Worship - Getting It Right!
If something is worth doing, it’s worth doing right!
We have all heard that saying and we have come to realize the truth of it.
I mean, if you are going to put your time and effort into something,
you just as well do a good job.
If your going to put your stamp of approval on it, you want it done right.
Even if what you do fails, you still want to know that you really gave it your best shot!
Well, the same is to be true with our worship of God!
Listen to what Jesus tells the woman at the well in Samaria about our worship of God:
John 4:21-24
Jesus declared,
“Believe me, woman, a time is coming when you will worship the Father neither on
this mountain nor in Jerusalem. 22 You Samaritans worship what you do not know;
we worship what we do know, for salvation is from the Jews. 23 Yet a time is
coming and has now come when the true worshipers will worship the Father in
spirit and truth, for they are the kind of worshipers the Father seeks. 24 God
is spirit, and his worshipers must worship in spirit and in truth.”
Jesus says that we “must” worship God correctly.
That we must worship Him in spirit and in truth.
In other words, we must get our worship of God right!
But how do we do that?
How do we worship God correctly?
How do we worship God in a way that is pleasing to Him?
Well, if we will take a close look at Psalm 26, we might just find the answer.
Psalm 26:6-8, 12 I wash my hands in innocence, and go about your altar, O LORD, 7 proclaiming aloud your praise and telling of all your wonderful deeds. 8 I love the house where you live, O LORD, the place where your glory dwells...12 My feet stand on level ground; in the great assembly I will praise the LORD.
David wrote this Psalm while his enemies were slandering him.
Even his own son Absalom.
He writes about how they are hypercritical in their worship of God,
how they claim to love God, but their hearts are filled with wickedness.
He asks God to help him not to be like them.
David seeks to worship God in spirit and in truth.
And in seeking to get his worship of God right, he gives us three elements that will help us get our worship of God right.
The first
element in getting our worship right, that we learn from David is:
1. Private
Preparation. . . for unhindered Worship
Ps 26:6 I wash
my hands in innocence, and go about your altar, O LORD,
How do
you make yourself ready and acceptable to worship God?
“wash
my hands:” in the
VERY LEAST, is a ceremonial cleansing,
but of course, in this Psalm, it undoubtedly goes deeper.
David has already laid out how he strives to walk in God’s ways,
how his mind and heart are devoted to God.
He precedes our verses today, with a statement on how he won’t participate
in the habits and schemes of the wicked.
He washes his hands of their wickedness, their sinfulness.
His desire is to come before God with a clean heart.
In the era of kings and queens, no one would dare to come before the throne without bathing and putting on their very best cloths.
It was a matter of respect and reverence.
David realizes that in worship, he is coming before the throne of the ultimate King, the God of all creation.
And he
realizes he must prepare himself, he must wash himself before he enters the
throne room.
“Go
about your altar:”
The altar is
where the sacrifices were made.
To make a sacrifice, preparations had to be made:
Find an animal without blemish.
Take something that is yours and give it to the
Lord.
Take something that cost you, and
give it to the Lord
Consider what the offering/sacrifice represented:
Sin: a powerful reminder of the price of our
sin.
Peace: a way to
make peace with God.
Think of how people prepare themselves before they do their job:
Missionaries - Astronaut - Soldier
David makes it clear, God made it clear,
when you come to worship, come prepared.
Wash your hands, and have your sacrifice ready to offer.
There is much more involved in making us a worshiping people, than just showing up on Sunday.
We are to live our lives EACH day in service of the king,
and preparing ourselves, to be people who have more of a well to draw from,
than just
showing up cold on Sunday, expecting something to happen.
Preparation is important for the worshiper.
It’s not something we just turn ON
What are
some of the practical ways we can prepare ourselves for worship.
Lay out
clothes the night before, etc, so you aren’t so rushed and irritated.
Filling your mind and heart with things of God by reading His Word.
Put on Worship music throughout the week and Sunday morning.
Ask God to help you to prepare for worship and to help you encourage others in their worship.
The second
element in getting our worship right, that we learn from David is:
2. Divine
Destination!. . . for God inspired Worship.
Psalm 26:6-8 ...and go about
your altar, O LORD, 7 proclaiming aloud your praise and telling of all your
wonderful deeds. 8 I love the house where you live, O LORD, the place where your
glory dwells.
Everything is God oriented:
Did you
hear what verse 8 said? I love the (your)
house:
David’s integrity, his acts of devotion, and his words of praise
flow out of a heart filled with love for the Lord, and for God’s house.
The O.T. is reluctant in expressing love to God in a direct way.
David says that he loves the Lord,
by declaring his love for the house of the Lord.
Love your House:
But “the house” consists of more than brick and mortar:
the Holy One of Israel lives in the midst of his people.
