Praise God through Faith

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Psalm 95:1–11 (ESV)

1 Oh come, let us sing to the Lord;

let us make a joyful noise to the rock of our salvation!

2 Let us come into his presence with thanksgiving;

let us make a joyful noise to him with songs of praise!

3 For the Lord is a great God,

and a great King above all gods.

4 In his hand are the depths of the earth;

the heights of the mountains are his also.

5 The sea is his, for he made it,

and his hands formed the dry land.

6 Oh come, let us worship and bow down;

let us kneel before the Lord, our Maker!

7 For he is our God,

and we are the people of his pasture,

and the sheep of his hand.

Today, if you hear his voice,

8 do not harden your hearts, as at Meribah,

as on the day at Massah in the wilderness,

9 when your fathers put me to the test

and put me to the proof, though they had seen my work.

10 For forty years I loathed that generation

and said, “They are a people who go astray in their heart,

and they have not known my ways.”

11 Therefore I swore in my wrath,

“They shall not enter my rest.”

Opening Prayer

Two Calls to Praise the Lord

Oh, come x 2 in v.1 & v.6

These two calls to worship are loaded with instructions of how that looks...

And then followed by reasons to do so.

To the 1st call we see the reasons in vv.3-5...

To the 2nd call we see the reasons in v.7a...

And, then, a warning or exhortation to be careful...

In vv.7b-11.

Let’s start with...

The First Call to Praise

Psalm 95:1–2 (ESV)

1 Oh come, let us sing to the Lord;

let us make a joyful noise to the rock of our salvation!

2 Let us come into his presence with thanksgiving;

let us make a joyful noise to him with songs of praise!

This is a call to gather.

The people of God have been ordained and commanded by God to gather.

Church is not supposed to take place individually.

You’re not obeying God, if you’re not gathering with the people of God.

This is a call to gather as the people of God...

For the praise of God.

Hebrews 10:24–25 (ESV)

24 And let us consider how to stir up one another to love and good works, 25 not neglecting to meet together, as is the habit of some, but encouraging one another, and all the more as you see the Day drawing near.

Obviously we should worship the Lord in all that we do...

And, much of what we do, we do away from the gathered people of God...

But, the Lord commands us to gather together for the public and corporate display of praise to our Lord...

And, that praise is fueled by the salvation we have in Jesus Christ.

So, make sure you are participating in the gathered people of God for the public praise of God.

Immediately we see an awareness of who we are praising.

Two names here...

Lord (Yahweh)

This is the name that God revealed Himself as to Moses...

It is the name that signifies the deliverance of God in salvation.

It is the name that represents His omnipotence...

That He is the sovereign over all...

No one can stop His decrees and purposes.

Rock of our Salvation (security, refuge, stability)

He is the foundation that everything we do should be built upon.

The stability of life is found in resting upon/in Christ.

Doing all that you do, with the starting point of what you do...

The motive in what you do...

The foundation of what you do...being to the praise of God.

So, we praise God in the light of who He is...

And, our praise consists of certain behaviors and emotions...

And, these behaviors & emotions are expressions rooted in who God is & what He has done.

So, before we get to the why?

Let’s get to the content of our praise.

Praise Includes...

Singing to the Lord

shout for joy

sing joyfully

crying out

So, let us sing & cry out to the Lord

Making a Joyful Noise

When this word is used in a battle setting it is the army shouting out in unison as they run to the fight.

Or a shout of joy in unison for victory in battle by the army.

In this context, the word conveys singing loudly in unison...

Choir or congregational unison.

So, the people of God singing in unison to the rock of our salvation.

We are more than Conquerors in Christ Jesus...

Take the volume of praise up with congregational unison.

Coming into His presence with Thanksgiving

Because of the salvation we have in God...

Because of His making us into His people...

We have access to God at all times...

What a gift!

Let us shout with joy for the presence of God.

Making a Joyful Noise with Songs of Praise

Again, lift the volume of your praise through congregational singing.

Sings lyrics of praise...

Because v.3 Because

Now we are the why?

It’s certainly not exhaustive, but oh it is rich...

Psalm 95:3–5 (ESV)

3 For the Lord is a great God,

and a great King above all gods.

4 In his hand are the depths of the earth;

the heights of the mountains are his also.

5 The sea is his, for he made it,

and his hands formed the dry land.

He is the Creator of All

He is the King of Kings.

No one & nothing is like our God.

Search the earth, search the heavens...

There is no one like our God.

The deepest of the deep is in His hands...

He controls it, He formed it.

The highest of the high are His...

He controls it, He formed it.

The raging of the seas...

The depths of the oceans...

With all the trenches that dive below 30k feet...

They are His, He created them, He commands them.

Look at what God has made.

Look at the marvelous works of His hands.

Stand in awe of the creation...

So that you can admire infinitely greater the One who spoke and brought it all into existence.

Oh, come v.6

The Second Call to Praise

Psalm 95:6 (ESV)

6 Oh come, let us worship and bow down;

let us kneel before the Lord, our Maker!

Oh come.

Worship, bow down, kneel...

All these words together call us to...

humbly come before the Lord to acknowledge His goodness and confess that His is our Shield & Provider.

Which is exactly what we see in v.7.

Rejoice, He is our Maker...

