748. How to Worship God

Welcome to The Daily Platform from Bob Jones University in Greenville, South Carolina. The school was founded in 1927 evangelist Dr. Bob Jones Senior's intent was to make a school where Christ would be the center of everything, so he established daily chapel services today. That tradition continues with fervent biblical preaching from the University Chapel platform today on The Daily Platform. Dr. Steve Pettit is continuing a study series from the book of Psalms entitled encountering God. Today's message is how to worship God and Dr. Ellen Benson, VP for student development and discipleship is with us to give us a little insight to the passage which Steve is going to preach from. So Ellen thanks once again for being here and tell us a little more about this Chapel message that was from Psalm 15, so great to be here today and what a topic we have before us it actually is one of those topics.

That makes me so thankful that God in his sovereignty placed the book of Psalms in our Bible as we been talking about encountering God. If we could use a word to capture what encountering God is.

It would be this word worship but an understanding of that word in our context is sometimes difficult to grasp. We use the word worship and it almost gives the sense of detachment from reality. I live my life and then at times I step aside and I I worship Psalms helps us to see that.

That really is not the biblical concept of the New Testament, we understand things like whatever man finds to do, let them do it heartily as unto the Lord, and not on demand.

It takes the tasks of the hands and actually categorize them in the idea of worship. This idea of of worship is a demonstration in life of the worst ship of God. Israel struggled with this concept because of their legal system, the law that they were dealing with in a paramount picture of that struggle and God's answer is found in the book of Micah are saying but how many thousands of RAM. Should we offer and should we give our children and it is this expression of of what ever could be enough. Could there ever be enough in God and simplicity comes back to his people through the prophet Micah Micah 68 and he says he's shown you a man what is good and what does the Lord require of the but to act justly and to love mercy and to walk humbly with your God. Any couches life in terms of of this relationship that actually brings us back to the heart. It is a merciful relationship of others where we demonstrate through those interactions. What we think about God in life it actually is is about our our work relationships, and our family relationships and how what we think about God is demonstrated in those relationships and that is then this overarching concept of walking the daily life with a heart that's submitted before God.

In Psalm 15, you're going to find these questions will whoever could worship God. And it's not has to be this frustrating enigma it actually is asked to give us an answer. Here's what God says about coming into his presence and and living with a mindset that is mindful of him in all that we do and God actually brings worship back to life.

Rather than detaching it from life in Psalm 15 actually gives us some of those categories of this is what that worship looks like in life. So what a wonderful study will again this is a great study of the book of Psalms and there's a study booklet.

The doctor Pettit has written to accompany the sermons get on candle or order a print version from our website. The Daily Platform.com. We would encourage you to study along with us. So now it's here. Dr. Pettit sermon how to worship God and ask you to take your Bibles this morning, and please turn with me to the 15th Saul as we are studying this semester. Our theme is encountering God in we encounter God through the Psalms.

I encourage you that when you read the Psalms markdown. How many times the writer uses words like I me my making it very personal and that's why we are so drawn to the salts and I would encourage you as we go from week to week two different Psalm that each week you take that Psalm for your own personal prayer time as you seek the Lord this morning reading Psalm 15 read the entire song together. I'll read out loud as you read along silently. Lord, who shall abide in my tabernacle, who shall dwell in thy holy hill. He that walk is uprightly, and worketh righteousness and speaketh the truth in his heart he that backbite is not with his tongue Lord with evil to his neighbor, nor take it up a reproach against his neighbor in his eyes a vile person is contempt, but he honor them that fear the Lord, he that swear through his own herd and change of not he that put, if not out his money to usury nor take its reward or bribe against the innocent.

He that do with these things shall never be moved in by moving is referring back to verse one being moved away from dwelling with God in his holy hill. This Psalm is very interesting because it is teaching us how to worship God. All of us here are created for worship.

