“Then said Jesus unto him, Get thee hence, Satan; for it is written, Thou shalt worship the Lord thy God, and Him only shalt thou serve.”
You probably recognize that this verse is centered in Jesus’ temptation by Satan after JESUS had fasted for forty days and forty nights. Satan was trying to get Jesus to worship him, but Jesus made it plain to Satan that people are to worship God and God alone. ("Worship" and "serve" are closely related in the Bible.) We read about worship throughout the Bible. Worship is important for it takes place when we center and focus our minds and hearts on the Lord. We are to worship privately and publically. Worship is as necessary to the Christian as eating and drinking. That answers why we worship, now we need to look at how we worship. We worship God through prayer. Prayer itself is an act of worship. When we pray we concentrate our hearts and minds on God, either in petition or meditation. Petition and meditation are important parts of worship. In petitioning God we are confessing to Him that we know that all of the things that we need in this life come from Him. In meditating we focus our minds and hearts on God and just let Him speak to our hearts. Worshipful prayer is a two-way communication: God hears us when we pray and we hear His “still small voice” while we concentrate fully on Him. Prayer is a great act of worship for it verifies that we know that we are wholly dependent on God in all of life. We worship God through singing. Paul wrote about this in Ephesians 5:18-19: “And be not drunk with wine, wherein is excess; but be filled with the Spirit. 19. Speaking to yourselves in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody in your heart to the Lord.” We come together to worship in fellowship with fellow Christians and a large part of our worship together is singing. We do not sing to show off our talents, or to merely make merry in song. We sing to worship the Lord. The words of hymns can help us to focus our minds on God. Many of our hymns remind us of what Jesus did for us at Calvary, and we worship Him in the process. When the choir sings, we are not to just listen to the beauty of the music, but we are to see the beauty of the Lord. But we do not worship in song only in fellowship with other Christians. There are times when I sing some of the hymns that I know by heart in my private worship. The familiar words of the hymns help me to focus on the Lord. I have found that I can concentrate on what God is saying to my heart when I am “making melody in my heart and soul to the Lord.” There are many new songs that are being sung today called “praise hymns.” They also have a message about the Lord and lift up praise to Christ Jesus. We worship God through the preaching of His word. In most non-Catholic churches, the pulpit stand is in the center of the pulpit area. This is simply a symbol that God’s word and the preaching of it is the central act of worship. Whether the pulpit is in the center or not, preaching is still the central act of worship. That is why we are to listen reverently while the preacher is preaching. The preacher is sharing a portion of God’s word and applying it to life. While the preaching is going on, the Holy Spirit is at work in the minds and hearts of the preacher and the people. When I preach, I sometimes remind the congregation that what I am saying is important. It is not important because I’m saying it, but because it is what God has given to me to share with them on that day. The “preaching moment” is an act of worship by the preacher and the congregation. There is certainly more to worship than I have written here, but the three things that I wrote about are familiar to us and need to be recognized as part of our worship. Bro. Joe
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“Praise the Lord. Praise God in His sanctuary; praise Him in His mighty heavens. 2. Praise Him for His acts of power, praise Him for His surpassing greatness.”
The Bible makes it clear that God is worthy of our praise. Praise should be a natural reflex for those of us who know Him personally through Jesus Christ. This praise should not just come from our lips, but it should come from our hearts. The Bible does not direct us as to how to praise God, for some do it quietly and some do it loudly, it simply directs us to praise Him. As I read Psalm 150 this morning the first two verses suggested to me the different paths that are given us to lead us to praise God. We are told to “praise God in His sanctuary.” To the Jewish people to whom this was written, this would be the temple complex. Here is what it suggested to me. We are to praise God whether we are alone or with other people. If we praise God in His sanctuary we would be in the presence of other people. I think that we can interpret this as a command to praise in fellowship with fellow believers. The sanctuary of a church should certainly be a place of praise, and in it we should praise God together. There is power in the joint praise of God’s people when they are gathered for worship. We are told to praise God “in His mighty heavens.” We are to praise God when we observe His creation all around us. When we look into the sky, we see all of the stars, planets and galaxies, and it makes us realize how great our God really is. We have an understanding of the universe, or God’s mighty heavens, that the ancients could not have had. Instead of the vastness of God’s mighty heavens causing us to doubt, it should cause us to realize how truly vast our God really is. A God who could create and control all of this is certainly worthy of our praise and awe. In Colossians 1:17, Paul reminds us of the greatness of Christ in this way: “And (Christ) is above all things, and by Him all things consist.” The word “consist” can also be translated as “held together.” We can praise our Lord and Savior, because He holds God’s “mighty heavens” together, and at the same time, He holds us together. Now, there is something to praise Him about. We are told to praise God for His “acts of power.” When ancient Jews read this, they would have thought about God’s deliverance from Egypt. They would remember the dividing of the waters of the Red Sea. They would remember the provision of manna and quail in the desert– plus many other acts of power. When we read this, we think of Jesus turning water into wine, walking on water, healing the sick and many other acts of power that He did while on earth. The main act of power for which we praise our Lord is His death on the cross for our sins, His resurrection from the dead, His ascending to the Father, His sending the Holy Spirit to us in order to empower us for witnessing and living for Him. Indeed, we have a lot to praise our Lord for. We are told to praise God for His “surpassing greatness.” We have already discussed praising God for how large He is, but now we praise Him for all of His greatness. We praise Him for the greatness of His love for us. If the Bible is clear on anything, it is clear on the fact that God loves us. We praise Him for the greatness of His presence and power in our lives. Jesus promised His disciples that He would send the Holy Spirit to them to guide them into His truth and in all of life. We can praise God for many other things that remind us of His “surpassing greatness.” Pause where you are right now and offer your praises to God for all that He means to you and for all that He has done for you in Jesus. Bro. Joe “Make a joyful noise unto God, all ye lands: 2. Sing forth the honor of His name: make His praise glorious.”
