Wash your hands, wear your mask, keep your distance part 3
- Nov 8, 2020
- 6 min read
Let the Worshipers Arise!
“God is looking for worshippers… Before He is looking for apostles, prophets, evangelists or pastors, He is looking for worshippers… Before He is looking for musicians, dancers or songwriters, He is looking for worshippers… God is looking for a people who have His Glory foremost in their minds and utmost in their hearts…He is looking for a people whose lives will echo the same…” Alan Frow
1. What is Worship?
Not only music / song as in “Praise and Worship” in the church in the morning. The activity of one’s heart in adoration of God.
Romans 12:1 : “And so, dear brothers and sisters, I plead with you to give your bodies to God because of all he has done for you. Let them be a living and holy sacrifice—the kind he will find acceptable. This is truly the way to worship him.”
God gives us certain gifts. Worship is how and what we give back to God.
2. How should we Worship God?
John 4:21 – 24 “21 Jesus said to her, “Woman, believe Me, the hour is coming when you will neither on this mountain, nor in Jerusalem, worship the Father. 22 You worship what you do not know; we know what we worship, for salvation is of the Jews. 23 But the hour is coming, and now is, when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth; for the Father is seeking such to worship Him. 24 God is Spirit, and those who worship Him must worship in spirit and truth.”
Forms of worship in the Bible:
To kneel, to bless God, to bow down
Psalm 72:12 – 15 “He will rescue the poor when they cry out to Him; He will help the oppressed, who have no one to defend them… Long live the king! May the gold of Sheba be given to him, may the people always pray for him and bless him all day long”
To shine, celebrate, be clamorous
2 Samuel 6:22 “And I will be even more undignified than this, and will be humble in my own sight. But as for the maidservants of whom you have spoken, by them I will be held in honor.”
To shout loudly, to command
Psalm 47:1 “Come, everyone! Clap your hands! Shout to God with joyful praise!”
To sing praises, singing out of the Spirit spontaneously
Psalm 22:3 “But
You are holy O You Who dwell in the praises of Israel
”
Extending hands, acting out of thanksgiving for what He has done
Psalm 50:23 “But giving thanks is a sacrifice that truly honors me. If you keep to my path, I will reveal to you the salvation of God”
Extending the hands vigorously
2 Chron 20:21 “Give thanks to the Lord; his faithful love endures forever”
To touch the strings, to make music with instruments, rejoicing
Psalm 150:3 – 6 “Praise him with trumpet sound; praise him with lute and harp! 4 Praise him with tambourine and dance; praise him with strings and pipe! 5 Praise him with sounding cymbals; praise him with loud clashing cymbals! 6 Let everything that has breath praise the Lord! Praise the Lord!”
3. Worship as warfare
2 Chronicles 20: 15 – 24 “15 He said, “Listen, all you people of Judah and Jerusalem! Listen, King Jehoshaphat! This is what the Lord says: Do not be afraid! Don’t be discouraged by this mighty army, for the battle is not yours, but God’s. 16 Tomorrow, march out against them. You will find them coming up through the ascent of Ziz at the end of the valley that opens into the wilderness of Jeruel. “17 But you will not even need to fight. Take your positions; then stand still and watch the Lord’s victory. He is with you, O people of Judah and Jerusalem. Do not be afraid or discouraged. Go out against them tomorrow, for the Lord is with you!”18 Then King Jehoshaphat bowed low with his face to the ground. And all the people of Judah and Jerusalem did the same, worshiping the Lord. 19 Then the Levites from the clans of Kohath and Korah stood to praise the Lord, the God of Israel, with a very loud shout.”“20 Early the next morning the army of Judah went out into the wilderness of Tekoa. On the way Jehoshaphat stopped and said, “Listen to me, all you people of Judah and Jerusalem! Believe in the Lord your God, and you will be able to stand firm. Believe in his prophets, and you will succeed.”21 After consulting the people, the king appointed singers to walk ahead of the army, singing to the Lord and praising him for his holy splendor. This is what they sang: “Give thanks to the Lord; his faithful love endures forever!” “22 At the very moment they began to sing and give praise, the Lord caused the armies of Ammon, Moab, and Mount Seir to start fighting among themselves. 23 The armies of Moab and Ammon turned against their allies from Mount Seir and killed every one of them. After they had destroyed the army of Seir, they began attacking each other. 24 So when the army of Judah arrived at the lookout point in the wilderness, all they saw were dead bodies lying on the ground as far as they could see. Not a single one of the enemy had escaped.”
