Corporate Worship

This morning, we have a wonderful opportunity to take a close look at Psalm 95. This is one of my favorite Psalms. It’s a Psalm about worship. It’s a Psalm about corporate worship. It’s describing how and why a congregation ought to gather together to worship the sovereign God of the universe. As such, my message this morning is entitled, "Corporate Worship."

This comes in the first seven verses, where we are invited to worship the LORD. I want for you to notice how there are actually two invitations given. The first comes in verse 1.

O come, let us sing for joy to the LORD,
Let us shout joyfully to the rock of our salvation.
Let us come before His presence with thanksgiving,
Let us shout joyfully to Him with Psalms (Ps. 95:1-2)

Notice the invitation: "O come." It’s a call for the congregation of Israel to come together and gather together. The four phrases that follow the call indicate the activity to which the congregation is being called. Each of these phrases begin with the same words: "Let us, ... let us, ... let us." Each of them call us to worship the LORD with great enthusiasm and passion and joy.

Let us sing for joy ...
Let us shout joyfully
Let us come ... with thanksgiving.
Let us shout joyfully.

It’s an invitation to joyful worship! If you look a little further down, in verse 6, you will see the second invitation:

Come, let us worship and bow down,
Let us kneel before the LORD our Maker. (Ps. 95:6)

Again, we see the same pattern. The call for the congregation of Israel to come and gather together begins with the same word, "Come." This is followed by two phrases indicating the activity that will take place. "Let us worship and bow down." "Let us kneel."

There are some distinct differences between the two calls. The first call is loud! Verses 1 and 2 both contain the expression, "shout joyfully." It gives you this idea of ringing like a bell. The first call is joyful! Three times in these verses is the word, "joy" used. We are to "sing for joy." We are to "shout joyfully." The first call is enthusiastic! There is much energy in these words! It is hands up! It is heads up! It is mouths open large! It is happy!

While the first invitation was a call to joyful and expressive worship, this invitation is a call to reverential, subdued, and quiet worship. The second call is quiet. Nothing is mentioned at all about people speaking or shouting. The second call is reverent. It describes a coming before the LORD with humility and fear and trembling. The second call is humbling. Every single expression -- worship, bowing down, and kneeling -- all express a face down posture before the LORD.

What makes this Psalm such an excellent guide for us in our worship is that it presents a range along the spectrum of our style of worship to the LORD. There are churches that know only one of these expressions. Some churches are loud and joyful and happy and clappy, which is good and appropriate. But, often these churches will miss the reverence of worship. Other churches are somber and reverent in all of their worship, which is good and appropriate. But, often these churches will miss the other, more expressive side. We are called to span the spectrum. Psalm 95 presents a biblical balance of what corporate worship should entail. There should be times of joyful expression of thanks and praise to God. There should be times of silence, as we approach the "LORD our Maker" (verse 6). At Rock Valley Bible Church, we haven’t arrived at a perfect balance. I’m not sure that any church actually arrives. But, both of these elements should be present in our corporate worship.

O come, let us sing for joy to the LORD,
Let us shout joyfully to the rock of our salvation.
Let us come before His presence with thanksgiving,
Let us shout joyfully to Him with Psalms (Ps. 95:1-2)

This isn’t drummed up emotion. This type of praise to the LORD isn’t coerced in any way. It’s the genuine joy of the worshiper. In Psalm 122:1, David said, "I was glad when they said to me, ‘Let us go to the house of the LORD.’" When the people of Israel were about to depart to the house of the LORD, they called out to David, requesting that he would join them. Such a call thrilled his heart. Certainly, he would have dropped whatever he was doing to join these people in worship. Such a call ought to thrill the hearts of all believers in Christ. We should be excited when someone says, "We're going to the house of the LORD to worship this morning."

