Worship and Relationship - With God

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Purpose: To be encouraged to worship the Lord because he delights in our worship not because he needs our worship.

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Intro:

Often, we decide what we should do based on one simple word (in English) : “Need”
For example … you may decide to give money to someone you know because you found out that they are in financial “need” … and you want to help them
or … you spend the entire day cleaning your house … why? … because your house “needs” to be cleaned
It is normal for us to want to make an impact on both the people and the environments of our lives
We feel a sense of satisfaction when the house is clean because we can see the change that has taken place … the impact our actions had on the house
We feel a sense of satisfaction when we help someone out because we can see the financial and emotional impact it has on them
And we often choose to do the things that we think will have the most impact on either our environments or the people in our lives
We often evaluate the cause and effect relationship … because it’s great to know that what I am doing is going to affect something else in a good way
But when it comes to worship … are we waiting for that same need to arise?
Are we waiting for the Lord to tell us that he needs us to worship Him … that he needs our help in some way … that if we will take the time to worship him today he will be impacted?
Worship often goes against the logic … especially when we can’t see the need to worship
God is not desperate for our worship …
Acts 17:24–25 ESV
The God who made the world and everything in it, being Lord of heaven and earth, does not live in temples made by man, nor is he served by human hands, as though he needed anything, since he himself gives to all mankind life and breath and everything.
Acts 17:24–25 新改訳2017
この世界とその中にあるすべてのものをお造りになった神は、天地の主ですから、手で造られた宮にお住みにはなりません。 また、何かが足りないかのように、人の手によって仕えられる必要もありません。神ご自身がすべての人に、いのちと息と万物を与えておられるのですから。
God is constantly receiving worship …
Nehemiah 9:6 ESV
“You are the Lord, you alone. You have made heaven, the heaven of heavens, with all their host, the earth and all that is on it, the seas and all that is in them; and you preserve all of them; and the host of heaven worships you.
Nehemiah 9:6 新改訳2017
ただ、あなただけが主です。 あなたは天と、天の天と、その万象を、 地とその上のすべてのものを、 海とその中にあるすべてのものを造られました。 あなたはそのすべてを生かしておられます。 天の万象はあなたを伏し拝んでいます。
So if God does not need my worship … and if he’s already being worshipped by the Heavenly hosts …
Why would I need to make worship a top priority of my life? … Because God delights in receiving your worship

I. Psalm 104

The first 30 verses of Psalm 104 focus on God’s attributes and his mighty deeds
The psalmist is thinking upon the Lord and his greatness … thinking through what he knows about the Lord and about the Lord’s works in this world
The application of the Psalm is very simple … it is in vs. 1 and vs. 35 : “Bless the Lord”
The psalmist seeks to encourage us to bless and praise the Lord because of how great the Lord is
Now, often in the Psalms … we find phrases that include “my action” and “God’s response” … like “I called to you” (my action) … “and you answered me” (God’s response)
And so it’s easy to pull out an application like … “When I’m in trouble, I need to call on the Lord”
But Psalm 104 doesn’t have that …
Rather come up we simply have a description of the Lord … and a call to worship Him
But there is no cause and effect in this Psalm … there no “my action” and “God’s response”
Why is this? … Because:
Our worship should not be motivated by the desire to get help
// We don’t want to be those who only worship when there’s a problem going on in their lives … and forget to worship when things are going well
Our worship should not be motivated by the desire to help God
God doesn’t need our help … he has everything that he needs … he does not benefit from the worship that we give him
Our worship should be motivated by the fact that God is worthy and deserves our worship
The reason the Lord is already surrounded by worshippers in heaven … is because he is worthy of the worship of all his creation
He receives worship from the Heavenly hosts he created … and he desires to receive worship from you and me
In fact, he desires your worship so greatly that he sent his son to die on the cross in your place that you would have access to enter his presence and worship him