Meaning He has formed a people for Himself...

He’s not just the sovereign God of all things.

He’s not just a great God.

In a very special, unique, & exclusive way...

He is our God

Psalm 95:7 (ESV)

7 For he is our God,

and we are the people of his pasture,

and the sheep of his hand.

This is teaching us that since God has formed us into a holy nation...

A royal priesthood...

A people of His won choosing...

He will take care of us.

His pasture is where we find our daily provision...

And God has provided it, abundantly.

The sheep of His hand...

He is not only our Provider but our Protector.

Nothing can separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus.

And, the psalmist is reminding us of all the reasons we should Praise the Lord...

But, we notice that the psalmist reminds/beckons us to Priase the Lord...

And then warns us.

The Great Obstacle to Praise is Unbelief

Psalm 95:7–9 (ESV)

7 ...Today, if you hear his voice,

8 do not harden your hearts, as at Meribah,

as on the day at Massah in the wilderness,

9 when your fathers put me to the test

and put me to the proof, though they had seen my work.

The people who fell in the wilderness...

Did so because praise was extinguished by unbelief.

Don’t let that happen, cries the psalmist.

Don’t be like them.

Gather and Praise the Lord.

God’s Response to Unbelief

Psalm 95:10–11 (ESV)

10 For forty years I loathed that generation

and said, “They are a people who go astray in their heart,

and they have not known my ways.”

11 Therefore I swore in my wrath,

“They shall not enter my rest.”

The greatest dishonor one can express towards a holy God is distrust.

Unbelief, Lack of Faith.

Sin is a result of the refusal to trust in God.

It is a slanderous act towards a holy God.

The psalmist is giving a warning to not be like the people of the wilderness who distrusted God...

Doubted His ability to provide & save them completely.

And, they died in the wilderness without inheriting the Promised Land.

In quoting Psalm 95, the author of Hebrews says...

Hebrews 3:19 (ESV)

19 So we see that they were unable to enter because of unbelief.

The psalmist is saying, “Don’t be like them.”

Trust the Lord.

Praise the Lord.

True worship/praise does not start with singing, saying amen, raising your hands, etc...

Those are expressions of worship that have a deeper starting point.

The starting point is trust.

Worship/praise is grounded in faith.

Who/what we ultimately trust in, is what we ultimately praise.

So, praise is an expression of trust.

Living unto the Lord starts with trust.

John 6:29 (ESV)

29 Jesus answered them, “This is the work of God, that you believe in him whom he has sent.”

Jesus did not say “Do” … He said “Believe in Him.”

Anything you do, for it to be for God, must start with faith.

Now, I want to say something about faith.

Faith in Christ’s immediate result is justification...

Justification is the imputation of the Atoning Blood & Righteousness of Christ into the account of the believer.

By which we are brought into a completed covenant that one cannot be exiled from...

Because being brought into it was the result of the finished work of Another, Christ.

But faith grows & manifests itself in every area of our life...

That is what is called sanctification.

Sanctification is a result of our justification and the work of the HS in us...

The HS is working in us to apply the work of Christ in every corner of our life...

And, we are learning to relate to God and His will for our life in an all new way since justification.

But, the way it occurs is to grow in your trust of God.

This is where so many get it wrong.

So many Christians think what they need from Christ is justification...

And, that’s it.

But, we need Christ and the gospel just as much in sanctification.

And, so that is really where we see...

The Maturation of the Christian is Growing In Our Faith

What do I mean by that?

(Not growing in our faith for justification...

But, growing in how the work of Christ is enough and should permeate every aspect of our life)

It’s not that we lose our faith in Christ for justification...

But, as Christians, our real issue is that we are learning to believe that the work of Christ...

His role in our life...

The application of His work...

Permeate every component of our life.

So, that not only do we trust Christ for justification...

But, that He will be enough for me and to me so that I can risk obeying Him in a situation that may cost me things I love...

Or want to cling to.

So, that I can risk being the parent that God calls me to be even if my child turns away.

So, that I can risk being the spouse God has called me to be even if my spouse returns my Christian behavior with abandonment.

Do we believe that Christ is our Savior in every aspect of our life?

Do we believe that He is enough for me, though the whole world turn against me?

I believe this is the lesson of sanctification.

And, sanctification is grounded in our justification, which does not change, nor end.

Because our being justified, being brought into a perfectly kept covenant...

Is completely based on the person and finished work of Christ.

We need to remember in our every day life, God is never a prisoner of circumstances...

He is always the Master of them.

Circumstances are out of our control...

But they are never out of God’s control.

Trust God when things aren’t going the way you’d like.

Trust God in your poverty.

Trust God in your prosperity.

Trust God when situations seem desperate.

Trust God with the unknown.

Trust God in your scary circumstances.

Trust the work of Christ to be your rock in the difficult circumstances.

Trust that even if you are hurt in relationships...

God will be enough, no matter the outcome.

I feel I should say, because I know the reality of this...

If you’ve been hurt by leadership in a church, people in a church...

Trust Christ to help you find an imperfect church full of sinners...

And, live the Christian life out together while gathering together and praising the Lord.

Heed the words of the Psalmist...

O come, let us worship the Lord with songs of praise!

Closing Prayer