not to forget His provision for us.

[17:46] And it's when we forget. It is when God's people in the Old Testament forgot what God provided was when they got themselves in trouble. When they were in the land and when they were enjoying the fruit of the land and when things were plentiful.

[18:03] When they didn't have to worry about enemies. When they didn't have to worry about being hungry. When they didn't have to worry about having enough wood to build houses.

[18:15] And when they didn't have to worry about things. They sat back and said, Look at what we've done. And forgot about God.

[18:25] And that's when they began thinking that, Hey, it's all about us. And they internalized. They became all about them. And they forgot God's provisions.

[18:39] And that's when they got in trouble. And I believe it is thankfulness that moves us to worship the provider. Our thankfulness moves us to worship the one who provides.

[18:52] And giving thanks during our worship can increase our contentment. I mean, how happy are you? Now, I know it's not about happiness.

[19:03] We can still be sad and have joy knowing that God is still in control. And I know that sounds counterintuitive. But when we practice gratefulness in our worship, I believe that it will assist us in being content.

[19:22] The Apostle Paul talks about being able to be content in all states. He was able to be content when he was hungry. He was able to be content when he was full. He was able to be content when he was free.

[19:33] He was able to be content when he was in prison because of his faith. Paul said, I have learned to be content. So contentment is a learned ability.

[19:48] And I believe that as we, and you may do it in different ways. You may journal. You may just think about. You may keep a prayer list.

[20:00] But I think one way to do it is if we list on paper, or however you choose to list it, if we think about, I'm thankful to God for this.

[20:16] I'm thankful to God, number two, for this. I'm thankful to God for my health, my family, my job, my whatever.

[20:30] And know that it's God who provides all this. And boy, there'll be those who say, you know what? I work hard for this. And where was God when I was working overtime?

[20:41] Or where was God when I was working on so little sleep? And where was God? Well, God provided you the air to breathe. God provided that your heart was beating so that you could literally be alive.

[20:54] And so if it were not for God, the Bible says that Jesus holds all things together. And in Jesus, all things consist. And scientists still wonder why the atoms and the elements don't just explode and hurl out into space.

[21:09] What's holding them together? Well, this may not be the scientific answer, but I think it's the accurate answer. It's Jesus who's holding everything together. And so we need to be thankful. And when we remember the things for which we are thankful, I believe it promotes contentment.

[21:25] Because we realize that we do have more than we realize. We do have what we need to be content. We may not have all we want, but we have all that God chooses to provide us in order for us to be content.

[21:41] And here's another thing. We all have blue days. We all have days where we just have the blahs. We all have days where, you know what, we just want to stay in bed, keep our head covered, and not get up, not go to work, not take home the task of the day, whatever that may be.

[21:59] We all have days where we just have the blahs. We're depressed. But I think one recipe or one prescription would be, if instead of focusing on how we feel, instead of focusing what we don't want to do, but rather if we focused on God, then I believe it would drive the blues away.

[22:27] If we focused on Him, and we focused on what He's done for us, and spend time reading about Him, talking to Him, are there people in your life that, if you're having a bad day, and you meet them, it's difficult for you to stay down?

[22:53] Do you have some of those people in your life? They're just, they're filled with joy, they're happy, sometimes they're annoying, but they have a way to lift your spirits.

[23:09] They have the gift of encouragement. They're able to just help us to lift our spirits a little bit. And I really believe that ability comes from God.

[23:24] And especially when we go to the author of that, to the one who provides all the encouragement, that I believe that focusing on God helps us to drive the blues away.

[23:36] Here's the thing, we can't worship and worry at the same time. It's kind of an impossibility. It's when we're worshiping, when we are truly engaging ourselves in worship, then it's difficult for us to be worrying, because worry is when we focus on the problems rather than the solutions to the problem.

[23:58] And God is the solution to all of our problems. Doesn't mean we're not going to hurt, doesn't mean we're not going to have a difficult time, it doesn't mean, just like when we're children, our parents don't necessarily keep our children from all of the things that might be uncomfortable, it just means they're always there and making sure that we don't get hurt, if that makes any sense.