“God came from Teman, and the Holy One from mount Paran. Selah: His glory covered the heavens, and the earth was full of His praise.”
“Teach me your way, O Lord, I will walk in your truth: unite my heart to fear our name. 12. I will praise you, O Lord my God, with all my heart: and I will glorify your name for evermore. 13. For great is your mercy toward me: and you have delivered my soul from the lowest hell.”
In the whole psalm, David poured out his heart to God. In this particular passage, he asked God for something and made a promise about what he would do when the promise was fulfilled. This is the theme of today’s offering. First, David prayed, “Teach me your way O Lord…” It was important to David to know God’s way, not the way of the world. The thinking in our day is that there is no one way better than the other. We live in a time of moral relativism. The thinking is that if you want to do something, whether good or bad, it is up to you. Proverbs 14:12 and 16:25 gives the same advice. I think that it is repeated for emphasis. Here is the message, “There is a way that seems right unto a man/woman, but the end thereof are the ways of death.” (I added “woman” here because “man” is used in the generic sense, meaning “person.”)We cannot plot our own course. We need to be taught the way of the Lord. Second, David prayed, “I will praise you, O Lord my God, with all my heart: and I will glorify your name forevermore.” David promised that when God had taught him His way, not only would he walk in the truth that God gave him, but he would praise and glorify God. Surely, when we learn the way of the Lord, we will rejoice in that way and praise and glorify His name. We normally think of praising and glorifying God in a setting of public worship. I want to suggest that public praise of God is useless if it is not backed up by a life that praises and glorifies the Lord. People should not just hear our praises, they should see them in the way we live our lives. When we have learned God’s way, we are expected to live our lives based on God’s way. I know that none of us does that perfectly. We know enough about David to know that he did not walk perfectly in God’s way. But we need to set our course in God’s way, and determine to do it. Third, David gave his reason for wanting to be taught God’s way, and to live in that way: “For great is your mercy toward me: and you have delivered my soul from the lowest hell.” The preposition “for” speaks loudly to us here. We should learn God’s way, live in His way, praise and glorify Him with our lips and our lives, “for, great is (His) mercy toward (us), and (He) has delivered (our) souls from the lowest hell.” (I added the parentheses to personalize the text.) It should be the desire of our hearts to live a God-pleasing life, and when that life is over to live with Him eternally. David knew, as we do, that this life will end and that when it ends, we want to be right with God. We begin this journey by placing our faith in Jesus Christ, and by following the leadership of the Holy Spirit. Take this text personally! Bro. Joe By (Jesus) therefore let us offer the sacrifice of praise to God continually, that is, the fruit of our lips giving thanks to His name. 16. But to do good and to communicate forget not: for with such sacrifices God is well pleased.”
