Greatness & Goodness (Sunday)
Notes
Transcript
Worship Outline: "Greatness & Goodness" (Psalm 95) 🎶
I. Welcome & Opening Prayer
I. Welcome & Opening Prayer
!! TURN to Psalm 95…!!
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II. Introduction
II. Introduction
SOMETIMES in BETWEEN BOOK STUDIES—GOOD to SNEAK in PSALMS
😅DON’T EVER PLAN to PREACH THROUGH PSALMS in ENTIRE!
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Idea: PERFECT TIME to TALK ABOUT THANKSGIVING—IDEA COMMON in PSALMS…
Problem: THANKSGIVING = LAST WEEK, DONE.
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American Materialism
American Materialism
LOVE THANKSGIVING— GOOD to SET ASIDE TIME…
Problem: AMERICA—CONSUMED W/ MATERIALISM— QUICKLY GLOSSES OVER THANKSGIVING
HALLOWEEN ➡️ CHRISTMAS
BIG SKELETON➡️ BIG YETI/SANTA
EVEN MORE— BLACK FRIDAY OVERSHADOWS!
STORES GOING in the BLACK, WHILE YOU GO RED!
QUICK DOSE of THANKS—BACK to WANTING MORE.
EVEN MORE—BLACK FRIDAY HAS BECOME a MONTH!
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*** Transition: SO STICKING WITH SOME THOUGHTS on PRAISE/THANKSGIVING
Focus: PSALM GIVES REASONS for PRAISE & THANKSGIVING — ALWAYS TIMELY — 📷
LET’S NOT LET it DIE AFTER the 4TH THURSDAY in NOVEMBER…
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Transition: INVITE YOU,, LOOK W/ ME @ PSALM 95… WHOLE PSALM TODAY
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III. Passage Reading
III. Passage Reading
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.”
Church, this is God’s Word for us this morning…
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IV. Background/Context
IV. Background/Context
KNOW VERY LITTLE of PSALM 95… BACKGROUND-WISE
Authorship: SEPTUAGINT ATTRIBUTES to DAVID, OTHERWISE UNKNOWN.
Kingship Psalm: Portrays YAHWEH as KING over the CREATED ORDER.
Temple Setting: CORPORATE CALL to WORSHIP—possibly @ FEAST-TIME
**SOME SCHOLARS believe— PREAMBLE to SYNAGOGUE WORSHIP in 1ST CENTURY
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Transition: WHILE WE MIGHT NOT KNOW a TON—
IT HAS a LOT to TEACH US as GOD-BREATHED SCRIPTURE…
BEGIN—CALL to PRAISE (V1-2)
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V. Passage Exposition
V. Passage Exposition
Thought 1: The Psalmist’s Call to Praise (v1-2)
Thought 1: The Psalmist’s Call to Praise (v1-2)
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!
Psalm Setting: CALL to PRAISE YAHWEH— PERSONAL COVENANTAL GOD of ISRAEL.
Background: “LORD” — ALL CAPS (O.T.)—PLACEHOLDER for GOD’S PERSONAL NAME
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Exhort: WORSHIP NOT a SOLEMN OCCASION
SINGING
JOYFUL NOISE
THANKSGIVING
JOYFUL NOISE
SONGS of PRAISE
NOT RESERVED for a LIBRARY!
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WORSHIP = CELEBRATION of GOD
WHO HE IS
WHAT HE’S DONE
SHOULD BE FILLED WITH GLAD-THANKS!
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Personal Demeanors:
Personal Demeanors:
NATURAL DEMEANORS DO GET in the WAY
Illustration: CHRISTMAS GIFT-GIVING
FROM POLITE THANK YOU’S
to EXCLAMATIONS
PEOPLE = UNIQUE...
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SCRIPTURE URGES US TO JOYOUS CELEBRATION—
SO LET’S NOT USE OUR NATURAL DEMEANOR to TREAT WORSHIP as a FUNERAL
Key Point: WORSHIP = the VOCATION of HEAVEN…
YOU’RE GOING to BE PRAISING GOD MORE THAN FISHING in the NEW CREATION.
BETTER GET USED to IT NOW!
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Encourage: WHETHER YOU CAN CARRY a TUNE in a BUCKET or NOT—ALL CAN MAKE a JOYFUL NOISE!
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Transition: PSALMIST —GIVE US REASON for THIS CALL to WORSHIP
LOOK W/ ME @ VS. 3-5
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Thought 2: The Basis for Praise: God's Greatness (v3-5)
Thought 2: The Basis for Praise: God's Greatness (v3-5)
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.
