Norbie, Donald: Worship-01 ~ Doctrinal Studies

I'm delighted to be back with you. It's a joy to see you again and to be able to spend this time with you. I was asked to speak on the subject of worship, and it's a subject, I think, that is neglected a great deal today. In fact, many Christians don't really know what... And so I want to think for a little bit about, uh, the preparation that is needed in connection with worship and, and what true worship is. Actually, I was thinking somewhat and speaking four times, so I'm going to kind of maybe compress a couple of these sessions into one, and we'll have the afternoon open for various topics, because I know there are areas that you may, uh, be interested in that, uh, aren't perhaps related to what we're talking about. Let's start by reading Malachi chapter one. Malachi chapter one and verse six. The prophet is speaking. He says, a son honors his father, a servant his master. If then I am the father, where's my honor? If I am a master, where's my reverence, says the Lord of hosts, to you priests who despise my name, yet you say, in what way have we despised your name? You offer defiled food on my altar, but you say, in what way have we defiled you? By saying the table of the Lord is contemptible. And when you offer the blind as a sacrifice, is it not evil? When you offer the lame and the sick, is it not evil? Offer it then to you. Would he be pleased with you? Would he accept you favorably, says the Lord of hosts? But now entreat God's favor, that he may be gracious to us. While this is being done by your hands, will he accept you favorably, says the Lord of hosts? Who is there even among you who would shut the doors so that you would not kindle fire on my altar in vain? I have no pleasure in you, says the Lord of hosts, nor will I accept an offering from your hands. For from the rising of the sun, even to its going down, my name shall be great among the Gentiles. In every place incense shall be offered to my name, and a pure offering, for my name shall be great among the nations, says the Lord of hosts. And he goes on in this vein. There was worship, but it wasn't worship that delighted the heart of the Lord, and it wasn't true worship. And so we want to think of, first of all, I just want to point out a few maybe false concepts of worship, so that we realize what it is not. First of all, I think we can say, worship is not a good church service with good preaching or teaching. Many people today would say, well, we went to our worship service, and they'll say the preacher had a tremendous message, and we need teaching, we need good preaching. But I'd like to suggest that just hearing good preaching and good teaching is not actually worship, and it may be a very good performance. You may hear an excellent preacher. But, uh, usually in situations like that, there isn't any audience participation. You're sitting there and, uh, you're watching and you're listening. But, uh, worship is more than that. Some places today feel that a very emotional type of service is worship. Uh, I was reading in the recent Time magazine about certain churches that are growing, and some of their so-called worship service talked about one that is a huge church, and the drums were beating, and the tambourines were going, and people were dancing, and they had deaconesses out there to help those that were overcome by emotion if they'd fall down, and they would have a spasm, and maybe sometimes, uh, I've been in services like this observing, uh, where they're jerking and they're out of control, and, uh, others are trying to help them. They can even hurt themselves or hurt someone else. It's tremendously emotional. Uh, you know, just, uh, this ecstasy. I remember seeing a, a film of one of these services, and there was a woman there, and she was dancing and shaking and jerking and screaming and, uh, tremendously emotional. But I would suggest that just a display of raw emotion like that is not worship. Certain football games, people get very emotional. Uh, usually in Colorado, when the Broncos are playing, people are very emotional. They're a little depressed this year, I think. But usually, if you go to, uh, the Mile High Stadium in Denver, it's full of seventy five thousand people, and uh, they stomp their feet and beat and holler and yell, and it's an emotional experience, they say. I've never been to one of the games there, but if you watch it on television, you realize how stirred up people are. I want to suggest also that ritual or liturgy are not true worship in themselves. In the passage you were reading in Malachi, here they're going through the motions, they're offering sacrifices, uh, they're going through the temple service, but the Lord says, I wish someone would shut the doors. I'm not interested in this kind of thing. And many people today feel they're worshiping as they, uh, go to church and go through the particular liturgy of their church. I grew up in kind of a formal church, and when we went, we had our opening, uh, part of the service where the preacher said s- read something, and we read something, he read something, we read something. We would say the Lord's Prayer, and, uh, we went through all this very mechanically. And, uh, yet, uh, for most of the people, I'm sure, they