Worshipping God
Psalm 134
Introduction: A couple of years ago the movie The Golden Compass made a big splash. According to reviews and columns, the movie was very well made, with intriguing characters, an interesting plot, and over the top special effects. Many Christians, however, were repulsed by the movie because author, Phillip Pullman, an avowed atheist, openly stated that he wrote his books for the express purpose of opposing the Bible’s message about God, sin, and salvation. He wanted to write a counter narrative to the narrative of Scripture.
Indeed, Pullman, expressed his disappointment that people weren’t more outraged about his books. He wondered aloud why the Harry Potter books and movies received more antagonism that his own, when, in fact, the goal of his books was far more sinister that that of J.K. Rowling’s Harry Potter series. “My books are about killing God” Pullman stated quite frankly.[1]
The Golden Compass is part of a trilogy in which the main characters slay whatever, which Pullman intends to the portray the murder of the Christian God.
While relatively few people would express their disdain for the God of the Bible quite so overtly, the truth is that we live in a world that is ever seeking to displace God, to reinvent God, to ignore God, to dethrone God from His rightful place as sovereign Lord of all. Though you may shudder to think of trying to “kill” God, what place does God have in your life? What place does God hold in your heart, in your daily routine, in your goals and dreams, in your relationships, in your interests?
Psalm 134, though brief, is a Psalm that helps us to see the rightful place God should and must have in our souls. This Psalm is the last of the songs of ascents. The songs of ascent were songs that the Israelites sung as they traveled up to Jerusalem to worship God during their annual feasts.
The final song of ascent reminds the worshippers of God’s rightful place in their souls, in their lives. The Psalm is a reminder to us this morning also; a reminder that God’s rightful place is to be worshipped as we come to church and as we leave the church. As we come and as we go, God should ever and always be at the center of our lives as the ultimate reason for our existence.
God should be life’s highest value and our ultimate priority, for God Himself has made us. God made you, and your life finds its meaning, purpose, and sanity when you become a worshipper of God.
I. Worship God when you come to church (1).
Explanation: Notice the first phrase of this Psalm in verse 1. “Come,” or “Lo,” “Behold,” can literally mean “stand” and is meant to call our attention to what follows, which is “bless the Lord, all you servants of the Lord.” The word bless means to “kneel down.” So the idea may be a picture of humbling ourselves before the Lord God Almighty, recognizing that we are but dust and He is the Most High, and worshipping Him with humility, and devotion is the only proper response to Who He is.
In the Old Testament, it was the Levites who were chiefly to be “servants of the Lord, who stand by night in the house of the Lord.” The house of the Lord referred to the temple or to the place designated specifically to the worship of God and some would remain overnight, kindling the lamps or attending to the sacrifices.
Further, we read in the gospel of Luke of a lady named Anna. Anna was an 84 year-old widow who “did not depart from the temple, worshiping with fasting and prayer night and day” (Luke 2:37). Now let’s suppose we planned an all night worship service here at Calvary Baptist, and we put a sign up sheet in the back; what kind of attendance could we expect do you think?
Illustration: This might sound absurd, but all night celebrations are actually quite common. Some voters celebrated all night long when Barak Obama won on election almost one year ago. Some fans celebrated through the night when the Yankees won the World Series a couple of weeks ago. Some partygoers celebrate through the night on New Year’s Eve. Some students will celebrate all night long when, and if, they graduate from high school.
Why is it that political victories, sports victories, holidays, or major accomplishments can be reasonably celebrated with an all night bash, but the suggestion of worshipping God in such a way sounds ludicrous?
Application: Baseball, politics, educational achievements, just rank partying, are these things more important, more exciting, more worthy of our passionate celebration than God Himself? Could it be that our lack of zeal for God, when compared to our celebration of these kinds of things with such passion, reveals something about our hearts? Could it be that while our hearts are alive to politics, sports, and achievements, our hearts are actually dead to God Himself?
Brothers and Sisters, something is wrong when the thought of gathering to worship the living God brings about as much excitement to us as gathering to watch paint dry on the walls. Something is wrong when we conceive of God as boring, stale, dead, or dry. And I suggest that the problem is with our hearts rather than with God.
The Psalmist is more than excited to call his friends to the Lord’s house for worship. “Come” he say’s, “let’s go worship the Lord.” Worshiping the Lord cannot be dull because it is the Lord we are worshiping. Notice His name; “Yahweh,” the Existing One, the One Who Is.
Yahweh is the name by which God referred to Himself when He met Moses at the burning bush. I dare say that if we had a tree on our church grounds that was set on fire, but rather than being burned up it simply continued to burn indefinitely; I dare say, we could attract some interest to that.
People might even stop by and take pictures to be passed around on Facebook. Someone might write a story and put it in the Madison Courier. A video of it might go viral on YouTube. We might have more traffic backed up than Taco Bell on opening night.
