Worthy of Worship and Worth the Wait

Introduction

“What we are worshiping, we are becoming.” This quote was given by Ralph Waldo Emerson back in the 19th century but just based on the statement itself, you wouldn’t know if it was from 1823 or 2023 because we know that this is largely a true statement. Think of how our society worships self-reliance and self-sufficiency. The idea of not relying on another person, especially one of the opposite gender, is often viewed as something to celebrate because it demonstrates our ability and personal power and self-realization of our true worth. What is the fruit of complete self-sufficiency? Society has worshiped this this ideal and we look around and see its fruit as people can’t talk with those with whom they disagree. Birth rates in many 1st world countries are plummeting. Why? Because we celebrate self. As a society we also worship external deeds. We worship and exalt musicians, athletes, inventors, and celebrities who have done something with their hands that is to be respected, but often their hearts are centered on self as well. We’ll worship the deadbeat dad who left his family just because he can sing a song and play guitar. We’ll worship the athlete who can help our team win the championship even though they worship self and fail to care about anyone else. We become what we worship - and, friends, this isn’t a good sign for our world because we worship the wrong things!

Think about how our world worships independence. If you want to find power, praise, and prosperity, you need to have independence so that you don’t depend on anyone else. Dr. Tony Evans shares that in actuality, though, in worshiping independence, we reveal in our hearts that we’re really like teenagers. How many of you have ever had the independence talk with your teenager or as a teenager? The “I want to do this my way and I want to make the rules because yours are awful and outdated and not fair” discussion? Teenagers want their independence in their brain, but they don’t want independence with their wallet. They want to depend on someone else to meet their needs so that they can be independent to pursue their wants… but it doesn’t work that way in the home, and it especially doesn’t work that way with God.

The problem in our world is that we worship independence. We become what we worship. And as we look around our fallen world today, we see a world that doesn’t depend on God for anything. God has given us over to our own sinful passions as Romans 1 tells us. Rather than depending on God to provide and worshiping Him, our world prioritizes independence from Him and worships self. This morning, we will see the conclusion to this line of thinking in Psalm 33 as the Psalmist shares that the things of this world are not worthy of worship because they offer a false hope, not a secure one. God alone is worthy of worship and He is worth waiting for because He always runs on time. Let’s dive into this chapter together

Psalm 33 CSB

1 Rejoice in the Lord, you righteous ones; praise from the upright is beautiful. 2 Praise the Lord with the lyre; make music to him with a ten-stringed harp. 3 Sing a new song to him; play skillfully on the strings, with a joyful shout. 4 For the word of the Lord is right, and all his work is trustworthy. 5 He loves righteousness and justice; the earth is full of the Lord’s unfailing love. 6 The heavens were made by the word of the Lord, and all the stars, by the breath of his mouth. 7 He gathers the water of the sea into a heap; he puts the depths into storehouses. 8 Let the whole earth fear the Lord; let all the inhabitants of the world stand in awe of him. 9 For he spoke, and it came into being; he commanded, and it came into existence. 10 The Lord frustrates the counsel of the nations; he thwarts the plans of the peoples. 11 The counsel of the Lord stands forever, the plans of his heart from generation to generation. 12 Happy is the nation whose God is the Lord— the people he has chosen to be his own possession! 13 The Lord looks down from heaven; he observes everyone. 14 He gazes on all the inhabitants of the earth from his dwelling place. 15 He forms the hearts of them all; he considers all their works. 16 A king is not saved by a large army; a warrior will not be rescued by great strength. 17 The horse is a false hope for safety; it provides no escape by its great power. 18 But look, the Lord keeps his eye on those who fear him— those who depend on his faithful love 19 to rescue them from death and to keep them alive in famine. 20 We wait for the Lord; he is our help and shield. 21 For our hearts rejoice in him because we trust in his holy name. 22 May your faithful love rest on us, Lord, for we put our hope in you.

