Let us pray.
Lord, it is with humble hearts that we come, bowing down before Your throne. Lord, we want to worship You, to continue in the spirit of worship and praise to You.
Lord, unless You open our ears and our hearts, we cannot hear or see. Lord, unless You speak today, there is nothing to say. So, Lord, we all come before You today with humble hearts. Bless Your name, Lord Jesus.
I was talking to the Lord during worship, saying, “You know, there’s no need for me to share today, because the worship time itself was the sharing time.” It was great, really.
I wanted to share on the wonder of worship, and what a wonderful time of worship we have already had. First of all, I want to start this time with a thank you: thank You to the Lord for worship, but also thank you to each one of you for agreeing together with me and with the Lord that we are going to come and meet together in worship.
Jim spoke of agreement. You know, this is agreement: you cannot walk together unless you agree. As I was meditating about what was on my heart to share, I realized how grateful I am for you guys, to come in this way and to worship.
It has meant so much to me in my life, in my wife’s life, in our lives together in marriage, and in my family. I have never actually said thank you to the whole group. Thank you to the music guys who play with such sensitivity, and thank you to each one of you who, every Sunday, decide with all of us to come and worship.
Without each other coming together to worship, how could we worship? Do you realize the preciousness of it? I know you do, especially lately. This last year and a half or so, we have still gotten together. We have still gotten together to praise our Lord, and it has been together. Isn’t that a wonderful thing?
My heart is just so thankful and grateful to the Lord, and also for the unique way in which we worship and what God has done with us here. He has done things in different places all over the world. He has His places, and I know of different ways to worship, and God is great. But I want to thank each one of you. I want to really give this time to thank you and thank the Lord publicly.
As a way of introduction, there are four verses I would like to read.
One thing have I desired of the Lord,
That will I seek after:
That I may dwell in the house of the Lord
All the days of my life,
To behold the beauty of the Lord,
And to inquire in His temple.— Psalm 27:4
Lord, I have loved the habitation of Thy house,
And the place where Thine honour dwelleth.— Psalm 26:8
I was glad when they said unto me,
Let us go into the house of the Lord.— Psalm 122:1
Well-known verse—surely goodness and mercy. I can hardly say that without singing the song:
Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me
All the days of my life:
And I will dwell in the house of the Lord
For ever.— Psalm 23:6
Didn’t I just speak of the wonder of us being together, coming to the house of God and worshiping? I feel like we could just stop and praise the Lord for it. It is something to treasure, isn’t it? Treasure it in your heart and in your life.
It is something to defend: to say, “I will not let anything keep me from worshiping with my brothers and sisters, worshiping together the God that we love.” Treasure it and defend it.
You know, worship is a wonderful thing. It is much bigger than you or I. Today, I would like to share about the grandeur—the scope—of worship, just some simple thoughts on that. It is so big, so broad, so grand that it is impossible to grasp, so to speak.
We will look at three things concerning the grandeur of worship: creation, heavenly worship, and then, most holy of all, the honoring of the Father, the Son, and the Spirit, and how we are involved with that.
But first of all, a simple definition of worship. In the Hebrew language, it means to bow down, to prostrate oneself. It is humility.
That alone really describes how we come to the Lord. That is one reason I wanted to sing that song, “With Bended Knee I Come.” How needed humility is in worship. No pride in worship; no self-promotion. It is all the Lord and none of us, isn’t it?
I think that is one of the great things about us coming together in worship: “Lord, we just come with humility to You, praising You.” Not with a proud heart, with nothing of our own—just all of Him. It is so wonderful to do that.
In the Greek, it means to do reverence, an act of homage—to kiss the hand of the sovereign. It is exalting the Lord. So, in worship, we have the basic coming with humility and exalting the Lord.
We have done that today, and it is such a wonderful thing to get away from the world—all the problems, all the troubles we have in our lives, all the difficulties—to humble ourselves and say, “Lord, I just want to worship You and exalt You.” That is an amazing thing. I know that each one of you treasures it and values it.
It is a great privilege to come as God’s children. I was so wonderfully pleased with what we worshiped the Lord about: that we are His children, and we have a special, wonderful privilege to come and worship.