To be in the presence of the redeemed, giving praise and honor unto the LORD of hosts is a great joy for the believer in Christ. In Psalm 84, the Psalmist expresses his interests in worshiping the LORD together with God’s people with these words: "A day in Your courts is better than a thousand outside" (Psalm 84:10). As I read these words, I'm reminded of a beautiful lake on a nice summer day. I love going to the lake. I love the smells. I love the cool breeze coming off the lake. I love swimming in the lake. I love sailing on the lake. I love boating on the lake. I love water skiing on the lake. If anyone said to me, "Let’s go to the lake," my heart would be glad! (i.e. Psalm 122:1). I could easily say, "A day at the lake is better than a thousand in the office" (i.e. Psalm 84:10). That's the idea the Psalmist is expressing here. He has a desire to be among God’s people in corporate worship, and he delights in it so much that it is better than anything else he might have planned to do that day. As most of you know, my family is currently in California. I dropped them off at the airport Tuesday morning. When they arrived at Yvonne’s parent’s home, they called me to let me know that they had landed safe and sound. Unfortunately for me, I was gone when they called. But, fortunately for you, they left me a message on my answering machine. I want to play it for you now. As I play it, I want to see if you can detect any joy in their voices.

Now, let me ask you, "Were they excited to be swimming in California?" That’s the spirit of verses 1 and 2. These verses express a genuine joy and enthusiasm to be among God’s people in worshiping Him. How different this is than a man that I met this week on the golf course. I began speaking with him about spiritual matters. He told me that he and his wife were currently looking for a church. In looking for a church, he had several criteria. First of all, he wanted a church that didn’t speak against sin. Second, he wanted a church where they didn’t expect him to attend each Sunday morning. "After all," he told me, "it’s a lot to expect from somebody to be there every Sunday." As the discussion began to get a bit more personal, he left our group to play with some other golfers. But, my thoughts were this: I love coming to church and worshiping with the people of God. Attendance at church with the people of God isn’t too much to expect if you have a desire to come.

Last week, as the service concluded, I sat down next to my daughter. While Doug Sosnowski was closing up the service, I had a short conversation with her. She said, "We aren’t going to be here at church next Sunday." My comments to her was this. I said, "I know. You are going to be at Grace Bible Church in Pleasant Hill." And then, I said this, "You lucky dog!" There is a part of me that envies my family right now. They will be attending a church where the music is done much better than we have here. They will be attending a church were the preaching is much better than we have here. I love attending that church. Certainly, I believe that it has to do with simply being a fresh and different place. I believe that it’s also quite refreshing for me simply so sit back and enjoy the worship of God. But, the point is this. I love gathering with the people of God. When I’m in California next week with my family, when Sunday comes, I’m going to Grace Bible Church in Pleasant Hill. It’s not because I have to. It’s because there is no place in this world that I would rather be than with the people of God, joyfully worshiping the LORD.

That’s the spirit of verses 1 and 2. You don’t "joyfully" worship the LORD because you are compelled to come! We "joyfully" worship the LORD because we know Him and love Him. We know that He is the "LORD" as it says in verse 1. He is Jehovah, the God of the Bible. We know that He has saved us from our sins, as the last half of verse 1 indicates. He is "the rock of our salvation," meaning that He is the one who has redeemed us through the shed blood of Christ on the cross, saving us to live forever with Him. His salvation is sure, because He is our rock. Knowing these things about Him give us reason to "come before His presence with thanksgiving" (as it says in verse 2). We love to worship Him according to His word, shouting to Him "with psalms."

We see the reasons why the Psalmist gives for us to worship the LORD in such a joyful way in verses 3-5.

For the LORD is a great God,
And a great King above all gods,
In whose hand are the depths of the earth;
The peaks of the mountains are His also.
The sea is His, for it was He who made it;
And His hands formed the dry land. (Ps. 95:3-5)

These verses all point to the greatness of God. The point that the Psalmist makes is simply this: Because the LORD is such a great and mighty and powerful God, he is worthy of our enthusiastic, joyful worship. Over the page in Psalm 96:4 says it well, "Great is the LORD and greatly to be praised." God is great! Our worship of Him ought to be great as well.

This works in the human realm. The greater the man, the greater esteem and honor we give such a man. I have some neighbors who are baseball fanatics. I was over at their house recently. The father told the son, "Hey, did you tell Mr. Brandon what you did this past weekend?" The son said, "No." The father then said, "Well, then, tell him." He said, "I went to the White Sox game and got Roger Clemens’ autograph." To him, this was a precious thing, because he thinks highly of Roger Clemens who will certainly find himself enshrined in Cooperstown at the Baseball Hall of Fame in a few years. His greatness gives reason to rejoice at getting his autograph. Now, suppose that I would have pulled out a sheet of paper and given him my autograph. Would that have given him much reason to rejoice? I don’t think so. It’s only because of the greatness of the man, that the autograph is considered precious. In the world of professional baseball, I'm a nobody, but Roger Clemens is a somebody.

