Worship In God's Presence

Psalm 26 (NKJV)

Psalm 26

A Prayer for Divine Scrutiny and Redemption

A Psalm of David.

1 Vindicate me, O Lord,

For I have walked in my integrity.

I have also trusted in the Lord;

I shall not slip.

2 Examine me, O Lord, and prove me;

Try my mind and my heart.

3 For Your lovingkindness is before my eyes,

And I have walked in Your truth.

4 I have not sat with idolatrous mortals,

Nor will I go in with hypocrites.

5 I have hated the assembly of evildoers,

And will not sit with the wicked.

6 I will wash my hands in innocence;

So I will go about Your altar, O Lord,

7 That I may proclaim with the voice of thanksgiving,

And tell of all Your wondrous works.

8 Lord, I have loved the habitation of Your house,

And the place where Your glory dwells.

9 Do not gather my soul with sinners,

Nor my life with bloodthirsty men,

10 In whose hands is a sinister scheme,

And whose right hand is full of bribes.

11 But as for me, I will walk in my integrity;

Redeem me and be merciful to me.

12 My foot stands in an even place;

In the congregations I will bless the Lord.

Israel Affirms the Covenant

24 Now He said to Moses, “Come up to the Lord, you and Aaron, aNadab and Abihu, band seventy of the elders of Israel, and worship from afar. 2 And Moses alone shall come near the Lord, but they shall not come near; nor shall the people go up with him.”

3 So Moses came and told the people all the words of the Lord and all the 1judgments. And all the people answered with one voice and said, c“All the words which the Lord has said we will do.” 4 And Moses dwrote all the words of the Lord. And he rose early in the morning, and built an altar at the foot of the mountain, and twelve epillars according to the twelve tribes of Israel. 5 Then he sent young men of the children of Israel, who offered fburnt offerings and sacrificed peace offerings of oxen to the Lord. 6 And Moses gtook half the blood and put it in basins, and half the blood he sprinkled on the altar. 7 Then he htook the Book of the Covenant and read in the hearing of the people. And they said, “All that the Lord has said we will do, and be obedient.” 8 And Moses took the blood, sprinkled it on the people, and said, “This is ithe blood of the covenant which the Lord has made with you according to all these words.”

On the Mountain with God

9 Then Moses went up, also Aaron, Nadab, and Abihu, and seventy of the elders of Israel, 10 and they jsaw the God of Israel. And there was under His feet as it were a paved work of ksapphire stone, and it was like the lvery 2heavens in its clarity. 11 But on the nobles of the children of Israel He mdid not 3lay His hand. So nthey saw God, and they oate and drank.

12 Then the Lord said to Moses, p“Come up to Me on the mountain and be there; and I will give you qtablets of stone, and the law and commandments which I have written, that you may teach them.”

13 So Moses arose with rhis assistant Joshua, and Moses went up to the mountain of God. 14 And he said to the elders, “Wait here for us until we come back to you. Indeed, Aaron and sHur are with you. If any man has a difficulty, let him go to them.” 15 Then Moses went up into the mountain, and ta cloud covered the mountain.

16 Now uthe glory of the Lord rested on Mount Sinai, and the cloud covered it six days. And on the seventh day He called to Moses out of the midst of the cloud. 17 The sight of the glory of the Lord was like va consuming fire on the top of the mountain in the eyes of the children of Israel. 18 So Moses went into the midst of the cloud and went up into the mountain. And wMoses was on the mountain forty days and forty nights.Introduction:

Introduction:

When you say, “I miss you?” What do you mean? When you say, “I really want to see you?” What are you really saying? We’re saying we really want to be with you, experience you, know you. Do you know that is what God wants with His people? As we go through Exodus, one of the main things we should take away from this book is that God greatly desires to be with his people. To experience them and for them to experience Him. It is quite incredible, that the all sufficient one desires that much to be present with his people.

Last week we learned that God guides his people with His presence and this week we learn that God desires for us to worshipping

Background:

Exodus 20:18–21 (NKJV)

The People Afraid of God’s Presence

18 Now all the people witnessed the thunderings, the lightning flashes, the sound of the trumpet, and the mountain smoking; and when the people saw it, they trembled and stood afar off. 19 Then they said to Moses, “You speak with us, and we will hear; but let not God speak with us, lest we die.”

20 And Moses said to the people, “Do not fear; for God has come to test you, and that His fear may be before you, so that you may not sin.” 21 So the people stood afar off, but Moses drew near the thick darkness where God was.