weren't even thinking of what they were saying. We'd done it this way year after year. And it was just a form, a lifeless form that had no heart in it. And, uh, yet many people today, I suppose for the most of those who say they're Christians, this is what they would consider worship. We go to our church, we go through our liturgy. Some are more formal than others, but uh, uh, this is what they would call worship. Now, it has a, an appeal in many ways. If you've ever gone to a high mass, for example, the Roman Catholic Church, the pageantry of it, the incense, uh, the candles, uh, it's appealing in many ways, naturally speaking. But I'd like to suggest that you can go through all those motions like that and there not be true worship. What's needed for true worship? First of all, there has to be an intelligent knowledge of God. I want to turn to Matthew chapter thirteen and verse twenty three. As the sower goes out to sow, remember the farmer's going out, he's planting his grain, he's broadcasting his seed, and uh, in the explanation, the Lord says this of the good ground in verse twenty three: He who received seed on the good ground is he who hears the word and understands it, who indeed bears fruit and produces some a hundredfold, some sixty, some thirty. He hears the word, he understands. And so involved here in this matter of coming to know the Lord and gaining a, an intelligent knowledge of him, there must be a hearing of the message, an understanding that goes with it. Uh, so we, we don't want to play down an understanding of the message. I think it's very, very important. Romans ten, as it talks here about the tremendous needs in the world, notice what he says in verse fourteen. Paul is concerned about the needs, the tremendous needs. He says, how then shall they call on him in whom they have not believed? How shall they believe in him of whom they have not heard? How shall they hear without a preacher? And then in verse seventeen he says, faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the word of God. So he says there's tremendous need, but people have to hear the message, and they have to know something about this God if they're going to believe. How can I call on someone to believe and to make this decision if he doesn't know anything about the God that he's supposed to commit himself to? We call on people when we preach the gospel to make the greatest decision in their life. And you know, I don't buy a car without making some investigation first. You know, if I buy a used car, I take it into my mechanic and say, run a compression test and, and, you know, look it over, check it over, because I'm, I'm buying this car, but what's involved? Maybe a few thousand dollars. And you can always sell the car if it doesn't work out, if it's a lemon. But when we call on people to accept the Lord, uh, we're calling on them to make this tremendous decision that's going to change their whole course of their life here and forever. And they need some information about making that decision. So when we give out the gospel, we're giving out information, and we're calling on them to make this tremendous decision. Acts chapter seventeen, Paul is preaching in heathen Athens. Now they were intellectual, they were sophisticated, but they were heathen. Idol worshippers. And in verse twenty two, Paul stood in the midst of the Areopagus and said, Men of Athens, I perceive that in all things you're very religious. As I was passing through and considering the objects of your worship, I even found an altar with this inscription, to the unknown God. Therefore, the one whom you worship without knowing, him I proclaim to you. God who made the world and everything in it, since he is Lord of heaven and earth, does not dwell in temples made with hands, nor is he worshipped with men's hands as though he needed anything, since he gives to all life, breath, and all things. So he goes on to preach and to speak and to inform them, see, giving them information about this God, he says, that you're ignorant of. You have this altar here to an unknown God, and Paul says, uh, I want to tell you about this God that you're in ignorance of, so that you'll come to know about him and be able to make an intelligent choice concerning the true and living God. So, people must, if they're going to become Christians, if they're going to accept this God that we're telling them about, they need information. This is what we give them when we proclaim the gospel. Now, we may have to start, uh, with, uh, from a different starting point, depending on our audience, and Paul did. His message when he was preaching in the synagogue was very different from what he preached here in Athens. And we have to, when we're talking to people, we have to find out, uh, where are you coming from? What do you know? I was in a jail meeting recently, a new Bible study, and four men came, and the first hour we just spent, uh, going over, uh, with each one where he was spiritually. What's been your background? What experience have you had with God? Uh, you know, where are you? This is really what I was trying to find out, because that's the only way I will be able to help them, uh, because, uh, they're not all at the same place. Some have been brought up in a Roman Catholic church, some