He made his “glory” to dwell among his people (Exod 40:34-35;
1 Kings 8:11).
And thinking of God’s glory reminded them of his
“wonderful deeds” (v.7) on behalf of his people.
The glory of the Lord had protected and guided the people of God in the past.
The psalmist thus finds comfort in his reflections on God’s presence and glory.
He is transported out of his misery to a new height,
being
filled with joy and love for his God.
In God’s house was where the Psalmist thought of God,
and it represented God’s dwelling with, working with His
people
Sometimes we equate the temple with the church building, but it’s not so.
“
The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us. We have seen his glory, the glory of the One and Only, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth” John 1:14 (NIV).
God is indeed present among men and women!
Jesus would build a new temple among his people:
Eph 2:19–22 NAB
So then you are no longer
strangers and aliens, but you are fellow citizens with the saints and members of
the household of God, 20built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets,
Christ Jesus himself being the cornerstone, 21 in whom the whole structure,
being joined together, grows into a holy temple in the Lord. 22 In him you also
are being built together into a dwelling place for God by the Spirit.
Revelation 21:3 (NCV)
And I heard a loud voice from the throne, saying,
"Now God's presence is with people, and he will live with them, and they will be
his people. God himself will be with them and will be their God.
We have
God’s presence right here among us!
God is in US (or can be) which makes our weekly living and “preparation” all the
more important.
What significance is there for us?
God’s presence in our lives, means we have daily opportunity to encounter
and experience him:
WORD
DAILY DETAILS
PRAYER
DIRECTION
STRENGTH
Preparing for worship on Sunday has everything to do with realizing and walking in the presence of God everyday.
The closer
we walk with God during the week, the more we are prepared to worship Him on
Sunday.
The third
element in getting our worship right, that we learn from David is:
3. Public
Proclamation!. . . for God-honoring,
faith-enhancing Worship.
Ps 26:7
proclaiming aloud your praise and telling of all your wonderful deeds.
Psalm 26:12 ....in the great
assembly I will praise the LORD.
Early one Sunday morning, a wife went in to wake
up her husband.
"Wake up, honey. It’s
time to go to church!"
"I don’t want to go," complained the husband.
"Give me two reasons why you
don’t want to go."
"Well, none of the members listen when I talk, and the elders are mean to me!
You give me two reasons why
I should go to church."
"Well, for one, it is the right thing to do. And for another, you’re the
PREACHER!"
God has been at work in our lives and others, and we need to share it!
We should WANT to share what God is doing in our life and praise His name together with others of like precious faith!
We should want to sing together with others of God’s greatness and love.
We should want to communion around His table and remember the wonderful sacrifice that Christ made for us.
We should want to hear from God’s Word, both from the perspective of teaching and preaching, so that we can grow in our faith and service.
We should want to pray together, expressing to God our thanks and our concerns.
The psalms says that he loves being in God’s presence with God’s people,
praising God for all that he is worth.
He wants to proclaim his faith publically.
Maybe we need to come out of the closet and begin to proclaim before others,
our great faith in God as we worship Him together!
But I know, there are times when we don’t feel like it.
Listen to what
M. Robert Mullholland, Jr. said,
in his book “Invitation to a Journey”:
“When we don’t
feel like worshiping, the community should carry us along in its worship. When
we can’t seem to pray, community prayer should enfold us. When the Scripture
seems closed to us, the community should keep on reading, affirming and
incarnating it around us.”
Our worship together, has a way of encouraging us in our worship.
We may have had a bad day, or bad week and we really don’t feel like going to church, much less joyfully singing praises to God.
Maybe that’s why the writer of Hebrews wrote: Hebrews 10:25 Let us not give up meeting together, as some are in the habit of doing, but let us encourage one another--and all the more as you see the Day approaching.
We may not feel like worshiping before we come to church, but once we get there,
we are reminded of the wonder and majesty of God,
the love and forgiveness of God,
the blessings and promises of God.
And we can’t help but worship!
You see, church is a great place to:
encourage one another
pray for ane another
teach one another
lift up one another
serve one another
sing to one another of God’s greatness and love
fellowship with one another
love one another
and worship with one another!
Conclusion:
When we have these three elements present
1. Private Preparation
2. Divine Destination
3. Public Proclamation
Then we can get our worship of God right!
If we leave any one of those out, we will weaken the effect of our worship
1. If there is no - Private Preparation
Then our worship will be meaningless, hindered, unacceptable, weak, and a
facade.
Our worship will mean nothing/little to us or to God
2. If there is no - Divine Destination
Then our worship will become idolatrous and self-centered, as our focus will be
taken off of God, and instead be put on ourselves, others, or things.
3.
If there is no - Public Proclamation
Then our worship will remain private, robbing God of honor, and forgoing a
chance to encourage and enhance the faith of the assembly
God desires that we worship Him in spirit and truth.
And if we follow David’s example, we can do just that.
Let’s ask God to help us to get our worship right!