Why are we a people called to Praise?
WHY DO WE GATHER TOGETHER ON A SUNDAY MORNING AND SING SONGS OF PRAISE? WHAT IS WORSHIP? AND WHY DO WE DO IT??
The scripture says, “And all the ends of the earth will give Him the Honour He deserves and be in awe of Him.” God instituted the act of worship and we follow Heavens example as we praise.
The first appearance of the word “worship” is in Genesis 5:22
“And Abraham said to his young men, “Stay here with the donkey; the [a] lad and I will go yonder and worship, and we will come back to you.””
Already in the history of man kind, here is Father Abraham “going yonder” for a moment of worship with his son. Abraham’s worship was about to cost him something, something very valuable and dear to his heart. Never-the-less Abraham was not deterred.
The very first reference to the act of worship is found in Genesis 4:26
It reads: “Then Men began to call on the name of the Lord.”
Man had gotten busy with their primitive day to day lives. They were “BUSY” providing for their families, ruling the animals, tilling and harvesting the ground, having large families, and building cities when mankind began to remember their Creator and “THEN, Men began to call on the name of the Lord.” Implying the act of worship!
But really David sets the greatest example of what worship is in Scripture more than any other Bible character.
Acts 13:22 says, “After removing Saul, he made David their king. He testified concerning him: ‘I have found David son of Jesse a man after my own heart; he will do everything I want him to do.‘”
David lifted the “Song of the Lord” continually throughout his life. Beginning with his worship in the field tending his fathers sheep. Having the job of a “Shepard” in those days was very much like experiencing solitary confinement, out in the field alone with hundreds of sheep. Day after day, Just putting in time, watching and protecting. Yet, in those very crucial moments of David’s life while it seemed like nothing was happening in his life, David was cultivating a heart of worship, that would sustain him throughout his entire life.
Samuel Anointed David to be King of Israel, when he was bout 15 years of age, and guess what! After that event of being anointed and appointed, what did David do? He went BACK to tending his fathers sheep. His “Appointment” as King didn’t happen for another 15yrs. when David turned 30!
When David conquered Jerusalem, what is the first thing on his mind? Worship and the Ark of the Covenant!
2 Samuel 6:12-23
12 Now King David was told, “The Lord has blessed the household of Obed-Edom and everything he has, because of the ark of God.” So David went to bring up the ark of God from the house of Obed-Edom to the City of David with rejoicing.
13 When those who were carrying the ark of the Lord had taken six steps, he sacrificed a bull and a fattened calf.
14 Wearing a linen ephod, David was dancing before the Lord with all his might,
15 while he and all Israel were bringing up the ark of the Lord with shouts and the sound of trumpets.
16 As the ark of the Lord was entering the City of David, Michal daughter of Saul watched from a window. And when she saw King David leaping and dancing before the Lord, she despised him in her heart.
17 They brought the ark of the Lord and set it in its place inside the tent that David had pitched for it, and David sacrificed burnt offerings and fellowship offerings before the Lord.
18 After he had finished sacrificing the burnt offerings and fellowship offerings, he blessed the people in the name of the Lord Almighty.
19 Then he gave a loaf of bread, a cake of dates and a cake of raisins to each person in the whole crowd of Israelites, both men and women. And all the people went to their homes.
20 When David returned home to bless his household, Michal daughter of Saul came out to meet him and said, “How the king of Israel has distinguished himself today, going around half-naked in full view of the slave girls of his servants as any vulgar fellow would!”
21 David said to Michal, “It was before the Lord, who chose me rather than your father or anyone from his house when he appointed me ruler over the Lord’s people Israel—I will celebrate before the Lord.
22 I will become even more undignified than this, and I will be humiliated in my own eyes. But by these slave girls you spoke of, I will be held in honour.”
23 And Michal daughter of Saul had no children to the day of her death.
Verse 14 says, “David was dancing before the Lord with all his might!”
Imagine the procession! The 1st time David attempted to bring the ark of the Covenant up to Jerusalem, the Bible says he took 30,000 young men with him! Verse 5 says, “David and all Israel were celebrating with all their might before the Lord, with castanets, harps, lyres, timbrels, sistrums and cymbals.”
New King James put it this way; ”Then David and all the house of Israel played music before the Lord on all kinds of instruments offir wood, on harps, on stringed instruments, on tambourines, on sistrums, and on cymbals.”
How did David know that worship was not just a sacrifice of an animal? How did he know to sing, and dance and play instruments?
The very first song ever mentioned in the Bible broke out upon the children of Israel in Exodus 14! When Moses and all the host of Israel discovered that they were delivered from the Egyptian army they broke out into the song of the Lord and they sang!!
The song is found in:
Exodus 15:1
Then Moses and the children of Israel sang this song to the Lord, and spoke, saying:
“I will sing to the Lord,
For He has triumphed gloriously!
The horse and its rider
He has thrown into the sea!
2
The Lord is my strength and song,
And He has become my salvation;
He is my God, and I will praise Him;
My father’s God, and I will exalt Him.