The most natural thing for all of us to do is to devote our hearts are dreams are passions and our energies to something or to someone in the Hebrew language the word for worship means to bow down is the idea of surrendering giving your heart, giving your mind giving your will to something. Worship is woven into the fabric and the core of our humanity is woven into who we are and if you take away worship, then really, life has no meaning and no purpose if we refuse to worship God as he is revealed in the Scripture they were going to resort to worshiping something else. I think that's what Paul is talking about in Romans chapter 1, when he says when we don't worship God, who is the source of all reality, then we will exchange that worship for another God that is in reality a lie. There is no one here that doesn't worship it is who we are. So the Scripture then calls us and commands us to worship God. Psalm 99 not exalt the Lord our God in worship at his holy hill. Psalm 60 Psalm 90, 690 worship the Lord in the beauty of holiness. So the question that I'd like to try to answer this morning. Is this how do we worship God, and that's really the theme of Psalm 15, the author of the Psalm is David the occasion for the Psalm. Why did he write it were not really sure the great preachers Charles Spurgeon suggests that it was written after the ark was brought to Jerusalem under David's direction. Perhaps you know the story. David attempted to move the ark to the city of Jerusalem, but he did something that was wrong. He failed to follow God's laws and the results were devastating. God commanded that the ark was to be carried by the Levitical priest. But what did David do instead. Do you know what he did. He came up with his own idea. He put the ark on a new card and it was pulled by oxen and when the when the car came to the threshing floor of a man named Nate Hahn. The oxen stumbled and what happened to the ark. It began to tip over in a man name is made a fatal mistake. He put his hand up to stop the ark from falling over what happened to God and killed him dead on the spot and what it David do David was blown away shop was disappointed. He stopped the whole move, and it took David some time to understand that he was the one that was at fault. The error was in his not following God's prescribed way for priests to carry the ark to Jerusalem.

And there's something in this story that is of huge importance and that is when it comes to the worship of God.

You and I do not have the right to worship God on the basis of our own creative designs and devices.

That is, we don't come up with alternative worship forms that true biblical worship is to be regulated by God. It's found in his word, we should take heed to regulate our worship according to the prescriptions that are found in the Bible. Think about it, David had to go back to the word to discover where he was wrong and bring himself in line to the prescriptions of God's will. So this is what we see in Psalm 50 he's showing us how we are to worship God, and let's begin with the first verse because David has a very attention grabbing question.

Notice what he says Lord, who shall abide in my tabernacle, who shall dwell in thy holy will hill the word by means to literally spend the night to sojourn to stay with the word abide is more about permanent kind of word and as we look at this question. There are two points I want us to see this morning because the rest of Psalm I think explains it in the first is this where is the Lord to be worshiped, for he speaks about a holy hill. He speaks about the tabernacle and secondly will look at who is the one, then who can actually worship God in his holy, so let's begin with the question and that is where is the Lord to be worshiped. Notice what he says Lord, who shall abide in my tabernacle and who shall dwell in my holy hill.

David here mentions two places a tabernacle in a holy hill. You can either look at it is one place that is the tabernacle situated on a holy hill or it could be in reference to the temporary tabernacle that was a tent structure and the more permanent temple that sat on Mount Moriah in the city of Jerusalem. Either way, the principles of the same. The tabernacle was a tent that was located in the middle of the camp of the children of Israel.

It was a place where the presence of God dwelt and God gave to Moses on Mount Sinai. Very detailed plans as to how the Jewish people were to worship God. They were to follow God's plans. For example, there were special men called priests. These priest head requirements and restrictions of what they were to do, how they were to dress, how they were to live.

There were different types of sacrifices factors or seven kinds of sacrifices and they had specific requirements, the tabernacle had to be a specific size they just could make it whatever size they wanted and they had to construct it with very specific material in the tabernacle. There were two rooms. One room was called the holy place, the other the holy of holies and the priests ministered in the holy place and the presence of God dwelt in the holy of holies and it was through this place of worship that the Jewish people learned how God was to be approached and later the tabernacle was replaced with a more permanent structure called the temple, but it's important to note that the way of worship didn't change the way they worship in the tabernacle, and they wait way they worshiped in the temple or the ax was the exact same thing. I think it should be clear to all of us that this Old Testament form of worship was never intended by God to be permanent because this Old Testament form of worship had some built-in problems. Number one priest God number two. Animals couldn't cleanse you from sin number three you couldn't get access to God because if you try to come in God's presence he would kill you. It's called limitation.

So God had a plan B Old Testament form of worship was basically a picture for the ultimate coming of Jesus Christ, who fulfilled all those pictures and God intended for the Old Testament form of worship to become obsolete and it would be replaced with a New Testament form of worship. That's where we are today and what is that New Testament form of worship is worship that is centered on Jesus Christ for Jesus replaced the priesthood because he became the permanent hybrids, Jesus replaces sacrifices because he became the final sacrifice for sins.