In a world obsessed with the immediate, we wait for the Lord… and while we wait, we worship because of Who He is and because of what He has done. Let’s continue in our time of worship this morning and pray.

God Alone See’s His People (13-15)

Whenever we think of the Psalms, we often think of songs and singing and worship and understandably so. We serve a God who not only created us but who communes with us and desires for us to come to Him and worship Him. As we read the Psalms, we see the mountain high moments of praise and celebration and victory and we’ve looked at a few of those high points the last few Sundays in Psalm 46 and Psalm 139 as God’s people rejoice in what He has done. We also know that there are some Psalms that deal with genuine concerns, disaster, betrayal, and disappointment over sin. The book of Psalms in many ways is an accurate picture of our lives as followers of Christ. There are good days and difficult days, but the reminder over and over is that there is reason to rejoice in each and every day!

Psalm 33 reminds us that we are to rejoice in the Lord. The first part of this Psalm hones in on this reality that we must rejoice and glorify the Lord and worship Him because of who He is and what He has done! In a world that tries to kick us down and leave us disappointed, God is present and never drops the ball. He is eternally faithful and trustworthy. He created all things and He sustains all things. He remains true to His Word and He destroys His opponents and supports His covenant people. So, why is God worthy of worship? If we pick up in verse 13, we see that God not only made all things but He sees all things. No one is too big or small for God to notice - He is not passive but active in the lives of His people! His plan stands, and it comes to pass even when it looks impossible in the eyes of others.

This week we have a team of 24 in Guatemala and it has been so cool to watch God open doors already! Today they will be worshiping in the village that they are building homes, leading VBS, and distributing food this week and they’ll be worshiping with 50 or so Guatemalan people and the majority of them won’t know English and the majority of our team doesn’t know much Spanish… but they’re going to be worshiping the same God - the same Creator - the same Sustainer. Happy are the people whose God is the Lord - it doesn’t matter if you’re from Guatemala or America or Moldova or Mexico or Vietnam… if you follow the Lord Jesus, you are blessed and I can’t wait to hear how that worship time goes later today. Maybe we expect that mission trips are always a breeze and everything goes according to plan. If that is your mentality of a mission trip, let me know because we’re likely going to have 2 or 3 international trips next year, I’ll get you signed up because you need to go and serve if you think that everything just goes perfectly according to our human schedules.... that doesn’t happen! On Thursday our team embarked from Salem to St. Louis to catch a flight and encountered road construction as St. Louis is famous for and that delayed them getting to the airport. After getting through the American Airlines desk and checking luggage, they made it to the plane with just a few minutes to spare. A little inconvenience but all is well, right? Wrong. The plane got delayed due to a medical emergency (not from a team member) and didn’t take off for another 30 minutes. Now they’re looking at arriving in Dallas at 12:25 and leaving for Guatemala City at 12:50 - if you’ve ever been at DFW you know that there is 1 word for that: IMPOSSIBLE.

International flights always leave out of terminal D at DFW and they were scheduled to fly into terminal C. There is no way that the plane could land, taxi to the gate in terminal C and the team ride the sky-link to terminal D with enough time to board the plane and get to Guatemala City. Impossible. Not going to happen. But the Lord looks down from heaven and sees His people. His counsel stands forever. He has a plan and His plan comes to pass. God showed up, friends! The pilot was able to make a little bit of the time up in the air, that’s an answer to prayer. The flight attendant was working with the team to help get them off the plane ASAP, that’s an answer to prayer. The plane was rerouted from terminal C to terminal A gate 36, that’s an answer to prayer. The departing flight to Guatemala City was also changed from terminal D to terminal A, gate 38… that’s an answer to prayer. But they were still running behind and didn’t know if they’d be able to make it an board. Wouldn’t you know, they held the plane! Issues? Problems? Chaos? Confusion? You’d better believe it! Out of control? Impossible? Never for a moment. We might panic and be afraid but as Corrie Ten boom once said, “There is no panic in Heaven… God has no problems, only plans!” We serve a God who is seated in the heavens. He has a perfect plan. He parts the waters, He holds the planes, and He opens doors that seemed completely shut previously. That’s Who we worship! The God who sees His people.