These verses are in the middle of a discussion about the difference between the sacrifice of Jesus on the cross and the sacrifices offered in the temple in Jerusalem. The writer mentions some things that should result from our relationship with Jesus, that is, “sacrifice of praise,” doing good and “communicating,” or sharing with others, and sharing Jesus with others. I see these three things as qualities that should be in our lives because of our relationship with Jesus. Because Jesus is in our lives, we should “offer the sacrifice of praise.” Praise should be a natural reaction of people who are in a real relationship with Jesus. The Bible is full of stories and incidents about praising God. The feast days in the Old Testament were actually services of praise to God. The author of Hebrews refers to praise as “the fruit of our lips.” Jesus mentioned that our lives are to be bear fruit, and praise is one of the fruits that we are to bear. This means that we should not be ashamed to publically praise God. I don’t mean that we should go down the street shouting. People might think we are crazy, but we should not be ashamed of offering praise to God. Because Jesus is in our lives, we are “to do good.” Good works are a natural part of our relationship with Christ. We know from Paul that we are “saved by grace through faith, and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God, not of works lest any man should boast.” (Ephesians 2:8) We are not saved by doing good, but James clarifies this by writing that “faith without works in dead, being alone.” (James 2:17) James’ emphasis on works does not nullify Paul’s emphasis on faith. We are, indeed, not saved by doing good works. For example, how many good works would it take to save us? When we put Paul and James together we get the idea that we are saved by a faith that works. Because Jesus is in our lives, we are to “communicate.” Another translation of this is to “share.” This has two meanings. One is that we share with other people, that is, that we should not be stingy. We should not be stingy with other people and we should not be stingy with God. One of the first things that the first church in Acts did was to share all that they had with each other. Being a person that shares with others and with God is certainly a quality that Jesus should bring into our lives. Along with continual praise and good works, we should share Jesus with other people. The first way we do this is by living a like that will make our witness real to others. Look over these three qualities and ask yourself if you are attempting to live them. Bro. Joe “I will love thee, O Lord, my strength. 2. The Lord is my rock and my fortress, and my deliverer, my God, my strength, in Whom I will trust, my buckler, and the Lord of my salvation, and my high tower.”
The two verses printed above are loaded with praise of the Lord our God. I want to share with you what I found in them. David, who wrote this psalm, declared his love for the Lord. Declaring our love for the Lord is always part of our praise for Him. This made me think about my love for the Lord. I want you to think about your love for the Lord. We have many thoughts about the Lord, such as His demands on our lives. Whatever else the Lord is to us, we know that He loves us and we should love Him. Give some thought to your love for the Lord. David wrote: “O Lord, my strength. The Lord is my rock and my fortress.” He mentioned God’s strength in verses 1 and 2. He also wrote that the Lord was his “rock and fortress.” He mentions that the Lord is his “buckler.” This the KJV word for "shield." Think about this: The Lord was his “strength,” his “rock,” his “fortress,” his “high tower,” or his “stronghold.” David was surrounded by his love for God, and found strength in Him. The Lord was his shield – his protection. No wonder young David was able to face Goliath. The Lord is all of this for us today. Doesn’t that make you want to love and praise Him??? David referred to the Lord as his “deliverer.” He referred to his trust in the Lord. And he declared that the Lord was his “salvation.” All of this is reference to the Lord as his savior. I think that David experienced all of this in his life as he escaped King Saul, as he fought many battles for Israel. David was a warrior. He had to trust in the Lord’s deliverance and salvation daily. This deliverance was a personal experience for David. Salvation and deliverance were in David’s heart. Because of Jesus, we can claim the Lord as our deliverer and savior. We should think about these things that David wrote as our personal experience as well as his. In Jesus, we have all of the Lord’s strength, His protection, His deliverance and salvation. Let’s pause here and praise Jesus for the love that brought Him to earth to save us, declare our love for Him, and our gratitude for all He means to our lives. Do it! (I just did.) Bro. Joe “Praise be to the Lord God, the God of Israel, Who alone does marvelous deeds.” NIV
Psalm 72:18 reveals that the Lord does marvelous deeds. To say that God alone does “marvelous deeds” does not mean that He is the only one to do marvelous deeds, but that He alone can do the marvelous deeds that He does. Let me share some of these deeds with you. The salvation that we have through faith in Jesus Christ is a marvelous deed of God. From the time of the fall in Genesis 3, God had a plan to save people through faith in Christ. That is why Jesus is referred to as “the lamb slain from the foundation of the world.” (Revelation 13:8) Our salvation was not dreamed up by a committee of religious leaders; it was born in the heart of God Himself. I cannot explain why that loved us enough to give His Son as a sacrifice for our sins, but I know that He did. That salvation that we have through faith in Christ is, indeed, marvelous. The Holy Spirit that indwells and leads us is a marvelous deed of God. Jesus told His disciples that He would send the “comforter” (Holy Spirit) to lead them into His truth after He ascended to the Father. (John 16:5-16) The Holy Spirit guides us in our Christian service. He enables us when we are weak and do not think victory is possible. It is the Holy Spirit who comforts us when we grieve. It is the Holy Spirit who leads us to the people and places to which we can go. I think you get the point by now that the Holy Spirit’s entrance into our lives is one of God’s marvelous deeds. The answers to our prayers are marvelous deeds of God. Prayer is one of the greatest blessings that I have in my life. It is such a comfort to know that I can go to God in prayer through the name of Jesus at anytime that I want. The same is true of you. If you are a believer in Christ, you have this wonderful opportunity. Do you really take advantage of this opportunity? Do not cheat yourself out of taking advantage this wonderful deed of God. Of course, this list of God’s marvelous deeds is incomplete, but these three deeds are uppermost in my minds at the present moment. Praise God for His marvelous deeds. Bro. Joe “I in them, and you in me, that they might be made perfect in one; and that the world may know that you have sent me, and have loved them, as you have loved me. 24. Father, I will that they also whom you have given me, be with me where I am; and that they may behold my glory, which you have given me: for you love me before the foundation of the world.”