PSALMIST ISSUES a CALL—NOW a BASIS/CAUSE for PRAISE
COME W/ GLAD SONGS.... FOR/BECAUSE… GOD is GREAT
GREAT KING, ABOVE ALL gods…
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Background on “other gods”
Background on “other gods”
Background: A.N.E. NATIONS— ALL HAD gods & goddesses…
YAHWEH = GREAT KING— “MOST HIGH” - TRUE & LIVING GOD.
Background: EXODUS— PHARAOH & LETTING MY PEOPLE GO:
“YAHWEH SAYS—LET MY PEOPLE GO”
“NEVER HEARD of HIM”....
“YOU WILL.”
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Background: ARK NARRATIVES in 1 SAMUEL…
DAGON (PHILISTINES) BOWING B4 YAHWEH’S ARK
CUT UP the NEXT DAY…
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Yahweh, King of Creation
Yahweh, King of Creation
PSALMIST CONCLUDES— OUR GOD = KING of CREATION!
👑“MOST HIGH” WITHOUT RIVAL
KING WHO DOES as HE PLEASES… 👑
Ephesians 1:11 (ESV)
11b him who works all things according to the counsel of his will,
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GOD = GREAT, as KING — RIGHTFUL OWNER of CREATION
(V4-5) TESTIFY— GOD’S OWNERSHIP of CREATION.
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PSALMIST BEGINS: MERISM (HEIGHTS & DEPTHS)
Def: MERISM = FIGURE of SPEECH— TAKING TWO EXTREMES to ENCOMPASS the WHOLE
Example: “SEARCHED HIGH & LOW” MEANS EVERYWHERE!
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Heights & Depths In Yahweh’s Hands
Heights & Depths In Yahweh’s Hands
PSALMIST: BOTH UNEXPLORED DEPTHS of EARTH & MOUNTAINTOPS BELONG to GOD!
Research:
CHALLENGER DEEP—MARIANA TRENCH— nearly 7 MILES DEEP
75% of OCEAN FLOOR UNMAPPED/UNEXPLORED
.001% VIEWED BY HUMANS (IN-PERSON or REMOTELY)
Conclusion: OCEAN = BIG, SCARY BIG—UNEXHAUSTED BY HUMANS
Exhort: THIS = in GOD’S HANDS...
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NOT JUST DEPTHS of OCEANS—BUT CONSIDER DEPTHS of LAND
Story: VISITING CAVERNS in VA.
“ENDLESS” CAVERNS— REALLY?/FALSE ADVERTISING
7 MILES DEEP & STOPPED
CAVE SYSTEMS HUNDREDS of MILES LONG…
Experts Conclude: PROBABLY LESS THAN 1% of WORLD’S CAVES HAVE BEEN MAPPED/FULLY EXPLORED
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Conclusion:
LESS THAN 1% of CAVES…
LESS THAN 25% of OCEAN FLOOR
&& IT’S ALL in the HANDS of ALMIGHTY GOD WHO DESIGNED IT ALL...
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NOT ONLY THAT—BUT the HIGHEST HEIGHTS
HIMELLAYAN MOUNTAINS HAVE MULTIPLE MOUNTAIN-PEAKS ABOVE “DEATH-ZONE” of 8,000 METERS
Powerful Conclusion: FROM the CHALLENGER DEEP— NEARLY 7 MILES BELOW SEA LEVEL— to MT. EVEREST — APPROXIMATE 7 MILES ABOVE SEA LEVEL EVERYTHING BELONGS to GOD—HELD in HIS HANDS… 🤯
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Sea & Land = HIS:
Sea & Land = HIS:
(V5) EVEN MORE— ALL SEA & LAND
Quote: “In ANE thought the sea was regarded as the malevolent power of chaos”[1]
SEEN BY MOST to BE UNTAMABLE…
IT’S in GOD’S HANDS…
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Overall Conclusion:
Overall Conclusion:
YAHWEH = KING OVER the CREATED ORDER👑
EVERYTHING = RIGHTFULLY HIS POSSESSION… HIGHEST HEIGHTS & DEEPEST DEPTHS & EVERYTHING in BETWEEN.