So also is the worship of God. As great as God is, so ought our worship of Him be. "Great is the LORD and greatly to be praised" (Ps. 96:4). Verses 3-5 show us how great God is. Verse 3 says that He is a great God. He is a great King above all gods. You name a god, and the LORD is the King over that god. You name an idol, and the LORD is the King over that idol. It’s not that the Psalmist is admitting to the reality of these gods, as if they are playing "King of the Hill" and our God merely happens to be winning over these other gods. The LORD, Himself has said, "I am the first and I am the last, and there is no God besides Me" (Isaiah 44:7). Paul says in 1 Corinthians 8:4, "we know that there is no such thing as an idol in the world, and that there is no God but one." There is no duality or plurality in this universe. There are no competing gods like the ancient Greeks supposed. But, the spiritual realm is very real. Demonic activity is alive and well. Many idols and gods may appear to have power because of the demonic forces behind them. And the Psalmist is saying that the LORD reigns among all spiritual powers. We can joyfully worship the LORD because we are rooting for a winner! God always wins! It’s amazing how many fans come out when teams are doing well. People love to watch a winner. When the Chicago Cubs almost made it to the World Series a few years ago, the number of Cubs fans were amazing. They were all over the place. People love rooting for a winner. But now that they are near the bottom of the standings again, it’s only the diehards who are still fans.

But, we never have to worry about these things with the LORD. He is always on top. He is always the victor. He is always the King! He will win in the end! It’s an easy thing to worship the LORD. He’s a winner! You don’t ever have to worry that the LORD will somehow find Himself at the bottom of the standings. Verses 4 and 5 tell us why He is the King of all gods. He owns the entire universe because He created it all. Look at verses 4 and 5.

[In the hand of the LORD] are the depths of the earth.
The peaks of the mountains are His also.
The sea is His, for it was He who made it,
And His hands formed the dry land. (Ps. 95:4-5)

Just as the potter has the right over the lump of clay, so also does the LORD have sovereign rights over the entire earth. Nothing happens that is outside of His control. When Satan wanted to afflict Job, it was only by the permission of Job’s owner (Job 1-2). When Satan wanted to sift Peter, he had to ask permission of the Lord (Luke 22:31-32). Every beast of the forest is His. The cattle on a thousand hills is His. He knows every bird of the mountains. Everything that moves in the field is His. The world is the LORD’s and all it contains (Ps. 50:10-12).

God is a great God and worthy of our joyful, loud, enthusiastic worship. When you come to worship the LORD corporately, is your heart filled with enthusiastic desire for Him? Certainly, it expresses itself differently with each one of us. All of us have differing personalities. Some are more outgoing than others. Some of us will naturally sing louder than others. Some of us will express ourselves more freely. But, we ought to have a freedom here in how we express our joy in the LORD. When your athletic team is in a close game and they score, a natural response is to lift your hands in joyful triumph. I know that we aren’t into raising hands here at Rock Valley Bible Church, but there is nothing wrong with raising your hands in worship. It’s Biblical. Psalm 63:4, "I will bless You as long as I live; I will lift up my hands in Your name." If you want to raise your hands in the triumph of our God, by all means, raise your hands and express your joy to Him! If you want to sing really loud, sing to knock the top off of our room. Express your joy to Him!

Let’s turn our attention to the second invitation to worship the LORD. It comes in verse 6 ...

