Sunday
Morning Bible Study
October 13, 2002
Illustration
Well, I’d like to ask you a question
today. What are you doing here? Do you know why you’re here in church? I hope that the main reason you are here is
to worship.
A. W. Tozer (1897–1963) said, “We are
called to an everlasting preoccupation with God.” He also said, “God wants
worshipers before workers; indeed the only acceptable workers are those who
have learned the lost art of worship. . . . The very stones would praise him if
the need arose and a thousand legions of angels would leap to do his will.”
Learning to worship
:4 he appointed certain of the Levites
appointed – nathan – (Qal) to give, bestow, grant, permit, ascribe
This is a word that seems to speak to a person’s will, their “choice”.
Lesson #1
Worship is a choice
It’s a choice you make.
You choose whether or not to “appoint” yourself to worship or not.
This wasn’t an issue of whether or not they “felt like it”.
It was their job, their responsibility.
And these guys had to do it every day.
(1 Chr 16:37 KJV) So he left there before the ark of
the covenant of the LORD Asaph and his brethren, to minister before the ark
continually, as every day's work required:
:4 to minister before the ark of the LORD
minister – sharat - to
minister, serve. This word speaks of the service that the Levites would give in
worship.
David is appointing these men to perform worship before the ark. Their
worship will be made up of music – there were singers, stringed instruments
(psalteries and harps), cymbals, and trumpets. (vs. 5-6)
The Ark was the place where
God would meet with man (Ex. 25:22). The
Ark was to be a model of God’s
throne in heaven.
In a sense, these Levites were going to be “performing” before the Throne. God’s
throne.
Lesson #2
Worship is performed to God
If you’re a performer, there are going to be times when some performances
are a little more important than others.
I’ve been in choirs since I was a kid. I’ve been in school choir concerts. I’ve
been in choirs that toured and performed many places. Some performances are a
little more awe-inspiring than others. I remember in high school going to
nursing homes, church luncheons, and retirement parks. But those didn’t seem
near as important as when we competed in the big high school choir competitions
each year at Chapman College.
But when it comes to worship, sometimes I have this feeling that we don’t
really understand who is in the audience.
Illustration
The Best for the Queen
One day while walking with some children and palace attendants, Queen Mary
was caught in a sudden thunderstorm. The queen quickly took shelter on the
porch of a home. To avoid attracting a crowd, she disguised her appearance by
putting on a hat that partly covered her face and a plain coat she borrowed
from one of her attendants. The queen then knocked at the door and asked to
borrow an umbrella. “I’ll send it back tomorrow,” she told the unfriendly woman
who answered the door. Despite the assurances about returning her umbrella, the
woman did not want to lend her best umbrella. So she retrieved an old umbrella
stored in the attic. One rib was broken, and there were several holes in it.
With a haughty attitude and scornful words, she handed it to the unrecognized
monarch. The next day the woman had another visitor—a man with gold braid on
his uniform and an envelope in his hand. “The queen sent me with this letter,”
he said, “and also asked me to thank you personally for the loan of your
umbrella.” The woman was stunned, and then brokenhearted. She burst into tears.
“This is just horrible—I missed an opportunity to give my queen my very best!”
she sobbed. “And my attitude was shameful,” she added.
The thing about our church worship time that may be misleading is the fact
that there are microphones and lights up front. It may lead you to think that
the people up front are performing for you. The people up front may even be
confused from time to time about this.
But the truth is, you aren’t the
audience. You are part of the performance. You are part of the presentation.
There is only One in the audience. We are all to be performing to Him. We
present our songs, our hearts, our lives to Him.
:4 to record
The three verbs that follow describe their worship, they tell how they
worshipped (record, thank, praise).
to record – zakar –
(Hiphil) to cause to remember, remind; to mention; to record
In the Psalm that David gives the Levites to sing (vs.8-36), David uses the
word twice: It is used in 1Chron.16:12 “Remember His marvelous works”, and in
1Chron.16:15 “Be ye mindful always of His covenant”.
The form of the verb (Hiphil) is causal, so the emphasis should be on
“causing to remember”.
The idea here is that the Levites were to minister in a way to cause the
people to remember about the Lord and His work.
Lesson #3
Worship requires remembering
What we do in worship should provoke our minds to recall how good God is
and what He has done for us.
See how the word zakar is used
in:
(Psa 63:1-6 KJV) A Psalm
of David, when he was in the wilderness of Judah.
David wrote this Psalm when he was out in the middle of
nowhere. He didn’t write this in the palace in Jerusalem.
O God, thou art my God; early will I seek thee: my soul thirsteth
for thee, my flesh longeth for thee in a dry and thirsty land, where no water
is;
David is in a time of need. This is not the kind of time
that we think of praising God in.
{2} To see thy power and thy glory, so as I have seen thee in the
sanctuary.
David remembers the glimpses of God that he’s caught at
the Tabernacle.
{3} Because thy lovingkindness is better than life, my lips shall
praise thee. {4} Thus will I bless thee while I live: I will lift up my hands
in thy name.
“Praise” and “blessing” are words describing worship.
{5} My soul shall be satisfied as with marrow and fatness; and my
mouth shall praise thee with joyful lips: {6} When I remember thee upon my bed, and meditate on thee in the night
watches.
This all comes when David “remembers” the Lord while on
his bed. He chooses to think about the Lord, even when he’s not in a great
place.
I think it’s valuable to take time to remember those “glimpses” you’ve
gotten of the Lord. It’s good to remember the things that God has done in your
life.
But frankly, sometimes we get so depressed that we couldn’t remember a nice
thing if we tried.
