Life Song - Worship: The Lyric of the Heart
Psalm 95
1. Worship is about how we approach God’s presence, v. 1-2
2. Worship is motivated by God’s nature, v. 3-5
“The really wonderful moments of joy in this world are not the moments of self-satisfaction, but self-forgetfulness. Standing on the edge of the Grand Canyon and contemplating your own greatness is pathological. At such moments we are made for a magnificent joy that comes from outside ourselves. It is about the greatness of God, not the significance of man. God made man small and the universe big to say something about himself.”
-John Piper, Don’t Waste Your Life
Two reasons we must hold on to a God-sized view of God:
a) to properly humble man
b) to facilitate worship
“Who has measured the waters in the hollow of his hand and marked off the heavens with a span, enclosed the dust of the earth in a measure and weighed the mountains in scales and the hills in a balance? Who has measured the Spirit of the Lord, or what man show him his counsel? Whom did he consult, and who made him understand? Who taught him the path of justice, and taught him knowledge, and showed him the way of understanding? Behold, the nations are like a drop from a bucket, and are accounted as the dust on the scales; behold, he takes up the coastlands like fine dust. Lebanon would not suffice for fuel, nor are its beasts enough for a burnt offering. All the nations are as nothing before him, they are accounted by him as less than nothing and emptiness. To whom then will you liken God, or what likeness compare with him?”
-Isaiah 40:12-18
3. Worship involves intimacy, v. 6-7
“Now the tax collectors and sinners were all drawing near to hear him. And the Pharisees and the scribes grumbled, saying, “This man receives sinners and eats with them.” So he told them this parable…”
4. Worship starts and stops in your heart, v. 8-11
1. Worship is about how we approach God’s presence, v. 1-2
2. Worship is motivated by God’s nature, v. 3-5
“The really wonderful moments of joy in this world are not the moments of self-satisfaction, but self-forgetfulness. Standing on the edge of the Grand Canyon and contemplating your own greatness is pathological. At such moments we are made for a magnificent joy that comes from outside ourselves. It is about the greatness of God, not the significance of man. God made man small and the universe big to say something about himself.”
-John Piper, Don’t Waste Your Life
Two reasons we must hold on to a God-sized view of God:
a) to properly humble man
b) to facilitate worship
“Who has measured the waters in the hollow of his hand and marked off the heavens with a span, enclosed the dust of the earth in a measure and weighed the mountains in scales and the hills in a balance? Who has measured the Spirit of the Lord, or what man show him his counsel? Whom did he consult, and who made him understand? Who taught him the path of justice, and taught him knowledge, and showed him the way of understanding? Behold, the nations are like a drop from a bucket, and are accounted as the dust on the scales; behold, he takes up the coastlands like fine dust. Lebanon would not suffice for fuel, nor are its beasts enough for a burnt offering. All the nations are as nothing before him, they are accounted by him as less than nothing and emptiness. To whom then will you liken God, or what likeness compare with him?”
-Isaiah 40:12-18
3. Worship involves intimacy, v. 6-7
“Now the tax collectors and sinners were all drawing near to hear him. And the Pharisees and the scribes grumbled, saying, “This man receives sinners and eats with them.” So he told them this parable…”
4. Worship starts and stops in your heart, v. 8-11