The Purpose of this passage is that it begins a section where God is going to make incredible provision and instruction for God’s people to live in His presence.

Exodus 25:9 (NKJV)

9 According to all that I show you, that is, the pattern of the tabernacle and the pattern of all its furnishings, just so you shall make it.

Exodus 25:40 (NKJV)

40 And see to it that you make them according to the pattern which was shown you on the mountain.

Proposition: God desires for His People to worship in His presence.

Interrogative: What does it look like to worship in His presence?

I. Worship in God’s presence requires a covenant commitment (24:1-8)

Exodus 24:1–8 (NKJV)

Israel Affirms the Covenant

24 Now He said to Moses, “Come up to the Lord, you and Aaron, Nadab and Abihu, and seventy of the elders of Israel, and worship from afar. 2 And Moses alone shall come near the Lord, but they shall not come near; nor shall the people go up with him.”

3 So Moses came and told the people all the words of the Lord and all the judgments. And all the people answered with one voice and said, “All the words which the Lord has said we will do.”

A. The Invitation to Worship - 1-2

1. The first level - 1

a. Come up

b. Worship from afar - cf Exodus 19:12-21

2. The Second Level: Moses alone shall come near - 2

a. Moses alone shall come near the Lord

b . They shall not come near

c. Nor shall the people go up with him

Note: There are levels to being in the presence of God. It isn’t binary— it is not an in or out thing, it is a progressive thing.

Philippians 3:10–11 (NKJV)

10 that I may know Him and the power of His resurrection, and the fellowship of His sufferings, being conformed to His death, 11 if, by any means, I may attain to the resurrection from the dead.

How do you view your relationship with God?

B. The Enthusiastic Agreement - 3

1. Moses told the people all of the words and the judgements

2. The People: All of the words which the Lord said we will do

C. The Confirmation of the Covenant - 4-8

4 And Moses wrote all the words of the Lord. And he rose early in the morning, and built an altar at the foot of the mountain, and twelve pillars according to the twelve tribes of Israel. 5 Then he sent young men of the children of Israel, who offered burnt offerings and sacrificed peace offerings of oxen to the Lord. 6 And Moses took half the blood and put it in basins, and half the blood he sprinkled on the altar. 7 Then he took the Book of the Covenant and read in the hearing of the people. And they said, “All that the Lord has said we will do, and be obedient.” 8 And Moses took the blood, sprinkled it on the people, and said, “This is the blood of the covenant which the Lord has made with you according to all these words.”

1. The Permanence of the Covenant

a. It was placed in Writing

b. An alter was built

c. 12 pillars were built like monuments

2. The Participants - 5

a. The Sacrificers: Young men (probably referring to the 1st born. The Levites will eventually take their place as a substitute.)

b. 1/2 blood = basins, 1/2 blood sprinkled on the alter

3. The Claim of Ownership - 6-8

a. Moses Read from the Book of the Covenant

b. And read in the hearing of the people

c. All that the Lord has said we will do, and be obedient

4. The Sealing of the Covenant - 9

Moses took the blood and sprinkled on the people

Application: We too have a covenant relationship with God. We often cheapen our salvation to be thought of as fire insurance.

1 Peter 1:2 NKJV

elect according to the foreknowledge of God the Father, in sanctification of the Spirit, for obedience and sprinkling of the blood of Jesus Christ: Grace to you and peace be multiplied.

Hebrews 10:22 NKJV

let us draw near with a true heart in full assurance of faith, having our hearts sprinkled from an evil conscience and our bodies washed with pure water.

When God commanded Moses to sprinkle the people with blood in Exodus 24, he was making a definitive and unequivocal statement: Israel is his.

Zondervan. Exodus (The NIV Application Commentary) (p. 502). Zondervan Academic. Kindle Edition.

book of Hebrews (Heb. 7:27; 9:26; 10:10). It is the real, present, and recurring benefit of what was acted out on the cross.

Hebrews 9:26 (NKJV)

26 He then would have had to suffer often since the foundation of the world; but now, once at the end of the ages, He has appeared to put away sin by the sacrifice of Himself.

Transition: Once there is clear covenantal commitment, what does worshipping in the presence of God move to?