Whenever we hear a story on the news or on social media about God showing up in a mighty way, it reminds us that we are finite. We all have problems and we’re all facing struggles and at times we might feel helpless and hopeless and abandoned in our time of need. But Psalm 33 reminds us, as so many other Psalms, that we are not alone. We look around and we see the Creator God active with His creation. The Lord not only looks down from heaven and sees, but He also hears and He also answers the cries of His people as the very next Psalm reminds us

Psalm 34:4 CSB

4 I sought the Lord, and he answered me and rescued me from all my fears.

What a joy it is to know that we have a God who sees us in our time of need and who has the ability and power to do something about that, which is what we see next in our text

God Alone Saves His People (16-19)

Go back to the example of our Guatemala team traveling just a few days ago through the airport. It would have been natural to place confidence in the pilot, itinerary, flight crew, and logistics of the day to say that everything will be ok. As we reflect on Scripture and examine our own lives, we realize a painful truth that we are powerless to save ourselves. We can make our plans and we can plan really really well, but that doesn’t mean that everything will go the way that we want it to. Proverbs 16:9 speaks of this truth

Proverbs 16:9 CSB

9 A person’s heart plans his way, but the Lord determines his steps.

Is anyone else here a planner? I’m a planner. I memorized the itinerary for our team. I knew what gates they were going to go to and what time they’d arrive and about what time I’d get a text message saying that the team made it to their destination because I’m a planner! What we see in Scripture is that our plans aren’t bad things… but God isn’t obligated to abide by them and that’s a good thing! His plan is best! He sees all things. He alone has the power to save our souls and provide exactly what we need - not just what we think we need. As we reflect on the “bigness” of our God, we also begin to realize that our God provides security for us. The God who saves us the God who alone secures. This is what our world craves - we long for security and people have looked for it in a variety of places.

Some believe that if they have a bunker off the grid with a good supply of guns, ammunition, canned food, and bottled water, that they’ll be secure if doomsday drops. Others believe that if they just hit a certain benchmark in their retirement portfolio or bank account then they would achieve financial stability and be secure. Others think that if they have a certain number of friends or followers then they’d be secure. If they had more power and property then they’d be secure. Just a little bit more power. John Rockefeller was interviewed about how much more money was enough replied by saying, “Just a little more.” Just a little more of this and then I’d finally be secure and fine… but all of that can be wiped in a moment. Psalm 33 reminds us that it is not armies or horses or riches that provide rescue and security and salvation. Do you know why? The God of the Bible destroys armies, He shatters bows, He frightens horses, He lays waste to earthly riches and treasures. Earthy riches cannot hold a candle to heavenly treasure! Earthly power cannot hold a candle to heavenly security. We see over and over in the Bible that it’s not always the large person or the big army that wins - read the books of Joshua and Judges. If God is for you, you will win regardless of who stands against you! The point is simply this: You cannot rely on self for security and salvation.

Why is this the case? Why is self reliance useless when it comes to salvation? In one word the answer is sin. We cannot rescue and save ourselves because of our sin - sin separates us from God and Romans 6:23 reminds us that the wages of our sin is death. This isn’t a positive message, but its a necessary one because we have to dispel any notion that tells us that we are our own savior and rescuer. We’re not that powerful! This is why Psalm 33 instructs us to look to the Lord and depend on Him to rescue us. We look to Him - not to the things of this earth

