“Worshiping God”
Scripture: Psalm 47
Intro: Sometimes I think that worshiping our Lord has been lost. It has been exchanged for singing a few songs, listening to a sermon, and then going about our business, most of the time forgetting why it was we came together in the first place. I am always intrigued when I study the Bible and find that in almost every situation mentioned in Scripture, even when the individual was faced with a problem, they still worshipped God. I would like to look at worshipping God today and help us to learn that God loves it when we worship Him, and not only that, but that worshipping Him also encourages us and empowers us when we know that we serve a mighty, loving, powerful God. If you have your Bible, please open to Psalm chapter 47, starting at verse one.
1. Clap Your Hands and Shout With Joy (v1).
I see it all the time and I know you have also. It’s what we call a dead church. That is, a church that gathers together but is not alive in the worship of God. Let’s think about this for a moment. Why exactly is it that we are supposed to gather together anyway? (Acts 2:42-47) Here in this passage we see that the believers gathered to learn, to pray, and to worship God. Many churches today gather to help us feel good. To tell us that this last week was ok, regardless of what happened. God is not mad at us, just move on and we will be alright. May I say that this is not only ridiculous, it is dangerous. We have forgotten that God is to be revered. He is Holy, Almighty, All Powerful God! Why have God’s people started to make light of Him? Because we have lost our worship of Him. Our Scripture here instructs us to clap our hands and shout with joy because He is the Almighty. He is God. When was the last time that you shouted for joy over God? We are blessed that Christ gave Himself to give us new life and save us from our sins. That is something worth shouting over! That is something worth worshipping God for! We need to renew our worship of God. We need to relearn that it is God that has given us the breath of life. That it is God who is responsible for everything we have or have had. Do you think it was you that bought that house, obtained that job, found your spouse? Think again! All things are from the Lord. We need to clap our hands again and shout to the Lord in reverence and thanksgiving and joy.
2. Sing Praises to God (v6).
We do sing in church, don’t get me wrong, but, who are we singing to? Why do we sing? Is it because the one leading told us to? Is it because this is just what we do? We have always done it this way anyway, right? Shame on us that we make light of God! Search just the Pslams and notice how often the psalmist is praising God. Singing in church was meant to help us to sing praises to God. We sing to God to open our heart and tell Him that we love and adore Him. That we are thankful to Him. We also sing to God when things are going badly for us. Scripture instructs us to praise God not only for the good, but also for the bad. God allows bad things to happen to us for a reason---to help us not only to learn to trust Him, but also to build our faith, and to depend on Him instead of ourselves. James tells us in his book that a faith that cannot be tested cannot be trusted. (James 1:2-4). Job also asked the question, are we only to praise God for the good and not the bad? (Job 2:10). Praise God! Sing to Him when you are happy or when you are sad! We are to sing praise to God. Not only does He love to hear us praise Him, but praising Him lifts our spirits, opens the door of our hearts to allow us to feel His presence and hear His voice. Praise the Lord all ye His saints!
3. Let God be Exalted in Your Life (v8).
What does it mean when we exalt God? The definition of exalt is to elevate high in rank, power, wealth or dignity, to exalt one to a throne! This means that we make Him the top priority in our lives! We understand that everything we have comes from, is because of, and belongs to God. God receives our praise and our complaints before anyone else. We recognize that God is in control and we acknowledge Him for that. Have you exalted God in your life? Have you made Him the number 1? Then if not, may I suggest that you do so! God should be acknowledged before anything else in our life. And friends, this includes our spouses, our children, our jobs, everything should take second place next to Almighty God. I believe that if more of us would give God the recognition and the reverence that is due Him, He in turn would give us the desires of our heart. Our world would be vastly different than it is today. Jesus said to seek first the kingdom of God. What Jesus was saying was to put God on His throne in our life. The Head, the Authority. It is a shame that many of us ignore God until we are faced with a calamity that is beyond our control. It is in time such as this that we seek out God, and then when He leads us through that valley, we return to ignoring Him. Folks, surrender to God His rightful place in your life and then let Him give you the peace, the joy, the comfort that so many of us long for. Only when God is the Head of our life will we understand the way things happen the way they do. Take Job, he realized this only after he let God have authority over his life, and what did God do? He made Job more wealthy in riches and in spirit than any other of his time.
Conclusion:
We can go to church and listen to many preachers give the Word. We can read our Bible and have so much knowledge that there are none like us. But that doesn’t take the place of truly worshiping God. When we truly open up our heart and worship our loving, kind, glorious Lord Jesus Christ, He comes and gives us the peace that transcends all understanding. Worship God, truly worship Him and start enjoying life more abundantly, the life that He freely gives us.
Pastor Harold Trent.
May God bless you today!! H Trent!
