Worship Song

Follow Along with the Message

"O come, let us sing for joy to the Lord, Let us shout joyfully to the rock of our salvation. (2) Let us come before His presence with thanksgiving, Let us shout joyfully to Him with psalms. . .(6) Come, let us worship and bow down, Let us kneel before the Lord our Maker, (7) For He is our God, And we are the people of His pasture and the sheep of His hand.  Today, if you would hear His voice, (8) do not harden your hearts, as at Meribah, As in the day of Massah in the wilderness, (9) When your fathers tested Me, They tried Me, though they had seen My work. (10) For forty years I loathed that generation, And said they are a people who err in their heart, And they do not know My ways. (11) Therefore I swore in My anger, Truly they shall not enter My rest" (Psalm 95:1-2, 6-11).

Temple song

A SONG ABOUT SINGING (Gladness)

An INVITATION for others to come join us.

The mood of worship is JOY.

"These momentary light afflictions are producing for us an eternal weight of glory that is far beyond comparison" (2 Corinthians 4:17).

A SONG ABOUT WORSHIP (Surrender)

Three different words, all with essentially same meaning.

worship--saha, to prostrate oneself before the Lord

bow down--kara, to bend the knee

kneel--barak, to kneel as a soldier before a king

Here the church breaks with the world.  The world teaches that meaning begins in the SELF.  The Spirit says that meaning begins in GOD.

"Seek first His kingdom and His righteousness, and all these things will be added to you" (Matthew 6:33).

We don't invite people to CHURCH (a place or people), we invite them to WORSHIP (a life-giving action).

To kneel is to RECOGNIZE God's place and Person and to PLEDGE your allegiance to His purpose.  Submission and Surrender.

"I will not let you go unless you bless (barak) me" (Jacob, Genesis 32:26).   To kneel and ask for His help.

Should we LITERALLY kneel?  Yes, but the heart matters more.

"I must be about My Father's business" (Luke 2:49).

"There were three little birds in the wood, who always sang hymns when they could, what the hymns were about, they could never make out, but they felt it was doing them good" (Karen Gascovny).

A SONG ABOUT GOD'S ANGER (Danger)

Meribah was a sad chapter.  Fierce judgment fell on them for their unbelief.  They hardened their hearts.  Danger.

The subject in view is worship.  "They did not honor Him as God, nor did they give Him thanks. . .So He gave them over" (Romans 1:21,24).

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"He has told you, O man, what is good; and what does the Lord require of you but to do justice, to love kindness, and to walk humbly with your God?" (Micah 6:8).

We cannot WALK humbly with God, unless occasionally and regularly we kneel to DECLARE that He is first.  

When we do, we can INVITE OTHERS to join us.