#6 Music Appropriate For Worship | Deuteronomy 6:4-9

Opening Remarks:

We’ll be in Deuteronomy 6 this morning.

Yesterday afternoon we talked about taking a biblical principle and applying it to our music.

That’s essentially what we’ll be doing this morning.

Deuteronomy 6:4-9 is the Jewish Shema, which is the essence of Judaism.

Shema means to “hear,” which is the first word of vs. 4, and the idea is that true religion means you love and obey God at all times.

Jesus Christ Himself referenced these verses in Matthew 22:37-39 when asked about the greatest commandment.

READ

Deuteronomy 6 gives us God’s idea of TRUE RELIGION.

And I believe this principle can help us with our music philosophy.

PRAY

Part of the struggle when it comes to music is the battle between truth and emotion.

The temptation is to lean on emotion in order to get a bigger response.

But is that a biblical approach to worshipping the Lord?

The Shema gives us three truths that I believe can help us with this.

First…

I. True religion begins with the right affirmations (beliefs).

A. An affirmation is something we know to be true.

1. We know what is true about God by reading His Word.

2. True religion begins with our knowledge of God.

B. What does vs. 4 reveal to be true about God?

1. The Shema begins with the truth that Jehovah is God and that He’s the only God.

2. They were saying, “Hear this Israel, there’s one God, Jehovah, and He is ours.”

3. “He is holy. He is unlike any other being in the universe. That’s our God.”

4. Jehovah is the eternal, all-powerful, living God. This isn’t some made up god. This is the one true God.

5. That’s important because true religion begins with having the right beliefs of God.

a. Our relationship with Him can’t begin until we know who He is.

b. Genuine religion begins with an understanding of God.

6. If that’s true, then our life’s great mission should be to know God.

a. Unfortunately, most people are only interested in religion if it helps them.

b. We live in an “itching ears” culture.

c. II Tim. 4:3-4, “For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine; but after their own lusts shall they heap to themselves teachers, having itching ears; And they shall turn away their ears from the truth, and shall be turned to fables.”

d. Most people are only interested in God on the surface.

e. They don’t want to know Him, but they don’t realize that knowing Him is the essence of religion.

6. Because the deeper our understanding of God goes, the greater our desire to follow Him rises.

a. Most kings are content for you to know about them from a distance.

b. It’s an election year, and many politicians want your vote, but they don’t want to get to know you.

c. Probably because many of them aren’t what you think they are and they don’t want you to know it.

d. But God calls His people to know all about Him because He has nothing to hide.

e. The more we know, the deeper our religion goes.

C. True Religion begins with the right affirmations (beliefs) – what we know about God.

And…

II. True religion results in right actions.

Our rel. with God ought to affect the way we live.

A. The context of Deuteronomy 6 is God giving the law to Israel.

1. The law was given to affect their actions.

2. This passage also says, “Love the Lord.”

3. There’s a connection between love for God and actions.

B. If we love God our actions will prove it.

1. Jesus Christ said in John 14:15 “If ye love me, keep my commandments.”

2. If you love God the way you should, it will be evident in your actions.

C. But understand: Right actions are the result of true religion, but right actions are not all God is interested in.

1. I ought to live right, but I ought to live right because of my relationship with God, not in order to have a relationship with God.

2. Illustration: When we were in school, the goal was to get an “A” on our test. But how I get the A matters. If I cheat to do it, that’s not appropriate.

3. Right actions are great, but God is looking for a right heart that leads to right actions.

4. How does this connect to Deuteronomy?

a. True religion begins with right beliefs – what we know to be true about God.

b. And true religion results in right actions before God.

c. But don’t forget that Deut. 6:5 states, “Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thine heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy might.”

d. The essence of my relationship with God is my affection for God. “Love the Lord thy God…”

So true religion begins with right affirmations, it results in right actions, but…

III. True religion flows from the right affections.

A. The essence of any relationship is affection.

1. How satisfying would it be if all you were relationships with people were simply because they felt obligated to be your friend even though they don’t like you?

2. If it’s not satisfying to us as those made in God’s image, we can assume God is looking for more from His relationships.

B. We can believe the right things about God and we can do the right things for God

…but at the core of our relationship with God is our affection for God.

a. Jesus said the greatest commandment is to “Love the Lord thy God.”

b. God is not just looking for what we know. He’s not just looking for what we do. Most important to God is our love for Him.

C. Which means that true religion involves emotion.

1. God wants disciples who follow from the heart, not just outwardly.

a. He said, “Love me, then keep my commandments.”

b. If keeping His commandments is all that matters to God, He owes the Pharisees an apology.

2. And He doesn’t just want love, He wants “All your heart” love.

a. It’s okay to have strong emotion toward God.

b. Don’t let the charismatics make you feel guilty about having emotion toward God. He desires it.

c. But does that mean any emotion is appropriate for God?

