FRESH START | Psalm 95

Psalm 95 doesn't tell us to worship god when we feel it. It says today, if you hear his voice, worship him. And if you're sitting here thinking, Wes, I don't I don't even know where to start. Like, I don't sing. I don't do this. Can I just invite you like the psalmist? It's an invitation. Oh, come. Come and worship. Because worship worship is always an invitation to behold god for who he is, to bow before him, and to soften our hearts to trust him. [01:02:57] (33 seconds)  #WorshipToday

When we experience God, when we truly find him and see him and know him, when we see his provision and his power, our response cannot be grumbling because he hasn't done more. Our response, as it says here, should be joy, should be gratitude and thankfulness. We don't harden our hearts and we don't turn turn away. Instead, we worship the lord. We sing to him. We make joyful noise to him. We come into his presence with thanksgiving because he is worthy. [00:57:30] (42 seconds)  #GratitudeNotGrumbling

When we define worship that way and when we see worship portrayed throughout the bible, we see that in reality, worship is more than singing. It is. It's more than singing. It's more than shouting. It's more than instruments and music. Worship is a posture of the heart and the body before the lord. It's single mindedly turning ourselves to him and pouring on him our attention and our affection. Our minds and our hearts and our souls are unified in seeing and experiencing him. That's what worship is. [00:36:59] (33 seconds)  #WorshipIsPosture

It's a coming before him and seeing him for who he is and responding to him that way because worship is always a response to him, to who he is, and what he's done. If we walk through all the places in scripture tonight where the worship of his god is described, we would be here for a lot longer than ninety minutes. And I don't wanna keep you for too long. But if we did that, we would notice something. That worship is always a response to god showing the people himself and then providing for them in some way. [00:47:35] (31 seconds)  #WorshipInResponse

We do not worship a small and insignificant lowercase god. We don't pour out our attention and our affection on someone that is lesser than. No. We worship the god who is above all others. He stands above the universe, not at its center, above it. And he holds it all. He made it. He spoke it into its existence. He sustains it by his power and his word. He's the center of it all. He exists in radiant glory that is beyond our comprehension. [00:42:02] (35 seconds)  #WorshipTheAlmighty

Because what is kneeling? What is bowing down? It's where we remind ourselves that we are not in charge, and we lower ourselves before him because he is big and we are not. He is worthy. Says that he is our god. This is a sign of relationship with us, that he's not far, he's not somewhere else. No. He is our god, and he is near. He is with us. So we come to him and we bow before him. [00:45:42] (32 seconds)  #HumbleBeforeGod

Their hardness of heart happened because their gratitude for who god is and what he's done slowly turned to grumbling because he hadn't done it yet. We can look at the Israelites and make fun of them and get mad at them a little bit. Makes me feel better sometimes about myself. But then I remind myself that I am that person too. When god doesn't do what I want him to do right now, don't I get a little grumbly and complaining? Don't I let that eclipse my view of who he is and what he's done? [00:56:45] (34 seconds)  #DontHardenYourHeart

We give our hearts over to our jobs, to our families, to our kids, to our money, to our addictions, to our favorite teens, our favorite brands, our favorite celebrities, our favorite influencers, our desires and dreams. We just give it all up. And then we forget who god is. We lull ourselves to sleep. See, that's why week after week, we gather here and we're in our community groups and we spend time in worship because we have to remind ourselves who god is. [00:43:17] (34 seconds)  #RefocusOnGod