in a Protestant church, some have heard the gospel before, some know very little about it, and, uh, we're concerned to see them informed and, uh, become intelligent in their knowledge of God. Now, increasingly in this country, people are illiterate biblically. The man who works, has worked at the University of Northern, uh, Colorado as the campus minister for the Southern Baptists is a man that I know. He's a, he's a evangelical, and he's a good man. And he was telling me recently, he said, you know, the thing that scares me is every year, he says, I see the students coming with less knowledge of the Bible. These have been brought up in the Southern Baptist churches. He says they know less and less about the Bible. And it, it gave him concern. So that we find in the country in which we live that, uh, many times as we approach people, uh, they don't have the background. When Paul, uh, was preaching in the synagogue, he was preaching here to, you know, Jews or proselytes who had a background in the scripture. But it was very different in Athens, and so he has a different approach, and he, in a sense, has to lay a, a, a basis that he didn't have to lay in, in the synagogue. So what we're concerned about, as we think of now seeing people become worshippers, is to... the first thing they must know is something, of course, about this God that we're calling on them to trust and to put their confidence in. Now, next, of course, there must be this decision, this acceptance of Christ as Lord and Savior. I, uh, had some communication from a brother recently, and I'd, uh, written in a letter to him something about Christ as, as Lord and Savior, and he, in writing back, indicated he preferred to think of Jesus as Savior and Lord. And really what he was saying was, uh, I feel that, uh, you accept him as Savior first, and maybe later on down the road you accept him as Lord. And there's this dispute, of course, going on in evangelical circles. As you turn to Acts chapter ten, and, uh, you read here Peter preaching. He's speaking to Cornelius. And in verse thirty four, Peter opened his mouth and said, in truth I perceive that God shows no partiality in every nation whoever fears him and works righteousness is accepted by him. The word which God sent to the children of Israel, preaching peace through Jesus Christ, he is Lord of all. The word you know, which was proclaimed throughout all Judea and began from Galilee after the baptism which John preached. How God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Spirit and with power, who went about doing good and healing all who were oppressed by the devil, for God was with him. And we are witnesses of all things which he did, both in the land of the Jews and in Jerusalem, whom they killed by hanging on a tree. Him God raised up on the third day and showed him openly, not to all the people, but to witnesses chosen before by God, even to us who ate and drank with him after he rose from the dead. And he commanded us to preach to the people and to testify that it is he who was ordained by God to be judge of the living and the dead. To him all the prophets witness that through his name, whoever believes in him will receive remission of sins. While he's speaking, their hearts open to receive the Lord Jesus, and the Holy Spirit comes in the same display that he came on the day of Pentecost. But notice the information he gives. He doesn't call on them to make a decision in ignorance. He says, I want to tell you about this one. He's the one that, uh, God has made Lord of all. And, uh, he goes on to proclaim the Lord Jesus and tell about him, what he's done, and how through him they can come to have forgiveness, remission of sin. Now, as we think of, uh, calling then people to join us as worshippers, we're calling on them to make this decision. And, uh, I know in... especially in connection with Jaya work and in other work as well. I don't think that, uh, when you ask a person to accept the Lord, that you can expect what we would say a complete understanding of all that's involved in a life of submission and consecration to him. But I think what you're calling them to do is to acknowledge he's Lord, and he's going to be the authority in their lives. I don't see how I can call on someone to trust him as Savior without pointing out that he is Lord of all, and that you are taking into your life God, and you are saying, in effect, I want my life to be controlled by God and directed by God. And that's a tremendous choice to make. So that here, as we, we think of Peter's preaching and this call, it's a call to accept this one who is Lord of all, and that means taking him into your life as your authority. A lot of evangelism today, I think, that just kind of, uh, slides over that, and, uh, and people will go through the outward motion, but inwardly there's no interest in changing at all. And you know, you see this sometimes in connection with, uh, with jail work and other work as well, but here it can be such a s- such a strong contrast. You'll see some in jail that'll get what we call jailhouse religion, and they go through the motions. I like to usually listen to them. It's harder for a person to really pray, a genuine prayer, than it is to maybe give a few words of testimony in a glib