Psalm 20:7 CSB

7 Some take pride in chariots, and others in horses, but we take pride in the name of the Lord our God.

Things fade and are not certain - but the God of the Bible provides certainty and salvation for us each step of the way. He sees us and verse 18 tells us that the Lord keeps His eye on those who fear Him and depend on His faithful love to rescue them. What exactly does it mean to fear the Lord, though? In our world there is much talk about the love of God and the mercy of God, but the fear of the Lord? What do we make of that? Lindsey and I have been talking about how Gabriel will be driving before we know it and that’s quite a terrifying and fearful thought! Think back to whenever you first began driving and eventually got your license. You were in a whole new world trying to abide by the laws and keep all of these rules and every now and then a police officer would get behind you and what would happen? You’d begin to panic because the police officer is there to bring about justice and if you break the law, he will punish you accordingly. If you’re not a Christian, the fear of the Lord is kind of like the fear of being in front of a police officer with a broken taillight, an expired license plate, and a cracked windshield. You’re cruising for a bruising and you’re going to get punished accordingly and whenever that officer makes His presence known to you, you get terrified. Whenever we stand before a holy God without the mediator of Jesus Christ, we are hopelessly doomed and we’re going to get punished. What about the fear of the Lord for a Christian? Now you’re the 16 year old driving with a broken taillight, expired license plate, and a cracked windshield… but instead of a cop pulling up behind you, you look back and it’s your dad! Your dad is in the rearview, He’s watching you. He knows that there are things that aren’t looking good and need fixed - but He’s going to make sure that you get home and He’s going to fix those things. You look in the rearview mirror and see your father and that strikes fear and nerves - but it’s a good fear because even though your heavenly father is holy, He also loves you and cares for you. That even though you and I have messed up and sinned, we can have hope because this just God is able to save sinners like you and me because of what His Son did for us on the cross

2 Corinthians 5:21 CSB

21 He made the one who did not know sin to be sin for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.

Because of what God has done in placing our sin upon His Son, we see that He does in fact rescue us from death. He does keep us alive in the famine of sin and death. As Spurgeon said years ago, “You are immortal until your work here is done.” He sees us and He saves us. He has a plan for us! He then calls on us to follow Him and to find our ultimate satisfaction in Him!

God Alone Satisfies His People (20-22)

Observing what God has done should lead us to praise Him and worship Him well. Over the last few weeks, we’ve had the privilege of baptising 7 people in the month of July alone and just over 30 since November of 2021 - church, it is remarkable to watch God at work, isn’t it!? God sees us - He saves us - and for those of us who are saved, we are satisfied in Him alone. What does it mean to be satisfied in God? Does it mean that we’re really hungry and anything will suffice so long as it is enough food to fill our stomach? That’s not what it means… To be satisfied in God doesn’t mean to go down to the nearest convenience store and eat a bunch of candy bars to quell the craving in your stomach. To be satisfied in God means to get to the place in your life where God’s Word and will are the things that provide the nourishment that you are missing and craving in your life. Self and sin will never satisfy our soul - God alone has the power to do that! It’s not so much a quantity issue as it is a quality issue. Lots of people consume lots of things… and they’re still not satisfied. This is why Jesus tells the Samaritan Woman at the well in John 4 that the one who drinks the water that He has to offer will never thirst again! Jesus satisfies our searching souls. If you have been searching for satisfaction, friend, stop searching and taste and see that the Lord is good! If you have been satisfied by Jesus today, then Psalm 33 tells us that we must, first, wait for the Lord!