II. Worship in God’s presence results communion (24:9-12)

A. The Elders View God

9 Then Moses went up, also Aaron, Nadab, and Abihu, and seventy of the elders of Israel, 10 and they saw the God of Israel. And there was under His feet as it were a paved work of sapphire stone, and it was like the very heavens in its clarity. 11 But on the nobles of the children of Israel He did not lay His hand. So they saw God, and they ate and drank.

1. Those involved -

a. Moses, Aaron/

b. Nadab and Abihu - Aarons oldest Sons

c. Seventy elders of Israel

2. The experience: They saw the God of Israel

3. The description:

a. Under His feet as it were a paved work of sapphire stone

b. It was like the very heavens in its clarity

Ezekiel Sent to Rebellious Israel

So when I saw it, I fell on my face, and I heard a voice of One speaking.

Ezekiel 10:1 (NKJV)

The Glory Departs from the Temple

10 And I looked, and there in the firmament that was above the head of the cherubim, there appeared something like a sapphire stone, having the appearance of the likeness of a throne.

B. The Response: They ate and drank

Nevertheless, it is the confirmation of this covenantal relationship between these two parties—Israel and her God—that is the topic of this narrative.

Zondervan. Exodus (The NIV Application Commentary) (p. 494). Zondervan Academic. Kindle Edition. 27:6–9 (NKJV)

Exodus 18:12 (NKJV)

12 Then Jethro, Moses’ father-in-law, took a burnt offering and other sacrifices to offer to God. And Aaron came with all the elders of Israel to eat bread with Moses’ father-in-law before God.

Confirming the covenant. The eating of a meal together in order to solidify an agreement of some sort is a known custom in the ancient Near East. For example, the treaty that Abimelech, king of the Philistines, proposed to Isaac was sealed with a meal, thus signifying there would be peace between them (Gen. 26:26–31). Jacob and Laban observed the same custom and departed in peace although there had been revenge and death on Laban’s mind just the day before (Gen. 31, esp. v. 54).

Genesis 26:26–31 (NKJV)

26 Then Abimelech came to him from Gerar with Ahuzzath, one of his friends, and Phichol the commander of his army. 27 And Isaac said to them, “Why have you come to me, since you hate me and have sent me away from you?”

28 But they said, “We have certainly seen that the Lord is with you. So we said, ‘Let there now be an oath between us, between you and us; and let us make a covenant with you, 29 that you will do us no harm, since we have not touched you, and since we have done nothing to you but good and have sent you away in peace. You are now the blessed of the Lord.’ ”

30 So he made them a feast, and they ate and drank. 31 Then they arose early in the morning and swore an oath with one another; and Isaac sent them away, and they departed from him in peace.

C. The Disclaimer God did not harm them in any way

Exodus (7) Documentation of the Covenant and God’s Confirming Glory (24:1–11)

The statement “but God did not raise his hand309 against these leaders” (v. 11) reflects the widespread assumption in the ancient world that to see God would be to die.310 Nothing of the sort was God’s intention; instead he showed himself, even though only vaguely and partially, so that the people’s leaders would understand that he was a willing party to his covenant with them and so that they would remember that they had agreed to the keep his covenant in his actual, unmistakable, presence. “And they ate and drank” is a summation of the covenant meal.311

Application: There are feasts associated with the New Covenant as well!

Marriage Supper of the Lamb - Rev 19

6 jAnd I heard, as it were, the voice of a great multitude, as the sound of many waters and as the sound of mighty thunderings, saying, “Alleluia! For kthe 4Lord God Omnipotent reigns! 7 Let us be glad and rejoice and give Him glory, for lthe marriage of the Lamb has come, and His wife has made herself ready.” 8 And mto her it was granted to be arrayed in fine linen, clean and bright, nfor the fine linen is the righteous acts of the saints.

9 Then he said to me, “Write: o‘Blessed are those who are called to the marriage supper of the Lamb!’ ” And he said to me, p“These are the true sayings of God.” 10 And qI fell at his feet to worship him. But he said to me, r“See that you do not do that! I am yours fellow servant, and of your brethren twho have the testimony of Jesus. Worship God! For the testimony of Jesus is the spirit of prophecy.”

Luke 22:15–18 (NKJV)

15 Then He said to them, “With fervent desire I have desired to eat this Passover with you before I suffer; 16 for I say to you, I will no longer eat of it until it is fulfilled in the kingdom of God.”

17 Then He took the cup, and gave thanks, and said, “Take this and divide it among yourselves; 18 for I say to you, I will not drink of the fruit of the vine until the kingdom of God comes.”

