WORSHIP SERIES
Psalm 100
#1 - WHY WORSHIP?
We come to Sunday School, but have we worshipped?
We come to church,
but have we worshipped?
We come to Prayer
Meeting, but have we worshipped?
Our minds are
easily distracted.
My tongue can
easily mouth words of hymns that I give little or no thought to. So often when we worship, “the light’s on,
but nobody’s home”.
Psalm 29:2 - Give unto the Lord the glory due
unto his name; worship the Lord in the beauty of holiness.
We get little out
of church because we put little into it.
We haven’t really
learned to give the Lord “the glory due unto His name” because we haven’t truly
learned to worship Him in the beauty of holiness.
So what is
worship?
In the Old
Testament, the primary word translated “worship” means to “bow down”. When we
bow down before something or someone, we are submitting ourselves.
In the New
Testament, according to Warren Wiersbe, the key Greek word for worship means to
‘to kiss toward’. “It conveys the idea of showing reverence or doing obeisance
to God, humans, or even Satan. Warren Wiersbe, Real Worship: Playground, Battleground, or Holy Ground? Second edition
(
Warren Wiersbe
also says, “When we consider all the words used for worship in both the Old and
New Testaments, and when we put their meanings together, we find that worship
involves both attitudes (awe, reverence, respect) and actions (bowing,
praising, serving). It is both a subjective experience and an objective
activity.” Wiersbe, p. 20-21
My friend, I
suggest to you that everyone worships something or someone. Everyone bows to and reverences something or
someone. We as Christians are to bow to and worship God; but why?
Please turn to
Psalm 100, a classic psalm that tells us about worship. It is here that we will find why we should
worship God.
Psalm 100:1 - Make a joyful noise unto the
Lord, all ye lands.
To make a joyful
noise is to “shout joyfully”.
There should be
joy in our hearts and on our lips when we worship God.
Church should not
resemble a morgue!
There should be
joy in church!
There should be no
lack of reverence for God, but there should also be no lack happiness.
There are times to
be solemn, to be sorrowful, to mourn over sin, to be serious in prayer.
But when we
worship privately or publicly there should be great joy!
Psalm 100:2 - Serve the Lord with gladness:
come before his presence with singing.
Whatever we do, we
should do as an act of worship to our God.
We should see
worship as a service to our God, and we should be glad to serve our God. If we are glad to serve our God, we will be
glad to worship our God.
We are also to come before his presence with singing.
Whether we worship
privately our publicly, music is to be a great part of the worship of our God.
Psalm 30:4, Psalm
150:3-6, Ephesians 5:18-19
Why should we go
through all this “trouble” to worship God?
Psalm 100 gives us
reasons for worshipping our God.
WE SHOULD
WORSHIP GOD BECAUSE OF WHO HE IS
Psalm 100:3 - Know ye that the Lord he is God:
The word “LORD”
here refers to the word Jehovah, the self existent one, the
great “I AM”. Revelation 1:8
When I truly
“know” something, I have a heart-felt conviction that I know it. If I know that the Lord is God, I am
thoroughly convinced in my heart, and wouldn’t dare worship anyone or anything
but Him.
WE SHOULD
WORSHIP GOD BECAUSE OF WHAT HE HAS DONE
it is he that hath made us, and
not we ourselves;
You wouldn’t be
here if God hadn’t created you.
Nothing would be
here if God hadn’t created it. Psalm 135:6
If we had no other
reason to worship God, and there are many other reasons, we are obligated to
worship Him, because we are creatures, we are creations, but HE IS CREATOR!
Revelation 4:11
WE SHOULD WORSHIP
GOD BECAUSE OF WHO WE ARE
we are his people, and the sheep
of his pasture.
Not everyone can
worship God for these reasons.
Everyone one can worship
God as creator.
Not everyone can
worship God because they are His people and sheep.
When this psalm
was written the Children of
God’s people are
those people who God will receive into Heaven.
Jesus tells us that God’s people must be born again! John 3:3, 6-7
If you have truly
trusted Jesus as your Savior, you have been born again into the Family of God.
You are a citizen of Heaven, even though you are not there yet. YOU ARE A CHILD
OF GOD! John 1:12-13
we are his people, and the sheep
of his pasture.
Jesus is the Good
Shepherd.
Jesus tells us in
John 10:27-30, My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and
they follow me: [28] And I give unto them eternal life; and they shall never
perish, neither shall any man pluck them out of my hand. [29] My Father, which
gave them me, is greater than all; and no man is able to pluck them out of my
Father's hand. [30] I and my Father are one.
The Lord Jesus is
taking personal responsibility for you as one of His sheep, if you know Jesus
as your Savior.
Please listen to
these familiar words with a new appreciation for what it means to be one of His
sheep.
Psalm 23:1-6
If you honestly
reflect on the 23rd Psalm, you will have to admit that we have every
reason to worship!
WE SHOULD
WORSHIP GOD BECAUSE OF WHAT HE IS LIKE
Psalm 100:5 - For the Lord is good; his mercy is
everlasting; and his truth endureth to all generations.
You have life
because the Lord is good.
You have eternal
life, if you know Jesus as Savior, because the Lord is good.
Your every day
needs are met because the Lord is good.
You have answers
to prayer because the Lord is good.
You have the beauty
of creation because the Lord is good.
There is truth and
righteousness because the Lord is good.
his mercy is everlasting;
This word “mercy”
means “love”.
God’s love is
eternal.
It began before
the foundation of the world.
It will continue
throughout all eternity.
His love is best
summed up in that old familiar favorite, John 3:16.
truth endureth
to all generations.
God’s truth
endures, because God’s word endures.
God’s truth
endures, because God’s Son endures. John 14:6
We can worship God
because of what he is like, and these are just three examples.
There are more
reasons to worship God because of what He is like. You will find them as you
read His Word.