I like Psalm 96. I would love for you to turn there. It speaks of worship in a way that I would like to share this morning. We come with humble hearts, and we come to exalt the Lord.
Sing unto the Lord a new song:
Sing unto the Lord, all the earth.
Sing unto the Lord, bless His name;
Proclaim good tidings of His salvation from day to day.
Tell of His glory among the nations,
His wonderful deeds among all the peoples.
For great is the Lord, and greatly to be praised;
He is to be feared above all gods.
For all the gods of the peoples are idols,
But the Lord made the heavens.
Splendour and majesty are before Him,
Strength and beauty are in His sanctuary.
Ascribe to the Lord, O families of the peoples,
Ascribe to the Lord glory and strength.
Ascribe to the Lord the glory due His name;
Bring an offering, and come into His courts.
Worship the Lord in holy attire;
Tremble before Him, all the earth.
Say among the nations, “The Lord reigns.”— Psalm 96:1-10
Notice, from verse 1 all the way through here: worship is not just a humility of silence. When we come, we are to sing to the Lord. Verse 1. In verse 2, we are to proclaim good tidings. In verse 3, we are to tell of His glory. We are to ascribe to the Lord the glory that is due His name.
You all know this is very simple and very straightforward, but worship, by its very nature, is expression. It is speaking, proclaiming the Lord’s worth and His glory. That is what we have the great privilege and honor to do.
To ascribe means to say, “What are the attributes of the One you are worshiping? What qualities does He have that I am lifting up?” As we look at the Lord, we see so many wonderful attributes, so many things to acknowledge and say: “Lord, praise Your name for that attribute. I proclaim it.”
Not only do I believe it, but I proclaim it, and I say it out loud in worship. That is the great privilege we have, as the children of God, to ascribe to our Lord glory and honor.
One thing I would like for all of us to do today—which is impossible—is to have this great sense of the privilege that we have. We do it every Sunday. Some of us have done it all our Christian lives. But what an awesome privilege it is to come as God’s children and to speak, in the assembly, the praises of our God.
With a group of saints who love the Lord and want to praise Him, we can agree together to worship Him and to ascribe to His name glory and honor. It is an amazing thing, one that is such a great privilege.
May it never become common to any of us. May it always be special.
Of course, all over the world, believers are doing the same. I am not going to speak of that. But do you know that there is another great, as it were, choir of worship that has been going on? Not only God’s people, but His creation.
When I began to look at this, I thought it would be just a few little things and then I would go on. But the more I dug into it, I said, “Man, this is exciting.” So, I hope you will be as excited as I am about it. Turn to Psalm 19.
The heavens are telling the glory of God;
And their expanse is declaring the work of His hands.
Day to day pours forth speech,
And night to night reveals knowledge.
There is no speech, nor are there words;
Their voice is not heard.
Their line has gone out through all the earth,
And their utterances to the end of the world.— Psalm 19:1-4
The heavens are telling the glory of God. Their expanse is declaring the works of His hands. Day to day pours forth speech. Now, that Hebrew word for speech means pouring forth. It is a pouring forth like a fountain that is always coming out, always pouring out.
It is the beginning of the river. It is that fountain that continues to pour out. In the Hebrew, at least that is what the commentators say, it is forceful. It is not a little stream, like a little spring, but a forceful gushing forth of speech that is going out over all the world.
It is pouring out speech as water is poured forth from a fountain. Each day bears its testimony to the next, and so the stream goes on in a flow that is never broken. Creation declares, testifies, and proclaims our Lord Jesus.
It is often ignored, even by believers, but it is an amazing testimony of God. It is a continual, loud worship to the Lord. Not only the trees, the fields, and the flowers, but the heavens themselves—the stars, the sun, the galaxies—all of them have, ever since creation, praised and worshiped God in a voice that the Bible says should be heard by all.
As a matter of fact, the message is so strong and so powerful that Paul says all men are without excuse.
For since the creation of the world His invisible attributes, His eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly seen.
— Romans 1:20
Now, brothers and sisters, as in anything, when the Lord is presented and made known, we should agree and give assent to it, and thereby worship as well. We join in with this great stream of worship and praise to our God.
This is a mighty choir, and we will see later how it is even mentioned in Revelation. This is a mighty chorus which we can join throughout the day. As the Holy Spirit says, “You see that sun?” He points to the Lord Jesus as the One who rises in our hearts.