way. Uh, but then you watch when they get out. When they get out, what are they gonna do? Which way are they gonna go? And you see some that in jail have, you know, said, yeah, I believe, and maybe read the Bible and tried to act quite pious and so forth, and when they get out, as soon as they're out, they head back to the bar, they head back to the women, whatever it is, and you realize there's nothing there. No taking of the Lord into their lives as their authority. They're still rebels and going their own way. So as we think of worshippers and, and uh, seeing people come into this role, why, uh, there must be an acceptance of Christ as Lord and Savior. Now, when we worship, I'd like to suggest it's an expression of appreciation of God and of his work. I am expressing, and we're going to look at this, of course, in much more detail, but this is just a little introduction. I'm expressing appreciation of the Lord himself and of what he's done. And I want to turn to Exodus fifteen, which is a song of worship, the song of Moses, and notice, uh, something of what is said here. They're singing this song, then Moses and the children of Israel sang this song to the Lord and spoke, saying, I will sing to the Lord, for he has triumphed gloriously. The horse and its rider is thrown into the sea. The Lord is my strength and song, and he has become my salvation. He is my God, and I'll praise him. My father's God, and I will exalt him. The Lord is a man of war, the Lord is his name. Pharaoh's chariots and his armies cast into the sea. His chosen captains also are drowned in the Red Sea. The depths have covered them, they sank to the bottom like a stone. So there's a rejoicing over what God has done. They were pushed up against the Red Sea, and it looked hopeless, and Pharaoh's army was behind them, and here the sea's been divided, and they've passed through, and the sea has come back in and destroyed, utterly wiped out Pharaoh's army. So there's joy over that. But then notice what verse eleven says. Who is like you, O Lord, among the gods? Who is like you, glorious in holiness, fearful in praises, doing wonders? You stretched out your right hand, the earth swallowed them, and so forth. This sense of wonder and awe. We sometimes sing that as a chorus at verse eleven. Do any of you here know that chorus? Who is like you, O Lord? It's a good one. But there's this sense of wonder, see, and awe of the greatness of our God. Who's like you? Egypt has lots of gods, but who's like you? There's no God like you. And there's this sense of wonder and awe over the greatness of God. So there's this tremendous appreciation of the greatness of their Lord and his deliverance. Then if you come back to the New Testament, uh, let's read a few verses in Luke seventeen. Remember, the Lord is moving along, and, um, we pick it up in verse eleven of Luke seventeen. It says, now it happened as he went to Jerusalem that he passed through the midst of Samaria and Galilee. Then as he entered a certain village, there met him ten men who were lepers who stood afar off, and they lifted up their voices and said, Jesus, Master, have mercy on us. So when he saw them, he said to them, go show yourselves to the priests. And it, so it was that as they went, they were cleansed. Now one of them, when he saw that he was healed, returned and with a loud voice glorified God and fell down on his face at his feet, giving him thanks. And he was a Samaritan. So Jesus answered and said, were there not ten cleansed? Where are the nine? Were there not any found who returned to give glory to God except this foreigner? He said to him, Arise, go your way, your faith has made you well. An example of worship. Here's this man who, who is so appreciative of his cleansing. And one of the things that, um, will cause us to worship, I think, is is to be aware of what the Lord has healed us from, what he's done for us. I think part of the problem many times is that, uh, we forget what we once were, and we f- forget how lost we were. And maybe this is a problem if you grew up and you lived a pretty clean, straight life. It's a little easier for those who've been saved from the depths of sin, uh, to appreciate the tremendous, tremendous deliverance. But I think all of us, as we think of the reality of being lost, uh, we remember that, then it should cause a deep sense of gratitude and appreciation. So here this one leper comes back, and he falls down before the Lord, and he gives thanks. He's with a loud voice, he glorified God. Must have been exciting, just to see the exuberant joy and appreciation of this one man who comes back to the Lord Jesus, falls down before him, glorifying God, thanking God, and thanking the Lord Jesus for this wonderful healing. It's a wonderful thing to be saved. And what caused him, of course, to to be so grateful was this tremendous realization of his terrible condition, the leprosy he had, and how hopeless his condition was apart from the Lord. So he was deeply moved by gratitude. I think that's why it's, it's always kind of invigorating when you see a young Christian come into your fellowship, and he's still, uh, you know, just really excited and thrilled over the wonderful salvation he has. And when we who have been saved for a number of years, maybe, and taken for