True Worship

 

Scripture Text

Text Psalm 95:6-7

Intro: The ‘Dictionary of Bible Themes” states that worship is mentioned hundreds of times in the bible. Scripture stresses the importance of regular corporate worship, while at the same time recognizing that believers may worship God spontaneously. When was the last time you truly worshiped God?

I. What is “True Worship”? [v:6] Psalms 95:6 (NKJV) Oh come, let us worship and bow down; Let us kneel before the Lord our Maker. Worship means to show reverence and adoration for a deity. True worship is bowing down and kneeling in surrender to the Lord our Maker. [v:6 above] Worship in the truest sense takes place only when our full attention is on God, on His beauty, His glory, magnificence, and majesty, His power, splendor, love and compassion. It’s not in doing religious things but being in complete awe of God and all He is!        If we are honest this doesn’t happen very often. Even in church or in times of quiet devotion, we get distracted and fail to see God as He truly is. It’s easy to be distracted! We must “cast down arguments [about God] and every high thing [rebellious thoughts] that exalts itself against the knowledge of God, bringing every thought into captivity to the obedience of Christ.” 2 Corinthians 10:5 (NKJV)   When your mind wants to wander bring it back into the obedience of Christ.

II. Things That Prompt Worship. Psalms 95:3-5 (NKJV)
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. True worship recognizes that God is the Lord. He is the sovereign, supreme, all-powerful over-all so-called gods (idols). God made everything and holds in place the universe.     True worship recognizes that God made us. [v:7] Psalms 95:7 (NKJV) 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: Psalms 139:13-18 (NLT) ¹³ You made all the delicate, inner parts of my body and knit me together in my mother’s womb. ¹⁴ Thank you for making me so wonderfully complex! Your workmanship is marvelous—how well I know it. ¹⁵ You watched me as I was being formed in utter seclusion, as I was woven together in the dark of the womb. ¹⁶ You saw me before I was born. Every day of my life was recorded in your book. Every moment was laid out before a single day had passed. ¹⁷ How precious are your thoughts about me, O God. They cannot be numbered! ¹⁸ I can’t even count them; they outnumber the grains of sand! And when I wake up, you are still with me! We are not here by accident. We are here by God’s perfect design and He has a plan for each of our lives. When we  worship God we draw close to Him and we find His direction for our lives. He restores our soul and fills us with His Holy Spirit power. Then He leads us in the paths of righteousness for His name sake. [Ps. 23:3] True worship recognizes God has made us a part of His forever family. [v:7] We are part of His flock which means We are under His care. God constantly watches over us. Psalms 139:7 (NLT) I can never escape from your Spirit! I can never get away from your presence! God also provides for our every need. The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want. [Ps. 23:1] True worship recognizes that we can never be separated from God and His love. Romans 8:38-39 (NKJV) ³⁸ For I am persuaded that neither death nor life, nor angels nor principalities nor powers, nor things present nor things to come, ³⁹ nor height nor depth, nor any other created thing, shall be able to separate us from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.

Conclusion: We must learn to shut out the distractions that keep us from truly worshiping God. We must turn our mind and heart to Him every day, praising Him for who He is, what He has done for us, what He is doing and what He has already prepared for our future. We must not to forget to thank Him for His everlasting, faithful love for us in Christ Jesus.

Invitation: You cannot worship God until you have a personal relationship with Him. If you do not have a personal relationship with God, it comes by confessing your sins to Jesus Christ and asking Him to forgive you and save you from Hell. Then invite Jesus into your life to take charge of you and your daily affairs. Then be baptized in the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. Then you can begin to truly worship God and receive His blessings for the rest of your life here on earth and then forever throughout eternity.