Conclusion: God attracts worship and that is what we will be doing for eternity
Worship will be the primary activity in heaven
Our life here on earth is a short rehearsal for an eternity worshipping God
Luke 19:39 – 40 “Some
of the Pharisees from the crowd said to Him, “Teacher, rebuke Your disciples
.” 40Jesus replied, “I tell
you, if these keep silent, the stones will cry out !”
4. Shout to the Lord
Psalm 32:11 (ESV) Be glad in the Lord, and rejoice, O righteous, and shout for joy, all you upright in heart!
Psalm 33:3 (ESV) Sing to him a new song; play skillfully on the strings, with loud shouts.
Psalm 47:1, “Clap your hands, all peoples! Shout to God with loud songs of joy!”
Psalm 66:1–2 (ESV) Shout for joy to God, all the earth; 2 sing the glory of his name; give to him glorious praise!
Psalm 71:23 (ESV) My lips will shout for joy, when I sing praises to you; my soul also, which you have redeemed.
Why should we shout?
Hebrew word shabach, means to address in a loud tone, to triumph, to shout, to command, to glory.
This is a shouting praise- you don’t sing it, you shout it. A shout commands our victory. It stills the enemy. This kind of praise is a battle cry; a cry of victory.
This is the word used when the Israelites shouted, and the walls of Jericho came down. A praise shout is a weapon of spiritual warfare. When we face walls in our lives, we need to give a shout of victory in order to see the victory.
Joshua 6:5 (NIV) “When you hear them sound a long blast on the trumpets, have the whole army give a loud shout; then the wall of the city will collapse and the army will go up, everyone straight in.”
As we shout a praise to God, walls will fall- walls of sickness, walls of poverty, walls of oppression.
John 11:43 (ESV) “When he had said these things, he cried out with a loud voice, “Lazarus, come out.”
Lazarus, having been dead, and buried for four days, already believed to be putrefying, came out of the grave alive!
When we shout in victory, the enemy is discomfited; the dead come back to life.
Some people only shout out of fear; and that’s the wrong shout; ours is the voice of triumph.
We shout ahead of the battle; ahead of the challenges
Shout for
Joy - Psalm 98:4, NIV “Shout for joy to the Lord, all the earth”
Shout a War Cry - 1 Samuel 17:47 (AMP) and that this entire assembly may know that the Lord does not save with the sword or with the spear; for the battle is the Lord’s and He will hand you over to us.”
Shout Your Praise
When Jesus told 10 lepers to go and present themselves to the priests, they were all healed as they obeyed His words.
Luke 17:15, (NIV)“One of them, when he saw he was healed, came back, praising God in a loud voice”
Psalm 95: 1-2 (MSG) “Come, let’s shout praises to God, raise the roof for the Rock who saved us! Let’s march into his presence singing praises, lifting the rafters with our hymns! 3-5 And why? Because God is the best,High King over all the gods.
Shout Your Victory
Psalm 47:1, (BSB)“Clap your hands, all you peoples; shout unto God with a voice of triumph”
Shout for help
The devil wants you to keep your mouth shut.
Everybody around you is telling you to calm down, pretend like everything is okay.
You can’t pretend now, you need to shout!
Shout for help
Psalms 72:12 (NET) or he will rescue the needy when they cry out for help, and the oppressed who have no defender.
Psalms(NET) 31:22 I jumped to conclusions and said, “I am cut off from your presence!” But you heard my plea for mercy when I cried out to you for help
Ps. 18:6 (NET) In my distress I called to the Lord; I cried out to my God. From his heavenly temple he heard my voice; he listened to my cry for help