A Heart of Worship

Psalms 95:1-11

INTRODUCTION: Worship of God is the greatest privilege and the holiest experience for Christians. We are to “worship the LORD in the beauty of holiness.” True worship is not manufactured by energy of the flesh. Worship comes from power of the Spirit working through a pure life. Our worship should be filled with joy and praise to God as well as awe and reverence for God. We can keep ourselves from departing from the living God if we have a heart like David who said, “I will praise thee, O LORD, with my whole heart.”

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A.W Tozer

“Jesus was born of a virgin, suffered under Pontius Pilate, died on the cross, and rose from the grave to make worshipers out of rebels!”

Psalm 95:1–11 NKJV

1 Oh come, let us sing to the Lord! Let us shout joyfully to the Rock of our salvation. 2 Let us come before His presence with thanksgiving; Let us shout joyfully to Him with psalms. 3 For the Lord is the great God, And the great King above all gods. 4 In His hand are the deep places of the earth; The heights of the hills 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 will hear His voice: 8 “Do not harden your hearts, as in the rebellion, As in the day of trial in the wilderness, 9 When your fathers tested Me; They tried Me, though they saw My work. 10 For forty years I was grieved with that generation, And said, ‘It is a people who go astray in their hearts, And they do not know My ways.’ 11 So I swore in My wrath, ‘They shall not enter My rest.’ ”

WORTHINESS OF GOD

REVEALED IN HIS NAMES.

LORD. “the Self-existent One, the God of the Covenant”

King. (John 1:49; Rev. 17:14; 19:16)

RELATIONSHIP TO HIS PEOPLE.

Rock of our salvation. (v. 1; 1 Cor. 10:4; John 4:13-14)

Creator. “our maker” (v. 6; Genesis 1:26-27)

Shepherd. (v. 7; Ps. 23:1-6; John 10:11, 14)

Revelation 4:11 NKJV

11 “You are worthy, O Lord, To receive glory and honor and power; For You created all things, And by Your will they exist and were created.”

WORSHIP OF GOD

APPROACHING GOD.

Lips of joyful praise to God. (v. 1; Ps. 51:15; 71:23)

Hearts full of thanks to God. (v. 2; Heb. 13:15)

Minds filled with truth about God. (v. 3-5; John 4:24)

ADORATION BEFORE GOD.

Spirit of reverence. “bow down” (v. 6)

Psalm 89:6–7 NKJV

6 For who in the heavens can be compared to the Lord? Who among the sons of the mighty can be likened to the Lord? 7 God is greatly to be feared in the assembly of the saints, And to be held in reverence by all those around Him.

b. Spirit of humility. “kneel before the LORD our maker”

Philippians 2:10–11 NKJV

10 that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of those in heaven, and of those on earth, and of those under the earth, 11 and that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.

WARNING FROM GOD

Israel camped in Rephidim. The name meant “rest” or “refreshments,” even though there was no water there for the people to drink. However, God miraculously provided water by having Moses strike a rock.

EXAMPLE FROM ISRAEL’S PAST. (v. 8; Exodus 17:1-7)

Crisis of Israel. “no water to drink” (Ex. 17:1)

Complaint of Israel. “they would die from thirst” (Ex. 17:2-3)

Command to Moses. “Moses was to smite the rock” (Ex. 17:6)

Exodus 17:7 NKJV

7 So he called the name of the place Massah and Meribah, because of the contention of the children of Israel, and because they tempted the Lord, saying, “Is the Lord among us or not?”

Massah” is from a Hebrew word meaning “trial” or “testing,” while “Meribah” means “strife,” “contention,” or “rebellion.”

2. EXHORTING OF CHRISTIANS. (Heb. 3:7-19)

1. Daily encouraging one another. (Heb. 3:13)

Hebrews 3:13 NKJV

13 but exhort one another daily, while it is called “Today,” lest any of you be hardened through the deceitfulness of sin.

2. Danger of unbelief.

Departing from the living God. (Heb. 3:12)

Hebrews 3:12 NKJV

12 Beware, brethren, lest there be in any of you an evil heart of unbelief in departing from the living God;

b. Deceitfulness of sin. (Heb. 3:13)

c. Deliberately hardening the heart. (Heb. 3:15-16)

Hebrews 3:15–16 NKJV

15 while it is said: “Today, if you will hear His voice, Do not harden your hearts as in the rebellion.” 16 For who, having heard, rebelled? Indeed, was it not all who came out of Egypt, led by Moses?

d. Death from unbelief. (Heb. 3:17-19)

Hebrews 3:17–19 NKJV

17 Now with whom was He angry forty years? Was it not with those who sinned, whose corpses fell in the wilderness? 18 And to whom did He swear that they would not enter His rest, but to those who did not obey? 19 So we see that they could not enter in because of unbelief.

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Dr. Rick Ivey

“Worship must be based on the preaching of the Word of God. First, we must hear God’s Word. Second, we must obey it. Only then can we praise God joyfully for what we have heard.”

Conclusion:

1. The Lord is worthy of our worship.

2. Our worship should be joyful and full of praise to God.

3. True worship will keep the heart of the worshipper in tune to God.

4. Many Christians are wandering in the wilderness of this world because of the sin of unbelief.

5. We must come to the cross of Christ before we can worship before His throne.