Do you see how He takes care of that bird? I have a bird feeder. We love to sit there and watch the birds. It always makes me think of how God cares for the sparrows, and how it should lead us as believers to worship and praise our God.
It is such a simple, wonderful thing that we take for granted, but it is not to be taken for granted. The world has twisted it and turned it into worship of the created thing rather than worship of God. But we, as believers, can worship our God.
Do you know that I believe the thunder, the hurricane, the lightning, and the terrible storms testify of God’s judgment? Our God is powerful. There is a divine attribute of ownership of the world, which He is in control of, and man is not.
Not even by buying fewer cars can we change what is going on. God is in control, and this world is under His control. It is so interesting to me that the very first judgment was a flood. He used His creation for judgment, and I believe that in the very end, with fire, He is going to use His creation for judgment too.
Creation speaks of the power of God, His divine attributes. Day after day, as we go out—and Bobby, as you walk—you can praise God for what you see. It is a powerful, powerful thing of worship and praise.
This is how creation praises. Most of these verses you know very well, and there is much, much more. I had to tone it down a lot.
You make the sunrise and the sunset shout for joy.
— Psalm 65:8
Every time you see the sunrise and sunset, shout for joy with creation. This is not hyperbole or just poetry. Otherwise, Paul would not have said that all are subject to judgment because of their ignorance of this.
The hills gird themselves with rejoicing.
The meadows are clothed with flocks,
The valleys also are covered over with grain;
They shout for joy, yea, they sing.— Psalm 65:12-13
Tabor and Hermon shout for joy at Thy name.
— Psalm 89:12
Let the heavens be glad, and let the earth rejoice;
Let the sea roar, and the fulness thereof;
Let the field exult, and all that is therein;
Then shall all the trees of the wood sing for joy.— Psalm 96:11-12
Let the rivers clap their hands;
Let the mountains sing together for joy.— Psalm 98:8
There are a lot of words in there that we read in Psalm 96, aren’t there? Saints are to clap our hands, to sing, and to shout for joy. Creation right along with us sings and claps for joy and proclaims Jesus—proclaims the Lord—in a language that we are supposed to hear.
Praise the Lord for that. There is a continuing declaration of the glory of God in creation. Just as Psalm 96:8 says, “Ascribe to the Lord the glory due His name,” Psalm 19:1 says, “The heavens are telling the glory of God.”
Praise the Lord. We have a song, I believe it is “Great Is Thy Faithfulness,” with a little line in there: “Join with all nature in manifold witness to Thy great faithfulness, mercy, and love.” Join with all nature, brothers and sisters. That is a great way to worship, praise, and exalt His name.
Ever since God created, until the time He brings it to an end, there is going to be a continuing praise and worship from His creation. Bless the Lord.
Not only is earth praising Him, but heaven is praising Him. Turn to Revelation 4.
There is a greatness and grandeur to the worship of creation to the Lord, but there is a scope and majesty of praise in heaven which is amazing. We are a part of that also.
The four living creatures, each one of them having six wings, are full of eyes round about and within: and they have no rest day and night, saying,
“Holy, holy, holy, is the Lord God, the Almighty, who was and who is and who is to come.”— Revelation 4:8
Notice, they praise day and night. Well, how can there be day and night in heaven? There is not, really. The point is that, just as in creation, day and night it is worshiping and praising God. These four living creatures, ever since they were created, do not cease to praise and worship Him and to say, “Holy, holy, holy.”
Brothers and sisters, we also can ascribe to the Lord the same thing, and we give witness and testimony to the fact that holy, holy, holy is our God. Think of it: when you say that, you are agreeing with these four living creatures in heaven, who have been doing it since the day they were created and are still doing it unceasingly, day and night. What an amazing thing.
The four and twenty elders shall fall down before Him that sitteth on the throne, and shall worship Him that liveth for ever and ever, and shall cast their crowns before the throne, saying,
“Worthy art Thou, our Lord and our God, to receive the glory and the honour and the power: for Thou didst create all things, and because of Thy will they were, and were created.”— Revelation 4:10-11
There is this great chorus of worship and praise in creation, and here the twenty-four elders are saying, “Worthy are You, our Lord. You are our God. You created everything.” We also can ascribe and give testimony to the same thing with the twenty-four elders.
