The Psalms and Your Worship: Introduction

LaRue Baptist Church, OH

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The Old Testament reading this morning is in the book of Isaiah chapter 6 verses 1 through 7 which in your pew

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Bibles I believe is page 571 if you'd like to read along. In the year that King Uzziah died

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I saw the Lord sitting upon a throne high and lifted up and the train of his robe filled the temple above him stood the seraphim each had six wings with two he covered his face and with two he covered his feet and with two he flew and one called to another and said holy holy holy is the

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Lord of hosts the whole earth is full of his glory and the foundations of the thresholds shook at the voice of him who called and the house was filled with smoke and I said woe is me for I am

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I lost for I am lost for I am a man of unclean lips and I dwell in the midst of a people of unclean lips for my eyes have seen the king the

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Lord of hosts then one of the seraphim flew to me having in his hand a burning coal that he had taken with tongs from the altar and he touched my mouth and said behold this is touched your lips your guilt is taken away and your sin atoned for New Testament reading is found in Romans chapter 12 verses 1 through 2

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I appeal to you therefore brothers by the mercies of God to present your bodies as a living sacrifice holy and acceptable to God which is your spiritual worship do not be conformed to this world but be transformed by the renewal of your mind that by testing you may discern what is the will of God what is good and acceptable and perfect you may be seated thank you for your singing good morning to you you want to open up to Psalm 1 we're gonna be kind of all over the place

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I think but why not make our home base

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Psalm 1 I figured it was high time to find a book to settle in when

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I do come up here I think we have scheduled about once a month normally I figured it was time to settle in a book

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Spurgeon would just would just pick a topic at random each Saturday night and write a sermon

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I'm not Spurgeon I can't do that it's so much easier to have a book to be in because it kind of forces you where you're gonna be at and so the book that we're that I'll be going through we're not gonna go through every

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Psalm but we're gonna go through it it'll take quite a long time will be the Psalms I absolutely love the

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Psalms it's my favorite book every pastor has a shtick it's a pastoral shtick it's it's it's something that it's like a special talent or like an interest an area of interest that a pastor has that you'll hear him repeat himself quite often every pastor has one and hopefully it's some sort of emphasis that that magnifies the gospel in some way but in its own you know unique pastor way everyone has their own different way everyone has every pastor has a shtick it's a fun word to say to shtick if you've never said it before if I was one of those people

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I would have you say shtick to your neighbor but I'm not one of those pastors to do that but in your own private time say the word shtick a few times it's fun every pastor has shtick though has a shtick

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I gotta be careful I know what I thought my shtick would be growing in my

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Christianity at the very beginning at least was doctrine was getting to know deeply doctrine theology

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I remember I started going to a church I was really big and very very much to do with emotions not very critical thinking or anything like that it was just very emotional driven and I remember getting my hands for the first time

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Francis Schaeffer which I probably said before already behind the pulpit that was really it changed my my

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Christian life at that moment to realize that Christianity actually goes very deep Francis Schaeffer is a

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Christian philosopher and Christianity actually goes very theologically deep and I just remember thinking this is awesome it's not just a big emotional drivel although there's emotion involved but it actually goes theologically doctrinally critically thinking deep and I remember it being just glorious in my eyes and I remember just wanting to grow more and more in doctrine and I thought that maybe what church should be is just a bunch of desk chairs and a bunch of students and you know you guys listen with notepads and and writing notes and as if it's school

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I remember I think would be going too far that direction my shtick would be to just go deep into doctrine almost over the heads of most people as we just unveil

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God's deeper truths but then I remember growing in my doctrine reading verses like 1st

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Corinthians 8 1 Paul says now concerning food offered to idols we know that all of us possess knowledge this knowledge puffs up but love builds up I remember reading texts like 1st

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Corinthians 13 1 and 2 we're all familiar with it if I speak in the tongues of men and of angels but have not love