Scripture: Psalm 47
Intro: Sometimes I think that worshiping our Lord has been lost. It has been exchanged for singing a few songs, listening to a sermon, and then going about our business, most of the time forgetting why it was we came together in the first place. I am always intrigued when I study the Bible and find that in almost every situation mentioned in Scripture, even when the individual was faced with a problem, they still worshipped God. I would like to look at worshipping God today and help us to learn that God loves it when we worship Him, and not only that, but that worshipping Him also encourages us and empowers us when we know that we serve a mighty, loving, powerful God. If you have your Bible, please open to Psalm chapter 47, starting at verse one.
1. Clap Your Hands and Shout With Joy (v1).
I see it all the time and I know you have also. It’s what we call a dead church. That is, a church that gathers together but is not alive in the worship of God. Let’s think about this for a moment. Why exactly is it that we are supposed to gather together anyway? (Acts 2:42-47) Here in this passage we see that the believers gathered to learn, to pray, and to worship God. Many churches today gather to help us feel good. To tell us that this last week was ok, regardless of what happened. God is not mad at us, just move on and we will be alright. May I say that this is not only ridiculous, it is dangerous. We have forgotten that God is to be revered. He is Holy, Almighty, All Powerful God! Why have God’s people started to make light of Him? Because we have lost our worship of Him. Our Scripture here instructs us to clap our hands and shout with joy because He is the Almighty. He is God. When was the last time that you shouted for joy over God? We are blessed that Christ gave Himself to give us new life and save us from our sins. That is something worth shouting over! That is something worth worshipping God for! We need to renew our worship of God. We need to relearn that it is God that has given us the breath of life. That it is God who is responsible for everything we have or have had. Do you think it was you that bought that house, obtained that job, found your spouse? Think again! All things are from the Lord. We need to clap our hands again and shout to the Lord in reverence and thanksgiving and joy.
2. Sing Praises to God (v6).
We do sing in church, don’t get me wrong, but, who are we singing to? Why do we sing? Is it because the one leading told us to? Is it because this is just what we do? We have always done it this way anyway, right? Shame on us that we make light of God! Search just the Pslams and notice how often the psalmist is praising God. Singing in church was meant to help us to sing praises to God. We sing to God to open our heart and tell Him that we love and adore Him. That we are thankful to Him. We also sing to God when things are going badly for us. Scripture instructs us to praise God not only for the good, but also for the bad. God allows bad things to happen to us for a reason---to help us not only to learn to trust Him, but also to build our faith, and to depend on Him instead of ourselves. James tells us in his book that a faith that cannot be tested cannot be trusted. (James 1:2-4). Job also asked the question, are we only to praise God for the good and not the bad? (Job 2:10). Praise God! Sing to Him when you are happy or when you are sad! We are to sing praise to God. Not only does He love to hear us praise Him, but praising Him lifts our spirits, opens the door of our hearts to allow us to feel His presence and hear His voice. Praise the Lord all ye His saints!
3. Let God be Exalted in Your Life (v8).
What does it mean when we exalt God? The definition of exalt is to elevate high in rank, power, wealth or dignity, to exalt one to a throne! This means that we make Him the top priority in our lives! We understand that everything we have comes from, is because of, and belongs to God. God receives our praise and our complaints before anyone else. We recognize that God is in control and we acknowledge Him for that. Have you exalted God in your life? Have you made Him the number 1? Then if not, may I suggest that you do so! God should be acknowledged before anything else in our life. And friends, this includes our spouses, our children, our jobs, everything should take second place next to Almighty God. I believe that if more of us would give God the recognition and the reverence that is due Him, He in turn would give us the desires of our heart. Our world would be vastly different than it is today. Jesus said to seek first the kingdom of God. What Jesus was saying was to put God on His throne in our life. The Head, the Authority. It is a shame that many of us ignore God until we are faced with a calamity that is beyond our control. It is in time such as this that we seek out God, and then when He leads us through that valley, we return to ignoring Him. Folks, surrender to God His rightful place in your life and then let Him give you the peace, the joy, the comfort that so many of us long for. Only when God is the Head of our life will we understand the way things happen the way they do. Take Job, he realized this only after he let God have authority over his life, and what did God do? He made Job more wealthy in riches and in spirit than any other of his time.
Conclusion:
We can go to church and listen to many preachers give the Word. We can read our Bible and have so much knowledge that there are none like us. But that doesn’t take the place of truly worshiping God. When we truly open up our heart and worship our loving, kind, glorious Lord Jesus Christ, He comes and gives us the peace that transcends all understanding. Worship God, truly worship Him and start enjoying life more abundantly, the life that He freely gives us.
Pastor Harold Trent.
May God bless you today!! H Trent!
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