Why do we Worship?

1 Chronicles 16:23–29 ESV

23 Sing to the Lord, all the earth! Tell of his salvation from day to day. 24 Declare his glory among the nations, his marvelous works among all the peoples! 25 For great is the Lord, and greatly to be praised, and he is to be feared above all gods. 26 For all the gods of the peoples are worthless idols, but the Lord made the heavens. 27 Splendor and majesty are before him; strength and joy are in his place. 28 Ascribe to the Lord, O families of the peoples, ascribe to the Lord glory and strength! 29 Ascribe to the Lord the glory due his name; bring an offering and come before him! Worship the Lord in the splendor of holiness;

Intro

The Psalmist is not only giving praise himself but is giving directions for praise that others should be giving as well. He is telling them to “ascribe” various traits to God and to “Declare” his glory. Worship is simply giving God the honor he is due. To honor something simply means to value it. A store “honors” your gift card according the the amount of money that it contains. We should be honoring God according to the amount of greatness he contains. Our worship should attempt to match his greatness.

Malachi 1:6–14 ESV

6 “A son honors his father, and a servant his master. If then I am a father, where is my honor? And if I am a master, where is my fear? says the Lord of hosts to you, O priests, who despise my name. But you say, ‘How have we despised your name?’ 7 By offering polluted food upon my altar. But you say, ‘How have we polluted you?’ By saying that the Lord’s table may be despised. 8 When you offer blind animals in sacrifice, is that not evil? And when you offer those that are lame or sick, is that not evil? Present that to your governor; will he accept you or show you favor? says the Lord of hosts. 9 And now entreat the favor of God, that he may be gracious to us. With such a gift from your hand, will he show favor to any of you? says the Lord of hosts. 10 Oh that there were one among you who would shut the doors, that you might not kindle fire on my altar in vain! I have no pleasure in you, says the Lord of hosts, and I will not accept an offering from your hand. 11 For from the rising of the sun to its setting my name will be great among the nations, and in every place incense will be offered to my name, and a pure offering. For my name will be great among the nations, says the Lord of hosts. 12 But you profane it when you say that the Lord’s table is polluted, and its fruit, that is, its food may be despised. 13 But you say, ‘What a weariness this is,’ and you snort at it, says the Lord of hosts. You bring what has been taken by violence or is lame or sick, and this you bring as your offering! Shall I accept that from your hand? says the Lord. 14 Cursed be the cheat who has a male in his flock, and vows it, and yet sacrifices to the Lord what is blemished. For I am a great King, says the Lord of hosts, and my name will be feared among the nations.

Despised name

Malachi is prophesying to a people that love to claim the name of God. Call themselves priests and say they worship the lord. However, God has viewed their actions as completely contrary to to their words. He is saying you have no problem giving honor to your earthly father, but can’t honor your heavenly father. You even go and do exactly what your master (or boss) wants but you can’t obey me. He is telling this people “you claim my name with your mouth but dishonor it in your heart”. Not only that but in verse 9, it says the people are asking for God’s favor but only ever offer sad worship and honor. How similar this to life today! We want God to give us everything but we do nothing but despise his name with our lives and worship.

What we bring to God

“Lame and Sick” Worship

Should have been the strongest and healthiest

We give God our seconds

God deserves our first and best

“Taken by Violence” Worship

People were stealing other’s animals for sacrifice

We will let someone else pour their heart out to God and claim it as our own

We will say “worship was great” when the one leading worship pours themselves out to God

Complaining

They would say “What a weariness”

They were bringing lame worship and then had the nerve to complain about it

they claimed it was to exhausting

Don’t let your “weariness” keep you from worship.

What we should bring to God

Many ways to worship shown throughout scripture

Singing, instruments, giving thanks, bowing down, dancing, lifting hands in surrender

The heart matters more than the method

We bring our heart fully turned to the Lord

I can sing in vain, lift my hands in vain

Jesus told the woman at the well that worship is “in Spirit and truth”

We see in Malachi that the issue is the type and quality of the sacrifice reveals something about the heart of that people.

We give ourselves over to God fully in obedience to him

God does not want animal sacrifices, he wants us (1 Samuel 15:22 “ … Behold, to obey is better than sacrifice…”)

Romans 12:1 “1 I appeal to you therefore, brothers, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship.”

What the methods mean

When we bow down in worship or we lift up our hands to God we are saying “Lord you are great and I give myself to you”

When we sing we are declaring from our heart his greatness “out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaks”

When instruments are played or people dance we are saying “Lord we worship you not only with our mouths but with our hands and feet”

What happens when we worship

Psalm 22:3 “3 Yet you are holy, enthroned on the praises of Israel.”

God sets his throne up upon the praises of his people

in other words, He establishes himself as the God of whoever will worship him

The throne of his authority rests on them

Miracles happen in places where God is honored and worshiped

in Mark 6 we see Jesus come in to his hometown and not be able to do many miracles because they downplayed who he is.

He did not receive the honor he was due.

But mark wrote that it was because of their unbelief

your worship reflects on your faith

a people that worships is a people with strong belief

Our worship can create a place where Jesus will do miracles!

It is not about the songs, or the lifting of hands, It is about us living a life that worships God!