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I'm a noisy gong or a clanging cymbal if I have prophetic powers and understand all mysteries and all knowledge and if I have all faith so as to remove mountains but have not love

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I am nothing I remember coming to the realization that although I was growing in my understanding of doctrine and theology and all that fun stuff my what

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I would say now worship was lacking I realized I had no prayer life

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I literally had no prayer life I could be my head could be full of the latest book that I was reading the latest

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Schaeffer book I was reading the latest MacArthur book whatever I was reading but my worship was null and void

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I had no prayer life and to be honest with you singing at church was more of a chore it was more of a nuisance than anything else just get me to the doctrine proclaimed

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I remember God convicted me enough to where that became an issue and we're going my pastor and saying I have no prayer life that seems like a problem like I don't ever actually spend time in prayer and ever realizing that that has to be an issue and the greatest thing that that pastor

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I was at a healthier church at that point ever did for me was he pointed me to the book of Psalms he pointed me to a book that was all about praying through the book of Psalms and we'll talk about that more

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I think probably in coming weeks maybe we'll talk about that a little bit in afternoon service but I remember being taught to pray through the book of Psalms and I remember that completely changed my

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Christian life the book of Psalms I'd read through before but was more of an intellectual exercise and there's a lot of good doctrine in there it was good but when

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I started praying through the Psalms it all of a sudden transformed my whole worship to my

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God it transformed everything about my Christianity it made intellect meet and kiss the heart in which it created a great worshipful attitude that went forth from my heart something that was deeply missing in my

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Christian life and so it's with that that I can say today after it's been

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I don't know eight years since that I can say that the book of Psalms is my favorite book of the Bible I can say that if I was on a deserted island and I could only have one book of the

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Bible it would be the book of Psalms it would certainly be that I spend the most time there because it has completely opened the door to my worship to God without it my worship would be lacking would be very fickle

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I'm truly thankful to the book of Psalms and what has done in my Christian life and so what

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I find myself saying very often and I would say is my pastoral shtick is and you'll hear me say you probably already heard me say is don't let your worship be boring do not be a boring

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Christian do not be bored in your Christian walk if you are that is dishonoring to God get out of it today

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I know there's people here who came in here with a boring Christianity it's so easy it's the easiest thing in fact

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I would argue that as a Christian the hardest thing for you to do is to have a life full of worship

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Christ has enabled it through his work on the cross it's available for us it's there through his power and his spirit

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I would argue that the hardest thing for a Christian to do is to do all things in worship to God so easy we can slip into a non -worshipful

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Christianity and a lot of times not even realize it a boring Christianity I call it a boring worship that's my pastoral shtick

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I care for the flock that's before me pastors pray for the flock we think of you individually as we get to know you more and more and the greatest concern that we can have for you is are they worshipping

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God with life genuineness is it happening in their individual life in their families and then it's the overflow

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I'm getting ahead of myself coming into the church as we gather on the Lord's Day and is it a celebratory act or we rather running on dry and we come here desperate hopefully something will happen beloved we are meant to live a life full of worship a life beautiful wondrous not boring exciting and my pastoral stick is to see that in people's life to not let their

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Christianity be one -dimensional but let it be full full fully flowing with gospel worshipful light it's all about worship that's the reason for everything is worship

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God created to be adored to be marveled at he is so awesome so great that he created so everyone would marvel at him so everyone would say look at him adore him

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God created for the purpose to be worshipped that is the purpose for all of creation look at Psalm 19 in your

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Bibles or listen to me say it Psalm 19 1 through 4 creation itself is all meant for worship the heavens declare the glory of God and the sky above proclaims

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God's handiwork day to day pours out speech and night to night reveals knowledge have you ever heard the stars speak have you ever heard creation speak or here in Psalm 19 it says day to day pours out speech night reveals knowledge they in fact even says in Psalm 19 verse 3 there is no speech nor are there words whose voice is not heard their voice goes out through all the earth and their words to the end of the world in them he has set a tent for the