B. I would say NO, because not all emotions are appropriate for our relationship with God.

1. Jonathan Edwards wrote a book in the 1740’s called Religious Affections.

a. He said there are “passions” and there are “affections.”

b. He said that “passions” are surface-level feelings — Responses to stimulus.

c. Ex: When you get scared your heart races and you get goose bumps. When you’re nervous your heart races and maybe your stomach hurts.

d. When you’re hungry and smell good food your stomach growls.

e. These are natural responses, but they’re surface level responses.

f. Is that the kind of emotion God desires from us? I don’t think so.

2. “Affections” are different than passions because they involve the mind.

a. They are as a result of truth.

b. They are developed over time.

c. They are not immediate responses.

d. They involve the mind, not just the body.

e. This may be a good example of dealing with the question we heard yesterday about dancing.

f. Dancing is a bodily response to the stimulus of music. So we have to ask ourselves, “Is that an appropriate response to worshipping God?”

C. The command to “love God” is not surface-level; it’s love based on what we know about God.

1. When I first met my wife, my response was “Whoa!”

a. That was a surface level response.

b. And though I still say, “Whoa!” the more I know her the deeper my love for her.

c. I love her more today than when we first met because my love is based on what I know of her, not just how I respond to seeing her.

d. That’s the difference between shallow emotions and knowledge-based emotion.

e. And as we grow in our knowledge of God, the more we realize that some responses aren’t worthy of Him.

f. Illustration: You’ll hear a lot of preachers in the US say something like, “You get more excited at a football (soccer) game than you do when you come to church!”

g. But my thought is, “I may cheer and jump around and yell when my team scores, but is that an appropriate emotion in a worship service for God?”

h. This may help us with the dancing question from yesterday. Is a bodily response to music apart from truth an appropriate response in worshipping a holy God?

3. That’s why the Shema begins with “Hear, O Israel, The Lord our God is one Lord.”

a. It’s almost as if Moses is saying, “Think about who God is - He’s all powerful and holy.”

b. “A God that high and majestic is YOUR God.”

c. “So respond with affection that is appropriate for Him. Not shallow but based on knowledge.”

d. “He deserves deeper emotion than you give anything else . He deserves affection.”

e. “So be sure that the emotions you reserve for Him are worthy of what you know of Him.”

f. “He deserves a different type of emotion than you give your favorite sports team.”

g. “He deserves to have affection on a different level than you give your pet, or your car.”

h. “He deserves emotion on a different level even than you give other people in your life.”

j. “He’s God. The only God. Your God. And He deserves love according to what you know of Him.”

4. This isn’t just about how much emotion we give God compared to other things. This is about the kind of emotion we give Him.

a. God wants us to be in awe of Him, but it’s not the same kind of awe we express when we hold a newborn baby.

b. God wants us to have zeal for Him, but it’s not the same kind of zeal we express when our favorite team scores.

c. God wants us to adore Him, but it’s not the same kind of adoration we show to a spouse.

d. Some emotions are appropriate sometimes. Some are never appropriate. Some are never appropriate to express our love for God.

5. Our interaction with God should never be based on how we feel. It should start with what we know.

IV. I believe is where many churches have gone wrong.

A. It’s easier to manufacture shallow emotions than it is to develop knowledge-rooted affections.

1. To affect a person’s affections takes time; discipleship; and effort.

2. To affect someone emotions with stimulus and response – those aren’t hard to change.

3. So a lot of churches decide to skip the hard part and go straight to the surface-level emotions to build a crowd.

4. Shallow songs. Songs that sound like a love-song for a boyfriend or girlfriend. Dimmed lights.

5. Or they switch to louder music to get crowd rocking.

B. And they think, “At least people are responding!”

1. Maybe, but they’re likely not responding to knowledge.

2. They’re responding to stimulus that isn’t about truth.

3. That’s why we must be careful not to make our worship of God surface-level.

4. The most appropriate affections for God are born out of what we know of Him.

5. Don’t discard the depths of the hymns we have for a better response.

6. Instead, disciple the congregation to appreciate the depth and help them find the essence of true religion.

7. My challenge to you is this: We must refuse to subject our worship of a holy God to surface-level emotions.

8. He deserves more than that. He deserves love based on truth.

IV. Conclusion

A. Having the proper affection toward God is key to living a life that pleases Him.

1. He doesn’t want robots; He wants love.

2. He doesn’t want routines; He wants relationships.

3. He doesn’t want obligation; He wants connection.

B. So, have affection toward God. Don’t be afraid of emotion. Show God affection.

1. It is the central task required of His disciples to love God.

2. Actually, your strongest emotions should be toward God.

3. But in order for it to be right, it must be established on what you know of Him.

4. So determine to know Him more and you’ll have deeper affection, which will result in the right actions, which will allow you to live a life that pleases God.

C. What do you know of God?

1. Are you pursuing more knowledge of Him?

2. Your affections for God will grow higher as your knowledge of God grows deeper.

D. How does your affection for God compare to your passion for other things?

1. Are there things in your life that have risen above your love for God?

2. Do you approach worship out of true affection?

3. “Love the Lord thy God with all thine heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy might.”

Right Affirmations Lead to Right Affections which lead to Right Actions.

What you know. How you feel. What you do.

That’s how we keep ourselves pursuing music that is appropriate for the worship of a Holy God.