II. Why Does God Want Us to Worship Him?

Think back to when you were in school … think of your middle school days … and think of your history class … and your history teacher ...
Remember how your teacher would ask a lot of questions during the class?
“Who remembers what year the Panama Canal was completed?”
“When did Japan open its borders to the rest of the world?”
“Who was the 4th president of the United States?”
“When was Shuri Castle first built?”
Now… why was your teacher asking you all those questions?
I’m sure you know it wasn’t because your teacher couldn’t remember the answer … (most of the time)
Rather, your teacher was looking for a response from your class …
And those of you who teach know that a responsive class is a fun class … and it is a class that can continue learning
Psalm 104:33–34 ESV
I will sing to the Lord as long as I live; I will sing praise to my God while I have being. May my meditation be pleasing to him, for I rejoice in the Lord.
Psalm 104:33–34 新改訳2017
私はいのちの限り 主に歌い 生きるかぎり 私の神をほめ歌います。 私の心の思いが みこころにかないますように。 私は 主を喜びます。
In the first message in this series, we asked the question, “What is worship?”
And the answer we found is that “Worship is our response to God … to who he is … to what he has said … and to what he has done”
God loves it when we respond to him … he delights in our worship … and as Psalm 104:34 says, he is pleased when we meditate/think upon him
But why is it that God loves to receive our worship? … Because he loves to respond to us, as well
Worship involves our personal relationships with Jesus … we can’t worship the Lord without a relationship with him …
It’s like trying to call someone when you don’t have their phone number, LINE, facebook, instagram, whatsapp, or any other connection with them
But here’s what is awesome
As you and I respond to the Lord in worship … he is pleased … he is filled with joy … he delights in our worship
And then … he responds to us … whether by speaking to us … or by filling us with peace … or by giving us joy … or by answering our prayer … or whatever else it may be … God responds to us after we respond to him … and we end up receiving a spiritual blessing
When we worship the Lord … it opens the door for the Lord to do an even greater work in our hearts and lives …
And while we sometimes don’t see the “need” to worship … each one of us “needs” to worship the Lord more … because we each need more of him in our lives
So what is involved in our choosing to worship the Lord?
We’ve mentioned before that worship involves sacrifice … and that we must sacrifice if we are going to worship the Lord whole-heartedly

