I Chronicles 16: 8-12;23-29
8 Give praise to the Lord, proclaim His name; make known among the nations what He has done. 9 Sing to Him, sing praise to Him; tell of all His wonderful acts. 10 Glory in His holy name; let the hearts of those who seek the Lord rejoice. 11 Look to the Lord and His strength; seek His face always. 12 Remember the wonders He has done, His miracles, and the judgments He pronounced,
23 Sing to the Lord, all the earth; proclaim His salvation day after day. 24 Declare His glory among the nations, His marvelous deeds among all peoples. 25 For great is the Lord and most worthy of praise; He is to be feared above all gods. 26 For all the gods of the nations are idols, but the Lord made the heavens. 27 Splendor and majesty are before Him; strength and joy are in his dwelling place. 28Ascribe to the Lord, all you families of nations, ascribe to the Lord glory and strength. 29 Ascribe to the Lord the glory due His name; bring an offering and come before Him.Worship the Lord in the splendor of His holiness.
I Chronicles 16: 8-12;23-29 ARE WE LISTENING FOR GOD AS WE WORSHIP GOD?
Springford Baptist Church: July 4, 2021.
Our worship of God is to be at the center of everything. Worship is recognizing God for who He is and responding to that with all that we are.
We often refer to our Sunday gatherings as “Worship Services.”
How do we come to these focused times of seeking God and His Holy Presence with an open attitude of worship?
Over these next several weeks of the summer, we will be exploring together what it means for us to LISTEN FOR GOD AS WE WORSHIP GOD.
Our ideas of worshipping God tend toward experiences of God through music and prayers offered up to Him. We find ourselves entering into worship for God when we view the beauty of His creation or see His love displayed in the gifts of people He has given us to love and to be loved by.
There must also be space made for listening in our desire to Worship God. It is in places of silence that we can, “Be still and know that God is God.” (Psalm 46)
The expression of worship that we are looking at today is some moving Psalms that are recorded in I Chronicles 16. These words were used to give praise to God on the special occasion of the ark of God being returned to Jerusalem. The ark of God or the ark of the covenant of the LORD was the symbol of God’s promised Presence with His people Israel.
This ark had been taken from the Jewish people in battle and was now being brought back. The response of the people initiated by David was to offer thanks to God and to call on His name. They acknowledged the wonders that God had done for them, and wanted to ascribe or give to the LORD the glory due His name. They wanted to worship Him.
On this Sunday when we are returning to worship together in person, it seems very appropriate to focus on what God has done for us these last several months. God has led us through the wilderness of lockdowns and isolation from each other. We have reason to praise God and to worship Him with gratitude this morning!
Please join me in listening for God in this time of our worship directed toward Him.
Following the inspiration of these words of worship recorded here in I Chronicles, we can listen for how these words can become our own personal response of worship toward God.
“8 Give praise to the Lord, proclaim His name;make known among the nations what He has done.”
9 Sing to Him, sing praise to Him;tell of all His wonderful acts.We do have many reasons to praise and thank God as we come to Him in worship. God has answered our prayers to be moving toward seeing this Covid virus brought under control. God has answered our personal prayers for His help and guidance. On this Canada Day weekend, we give thought to being a nation that does make known to other nations what God has done and how He has cared for us. We affirm our faith in God and our dependence on God.
10 Glory in His holy name;let the hearts of those who seek the Lord rejoice.11 Look to the Lord and His strength;seek His face always.
As we have listened for God and looked to Him we have found strength. We are moved to seek His face always, not just when we are in times of crisis. What a shallow relationship we would have with God if we only seek His face when we are in trouble. Our worship toward God is for all the seasons and circumstances of our lives.
12 Remember the wonders He has done, His miracles, and the judgments He pronounced,
We will need to hold in our thoughts, as the people of Israel did, all the wonders and miracles that God has done. This leads us to keep on worshipping God and to keep on trusting God for what is ahead.
Our worship of God also requires remembering His judgments. God does confront sin and when we examine history we see that there is accountability for sin. This was true of the nation of Israel and this is true of our nation of Canada. We cannot focus exclusively on the blessings of God and overlook His reaction to sin. God in His righteousness, shines light on sin because it must be dealt with or attempts to worship God are meaningless.
We in this nation of Canada must continue to pray for God to shine His light on the sins of the residential schools and we look to Him to guide us in how we respond to the judgments He pronounces. This requires careful and attentive listening.
23 Sing to the Lord, all the earth; proclaim His salvation day after day.24 Declare His glory among the nations, His marvelous deeds among all peoples.
25 For great is the Lord and most worthy of praise; He is to be feared above all gods.26 For all the gods of the nations are idols, but the Lord made the heavens.
How do we proclaim God’s salvation day after day. We have gathered for worship today and throughout this service we are proclaiming God’s salvation. We will proclaim His salvation as we celebrate Communion together this morning. Yet worship of God and expressing what he has done for us is to extend beyond Sunday. There is a day after day experience of recognizing God for who He is and responding to him with all that we are. Again there is repetition of the need for those who trust in God and worship Him to. “Declare His glory among the nations, His marvelous deeds among all peoples.” (vs. 24) For certain we are convinced that our Lord is great and most worthy of praise. (vs. 25) This is what draws us into worship of the Lord our God.
27 Splendor and majesty are before Him;strength and joy are in his dwelling place.
28Ascribe to the Lord, all you families of nations,ascribe to the Lord glory and strength.29 Ascribe to the Lord the glory due His name;bring an offering and come before Him.Worship the Lord in the splendor of His holiness.
When we do listen for God in all the experiences of our lives, we are swept away by His splendor and majesty. Our relationship with God is unique because when we come to God, we encounter the splendor of His holiness! ARE WE LISTENING FOR GOD AS WE WORSHIP GOD?