Come, let us worship and bow down,
Let us kneel before the LORD our Maker. (Ps. 95:6)

At this point, the Psalm slows down. At this point, it becomes quiet. We’ve set aside the loud shouting and joyful exuberance and have replaced it with a subdued reverence before the LORD. In verse 6, we have three verbs: "let us worship"; "let us bow down"; "let us kneel." They all have the same meaning. They all describe a prostrate position before the LORD. They all describe a stooping, bowing position. It’s how Daniel prayed. Three times each day, he would get down on his knees to pray and give thanks before the LORD, his God (Daniel 6:10). Perhaps you have seen how Muslims pray. They pull out their prayer carpet, get on their knees, and put their face to the ground, with their arms stretched out in front of them. Now, certainly, they are not worshiping the true God, Jesus Christ. But, they do give us a good picture of the worship described here in verse 6, which describes a worship on our face. It describes bowing down, kneeling, getting low. Do you ever pray like this? Do you ever worship the LORD like this? When we pray corporately as a church, is it your tendency to get low? Just as I talked about raising hands and lifting your voice, so also I want to encourage you express your worship to the LORD as He moves you. If you feel it’s appropriate, by all means, bow low to the ground in worship of Him. Get on your knees if the LORD would so move you. There’s nothing wrong with these things. The reason for worshiping the LORD this way comes in verse 7.

For He is our God,
And we are the people of His pasture and the sheep of His hand. (Ps. 95:7)

The reason why we come in reverence to Him is because He is our personal God. Ruth made the pledge to Naomi, "Your people shall be my people, and your God [shall be] my God" (Ruth 1:16). When Thomas was enabled to place his finger in the hands of Jesus and to place his hands in the side of Jesus, he said, "My Lord and my God!" (John 20:28). In both of these instances, there was a very serious reflection upon the nature of their relationship to their God. Ruth said that the LORD would be her God. Thomas said that Jesus was his God. But verse 7 goes beyond us merely embracing our God. The wonderful truth here in this passage is that God embraces us! He is our God. "We are the people of His pasture and the sheep of His hand" (verse 7). In other words, God looks down upon us and says, "You shall be my people." In the context of Psalm 95, of course, this is talking about the people of Israel. But, with the fuller revelation of the New Testament, we know that what was true of Israel is true of us. As believers in Jesus Christ, we have become the people of God.

But you are A CHOSEN RACE, A royal PRIESTHOOD, A HOLY NATION, A PEOPLE FOR God's OWN POSSESSION, so that you may proclaim the excellencies of Him who has called you out of darkness into His marvelous light; for you once were NOT A PEOPLE, but now you are THE PEOPLE OF GOD; you had NOT RECEIVED MERCY, but now you have RECEIVED MERCY.

Peter wrote these words to Christians. He wrote these words to those who believed in Jesus Christ and came to trust Him and His atoning sacrifice upon the cross, as sufficient to atone for their sins. Through faith in Him, we enter into the congregation of the people of God. The promises that were given to Israel have now come to us through their Messiah, who came to shed His blood for all who believe in Him. The magnitude of this blessing is quite overwhelming. Why would the God of the universe humble Himself to come to us? Only to show off the shear mercy of His grace.

So far in this passage, we have looked at the call to worship. Let’s now look at ...

In verses 7-11, the Psalmist gives to us a warning when we come before the Lord. We can go through the motions and worship the LORD in vain, without the all-important heart. You can have all of the enthusiasm in the world, with loud and joyful singing, and still not worship the LORD. You can get low to the ground like a Muslim, who prays five times a day toward Mecca and bow in utter reverence before the LORD, and still not worship the LORD. For God to receive your worship, your heart needs to be right. Look at verse 7, ...

Today, if you would hear His voice, "Do not harden your hearts, as at Meribah, As in the day of Massah in the wilderness, When your fathers tested Me, They tried Me, though they had seen My work. 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. Therefore I swore in My anger, Truly they shall not enter into My rest." (Ps. 95:7-11)

These words take us back into the history of the Jewish people at the time when the LORD delivered them out of slavery They were enslaved by the Egyptians. "The Egyptians compelled the sons of Israel to labor rigorously; and they made their lives bitter with hard labor in mortar and bricks and all kinds of labor in the field" (Ex. 1:13-14). In their bondage, they cried to the LORD for help (Ex. 2:23). The LORD raised up Moses to lead the people from slavery. Rather than simply delivering them, the LORD had a plan. He wanted to deliver them in such a way that His power would be on display for all the world to see (Ex. 9:16). And so, He hardened Pharaoh’s heart so as to be able to inflict 10 great plagues upon the Egyptians.