Takeaway: WHEN WE SEE HOW GREAT & AWESOME HE IS— HOW COULD WE NOT RESPOND in PRAISE?🤔
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Transition: 1ST CALL & 1ST BASIS…
NOW PSALMIST WILL ISSUE a 2ND CALL to PRAISE
LOOK W/ ME @ VS. 6
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Thought 3: A Second Call to Praise (v6)
Thought 3: A Second Call to Praise (v6)
Psalm 95:6 (ESV)
6 Oh come, let us worship and bow down; let us kneel before the Lord, our Maker!
FROM JOYOUS SONGS to HUMBLY REVERENT BOWING…
WORSHIP = HUMBLE
BOW DOWN = HUMBLE
KNEEL = HUMBLE
👉👉Challenge: SEEING HOW GREAT GOD IS… HOW COULD WE COME PROUDLY & ENTITLED?
HE is GREAT
GREAT KING
HOLDING HEIGHTS & DEPTHS in HIS HANDS…
& I’M ME.
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New Testament Boldness
New Testament Boldness
Encourage: WE CAN COME BOLDLY as N.C. BELIEVERS to GOD’S THRONE…
BUT WE SHOULDN’T COME INDIFFERENTLY or FLIPPANTLY
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GETS MORE PERSONAL…
(v6) KNEELING B4 the LORD— OUR MAKER
Powerful Truth: HE NOT ONLY MADE the SEAS— HE MADE ME. (SAME HB WORD)
Psalm 139:13–16 (ESV)
13 For you formed my inward parts; you knitted me together in my mother’s womb.
14 I praise you, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made. Wonderful are your works; my soul knows it very well.
15 My frame was not hidden from you, when I was being made in secret, intricately woven in the depths of the earth.
16 Your eyes saw my unformed substance; in your book were written, every one of them, the days that were formed for me, when as yet there was none of them.
Conclusion: GOD FASHIONS US…
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Breath of God
Breath of God
EVEN MORE— SCRIPTURE SAYS GOD BREATHED into MANKIND the BREATH of LIFE
Genesis 2:7 (ESV)
7 then the Lord God formed the man of dust from the ground and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, and the man became a living creature.
Exhort: EVERY BREATH in MY LUNGS = GIFT from ALMIGHTY GOD…
Apologetic: PROBLEM W/ ATHEISTIC COSMOLOGY— WHERE’S LIFE BEGIN?
ANSWER is GOD.
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Transition: AGAIN—PSALMIST ISSUED CALL to PRAISE
NOW HE’LL GIVE an ADDITIONAL REASON
LOOK W/ ME @ VS. 7
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Thought 4: A Second Basis: God's Goodness (v7a)
Thought 4: A Second Basis: God's Goodness (v7a)
Psalm 95:7 (ESV)
7 For he is our God, and we are the people of his pasture, and the sheep of his hand.
WE SHOULD WORSHIP… FOR/BECAUSE — WE ARE HIS PEOPLE & HIS SHEEP…
ORIGINALLY EXCLUSIVELY for ISRAEL—NATURAL DESCENDANTS of ABRAHAM
NOW GENTILES GRAFTED IN— SPIRITUAL DESCENDANTS of ABRAHAM (GAL. 4…)
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God as Redeemer
God as Redeemer
Powerful: GOD ISN’T JUST ALMIGHTY—DISTANT, CREATOR… HE’S PERSONAL. 🤯
ELOHIM—SOVEREIGN CREATOR
YAHWEH—GRACIOUS REDEEMER
ABOUNDING in STEADFAST, COVENANT-KEEPING, FAITHFUL LOVE!
HANDS that MADE the SEAS—MADE ME…
EVEN MORE: HANDS THAT HOLD the SEAS HOLD ME… (SHEEP of HIS HAND)
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Mind-Boggling: GOD CARES for US… 🤯
I DON’T DESERVE THIS
I’M INSIGNIFICANT— HE’S GREAT
GOD TAKES INTEREST in ME…
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Transition: TWIN CALLS to WORSHIP W/ REASONS…
NOW PSALMIST ISSUES a PROPHETIC WARNING…
LOOK W/ ME @ VS 7-11
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Thought 5: A Prophetic Warning: Do Not Harden Your Hearts (v7b-11)
Thought 5: A Prophetic Warning: Do Not Harden Your Hearts (v7b-11)
Psalm 95:7–11 (ESV)
7b 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.”