1 Corinthians 11:25–26 (NKJV)

25 In the same manner He also took the cup after supper, saying, “This cup is the new covenant in My blood. This do, as often as you drink it, in remembrance of Me.”

26 For as often as you eat this bread and drink this cup, you proclaim the Lord’s death till He comes.

Transition: Finally we see Moses ascending even further toward the glory of God.

III. Worship in God’s presence includes experiencing God’s glory (24:12-15)

A. Moses and Joshua are Invited to View God and receive His Word

12 Then the Lord said to Moses, “Come up to Me on the mountain and be there; and I will give you tablets of stone, and the law and commandments which I have written, that you may teach them.”

13 So Moses arose with his assistant Joshua, and Moses went up to the mountain of God. 14 And he said to the elders, “Wait here for us until we come back to you. Indeed, Aaron and Hur are with you. If any man has a difficulty, let him go to them.” 15 Then Moses went up into the mountain, and a cloud covered the mountain.

1. The Purpose: - 12

a. To give you tablets of stone and and the law and commandments

b. That you may teach them

2. The Delegation - Leadership delegated to Aaron and Hur -14

3. The Situation - The cloud covered the mountain - 15

B. Moses Encounter with God

16 Now the glory of the Lord rested on Mount Sinai, and the cloud covered it six days. And on the seventh day He called to Moses out of the midst of the cloud. 17 The sight of the glory of the Lord was like a consuming fire on the top of the mountain in the eyes of the children of Israel. 18 So Moses went into the midst of the cloud and went up into the mountain. And Moses was on the mountain forty days and forty nights.

1. The Context:

a. The glory of the Lord rested on on Mount Sinai

b. One the seventh day God called ot Moses in the midst of the cloud

c. The sight of the glory of the Lord is like a consuming fire on the top of the mountain (Israel saw it below)

Ezekiel 1:22–28 (NKJV)

22 The likeness of the firmament above the heads of the living creatures was like the color of an awesome crystal, stretched out over their heads.

26 And above the firmament over their heads was the likeness of a throne, in appearance like a sapphire stone; on the likeness of the throne was a likeness with the appearance of a man high above it. 27 Also from the appearance of His waist and upward I saw, as it were, the color of amber with the appearance of fire all around within it; and from the appearance of His waist and downward I saw, as it were, the appearance of fire with brightness all around. 28 Like the appearance of a rainbow in a cloud on a rainy day, so was the appearance of the brightness all around it. This was the appearance of the likeness of the glory of the Lord.

2. The Behavior of Moses

a. Moses went into the midst of the cloud

b. and went up into the mountain

3. The duration: Moses was in the mountain 40 days and 40 nights.

Matthew 17:1–8 (NKJV)

The Transfiguration

Mark 9:2–13; Luke 9:28–36; 2 Pet. 1:17, 18

17 Now after six days Jesus took Peter, James, and John his brother, led them up on a high mountain by themselves; 2 and He was transfigured before them. His face shone like the sun, and His clothes became as white as the light. 3 And behold, Moses and Elijah appeared to them, talking with Him. 4 Then Peter answered and said to Jesus, “Lord, it is good for us to be here; if You wish, let us make here three tabernacles: one for You, one for Moses, and one for Elijah.”

5 While he was still speaking, behold, a bright cloud overshadowed them; and suddenly a voice came out of the cloud, saying, “This is My beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased. Hear Him!” 6 And when the disciples heard it, they fell on their faces and were greatly afraid. 7 But Jesus came and touched them and said, “Arise, and do not be afraid.” 8 When they had lifted up their eyes, they saw no one but Jesus only.

2 Peter 1:17–21 (NKJV)

17 For He received from God the Father honor and glory when such a voice came to Him from the Excellent Glory: “This is My beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased.” 18 And we heard this voice which came from heaven when we were with Him on the holy mountain.

19 And so we have the prophetic word confirmed, which you do well to heed as a light that shines in a dark place, until the day dawns and the morning star rises in your hearts; 20 knowing this first, that no prophecy of Scripture is of any private interpretation, 21 for prophecy never came by the will of man, but holy men of God spoke as they were moved by the Holy Spirit.

Concluding Applications:

1. Experiencing the presence of God should cause us to want more.

2. Experiencing the presence of God requires covenant commitment.

3. Experiencing the presence of God comes by experiencing the Word of God.