Jesus open the way into God's presence because Jesus became the way to God's presence. Hebrews 1019. Having therefore, brethren, boldness to enter into the holiest by the blood of Jesus by a new and living way, which if consecrated for us, through the veil, that is to say his flash. So today we have a different form of worship than what they had in the Old Testament because today we worship through and we worship Jesus.

Jesus is the place of worship. And so what we find in the New Testament where we find that were able to come close to the father even into his very presence, but now in Christ Jesus you who are sometimes far, all are now make clothes made nigh by the blood of Jesus. Today we worship God with in his body that's called the church we worship through the spirit, the spirit of Christ, and we worship him through the word of Christ Jesus is the focal point of our worship. How is your worship yesterday. I was privileged in the morning to be in Fredericksburg Virginia and I preached at the Faith Baptist Church. It was an awesome service man I was so fired up by the time I got to preach. I thought men I could get the invitation go home and never say a word.

It was also the singing was beautiful. The place was packed and we sang hymns and guess what we sang about was saying about Jesus and at the end of the songs there were times where the people erupted in a man's glorious our worship in the New Testament is to be centered on the person of Jesus Christ. He is central in all that we say and do.

So that's where were to worship Christ as our focus within. Secondly, he talks about who can worship God is go back to verse one as we said, Lord, who shall abide in my tabernacle, who shall dwell in thy holy hill. I think the nature of the question reflects a recognition that access to worship has some qualifiers to it. Some conditions very nature of the word who can do this means that there some kind of restriction. So the question is who can worship God will think about it, the tabernacle was built on a holy hill. The holy priests ministered in a holy place and the presence of God dwelt in the holy of holies.

So who can worship God. And the answer are those who are holy, the Bible says in Hebrews 12 we are offered to God acceptable worship, with reverence and all what David is saying is that the way that we live really matters that the lifestyle and the way you're living when you bring it to worship makes all the difference. So in verse two all the way down to the end of the chapter.

Some 15 year David sets forth some qualifications of a holy life that should be worshiping God in their actually 10 different qualification summit suggested that these are the 10 Commandments of worship… Note those first of all, in verse two he speaks about our conduct. He says he that walk it uprightly and worketh righteousness and speak the truth in his heart, and most religions of the world worship always involves some external action a ritual like an animal sacrifice or chant or memorize prayers are burning incense and candles or climbing stairs on your knees are giving gifts or offering.

In other words, it's, it's more external in focus, but the focus here is actually more internal in your life.

The worship of the living God requires and demands a holy life key that walk it uprightly and worketh righteousness and speak the truth in his heart. I think this is consistent with what Jesus said in John 420 said that they that worship him must worship him in spirit and truth. Remember what Jesus said to the woman, the well, you're not going to worship in Jerusalem and you not to worship here in Samaria, but your worship is going to be different. What is it mean to worship in spirit and truth. It means that our desires and our appetites are new because our heart is our heart is been cleansed from sin.

It is been indwelt by the spirit of God. God is put within the heart of every regenerated believer, the spirit of God and there is a desire to worship him. That's what I think is so beautiful about Bob Jones when I came here I realize the greatest thing that we can do is preach the word of God to people who are Christians because God's gonna do something in your heart.

This is a worship for the new heart focuses on God's truth and in the context of the New Testament worship is to be centered around the engagement of a renewed mind and heart with the truth of God's word.

Let me say that again worship is to be centered around the engagement of the heart and the mind with the truth of God, we come together to worship the Lord. We are to be walking right working right and speaking right we gather together our worship is to be scriptural centered around the word of God. You could say this way that when we worship were to read the Scripture we are to pray the Scriptures where it is saying the Scriptures we are to teach and preach the Scriptures we are to love and live with one another. According to the Scriptures are worship should be simple. It should be powerful. It should be beautiful because it is focused on Scripture.

We don't have to have the externals to worship God because we worship him in spirit and in truth. And so there needs to be right conduct. We were living the secondly talks about right. Conversation verse three it says he that met by the thought of his tongue or do it evil to his neighbor, nor take of the reproach against his neighbor. Verse two talks about the way we walk first three talks about the way we talk. So not only are we to live right over to talk right what is it mean to back by an actor comes into words.