granted, see this, I think it kindles us, uh, once again in our own hearts, that sense of appreciation for what the Lord's done. Now that was true here of this, um, leper. I want to read a few verses in First Corinthians chapter two. and we realize that, uh, this worship now must be fueled by the Holy Spirit, that it's not something that, uh, we can just conjure up. It's not something we can just, uh, be instructed in a course in seminary or something like this, but that there must be this moving of the Holy Spirit, this working of the Spirit of God in our hearts and lives, uh, to produce real worship. Verse nine of chapter two: As it is written, eye has not seen, nor ear heard, nor have entered into the heart of man the things which God has prepared for those who love him. God has revealed them to us through his spirit. For the spirit searches all things, yes, the deep things of God. For what man knows the things of a man except the spirit of the man which is in him? Even so, no one knows the things of God except the Spirit of God. Now we have received not the spirit of the world, but the Spirit who is from God, that we might know the things that are been freely given to us by God. So it's the Holy Spirit that causes us to appreciate and understand and enter into these spiritual things, and then to worship, to express our worship to the Lord as we think of all that he's done for us. So, as we think of the false worship, uh, false concepts of worship, we realize that in connection with true worship, now we have to have really come to know the Lord. And this is the, you know, the emptiness of what's going on in so many churches here. We're, we're going through what we say is worship with people who don't even know the Lord and, uh, who do not have the Holy Spirit. In fact, some churches carry on a so-called worship service, whether there are people there or not. I can remember being in a, uh, one of the churches of Rome years ago, and it was time for the Mass to be said. The priest came in. There were no people there, except occasionally a tourist would come in, look around, and walk out. But the priest was going through the whole ceremony, uh, just as a ritual, very mechanically, obviously no enjoyment of it. It was just his job. And there was no one there except tourists coming and going occasionally and looking around at this old church building in Rome. What a tragedy, you know. What a travesty, really, concerning the reality of worship. Now I want to move into a somewhat of a different area. I want to think a little of defining worship, and, uh, do a little study here first in the Old Testament, so we get a little background here of the concept of the Old Testament. Now, in the Old Testament, the main word that is used is the word shakah, which really means, uh, to bow down or to prostrate. Now, the term is used of others beside God, but it's used primarily of God. It's used, for example, before a guest in Genesis eighteen two. Remember Abraham sitting in the door of his tent, and uh, verse one says, the Lord appeared to him, to Abraham, by the terebinth trees of Mamre as he was sitting in the tent door in the heat of the day. Mamre is about two miles north of Hebron. So he lifted up his eyes and looked, and behold, three men were standing by him. When he saw them, he ran from the tent door to meet them and bowed himself to the ground. So it was used there as an act of tremendous respect, uh, toward these strangers who were coming. And Abraham, in good Bedouin custom, was there to welcome them, to show them hospitality, to show them kindness. He bows low as a, an action of real respect. It's used before a king. In Genesis forty three and verse twenty eight, you remember Joseph's brothers have come. They want to buy grain. Verse twenty eight, they answered, he asked the question in verse twenty seven, is your father well, the old man of whom you spoke? Is he still alive? And you can just hear the concern, the deep concern in Joseph's voice. I wonder if my father's still living. They don't know who he is yet, his brothers don't. They answered, your servant, our father, is in good health. He's still alive. They bowed their heads down and prostrated themselves because he is next to Pharaoh. He's in the position of a king, and they show their deep, deep respect by bowing low before him. But it's used especially of God over and over in the Old Testament. In Genesis twenty two, you remember that Abraham is going to go and take his son. And as he goes, he says to his young men, on the third day, it says, after they'd taken his journey, stay here with the donkey. The lad and I will go yonder and worship. Bow low, prostrate ourselves. We will come back to you. So that there's a strong emphasis here on that, uh, tremendous respect before God. So that the term that's so often used for worship is that of prostrating yourself, just being flat on the ground before God himself. Worship. Now, the earliest act of worship that we have really recorded, we don't find this word used, but we find, of course, the thought of bringing an offering. In Genesis four, as Cain and Abel come before God, it says, in the process of time, it came to pass that Cain brought an offering of the fruit of the ground to the Lord. Abel also brought of