I am not going to say who they are—I do not know. But you and I, in agreeing and saying these things in worship, agree with the twenty-four elders who are around the throne. Not only do we agree with the four living creatures there, but we agree with the twenty-four elders. We have the privilege of doing that as God’s children.
When He had taken the book, the four living creatures and the four and twenty elders fell down before the Lamb, having each one a harp, and golden bowls full of incense, which are the prayers of the saints.
And they sing a new song, saying,
“Worthy art Thou to take the book, and to open the seals thereof: for Thou wast slain, and didst purchase unto God with Thy blood men of every tribe, and tongue, and people, and nation.”— Revelation 5:8-9
What a blessed praise that is. Brothers and sisters, we can join in that praise as well.
In Revelation 5:11, the angels are exalting the Lamb. Thousands upon thousands, perhaps millions of angels, surround the throne, and they say, “Worthy is the Lamb that was slain.” Brothers and sisters, we join with all the angels of heaven who surround the throne in proclaiming the name of the Lord Jesus.
And every created thing which is in the heaven, and on the earth, and under the earth, and on the sea, and all things in them, heard I saying,
“Unto Him that sitteth on the throne, and unto the Lamb, be the blessing, and the honour, and the glory, and the dominion, for ever and ever.”— Revelation 5:13
Did you think, when you came here this morning, when we had our little time of worship, that it was just us who were worshiping the Lord? That it was dependent on us to praise Him? Well, it is wonderful that we do.
But I want you to get the sense of how big, grand, continuous, and marvelous is the worship that is always going up to our God. It is beyond us, and what a privilege for you and I to be able to lift our voices in the assembly and join in such praise.
With all creation, with all the angels, with all the ones that surround the throne, we get to join in. What an amazing, amazing privilege.
Now we come to something that is so holy that it is hard to say. But I will look at some verses here: John 17:4-5, and then Philippians 2.
As I was studying this, it was so intimate, so personal that I really—I do not know. This is the high priestly prayer.
I glorified Thee on the earth, having accomplished the work which Thou hast given Me to do.
— John 17:4
The Lord says, “I glorified You, Father, on the earth.”
And now, Father, glorify Thou Me with Thine own self with the glory which I had with Thee before the world was.
— John 17:5
The way that the Lord Jesus glorified the Father was that, although He existed in the form of God, He did not regard equality with God a thing to be grasped, but emptied Himself, taking the form of a bondservant, and being made in the likeness of men. Being found in appearance as a man, He humbled Himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross.
The Son says, “Father, I have honored You. I have glorified You by doing what You told Me to do.” Then the Father says, “Well, Son, I will honor and glorify You.”
Wherefore also God highly exalted Him, and gave unto Him the name which is above every name;
That in the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of things in heaven and things on earth and things under the earth.— Philippians 2:9-10
Brothers and sisters, the point I am trying to come to—not very well here—is that, in worship, we are intimately involved in the very relationship of the Father and the Son, because we testify.
It is like this: when Jesus did all that, we say, “Lord Jesus, yes, You did obey Your Father. We honor You as You have honored the Father. We lift Your name up as You have obeyed Your Father.”
When He was seated at the right hand of the Majesty on high by the Father, we assent to that and say, “Oh, Father, You were right. All honor and blessing go to the Lord Jesus for what He did for us.”
In worship, we almost enter into this fellowship of the Godhead in a wonderful, mighty way. It is so amazing. If I am saying it wrong, forgive me. But it seems that our worship before God is elevated way beyond what creation can do, even beyond maybe what they do in heaven, because we are the redeemed children of God.
We can attest, “Oh yes, our Lord Jesus redeemed me. He did everything necessary to bring me in, to be His child. Oh, Father, You are exactly right to raise Him up and seat Him at the right hand.”
Not to go too much further with it, but what an honor and privilege it is for us to do that. We did that this morning. We praised and blessed His name, and we said, “Lord Jesus, You are worthy. You are worthy.” We are agreeing with what God has done.