The first word is the word leg in the second word is the word spy is the idea of somebody going about own feet seeking tidbits of gossip to pass on to somebody else. People like this are considered spies or conspirators because they handle information with the intent to tear other people down. That's what it means to backbite. Think about it in the Bible the word for devil is slanderer we slanderer other people. We are little devils and David is saying we can't worship like a saint that we talk like the devil nor do with evil to his neighbor.

It means we should never intentionally try to hurt or harm anyone, our neighbors, not somebody like today where you live next door to somebody you don't know them.

These are people living in villages and they were there friend goodness and kindness is the way we should always treat one another. Then he says nor take it up reproach against his neighbor.

That means to receive negative words about other people when they are insulted or discredited. Be very careful about what you talk about or who you talk about James as a believer can have this unique ability can praise God and at the same time curse man and he says these things are not suitably were to have a holy walk would have a holy talk and then notice what he says in the next verse he talks about our commitments. He says in whose eyes a vile person is content on the word file mean somebody who's depraved or polluted or dirty.

We saying here is, we should be reactionary against vile sins. We should despise them, those who worship God should reject the defiling influence of the world. We want our worship to be unspotted.

Instead, we are to honor those that honor God. But he that honor them that fear of the Lord. We are to make our friendships and our associations with those that seek to honor God and right here we see again the direct direct link between your relationship to God and your relationship to your friend. We can emphasize it enough.

I can't say it enough. Your friends affect your whole life.

You go to church with you.

Pray with you.

Sit with the church.

What you do as you go, you should make your friends. Those who have a passionate pursuit for God in the notice it says he swears to his own hurt and doesn't change this refers to those who are making promises. The idea is I keep them there word is their bond. They are committed, even if it hurts or cost them something, you're there, reliable, and their dependable if he says he's going to do it. He will do it is talking about the way we live with each other and then finally he the put is not at his money to usury nor take it up a reward against the innocent. Basically David here's describing how we use our money and the principal is the godly people don't take advantage of other people, Jews were not allowed to charge of the Jews interest when they loan the money doesn't mean that we charge interest from the bank.

It's wrong, it just means that there's a principle here and you're not taking advantage of people. The idea of the word rewarding. It's the innocent is taking a bribe.

Many cultures in the world are bright cultures.

What he is saying as we worship God by using our money to help people. We don't use our money to hurt and he takes all these things and he wraps it up and he says he that do with these things shall never be moved was that mean it means instead of being on shaky ground with God he's own sonogram that he comes to the Lord with a life that is seeking to be consistent and holy and fair. He lives in the joyful presence of God. So as we finish this morning. Let me just say a few words, if I may just some concluding thoughts about worship number one.

Worship is a big deal we think about how much of the Bible is devoted to how we get close to the father. Worship is a big big deal. Secondly, we are not allowed to worship God on our way. We we we are not the ones who were to come up with what worship is supposed to be God's told us we have all kinds of ideas about worship and so you go to church as you have traditional worship and contemporary worship in modern worship that think in and ended be discerning. We we really should ask what's biblical worship.

How do we worship God according to the Scriptures, let me say that worship should not be casual, and I'm not talking here about your clothing though it doesn't mean that clothing is irrelevant. Talking about attitude that proper worship should be referent on coming into the presence of God. Think about it, the Jews try to get to God's presence and God would kill them, and so therefore when I come to God, my heart should be bowed down in all before him in the number for the way we live on a daily basis affects the way that we worship how you live on Monday through Saturday affects the way you worship on Sunday. Sunday is a day that is set aside to the worship of the Lord. It's not up holiday. It's a holy day is a day that we focus our attention and worship him and let him be the center of our life and let me conclude by saying a holy God requires holiness for worship. How often do people come to worship God on Sunday and their lives are filled with sin and darkness.

And no wonder churches lose the power in the presence of God, because the way we worship God in the way we live our lives makes all the difference in our services so let's worship God, and let's do it his way. Father, thank you for your word.

Help us to worship you and love you in the way that you prescribed in your word in Jesus name, amen. You been listening to a sermon from Dr. Steve Pettit, president of Bob Jones University from the study series encountering God, which is a study from the book of Psalms we would urge you to get a copy of the study booklet so you can follow along as you listen to the sermons you can get the booklet on Kendall or get a printed copy from our website. The Daily Platform.com. Thanks for listening and join us again tomorrow as we continue the study of Psalms here on The Daily Platform