God merely used a burning bush as an elementary example of Who He really is; the One who exists forever and is never consumed; the One Who really is, has always been, and always will be. God- the flaming center of the cosmos brighter and more powerful than a billion suns combined. Worship God when you come to church!
II. Worship God when you leave the church (2-3).
Explanation: God deserves, yea, He demands to be worshiped in the church, that’s what we’ve gathered to do, but worshiping God should be our full time occupation no matter where we go or what we do. The final verse of this Psalm, verse 3, is actually a part of the priestly benediction. “May the Lord bless you from Zion” might have been the final words expressed to worshippers. So, the idea is…may the God whom you have come to worship in the sanctuary go with you and bless you wherever you go.
God was not confined, then, in the Old Testament to the tabernacle or Temple, no building could contain Him. And neither can a church building contain God today. When you leave this place and go to your home or to your place of work, God will be just as present and just as worthy and deserving of your worship.
He is after all, the One “who made heaven and earth!” And He is present in all of it; so that no matter where you go, you can never escape God. And neither can you escape the fact that your soul was made for worshipping God and can never be satisfied in anything other than worship God.
Human beings are worshippers, and we will worship something. The sad reality is that we are duped worshipping something, anything, other than God. O we don’t usually think of what we’re doing as worship, but that’s what it is. Whatever we give our attention to, our devotion to, our emotional energy to; whatever we long for in our hearts and dwell on in our minds. That is what we worship.
We get excited or passionate about all kinds of things in life, some of which I’ve already mentioned, all kinds of things matter to us, but does God matter? While you might never imagine saying something like “I would like to kill God,” does God Himself have any real bearing on your life? Does God’s existence matter to you? When you leave this church, will God’s presence in the cosmos have any impact on your day to day existence?
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Illustration: It is possible that while you are not consciously opposed to God, neither are you consciously aware of Him? One of the great tragedies of life is not to desire the murder of God, but to be indifferent to Him. Let’s look at the color of the walls in this room. Did you notice that they are white? Had you been sitting there prior to the worship service hating these white walls and scheming a grand coup to paint them pink in the night?
Probably not, but your indifference to the color of these walls simply highlights the fact that it doesn’t matter. As a matter of fact, we probably want a neutral color because we don’t want your attention on the walls, we want your attention on what is being said, sung, and prayed in this place.
But, just as it is of little significance to you that these walls are white, you wouldn’t give it a second thought, so the fact that you do not meditate on God reveals that He is simply inconsequential to you. You wouldn’t say that you hate Him and wish Him dead, but neither would you spend more than a fleeting moment even thinking about Him. God is completely off your radar screen; He simply doesn’t matter.
God simply doesn’t compare to your social life, your career goals, your retirement fund, or your hobbies. This is more frightening than an atheistic author with an agenda to make money. Our souls may very well be indifferent to God this morning…indifferent to the only source of joy, purpose, and meaning in the universe. The One who fashioned us and gave us life; it’s a scandal to be indifferent to Him.
Application: Are you indifferent to God? Would you beg to differ with me? Will you worship God privately as you leave this place today? Will you make everyday activities an act of worship to God? God is not far off; He will be there in your home, in your car, in front of your computer screen. Will you worship Him? I hope so, because if you do become a worshipper you will be blessed.
Worshipping God is the escape from meaninglessness that grips so many lives today. May the Lord bless you as you leave this place today by making you a worshipper of Himself, wherever you go; whatever you do.
Conclusion: Philip Pullman makes his most direct attack upon the Christian God in the final book of his trilogy, The Amber Spyglass. In that last scene, Lyra and Will (the two main characters and teenagers by the way) eventually succeed and kill God, who turns out to be a decrepit and feeble old imposter who was hardly worth the killing in the first place.
Philip Pullman would have us believe that the God of the Bible is just an imposter, a feeble invention of our religious minds, a fictional thought hardly worth considering, but prevalent that we ought to destroy any thought of him. And, we might very well be repulsed by the idea of a man writing children’s books to convert children away from believing in the Christian God, in an attempt to murder the very idea of God. Nevertheless, we might actually be doing something even far worse.
Long ago, Jesus expressed His displeasure at those who were indifferent to Him. “You are neither cold nor hot” He said. “Would that you were either cold or hot! So, because you are lukewarm, and neither hot nor cold, I will spit you out of my mouth” (Rev 3:15-16).
Indifference, lukewarmness, is not a fitting response to God. How can we be indifferent to a God so great? How can we be indifferent to the One who shed His own blood on a cold cross in order that we might be forgiven of sin and granted eternal life? Our God, revealed in Jesus Christ, filled with so much love, demands our life, our soul, our all. Will you give it to Him? Will you give the Lord Jesus Christ your worship when you come to church and when you leave?
[1] http://www.albertmohler.com/2007/12/04/the-golden-compass-a-briefing-for-concerned-christians