As these plagues played out, the Israelites watched God turn the water of the Nile River into blood. He brought frogs upon all the land of Egypt. He brought gnats upon the land. He brought swarms of insects. He brought pestilence on the livestock. He brought boils upon the people. He brought hail from the heavens. He brought locusts. He brought darkness upon the land of Egypt. He brought about the death of the firstborn in every house in Egypt. The last plague was so devastating to Pharaoh, that he commanded the people of Israel to leave Egypt. Before doing so, they asked the Egyptians for their silver and gold and clothing, which they freely gave to them. In every instance, these plagues came and went according to the LORD’s spokesman, Moses. When Moses said that the plague would begin, it would begin. When Moses said that the plague would end, it would end.

These plagues came with amazing discernment. There were times when the plague only hit the Egyptian people. When the swarms of insects came upon Egypt, they didn’t come to Goshen, where the sons of Israel lived (Ex. 8:22). It was only the Egyptian livestock that fell in the pestilence (Ex. 9:4). When debilitating boils came upon the people, the disease only affected the Egyptians (Ex. 9:11). When the hail came crashing down upon Egypt, it didn’t fall in Goshen (Ex. 9:26). When darkness covered the land to such an extent that those in Egypt remained in their dwellings for three days, life went on in Goshen, because there was enough light there (Ex. 10:23). When death came upon the firstborn of every house in Egypt, not a single home was missed (Ex. 12:29). Not a single firstborn of man or beast remained alive (Ex. 12:29). But none of the Israelites lost their firstborn, because they put the blood of the Passover lamb upon the door posts of their houses (Ex. 12:7).

It was obvious that these were supernatural disasters that came from the hand of the LORD. It is far more than a coincidental happening. There is no way that you can explain these things as simple natural occurrences. What Israel saw was nothing less than a phenomenal display of the power of God (Ex. 9:16). You could easily imagine that such a display of the awesome power of God would lead Israel to believe and trust in the LORD. However, they didn’t. When the Hebrew people left the land, once again Pharaoh had a change of heart and pursued them (Ex. 14:5).

Rather than trusting in the LORD, who had just miraculously delivered them, they complained to Moses, "It would have been better for us to serve the Egyptians than to die in the wilderness" (Ex. 14:12). But, once again, the LORD delivered them with an incredible display of His power. Through the night, He held off the Egyptian army by providing a pillar of cloud between the Hebrews and the Egyptians (Ex. 14:20). During the night, "the LORD swept the sea back by a strong east wind all night and turned the sea into dry land, so the waters were divided" (Ex. 14:21). In the day, Israel passed through on the dry ground. As Pharaoh’s army pursued after them, they were swallowed up by the sea (Ex. 14:26). You would think that Israel would believe in the LORD the next time they were in distress. He had been so faithful to deliver them in the past, certainly He would do so again in the future. But three days later, they were in the wilderness with no water to drink. The only water they had was bitter. Rather than trusting in the LORD, they grumbled at Moses (Ex. 15:24). But God delivered them by making the water sweet. A few weeks later, they grumbled when they were hungry (Ex. 16:3). God provided Manna for them (Ex. 16:4). A little bit later, they grumbled yet again when they came to Rephidim (Ex. 17:1). They were in the barren wilderness with no water. They cried out against Moses, "Why, now, have you brought us up from Egypt, to kill us and our children and our livestock with thirst?" (Ex. 17:3). Miraculously, the LORD provided water from the rock at Horeb, enough to give drink to several million people. Moses called the place "Massah and Meribah [which means ‘test’ and ‘quarrel,’] because of the quarrel of the sons of Israel, and because they tested the LORD, saying, ‘Is the LORD among us, or not?’" (Ex. 17:7).

"In less than six months they had witnessed ten plagues, the pillar of cloud and fire, the opening and shutting of the Red Sea, the miraculous sweetening of the water, and the sending of food and meat from heaven; yet their real question came down to this: ‘Is the LORD among us or not?" ¹

They failed to have a heart of belief that said, "The LORD is among us! Let use trust in Him!" And now, we are brought back to Psalm 95:

Today, if you would hear His voice,
Do not harden your hearts, as at Meribah,
As in the day of Massah in the wilderness,
When your fathers tested Me,
They tried Me, though they had seen My work. (Ps. 95:7-9)