Do you know that the Spirit of God testifies of the Son and testifies of the Father, and we also testify? We also proclaim that this is what God wants to do. The Spirit of God within us, in worship, testifies of what God has done by His presence.
I think that is an amazing, wonderful privilege that we have. It is, isn’t it?
Read Dana’s book on the Holy Spirit. He talks about the talking, as it were, back and forth between the Godhead, and how we also, in worship, enter into that fellowship that is there as His children. It is an amazing thing.
When the Comforter is come, whom I will send unto you from the Father, even the Spirit of truth, which proceedeth from the Father, He shall bear witness of Me.
— John 15:26
It is the Spirit that beareth witness, because the Spirit is the truth.
— 1 John 5:6
Hebrews 10:15 says that the Holy Spirit testifies to us.
For we are the circumcision, who worship by the Spirit of God, and glory in Christ Jesus.
— Philippians 3:3
We glory in our Lord Jesus. We worship in the Spirit. The Spirit testifies of Jesus, and we, by the Spirit, also testify of Jesus. What a wonderful thing that is.
Brother Stephen, in his book on worship, says, “We come to enjoy the Lord together.” What a way to describe worship: enjoying the Lord together.
Our worship should be full of joy, full of just exuberant joy. I know I tend to be a very inward, calm person—not very exuberant. I have been asking that the Spirit would give this, because the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy.
Romans 14:17 says that the kingdom of God is righteousness, peace, and joy in the Holy Spirit. We are to have a joy in the Spirit during worship that goes beyond our emotions, but is a deep joy, because the Spirit of God loves to testify of the Son.
He loves to testify of the Father, and He is within us, through us in worship, testifying to the greatness of the Son and our Father.
Be glad in the Lord, and rejoice, ye righteous;
And shout for joy, all ye that are upright in heart.— Psalm 32:11
Let them shout for joy, and be glad,
That favour my righteous cause:
Yea, let them say continually,
“The Lord be magnified.”— Psalm 35:27
Oh clap your hands, all ye peoples;
Shout unto God with the voice of triumph.— Psalm 47:1
In the shadow of Thy wings will I sing for joy.
— Psalm 63:7
My lips shall shout for joy, when I sing praises unto Thee;
And my soul, which Thou hast redeemed.— Psalm 71:23
My soul longeth, yea, even fainteth for the courts of the Lord;
My heart and my flesh cry out unto the living God.— Psalm 84:2
There must be joy in praise and worship. Let us have a spirit of joy. I think we did this morning. I was so thankful for it.
Turn to Psalm 40:10 in closing.
I have not hidden Thy righteousness within my heart;
I have declared Thy faithfulness and Thy salvation;
I have not concealed Thy lovingkindness and Thy truth
From the great congregation.— Psalm 40:10
You know, worship is the one thing that is not to be concealed in our hearts. We are to hide the Word of God in our hearts. The Lord hides His face from us sometimes when there is sin in our lives, when we say, “Lord, please do not look at me, a sinner.” He hides us in Himself.
But worship, by its very nature, is not to be hidden; it is to be spoken. Brothers and sisters, for years I have come and hidden worship in my heart. Worship does not stay worship long. It kind of dissipates.
But when you open your mouth and speak and utter praises to God, and do not hide worship in your heart, it is a wonderful thing. It is a wonderful thing to speak and utter praises to God.
My encouragement to all of us: let us not hide worship. When we come into worship time, let us say, “Lord, I do not want to hide what You have given me to share. I want to speak it out.”
I would encourage you, brothers and sisters. It is wonderful to sing, but it seems like it is even more, well, to speak and praise the Lord yourself in the assembly—to declare in the assembly.
Anyway, I hope this has been an encouragement. I have enjoyed studying this, and I am going to look even more into the Father and the Son and us and the Spirit—how that wonderful interaction is.
Let us pray.
Lord, we just want to thank You and praise You that You have, by Your own doing, made us Your children. Lord, You have invited us and desired us to come as Your children to worship, to adore You, to humbly come with bended knee and exalt You.
What I do thank You for, this place, this house of worship. Lord, may it be full of joy. May there be a joy in our midst, Lord, in the coming weeks and months—a joy inexpressible because it comes from the Spirit of God.
Lord, fill us with that, I pray. Bless the name of the Lord Jesus. Amen.