How to Worship (sermon on Psalm 95)

How do we worship?  We live in a culture engulfed in how-to books.  We can pick up a “For Dummies” book on just about any topic, or we can search the internet for steps on how to plant a garden, build a deck, or repair our last do-it-yourself project.

One area we may not think about needing a manual for, though, is worship.  Doesn’t worship just come naturally, and we do what we do?  But Scripture tells us otherwise; the Holy Spirit has never been favorably impressed by people worshiping according to their own standards of what is right (remember Nadab and Abihu?).

Christians disagree over the extent to which God has told us how to worship.  Some would speak of a regulative principle, in which corporate worship should consist only of what is commanded or described in Scripture.  Others would talk about a normative principle, saying that many kinds of worship are acceptable to God, as long as they are not forbidden by Scripture.  At its heart, though, the Bible is clear that worship requires a certain attitude, a certain kind of heart, or it is not worship.  Psalm 95 gives us three reminders as we worship day by day:

I.  Worship with Joy (Psalm 95:1-5).
II.  Worship with Humility (v. 6-7a).
III.  Worship While There Is Still Time (v. 7b-11).

It was an unanticipated privilege to consider this psalm with my brothers and sisters at Grace Chapel yesterday.  Audio may be listened to below, or it may be downloaded by right-clicking and “Save Link As” here.  A written version may be found here.

An earlier version of this post, along with an earlier version of this sermon, was posted on Life and Godliness on November 4, 2014.

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How to Worship (sermon on Psalm 95)

How do we worship?  We live in a culture engulfed in how-to books.  We can pick up a “For Dummies” book on just about any topic, or we can search the internet for steps on how to plant a garden, build a deck, or repair our last do-it-yourself project.

One area we may not think about needing a manual for, though, is worship.  Doesn’t worship just come naturally, and we do what we do?  But Scripture tells us otherwise; the Holy Spirit has never been favorably impressed by people worshiping according to their own standards of what is right (remember Nadab and Abihu?).

Christians disagree over the extent to which God has told us how to worship.  Some would speak of a regulative principle, in which corporate worship should consist only of elements that are commanded or described in Scripture.  Others would talk about a normative principle, according to which many kinds of worship are acceptable to God, as long as they are not forbidden by Scripture.  At the very least, though, the Bible has much to say about the attitude we must bring as we come before our God.  Psalm 95 gives us three reminders as we worship day by day:

I.  Worship with Joy (Psalm 95:1-5).

II.  Worship with Humility (v. 6-7a).

III.  Worship While There Is Time (v. 7b-11).

It is always a joy to be with the brothers and sisters of Grace Reformed Church of Oakland, MD, and I am grateful for the chance a few weeks ago to open Psalm 95 with them.  Audio may be listened to below, or it may be downloaded by right-clicking and “Save Link As” here.  A written version may be found here.

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“Singing Joy to the World” (Sermon on Psalm 96)

It was a delight to be with the brothers and sisters of Gospel Life Baptist Church in Keyser, WV, again this morning, and a privilege to fill the pulpit as their pastor was away.  For many churches and denominations, missions has been a heavily debated subject.  Must every local church be a part of sending the gospel around the world, or might we be better off focusing our attention and resources on the many people in our own back yard who don’t know Christ?  For that matter, if we send missionaries, what are they to be doing?  Should their first priority be providing needed food and clean water, figuring that starving people will find it hard to listen about Jesus, or do we leave that work to the Peace Corps and focus on pointing people toward heaven?[1]

A full-blown theology of missions must take into account all of Scripture, but Psalm 96 provides answers to both sets of questions—the questions of should we go and why do we go.  It is a call to take the good news of who our God is to all the nations.  But we don’t go simply because Acts 1:8 and Matthew 28:16-20 tell us we have to.  The psalmist gives us four vital reasons to go into all the world:

I.      Go because there is good news of salvation (v. 1-3).

II.    Go because there is only one real God (v. 4-6).

III.  Go because this God is worthy of worship (v. 7-9).

IV.  Go because this God is King of the whole world (v. 10-13).

 

Audio may be downloaded here, or it may be listened to below.  A brief written version is available here.

 

[1] This is an incredibly broad generalization, not to mention a false dilemma—there is a place for doing both.  There remains the much-disputed question about which is our leading priority—if we find we can only do one well, where ought our focus to be?

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