I think there is one thing we should always remember – God’s love for us
that was demonstrated by Jesus on the cross.
(1 John 3:16 KJV) Hereby perceive we the love of God,
because he laid down his life for us: and we ought to lay down our lives for
the brethren.
We’ll be sharing in communion today – and that’s what
communion is all about – remembering what Jesus has done for us.
:4 and to thank
to thank – yadah – to
throw, shoot, cast; (Hiphil) to give thanks, laud, praise; to confess, confess
(the name of God)
Here, it is used to express one’s public proclamation or declaration
(confession) of God’s attributes and His works. This concept is at the heart of
the meaning of praise. “Thanks” is a confession or declaration of who God is
and what He does.
Lesson #4
Worship gives thanks for God’s
greatness
Our worship should contain expressions of acknowledgment of God’s great
character and works.
There is a progression here: From causing our minds to remember who God is
and what He’s done, to outwardly expressing these things.
This is how David writes the Psalm (vs. 7-36) as well. David uses this same
Hebrew word (yadah) in the Psalm. The
Psalm starts with:
(1 Chr 16:7-8 KJV) Then
on that day David delivered first this psalm to thank the LORD into the hand of Asaph and his brethren. {8} Give thanks unto the LORD, call upon
his name, make known his deeds among the people.
This is how the Psalm starts, telling the people to give
thanks to the Lord.
Then David launches into reminding the people of the
wonderful things that the Lord has done. He reminds the people of how awesome
and powerful the Lord is.
At the end of the Psalm, after having demonstrated God’s mercy towards the
people, David writes,
(1 Chr 16:34
KJV) O give thanks unto
the LORD; for he is good; for his mercy endureth for ever.
David has demonstrated God’s wonderful mercy, and the
result is that we ought to give thanks to Him.
Illustration
Scars
Some years ago on a hot summer day in south Florida
a little boy decided to go for a swim in the old swimming hole behind his
house. In a hurry to dive into the cool water, he ran out the back door,
leaving behind shoes, socks, and shirt as he went. He flew into the water, not
realizing that as he swam toward the middle of the lake, an alligator was
swimming toward the shore. His mother in the house was looking out the window
saw the two as they got closer and closer together. In utter fear, she ran
toward the water, yelling to her son as loudly as she could. Hearing her voice,
the little boy became alarmed and made a U-turn to swim to his mother. It was
too late. Just as he reached her, the alligator reached him. From the dock, the
mother grabbed her little boy by the arms just as the alligator snatched his
legs. That began an incredible tug-of-war between the two. The alligator was
much stronger than the mother, but the mother was much too passionate to let
go. A farmer happened to drive by, heard her screams, raced from his truck,
took aim and shot the alligator. Remarkably, after weeks and weeks in the
hospital, the little boy survived. His legs were extremely scarred by the
vicious attack of the animal, and on his arms, were deep scratches where his
mother’s fingernails dug into his flesh in her effort to hang on to the son she
loved. The newspaper reporter who interviewed the boy after the trauma, asked
if he would show him his scars. The boy lifted his pant legs. And then, with
obvious pride, he said to the reporter, “But look at my arms. I have great
scars on my arms, too. I have them because my Mom wouldn’t let go.”
You and I can identify with that little boy. We have scars, too. No, not
from an alligator, or anything quite so dramatic. But the scars of a painful
past, Some of those scars are unsightly and have caused us deep regret. But,
some wounds, my friend, are because God has refused to let go. In the midst of
your struggle, He’s been there holding on to you. The Scripture teaches that
God loves you. You are a child of God. He wants to protect you and provide for
you in every way. But sometimes we foolishly wade into dangerous situations.
The swimming hole of life is filled with peril, and we forget that the enemy is
waiting to attack. That’s when the tug-of-war begins and if you have the scars
of His love on your arms be very, very grateful. He did not and will not - let
you go.
We have much to be thankful for.
:4 and praise
praise – halal – to shine;
(Piel) to praise; to boast, make a boast; The word “hallelujah” comes from this
word, meaning “Praise Yah”. Whereas the word yadah seems to be something a little more in the mind, “giving
thanks”, I think this word seems to be a little more in the emotions.
Lesson #5
Worship is filled with joy
Our worship should be filled with deep felt joy and adoration to our Great
King.
Again, there seems to be a progression: First we cause to remember, then we
acknowledge with thanks, then our hearts become involved in praise.
We see the same progression in the Psalm where David encourages the people
to “remember” what God has done (vs. 12,15), then to “give thanks” (vs. 34),
and then the people respond:
(1 Chr 16:36 KJV) …And all the people said, Amen, and praised the LORD.
Sometimes joy comes …
As we’ve worked through these aspects of worship – remembering, thanking,
praising – making the choice to seek the Lord.
As we experience His cleansing and forgiveness.
(Psa 32:1 KJV) Blessed (“how happy”) is
he whose transgression is forgiven, whose sin is covered.
As we are healed by His touch.
When Peter raised the lame man to his feet, he went
“walking and leaping and praising God” (Acts 4).
As we recognize God’s presence
(Psa 16:11 KJV) …in thy presence is fulness of joy;
at thy right hand there are pleasures for evermore.
Sometimes joy is loud and exuberant.
In this same occasion of bringing the Ark
to Jerusalem, David danced with all
his might before the Lord.
Sometimes joy is quiet because words can’t express it.
(1 Pet 1:8 KJV) Whom having not seen, ye love; in whom, though now
ye see him not, yet believing, ye rejoice with joy unspeakable and full of
glory:
The essence and goal of worship is joy.