Waiting is hard work and it doesn’t come easy. Waiting for the Lord doesn’t mean that we sit back and do nothing! We looked at that in Psalm 46:10 just a few weeks ago as the CSB renders that famous verse, “Stop fighting and know that I am God.” This doesn’t mean that we do nothing - it means that we stop fighting against our Creator and Sustainer and instead we join Him in His work! It means that we follow after Him and do the things that He wants us to do even though the results and rewards might not immediately follow suit. We walk in obedience and we wait with confidence. Paul Washer shares that we are called to follow our God wherever He calls us to go - even when that looks difficult. He grew up in the north and there was often a lot of snowfall and he would try to copy his dad and follow his footprints in the snow. As a young boy, he couldn’t do this very well. He looked foolish leaping from footprint to footprint. He fell down. He failed to always land in the print perfectly… but he would follow his dad as best he could and his dad kept him safe from dangerous drifts lurking from side to side. See, whenever you and I follow God’s path and plan for our lives, it’s not always easy. We’re going to look foolish. We’re going to fail to follow Him perfectly. We’re going to fall down. But we can depend on Him as we follow Him because, just as a father protects his son, our Father will protect us. He is our help and shield. We wait for the Lord and follow after Him with obedience because He satisfies our souls and once you are saved, you crave more and more of Jesus and less and less of you.

Second, we rejoice in His work. Verse 21 tells us that our hearts rejoice in him because we trust in His holy name. Psalm 33 is all about worship and shouting for praise. Sometimes, rejoicing seems impossible as we reflect on our circumstances. Our day to day lives might be filled with despair… but the Lord saves us and fills us and His faithfulness is never ending and His work is eternally sustaining! Steve Lawson shares this wonderful truth, “The same God who said ‘Let there be light’ is the same God who looked at your dead heart and said ‘Let there be life.’” That’s good preaching right there! Friend, if you are saved, you have no reason to do anything today but rejoice because the God of Scripture has sought you and bought you with His redeeming blood. You can trust in Him because of His proven track record with creation and with salvation - and if you are saved, you have no excuse but to rejoice because of what He has done today. He is worthy of your worship. As James Johnston once shared, “Great worship grows out of great doctrine.” The more that you and I dive into the Word of God and discover the wonder of our salvation and the depth of God’s mercy and grace, the more our worship should increase. The more that we discover the truth of God’s Word, the less and less gimmicks and self-help will satisfy. We must rejoice in His work and shout for joy because of what He has done in our lives - even in the hard days, because He is still with us and sustaining us.

Third, we rest in His love. Whenever you place your hope in Jesus, it means that you have to simultaneously stop placing your hope in empty cisterns that make grand promises, but leave you high and dry. Think of the promises found in our fallen world: Buy this and be happy. Come to this place and be pleased. Gain this possession and be popular. Strike 1, 2, and 3 - you’re out and you are emptier than you ever were before! I’ve heard it said that the most dangerous thing to do in life is to achieve your dreams because once you do, chances are, they won’t satisfy like you believed they would your entire life leading up to that point. That might be true with everything this world has to offer… but that is not true with the God of the Word. Church, He is worth the wait. He is worthy of worship. He is faithful. He deserves our trust. There’s a song by CityAlight that our children know well and its a simple tune that we all can and will benefit from in the future. The chorus says this,

“For the Lord is good and faithful

He will keep us day and night

We can always run to Jesus

Jesus strong and kind.”

Good and faithful. Strong and kind. This is our God. He might not show up and do what we want when we want, but He will do what needs to happen when it needs to happen. He sees us completely - that gives us confidence. He saves us fully - that gives us confidence. He sustains us eternally - that gives us confidence. Whenever we open our mouths and nothing comes out, even then we can rejoice because of what our God has done and, most of all, because of Who our God is. He sees, saves, and sustains… But there’s a greater than zero chance that some of you are here today and you feel stuck and trapped and the reason why is because you’re not on this path. You’re walking the way of the world and not the way of the word. You’re worshiping something, but it’s not the God of the Universe. You’re on a path, but its end is destruction because it is devoid of faith in a snake-crushing, sin-destroying Savior. Friend - turn your eyes to Jesus. Repent of your sins. Cease to place confidence in your strength and the power of those around you. Wait for the Lord. Worship the Lord. Live for Jesus. Believe in His Gospel message that He came to seek and save the lost - including you and me. Ask Him to save you and to change you. He alone has the power to do just that.

Let’s pray