It really is quite unbelievable what they saw. They saw miracles that are only surpassed by the miracles of Jesus. And yet, these miracles were coupled with hard hearts of unbelief! And this is the warning that comes to us: Don’t harden your hearts with unbelief if you expect to worship the LORD correctly. In the hardness of their unbelief, that generation was prohibited from entering the land. Look again at verse 10 and 11. 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.
Therefore I swore in My anger,
Truly they shall not enter into My rest." (Ps. 95:10-11)

Through their unbelief, the LORD despised these people. They had seen His great works, but had not trusted in Him. At one point, he almost destroyed them, were it not for the pleadings of Moses to keep them alive (Ex. 33). And so, for forty years, the LORD endured these obstinate people, until the generation died away, every single one of them. In His anger, the LORD had sworn,

"Surely all the men who have seen My glory and My signs which I performed in Egypt and in the wilderness, yet have put Me to the test these ten times and have not listened to My voice, shall by no means see the land which I swore to their fathers, nor shall any of those who spurned me see it." (Num. 14:22-23)

And none of them entered into the rest, except for Joshua and Caleb, who believed (Num. 14:30). Rather, they perished in the wilderness. And the Warning to Worship comes to us: "Today, if you would hear His voice, .... do not harden your hearts" (verses 7b-8a). The LORD regards the worship of Him very seriously. He is a jealous God, who will visit the iniquity of fathers on the children and on the grandchildren to the third and fourth generation (Ex. 20:4). He hates it when people fail to worship Him. And there are consequences for your unbelief, should you attempt to worship the LORD with a hard heart.

As I bring this message to a close, I ask you to turn in your Bibles over to Hebrews, chapter 3. After quoting the warning of Psalm 95, the writer to the Hebrews comments upon them. In Hebrews 3, beginning with verse 12, he writes,

Take care, brethren, that there not be in any one of you an evil, unbelieving heart that falls away from the living God. But encourage one another day after day, as long as it is still called "Today," so that none of you will be hardened by the deceitfulness of sin. For we have become partakers of Christ, if we hold fast the beginning of our assurance firm until the end. (Heb. 3:12-14)

Do you feel the warning? How easy it is to fall away from the living God. You simply need to let sin into your lives and ignore it. It's like having termites in your house, and doing nothing about it. As sin comes into your life, your heart will become hardened and unbelieving. When your heart is hard and unbelieving, your worship to the LORD will not be acceptable. I don’t care how enthusiastic you are, a hardened heart will not be acceptable to the LORD. I don’t care how emotional you become, the LORD loathes a hardened heart. I don’t care how prostrate on the ground you might fall, the LORD will not be pleased with your worship.

"Who may ascend into the hill of the LORD?
And who may stand in His holy place?
He who has clean hands and a pure heart,
Who has not lifted up his soul to falsehood
And has not sworn deceitfully" (Psalm. 24:3-4).

You can get all of your outward forms of worship correct, but miss it in your heart. That’s why the sweet Psalmist of Israel prayed, ... "Let the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart Be acceptable in Your sight, O LORD, my rock and my Redeemer" (Ps. 19:14).

And so, I say, church family, "Take care, ... that there not be in anyone of an evil, unbelieving heart that falls away from the living God" (Heb. 3:12). Suddenly, we are talking about things much more serious than a mere worship service on Sunday morning. We're talking about your life. We're talking about your destiny. In Hebrews 3:19, we read that those who failed to believe, failed to enter into the rest. The warning comes again in Hebrews 4:1, "Therefore, let us fear if, while a promise remains of entering His rest, any one of you may seem to have come short of it." We don't have time to go through the details of this passage this morning, but the summary comes in chapter 4, verse 9: "There remains a Sabbath rest for the people of God." He's talking about an ultimate rest for our work, which only comes in Jesus Christ. In verse 11, he writes, "Let us be diligent to enter that rest." The Israelites failed to believe in God, and so, they perished in the wilderness. May we learn from them and believe in the rest that God has for us in Jesus Christ. Jesus said, "Come unto me all who are weary and heavy laden, and I will give you rest" (Matt. 11:28). Rest in Jesus Christ! Believe in His work on the cross. Trust in His atonement for your sins. Let this transform your worship of Him!

This sermon was delivered to Rock Valley Bible Church on July 2, 2006 by Steve Brandon.
For more information see www.rockvalleybiblechurch.org.