WARNING— DON’T IGNORE GOD’S VOICE…
WORSHIP— NOT JUST EXTRAVAGANT PRAISE—BUT TRUST-FILLED OBEDIENCE
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Background: Wilderness Generation
Background: Wilderness Generation
PSALMIST REFERENCES WILDERNESS GENERATION’S DISOBEDIENCE
DELIVERED from EGYPT
POWERFUL SIGNS & WONDERS
PROVIDED for IN WILDERNESS…
Background: MASSAH & MERIBAH — QUARRELING W/ GOD— WHERE’S OUR WATER?
REQUESTS ALWAYS CAME in the FORM of COMPLAINTS.
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Challenge: IS NOT COMPLAINING the OPPOSITE of THANKSGIVING? 😬
“GOD YOUR PROVISION ISN’T GOOD ENOUGH.”
PEOPLE in WILDERNESS = GUILTY — NEVER TRUSTING GOD…
Climax: DISBELIEF CONCERNING PROMISED LAND— REFUSING to ENTER
Consequence: 40 YRS of WANDERING…
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GOD FOUND THEM REPUGNANT, LOATHSOME, GROSS—BECAUSE THEY WOULDN’T TRUST HIM…
Challenge: WORSHIP ALSO LOOKS LIKE OBEDIENCE.
THEIR DISBELIEF CAUSED THEM to DISOBEY.
THEY TESTED GOD, PUT HIM to the PROOF—NO MATTER HOW MUCH HE’D DONE for THEM
Consequence: THEY MISSED the REST of the HEAVENLY PROMISED LAND…
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Transition: LET THIS NOT BE SAID of US…
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Gospel Invitation:
Gospel Invitation:
PSALM TODAY PRESENTS PICTURE of a GOD WHO is GREAT & GOOD… THIS HASN’T CHANGED…
OFTEN in AWE of GOD’S GREATNESS — HOW MUCH MORE THAT HE CARES for US…
Psalm 8:3–4 (ESV)
3 When I look at your heavens, the work of your fingers, the moon and the stars, which you have set in place,
4 what is man that you are mindful of him, and the son of man that you care for him?
GOD CARES for US… WHY?
WE’RE SO SMALL & INSIGNIFICANT in SCHEME of THINGS
EVEN MORE—WE’VE REBELLED AGAINST HIM
YET GOD STILL CARES ABOUT US…
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HE LOVES US SO MUCH— HE MADE a WAY for US to ENTER HIS ETERNAL PROMISED LAND… W/ HIM
IT COST HIM EVERYTHING
Romans 5:8 (ESV)
8 but God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.
CHRIST JESUS CAME to SAVE SINNERS…
Bad News: WE’VE ALL REBELLED
WE’VE IGNORED GOD’S VOICE & COMMANDS
WE’VE GONE OUR OWN WAY — as SHEEP ASTRAY…
GOOD SHEPHERD WENT AFTER US…
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Invitation:
GOD MADE a WAY FOR US to BE RECONCILED & HOPE for HEAVEN…
… ON HIS TERMS.
NO ONE SUFFICIENTLY RIGHTEOUS—CHRIST MADE UP the DIFFERENCE…
=> IF WE PUT OUR TRUST in HIM & PROFESS HIM as LORD WE CAN BE SAVED… <=
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WILL YOU HEAR HIS VOICE TODAY?
TODAY CAN BE the DAY of YOUR SALVATION
Invitation: QUESTIONS—TALK to ME AFTER SERVICE TODAY…
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Transition: FOR THOSE WHO BELIEVE— WHAT DOES THIS PSALM TEACH US?
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VI. Application
VI. Application
Passage Idea: WE OUGHT to WORSHIP GOD BECAUSE of HIS GREATNESS & GOODNESS
1. CONSIDERING GREATNESS
CREATION TESTIFIES to CREATOR (NO EXCUSES)
ALL BELONGS to HIM
EXTREMES = HELD in HIS HANDS
KING of CREATION—ORDERING it ACCORDING to HIS PLANS
HE is WORTHY of OUR PRAISE.
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2. CONSIDERING GOODNESS...
DESPITE OUR SINFULNESS—GOD TOOK US as HIS PEOPLE
CARES for US/TAKES INTEREST in US
LOVES US
SAME HANDS THAT HOLD the SEA HOLD ME.
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Conclusion: Response
Conclusion: Response
WE SHOULD COME W/ JOYOUS SONGS
WE SHOULD COME W/ REVERENT THANKS
WE SHOULD COME W/ TRUST-FILLED OBEDIENCE
FOR HE is GREAT & HE is GOOD…AMEN?
!! Close in Prayer !!