3
The Lord is a man of war;
The Lord is His name.
4
Pharaoh’s chariots and his army He has cast into the sea;
Then there is the Song of Miriam and her act of worship in verses 20-21!
Miriam, the one who watched over the promise of God, as a little girl she watched at a distance as the princess drew her brother from the water. Miriam too, like David, from the time she was a young girl watching over the promise of God, to the victory and defeat of the Egyptian army, had cultivated a heart of worship. This girl grew up in the midst of much oppression, heartache, and slavery. Yet she was considered a prophetess, and clearly she had the heart of a worshipper!
20 Then Miriam the prophetess, the sister of Aaron, took the timbrel in her hand; and all the women went out after her with timbrels and with dances.
21 And Miriam answered them:
“Sing to the Lord,
For He has triumphed gloriously!
The horse and its rider
He has thrown into the sea!”
I truly believe that these great men and women were filled with the Spirit of God and they were led to worship and praise by the Holy Spirit of God!
When Saul was Anointed King in the flesh, it was little different than David’s appointment. David had already been cultivating a heart of worship. David was really the perfect candidate for king. But for Saul, Samuel knew that he had to get Saul with the prophets! It’s called associational absorption!
He knew he had to get Saul in the company of some Holy Ghost filled worshippers! Have you ever been in a dead church, come on somebody, and there is no life in the body! Then you get into a church of believers that engage with their hearts and you can feel the Spirit mfeel a shift inside of you during those precious moments.
Samuel knew that Saul needed some associational absorption and so he sent Saul to the prophets, to the worshippers! Here’s his instructions in;
1 Samuel 10:5-13
5 And there, as soon as you come to the city, you will meet a group of prophets coming down from the high place with harp, tambourine, flute, and lyre before them, prophesying.
6 Then the Spirit of the Lord will rush upon you, and you will prophesy with them and be turned into another man.
7 Now when these signs meet you, do what your hand finds to do, for God is with you.
8 Then go down before me to Gilgal. And behold, I am coming down to you to offer burnt offerings and to sacrifice peace offerings. Seven days you shall wait, until I come to you and show you what you shall do.”
9 When he turned his back to leave Samuel, God gave him another heart. And all these signs came to pass that day.
10 When they came to Gibeah,[d] behold, a group of prophets met him, and the Spirit of God rushed upon him, and he prophesied among them.
11 And when all who knew him previously saw how he prophesied with the prophets, the people said to one another, “What has come over the son of Kish? Is Saul also among the prophets?”
12 And a man of the place answered, “And who is their father?” Therefore it became a proverb, “Is Saul also among the prophets?”
13 When he had finished prophesying, he came to the high place.
When the Spirit of God came upon Saul, and He gave him another heart, Saul’s instinct was to go to the high place! Verse 13, “When he had finished prophesying, he came to the high place.” The prophets had just come from the high place with their harp, tambourine, flute, and lyre. The high place was where they went to worship with their instruments. God gave Saul another heart, the heart of a worshipper.
The Spirit of God compels us to worship and to praise. You see it in Old Testament. You see it in the New, and Jesus made it very clear what kind of worship is acceptable!
John 4:23-24
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. God is spirit, and those who worship Him must worship in spirit and truth.”
God is seeking for those who will break out in worship as David and Miriam did, being led by the Spirit.
David made His praise as big as he could, as loud as he could, he danced, he played instruments, wrote songs, sang, he put together a procession of 30,000 young men to bring the Ark to Jerusalem! He gave it all he had. “The Bible says he danced with all his might!” If you remember David made a couple attempts to bring the ark to Jerusalem. Both times the Scripture records, “He danced with all his might!” One would think after the first attempt maybe David would walk in a slow reverence with the ark, but no, he engaged his heart, mind, soul and body in the act of worship as history was being made. His worship was ridiculous to others, but God was pleased. David’s heart was engaged, and his body too.
Google says; “An ancient document found at Qumran in Palestine claims that David wrote over 4000 songs. Tradition also attributes 73 of the 150 poems of the biblical book Psalms to him as well.”
And here is a cool point! You don’t have to be an amazing singer or composer to be a worshipper. The Bible doesn’t say “oh the eloquence of David’s singing ability!” It says he had a HEART after God.
Miriam had a timbrel and she danced!
We are just barely scratching the surface on the topic of worship. But I hope that your take away is God give me a heart of Worship, let me be one that will Worship in Spirit & in Truth. Let your Spirit take over me and give me a new heart if need be. I want to be one counted as a worshipper. I want to engage my mind, my spirit, my soul, my body.
Read Psalms 68:24-27 passion
I awoke this morning hearing, “Let the Song of the Lord Arise!”
God has called the church to be a vibrant, worshipping body, filled with the presence and Spirit of God. In this hour God is calling a people to that will proclaim His praise in the earth, and make His glory known in the Heavenly sphere! God teach us to love you more dearly, worship You ever more deeply. For Yours is the Kingdom and the Glory, dominion and power forever and ever AMEN!!!