the firstlings of his flock and of their fat. The Lord respected Abel and his offering. And here we have the two men standing and worshiping with their offerings to God. And you know the story, the one was accepted, Abel was accepted, Cain was rejected. I think it would indicate to us too that any worship of God must be on the basis of a blood sacrifice. You don't come to God without blood. Without the shedding of blood, there's no forgiveness, and we have to come as sinners, forgiven sinners, but only forgiven because of the blood. So right from the beginning, there's this sacrificial note in connection with worship, and there's emphasis on the fact that without blood, you dare not enter the presence of God. So these are some of the concepts then in the Old Testament. There are, uh, some other words used as well in connection with worship, but these are, this is the main one. Now, as we think of that, we realize, first of all, the thought is that of the physical attitude. I physically get low. Joseph's brothers were on their faces before him, and he remembered the dream he had concerning his brothers bowing down before him. So first of all, of course, the emphasis is on the physical, but then along with that, the mental response, the mental attitude, uh, that goes along with this. Part of it is reverence. Why do I bow low? Because the person before whom I'm bowing is greater than I am, and I acknowledge that. In the Old Testament days, they bowed low before the king, and of course, you know, in certain, uh, cultures, the king there was deified. Not too long ago in our life, this has been true. Uh, the emperor of Japan was regarded as deity. In the second world War, young Japanese men flew their planes to death. You know, didn't drop the load, they just went with it, right? Aiming for the ship. Uh, kamikaze pilots. Why were they doing this? They were doing it for their god. Their emperor said to do this. And uh, recently, when this new emperor was, uh, inaugurated, they said it's the first Japanese emperor who has, uh, taken his position and not been recognized as being God. So, you know, it's not a concept that far removed, but for Pharaoh and for many of those kings long ago, this was the, uh, high place they were given in their thinking, and you remember the Christians refused to bow, uh, low before, uh, the emperor, in a sense giving him the place of God. They rejected that. So reverence. Think of the Old Testament attitude of worship, a deep sense of reverence, a sense of, uh, the realization that here the person before whom I bow is great, and I should revere him. Along with it too, there's a thought of adoration, uh, expressing my verbally and mentally my appreciation of this great person before whom I bow. And so, uh, when you adore, you're thinking. Worship is not something where you put your mind out of gear. It's a time when your mind is intensely occupied with the greatness now of this person that you're worshiping. So you're thinking. Jesus said, this do in remembrance of me. To remember, you think, you recall, you reflect. And, uh, along with this, the idea of worship then is adoration. And we express our appreciation for the greatness of the person. And then following that, of course, this also follows this idea of prostrating. It's an act of submission, obedience. Now, when we preach the gospel, we call on people to put themselves in this position with God. In fact, it's speaks of the obedience of the faith. Now, oftentimes we contrast the two. We'll say, well, faith is one thing, obedience is another. Scripture links them together. It says faith itself is an act of obedience. God commands all men everywhere to repent, and the command is repent and believe. And so we call on people, really, uh, to submit, and in a sense, the first act of worship is that act of acceptance of Christ, where we call on that person, lay down your arms, quit being a rebel, bow low and accept the Lord Jesus, and to become one of his followers. So there's the, the thought here then of obedience flowing from that. Now I want to read, uh, a few verses. And I think what we'll do is, is read a few verses here in Psalm ninety five. I like this Psalm, and uh, it's a call to worship. 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. The heights of the hills are his also. The sea is his, for he made it. 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. We're the people of his pasture and the sheep of his hand. And notice how it kind of shifts. Today, if you will hear his voice, do not harden your hearts as in the rebellion and as in the day of trial in the wilderness. And those remaining verses are a call to obedience. So in the call to worship, there's the, the call to be reverent. He says, let's bow down, let's revere this one that we're, uh, worshiping. There's a call to, uh, praise him, to adore him, and then there is finishes up with a call to obedience. Don't harden your heart, don't be rebellious. Obey this wonderful, great God that you've come to know and to follow. Now, there are various acts of worship mentioned in the Old Testament, and I'll just touch those quickly, and we'll conclude this, I think, this section. Acts of worship. Sacrifice was very prominent. And there was the realization always that the basis