This is a portion of the high priestly prayer of Jesus just before His arrest. Jesus prayed for Himself, for his immediate disciples, and our text is a portion that He prayed for all believers who would come to Him in the future. I found three promises in these verses that were meant for us. There is the promise that Jesus loves us. Jesus said that He loves His followers as the Father loves Him. That is a deep and abiding love. It is a love that He still gives today to those who will come to Him, and for those who need to come to Him. “Jesus loves me this I know, for the Bible tells me so.” You can read about this love in the text. What you need to know is that Jesus was praying for you. He loves you and either has saved you or will save you. Take His love for you personally, for He certainly takes you personally. There is the promise that Jesus is with us. Jesus prayed: “Father, I will that they also, whom you have given me, be with me where I am.” We are never without the presence of Jesus in our lives. We can reach out to Him anytime in prayer. The prayer room is never vacant. Jesus is with us to relieve our doubts and fears, and to guide us through the good and bad in our lives. Hebrews 13:5 reminds us: “For He has said, I will never leave you, nor forsake you.” There is the promise of Jesus’ glory. Verse 24a: “Father, I will that they may also whom you have given me, be with me where I am; that they may behold my glory, which you have given me.” We behold the glory of Jesus when we open our hearts, minds and eyes to Him personally in faith. Until we approach Jesus in faith, He is just a name that we read about in the Bible, but when we receive Him into our lives, He becomes palatable and real in our lives. We experience His glory daily in prayer, meditation and Bible study. I really can’t explain this glory; I just know that I have experienced it, and that you can experience it. These three promises are for you; claim them in faith. Bro. Joe "And (David) appointed certain of Levites to minister before the ark of the Lord, and to record, and to thank and praise the Lord God Israel. 5. Asaph the chief, and next to him Zechariah, Jeiel, and Shemariamoth, and Jehiel, and Matithiah, and Eliab, and Benaiah, and Obededom: and Jeiel with psalteries and with harps; but Asaph made a sound with cymbals.”
What is there in this text for us that is worth a few minutes of our time? What I saw here was that David appointed these men to do daily and continually what we should do. These musicians were sent to the tent where the Ark of the Covenant was housed to serve God. They were sent “to minister (serve) before that Ark of the Lord.” They were to use their musical gifts and talents to serve the Lord on a daily basis, just as God has given us gifts to serve Him daily. Jesus saved us and gifted us to serve Him in conjunction with our gifts. What does it mean they were to “record”? A study of the word translated “record” here can also mean to make “petition,” interestingly, however it can also be translated to "celebrate.” If there is one thing that the world needs from us today is to use our gifts to celebrate the Lord as a witness to the world. “Celebration” can many things. It can mean to really celebrate in our worship services. But, more importantly, it can also mean to live joyfully for Jesus before people in our daily lives. We should have attitudes of celebration. They were also to “thank…the Lord God of Israel.” We have also been called to use our Spiritual gifts in a spirit of thanksgiving. In order for us to do this we need to have thankful hearts. I remind myself of this often. Really and truly, when I count the blessings in my life, I have to be thankful. I remind myself of this when I get in a funk – come on you know what I mean – and have a difficult time praying. The old song is true: “Count your many blessings name them one by one and it will surprise you what the Lord has done." They were “to….praise the Lord God Israel.” I don’t know how these musicians sounded, or how their music praised the Lord, but I can imagine Asaph clanging those cymbals in a joyful praise of the God that he served. We don’t have cymbals to clang, at least that I know of, you might have cymbals in your church, but we do have hearts full of love and thanksgiving for the Savior who gave His life for our salvation. I hope that this message of thanksgiving has been a blessing to you and has prepared you for this special time of Thanksgiving. Bro. Joe |
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