WORSHIP -part 3

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The God of creation is the only one who deserves our worship. He is all in all worthy of our praise and thanksgiving. Today I want us to continue with the series on worship. This is the third episode and in this episode, we are going to resume from where we paused the other time in Part 1 when we took the 26th Psalm and made an exposition of it. I intentionally did not continue with this text from Psalm yesterday because I felt that there is something critical in this passage that needed to be covered before I continue with it. And that is the worship in truth. Therefore we learnt from yesterday's message what it means to worship God in truth and in Spirit. That was imperative for us to go deeper since such is the form of worship the 'Father seeks'
With that said, let us go straight to the text

1 Vindicate me, O LORD, for I have walked in my integrity, And I have trusted in the LORD without wavering. 2 Examine me, O LORD, and try me; Test my mind and my heart. 3 For Your lovingkindness is before my eyes, And I have walked in Your truth. 4 I do not sit with deceitful men, Nor will I go with pretenders. 5 I hate the assembly of evildoers, And I will not sit with the wicked. 6 I shall wash my hands in innocence, And I will go about Your altar, O LORD, 7 That I may proclaim with the voice of thanksgiving And declare all Your wonders. 8 O LORD, I love the habitation of Your house And the place where Your glory dwells. (Psalm 26:1-8, NASB)

It's from this text above that we are going to consider two verses as a continuation of part 1. These verses are the 3rd and 4th ones. And it's from these two verses that I would like to call your attention to

• The link between the loving-kindness of God and worship and

• The relationship between worship and friends.

1. The link between God's loving-kindness and worship.

Sometimes I hear people say that they don't feel like worshiping God. And whenever such comment is made, it doesn't take long for those people to admit that they don't feel the presence of God . It's true that sometimes we all don't feel God as close as He was some time ago. But I think our feelings shouldn't be the reason why we won't worship God . Worship is not catalysed by our feelings. No. It's moved by who God is and what God has done in His Son Jesus. There's no motivation greater than these. If anyone relies upon his feelings to worship God, then that person does not know God. This is what I am not saying. I am not saying that worship is void of feelings. But if our feelings are what embolden us to go down on our knees in worship, then we have no worship at all. We are living in a time where we think everything is based on feelings. Emotionalism is infused into almost every facet of the modern church. People want to have some sense of happiness or positive feelings before they offer God worship. That is not so for David. He said '3 For Your lovingkindness is before my eyes, And I have walked in Your truth'. Here he acknowledged the loving-kindness of God. It's set before his eyes. He has made it in such a way that he doesn't lose sight of the loving-kindness of God. For he knows that without the loving-kindness of God, he would not have being chosen as a king. He wouldn't have being forgiven of his many sins. Love in kindness. How sweet that sounds! He knew that all that he is by the grace of God. The love of God was before him. And whenever he gazes on it, all that he's motivated to do is to admire who God is and fall down on his knees in worship. He sometimes prostrate himself on the ground in worship to the Almighty. The loving-kindness of God alone should be an inspiration for worship. Instead of making ourselves the motivators for worship, why don't we depend on the Object of our worship -God himself. He is enough to motivate us to worship. And to worship in truth.

2. The relationship between worship and friends.

Our company has a drastic effect on who we are. There is a Ghanaian proverb which when transliterated goes like 'show me your friend and I will show you your character' . This proverb is a truism. It's beyond all reasonable doubt that the people we associate ourselves with have an effect on our lives. Listen to a wise advice from Paul in his letter to the Corinthians
'Do not be deceived: "Bad company corrupts good morals." (1 Corinthians 15:33, NASB)'. David is saying here in verse 4 that 'I do not sit with deceitful men, Nor will I go with pretenders' . And that is he does not associate himself with those who corrupt his worship . He draws a line between himself and deceitful men,; between himself and men who are pretenders. This same David, in the very first chapter of His book gave some explanation about this when he said ;
'1 How blessed is the man who does not walk in the counsel of the wicked, Nor stand in the path of sinners, Nor sit in the seat of scoffers! 2 But his delight is in the law of the LORD, And in His law he meditates day and night. (Psalm 1:1-2, NASB)' .
I'm more interested in the verse 2 when he said 'But his delight is in the law of the LORD, And in His law he meditates day and night. '. Here he was saying that the main reason why we wouldn't be in a deceitful and corrupting companies is for us to be able to meditate on the word of God. And yesterday from the part 2 , we got to understand the connection between worship, truth and Spirit. And that is true worship is in the Spirit, the Spirit is truth and the word of God is truth. So here in effect David is kind of saying the same thing in chapter 26 that he does not 'sit with deceitful men, Nor will I go with pretenders' so that he can be in the Spirit which is the truth (the word of God). As Christians, let us not waste our time with people who will not help us in our Christian life. Let's not corrupt this truth we have in us but rather eat the word of God for the sanctification of our inner man so that we can offer a sweet smelling worship to God. And such worship the seeks. He shall inhabit such worships for own glory. Amen.

God bless you for following today's message. Your comments and upvotes are expected.