of my coming to God, the basis of my fellowship with God, is the blood poured out. Without the shedding of blood, no forgiveness, no remission. So blood was very prominent as you think of worship in the Old Testament age. Sacrifice, sacrifice, over and over again, sacrifice. And then there was praise. This was very, uh, prominent. Instruments of praise. We read Psalm ninety five, of course, where he says, let us sing to the Lord. When we sing, we're not just singing to one another, we enjoy it. We're singing to the Lord. And, uh, he says, let's shout joyfully. Let us shout joyfully to him with psalms. We sing to the Lord. And they did this, they used instruments often for accompanying, uh, for example, Psalm one fifty. And Why don't we, uh, read that because it's, uh, a psalm that's exuberant, with the thought here of praise. Psalm one fifty says, praise the Lord, hallelujah. Praise God in his sanctuary, praise him in his mighty firmament. Praise him for his mighty acts. Praise him according to his excellent greatness. Praise him with the sound of the trumpet. Praise him with the lute and harp. Praise him with the timbrel and dance. Praise him with stringed instruments and flutes. Praise him with loud cymbals. Praise him with high-sounding cymbals. Let everything that has breath praise the Lord. Praise the Lord. So there's exuberance and there's joy in praising the Lord in song and with instruments. Uh, very happy time. I sometimes I think our singing could be happier, sometimes kind of mournful, and especially if you don't hit the right key, and you have to try three times to hit it, and so forth. I really think in some cases like that, if you don't have someone that can start it right, maybe you need someone to hit the pitch or have a pipe or something. Singing should be a happy experience, should be filled with joy and exuberance, and uh, it shouldn't be a, a dirge. Uh, he calls on us here to rejoice in our praise and singing. And then, of course, we praise him as we pray. Many of the Psalms are prayers, aren't they? For example, Psalm sixty three is, uh, an expression here of praise and of worship. He says, O God, you're my God. He's talking to God, see. O God, you're my God. Early will I seek you. My sur- soul thirsts for you, my flesh longs for you, and it dry and thirsty land where there's no water. So I've looked for you in the sanctuary to see your power and your glory, because your loving kindness is better than life. My lips shall praise you. Thus will I bless you while I live. I will lift up my hands in your name. My soul shall be satisfied as with sorrow and fatness, and my mouth shall praise you with joyful lips. He's praying to God, praising God, worshiping God. So the Old Testament, you know, we sometimes, uh, think that poor Old Testament saints were kind of benighted and didn't know too much. We're so blessed with our superior knowledge, of course, and fuller knowledge. But as you think of the Old Testament, uh, many of those saints had a tremendous sense of reverence for God. To them, God was very great. Today, sometimes, in some of the Christian songs and that, God is viewed sort of as a good old boy. You know, he's a buddy, kind of go up and slap him on the back and say, hi buddy, how are you, sort of attitude. The Old Testament doesn't view God that way. God is great. He's the creator. He's the almighty. He's awesome. You don't just stroll into his presence. You come with reverence. So there's a tremendous amount of reverence here. And they loved him. They praised. They worshipped him. They exalted in him. And so for us too, as we think of that matter of worship, there's much that we can learn from these dear saints of God in the Old Testament. Dear David, how he loved the Lord. How he loved the Lord. Didn't know as much as we do, but he knew and loved God. And this is why today, in the church age, three thousand years after David, how many saints, when they go to leave this life, you know, whisper the words, the Lord is my shepherd. I shall not want. Though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death. You know, they whisper these words that over three thousand years ago, David wrote. He knew and loved the Lord. So we can learn something of worship from these saints of the Old Testament. We don't want to belittle them. We don't want to think of them as inferior. They may not have known, uh, as much as we think we know in some areas, but, uh, they knew God. They revered him. They adored him. They obeyed him. They loved him. And one day, we with them, I believe, will be gathered around the Lamb, worshiping him fully, as we should. At present, we're just learners. Let's pray. Our Father, we give thanks to you that in your wonderful grace and mercy, you've reached us, you've opened our eyes, you've brought us to yourself, and Lord, we feel very humbled and very, very grateful. And so from our hearts, we do give thanks. We thank you for saving us, for bringing us into the family of God, and that you, who are so great and so powerful, so awesome, you desire for us to call you Father. We thank you, and we pray that you'll bless us and help us to learn more and more what it is to really worship and to serve you as we should. We give our thanks in the worthy name of the Lord Jesus. Amen.