[24:22] Something that will disable us. So God is the same way. God allows us to go through things for us to learn. God allows us to go through things sometimes to discipline us. But His hand is always on us.

[24:35] And so focusing on God helps drive the blues away, and it's difficult for us to worship and worry at the same time. And worshiping turns our thoughts to thankful praise.

[24:48] Thanksgiving and worship can cure the negatives in our life. As a matter of fact, A.W. Tozer, a devotional writer from a number of years ago, said, Thanksgiving has great curative power.

[25:04] And even science has borne out that optimists tend to have a better outcome after surgery. Those who have a good support network, those who are thinking positively, have much better mental health outcomes than those who are negative, those who always think negatively.

[25:27] And so when we think about God, when we worship Him, I believe it is a great prescription for us to have joy in our lives. So, music facilitates our worship.

[25:40] Thanksgiving fuels our worship. And I believe reverence fosters our worship. Because what we see in verse number 6 is, O come, the psalmist is calling us to come and worship and do what?

[25:56] Bow down and let us kneel before the Lord, our Maker. Worship may include bowing down. Worship doesn't necessarily mean that we have to change our posture.

[26:11] But I believe worship involves our body. And if we don't engage our bodies in worship, I don't think we can fully worship. Now, I don't mean necessarily lifting up our hands or standing while we sing.

[26:25] That's not what I'm talking about. What honors God the most? Our obedience, right? And so, what does God want us to do? I mean, the list is very long, but primarily God wants us to use the spiritual gifts He's given us.

[26:42] God wants us to be involved in other people's lives. God wants us to share the gospel. God wants us to minister to others. God wants... And so much of what God wants us to do involves us moving our bodies and being, as it were, His hands and His feet.

[27:00] And so, I really believe we worship God when we obey Him and do what He says. And so, when we engage in the things that God calls us to do, that's part of worship also.

[27:13] If maybe someone is hurting and we go and we comfort them, that's worship, that's worship, because we are using something that God has provided us.

[27:25] When we see someone with a need and we give, I believe that's part of worship as well. And on and on and on. So He says, Let us kneel before the Lord, our Maker.

[27:38] And humility, I believe humility in worship, honors God. Remember, like we said at the beginning, not coming to God entitled, with a feeling of entitlement or a sense of entitlement, not coming to God in a way that, well, God, I deserve to be here because I am such a good person like maybe the Pharisees did in the early part of the New Testament.

[28:03] They felt like they were better. They judged themselves against others. And they felt that they were better morally. And so, they had every right to stand before God.

[28:14] But I believe when we realize, you know what? We don't deserve to be in God's presence. It is only through Jesus Christ and what He has accomplished for us.

[28:25] And it's only in His name that we can come before the Father. And into His presence, then we come in humility. And humility in worship honors the Lord.

[28:38] And Spurgeon said this. He says, Our joyful adoration of the Lord is to be humble. We must come joyfully, but not proudly, familiar as children before a father, yet reverent creatures before their Maker.

[28:57] And so, as we come before Him, in reverence, it will foster our worship.

[29:09] And as we conclude this morning, one of the things that we need to do is we need to understand that there's another element of worship.

[29:21] And I believe that is listening. We see in verses 7 and 8 of this same psalm, For He is our God, and we are the people of His pasture, and the sheep of His hand.

[29:37] Today, if you will what? Hear His voice. Do not harden your hearts. Do not harden your hearts, as in the rebellion, as in the day of trial, in the wilderness.

[29:51] I believe that part of our worship involves listening to God. We mentioned obedience, but in order to obey, we have to listen.

[30:03] We have to be attentive to God. So He says, Today, if you will hear His voice, do not harden your hearts.

[30:17] So our questions this morning is, What is God saying to you? What is God moving you to do? To be?

[30:31] What is He saying to you this morning? Will you listen to His voice? And don't harden your hearts. One way that we can be a part of God's family is by trusting Christ as our Savior.

[30:47] We're all sinners, the Bible says. All have sinned and come short of the glory of God. All have sinned. That means, the Bible also goes on to say, There is none righteous.

[30:59] And if that was not emphatic enough, He goes on to say, No, not one. There is no person who is righteous. Well, we may point to people, Oh, well, you know, Granny was, or Aunt so-and-so, or, you know, if anyone goes to heaven, they will, well, because we have, you know, we go through the list.