III. What Sacrifices Are Involved in Worship?

Ourselves
Romans 12:1 ESV
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.
Romans 12:1 新改訳2017
ですから、兄弟たち、私は神のあわれみによって、あなたがたに勧めます。あなたがたのからだを、神に喜ばれる、聖なる生きたささげ物として献げなさい。それこそ、あなたがたにふさわしい礼拝です。
God desires for us to give him our body, mind and will … to give ourselves completely to him for his purposes
Praise
Words are important in any relationship …
There was a season when all my friends wanted to do when they got together was watch movies … that’s fine … but for me it’s rather boring … relationships need some sort of conversation for them to grow … (that’s why I’d rather play cards than watch movies)
The same is true in our relationship with God … words are an important part … and in our worship, words can be prayer … they can be praise
Hebrews 13:15 ESV
Through him then let us continually offer up a sacrifice of praise to God, that is, the fruit of lips that acknowledge his name.
Hebrews 13:15 新改訳2017
それなら、私たちはイエスを通して、賛美のいけにえ、御名をたたえる唇の果実を、絶えず神にささげようではありませんか。
God takes our words seriously … and he desires for our words to be used to worship him
He desires that we worship him with our words continually … from a sincere heart … lest we become hypocrites
Our words are so important to God that he even accepts our sincere praise as though it were an expensive sacrifice
Psalm 69:30–31 ESV
I will praise the name of God with a song; I will magnify him with thanksgiving. This will please the Lord more than an ox or a bull with horns and hoofs.
Psalm 69:30–31 新改訳2017
歌をもって 私は神の御名をほめたたえ 感謝をもって 私は神をあがめます。 それは 雄牛にまさって主に喜ばれます。 角が生え ひづめが割れた若い牛にまさって。
Prayer
Just as God desires for us to praise him with our words … he delights in hearing our prayers
Psalm 141:2 ESV
Let my prayer be counted as incense before you, and the lifting up of my hands as the evening sacrifice!
Psalm 141:2 新改訳2017
私の祈りが 御前への香として 手を上げる祈りが 夕べのささげ物として 立ち上りますように。
We mentioned this last week, but … the golden altar of incense in the temple/tabernacle represented the prayers of God’s people
The picture is constant prayers going up to the Lord just as the smoke of the incense continually rises to the sky
The altar was golden … not brass like the altar for sacrifices … because our prayers are made holy in Jesus Christ … and God treats our prayers with great importance
It has been said, “When you pray, it is better for your heart to be without words than your words to be without heart.”
God doesn’t want empty prayers … he desires for us to worship him with the prayers of our hearts
Service and Giving
Hebrews 13:16 ESV
Do not neglect to do good and to share what you have, for such sacrifices are pleasing to God.
Hebrews 13:16 新改訳2017
善を行うことと、分かち合うことを忘れてはいけません。そのようないけにえを、神は喜ばれるのです。
We don’t do good works to gain God’s approval … or give our money to gain God’s blessing
But serving and giving are also ways we can worship the Lord … and he is delighted when we serve and give unto him
But we need to be careful … we need to be sure that our attitudes are right … that what we do for the Lord is coming from our hearts as an act of worship
God delights in your generosity … whether it is giving to someone in need or putting your tithe in the offering box here at the church … God is delighted when you give
But when we give out of obligation or guilt rather than worship … we lose our joy … and we miss out on the opportunity to worship in our giving
Giving should come from our hearts as a recognition of God’s grace and constant provision to us
The same is true of serving …
When we serve out of obligation … just like with giving … we lose our joy and miss out on the opportunity to worship him as we serve
But God delights when we serve him faithfully … with a worshipful heart and attitude … serving him primarily as we serve those around us
A broken heart
Psalm 51:16–17 ESV
For you will not delight in sacrifice, or I would give it; you will not be pleased with a burnt offering. The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit; a broken and contrite heart, O God, you will not despise.
Psalm 51:16–17 新改訳2017
まことに 私が供えても あなたはいけにえを喜ばれず 全焼のささげ物を望まれません。 神へのいけにえは 砕かれた霊。 打たれ 砕かれた心。 神よ あなたはそれを蔑まれません。
The Lord desires for us to worship him with hearts that are broken … hearts that recognize our failings and come to the Lord in repentance
Hebrews 3:7–8 新改訳2017
ですから、聖霊が言われるとおりです。 「今日、もし御声を聞くなら、 あなたがたの心を頑なにしてはならない。 荒野での試みの日に 神に逆らったときのように。
Hebrews 3:7–8 ESV
Therefore, as the Holy Spirit says, “Today, if you hear his voice, do not harden your hearts as in the rebellion, on the day of testing in the wilderness,
It is impossible to worship the Lord when our hearts are hard … because hard hearts lead to rebellion against him
But it is possible to look “Christian” … to look religious … and yet have a hard heart
Think of the Pharisees … they had a religious routine … they had a religious lifestyle … they were known as being “spiritual” … yet their hearts were so hard that they rejected God’s son
We need to be careful we don’t fall into the same trap … careful that we don’t become content with a religious routine … lest our hearts become hardened toward the Lord
What does a hard heart look like?
An unwillingness to admit and confess our own sins
A bitter spirit toward another believer
An unwillingness to forgive
A resistance to the word of God
An inflexible attitude
A feeling that my way is the right and only way
A resistance toward change and unwillingness to learn new things
A refusal to let people get “too close”
An easy-to-offend attitude
A preoccupation with self
Even in normal relationships … friends … spouse … parents and children ...
It is very hard to have a good relationship with someone who is hard-hearted
And it is hard for those around us when our hearts are hard
The Lord desires for us to come to him with a broken heart … not a hard heart
And to worship him in humility … not pride
Isaiah 57:15 ESV
For thus says the One who is high and lifted up, who inhabits eternity, whose name is Holy: “I dwell in the high and holy place, and also with him who is of a contrite and lowly spirit, to revive the spirit of the lowly, and to revive the heart of the contrite.
Isaiah 57:15 新改訳2017
いと高くあがめられ、永遠の住まいに住み、 その名が聖である方が、こう仰せられる。 「わたしは、高く聖なる所に住み、 砕かれた人、へりくだった人とともに住む。 へりくだった人たちの霊を生かし、 砕かれた人たちの心を生かすためである。

Conclusion:

As we worship the Lord … responding to him
He is delighted by our worship … and he responds to us
As he responds to our worship … we receive a spiritual blessing
Just as we read in Psalm 104 today … at the beginning … and the end of the psalm
“Bless the Lord”
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