[31:21] Well, they might seem righteous to us, but in God's eyes, the Bible says, There is none righteous. No, not one. All have sinned, the book of Romans says, and come short of the glory of God, meaning we've missed the mark.

[31:37] There is a measuring standard, and it is perfection. Not a single human being that has ever lived, apart from Jesus Christ, who was God in the flesh. We're all sinners.

[31:47] And so that's bad news. Well, the bad news gets worse, because the Bible says, The wages of sin is death.

[32:00] When the Bible speaks of death, it speaks in a number of ways. Sometimes it means death literally, ceasing to breathe, and we die. But also, death in Scripture can mean a separation from God.

[32:15] In the Garden of Eden, remember, God said to Adam, and Eve, you shall not eat of the tree of knowledge. He says, Because for the day that you eat thereof, you shall surely die.

[32:28] Well, Eve took a bite of the fruit, Adam took a bite of the fruit, and they did not die physically at that moment. Their heart didn't stop beating. Their brain waves didn't go flat.

[32:38] But they kept on living. But at that moment, they began to die physically. And they died spiritually. They were separated from God. And so the wages of sin is death, eternal separation from God.

[32:55] So the bad news gets worse. But there's good news. The good news is, God demonstrated His love toward us in that while we were still sinners, the Bible says, Jesus died for us.

[33:10] And so, we're sinners. We deserve hell. But God loves us so much that even though we were still His enemies, even though we were still separated from Him, God loved us and provided Jesus to die on the cross in our place.

[33:27] And just as the bad news got worse, the good news gets better. The Bible says, For all who call upon the Lord Jesus shall be saved, shall be delivered from the penalty of sin, and shall become a part of the family of God.

[33:45] And there's so many other places in the New Testament that talks about that salvation is by grace through faith, not of works, lest anyone should boast. The Bible talks about that if we believe on the name of the Lord Jesus Christ, we shall be saved.

[34:03] So this morning, before we wind this down, before we close in prayer, before we eat, I want to extend to you the invitation from God this morning.

[34:16] And that is, will you trust Jesus as your Savior? Stop trusting ourselves. Stop trusting being good enough to get to heaven.

[34:27] Stop trusting living by the Ten Commandments. Stop trusting on our church attendance. Stop trusting on church membership. Stop trusting on anything other than Jesus Christ and what He did on the cross for us.

[34:41] Jesus is our Savior. So this morning, I believe God invites us. For by grace, we are saved through faith, and that not of works.

[34:56] Ephesians 2, verse 8 says, it is the gift of God. So salvation, being right with God, is not about behavior. It's about accepting what Jesus did for us on the cross of Calvary.

[35:13] Everything else comes after that. Spiritual growth, our service, our worship. See, we have to be a part of the family before we can call God Father.

[35:27] And being part of the family comes by trusting Jesus as Savior. Father, this morning, we thank you for allowing us to gather together in your name.

[35:39] And Father, if there is anyone here this morning that is not sure whether if they should die right now or if their life should end, if they are a part of your family and would go to be with you when they die.

[35:56] Lord, I pray that if there's anyone in that situation this morning, they're not sure if they're right with you today. They're just simply not sure if they're part of your family. Then I ask that your Holy Spirit would convict.

[36:08] The Holy Spirit would open their eyes to the reality that Jesus is Savior. Jesus died on the cross in our place. And He says, whosoever will may come to Him.

[36:23] And if we will understand that we're sinners, and if we will believe that Jesus is God, and if we believe that He died a death on the cross that took our place, and He took our place there.

[36:41] The Bible says, Him who knew no sin became sin for us and paid our forever penalty. And that salvation is a free gift through grace by faith.

[36:57] Lord, I pray this morning that we may trust our Savior Jesus. This morning as well, dear Father, we thank You for each one here.

[37:09] May You bless each family represented here today. We thank You for everyone who's been involved so far this morning, for us to be able to enjoy this time of family together and friends.

[37:24] And Lord, we pray all of this this morning in the name of Jesus, our Savior. Amen. Amen. All right, let's all listen to this.