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Sun creation itself doesn't speak literally as we speak but there's a certain sense in which the way

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God has made creation act and function and work it is as if it's a worshipful singing out to God himself as I say my one of my favorite times of the year is in the springtime we hear all those birds going off right you hear them and they're busy at work getting their nests together and everything

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God has created them for that act to do all those things and it's as if you close your eyes you can hear them all worshiping

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God doing what they were created to do in obedience to their maker they were made to worship God in obedience to their

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God and in so doing it is their worship and we can see the stars as they shine in the heavens they're doing what they were made to do to glorify

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God to say our God is mighty and big and powerful worthy of worship as if they're speaking this stuff out

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I love Job 38 4 through 7 if you just want to listen that's fine if you don't feel like switching everywhere this is more of a topical introducing psalm so but Job 38 4 through 7

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I love how angels and creation are portrayed as worshiping together at the very beginning when it says you remember

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God finally is speaking now in Job Job and his friends have been speaking a lot and God says it's my turn and what he says is magnificent he first goes on Job and he cuts him to size and he goes to his friends and says now you guys cuts them to size right and he just magnifies himself and he says as he's speaking to Job he says where were you and Job 38 verse 4 where were you

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Job when I laid the foundation of the earth when I was creating tell me if you have understanding who determined the measurements surely

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Job you know I'm even talking like you would know or who stretched out the line upon it on what were its bases sunk or who laid its cornerstone and here's the verse

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I want to notice is when the morning stars sang together I think what he's saying there is whenever I first created the stars and the first thing they did was shine brightly it's as if they were just singing out praises to God when the morning stars sang together and all the sons of God that is the angelic beings shouted for joy right this isn't like a boring they were like oh god that's a cool star right now this is like they shouted for joy wow look at this look what

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God has done in creation right it's worship worship they can't help it right God created that so that the stars would sing together for glory to God and the angels would shout for joy at his creative power

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God places man in this creation he has made after that right gives him

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Adam a law to obey to show his worship a lot of times we think of God's laws being almost like a bad thing or something

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God's laws is a beautiful gift from God to show us how to worship how do we worship this

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God Adam was given a law to show how am I to worship in light of this awesome thing that he has done for me right it directs his worship but instead what does he do he disobeys that's the opposite of worship it's disobedience why do we hate disobedience here not to be moralistic to hit people over the head with a moral stick it's because it's not good for you to be disobedient that's not worshipful you were made to worship

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God disobedience is the very opposite of worshiping God so let that be the reason why you fight disobedience in your life because this is not what

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God has for me the good things God has for me disobedience destroys worship

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I should pain our heart that Christ has set up worship for us and we would respond and disobedience how can we do such a thing

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Paul says in Romans 6 but our hope is not in the first Adam and his failures what is our hope in the second app it's in Christ Jesus our

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Lord he came and was obedient wasn't he he worshiped God perfectly we see that written through the

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Gospels how good he was at worship right prayer all night I remember I think that's what convicted me

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I've seen Jesus was praying out all night you know and I was out staying up with friends playing video games all night what was this there's something wrong here

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I need it I need help here pastor and the point that really what I'm getting at is

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Jesus came and he is our hope he's the one who has opened the door for worship again through forgiveness of sins right he's taken on our disobedience and he has given us his obedience if we simply look upon him for salvation he opens the door to worship once again it was cut off by the sin of Adam and is raised again by the obedience of Jesus Christ our

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Lord we can worship once more because of what's happened 2 ,000 years ago and the man

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Jesus Christ that's our hope that's what we proclaim here don't we what is

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Paul saying Romans 12 verse 1 he talks about the gospel of Jesus Christ through Romans 1 through 11 what does he say in chapter 12 verse 1

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I appeal to you therefore therefore what therefore what in light of all the gospel truths that I just laid out to you in Jesus Christ our

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Lord how he has died raised again he's our salvation therefore in light of that I appeal to you

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I'm telling you I'm exhorting you brothers by the mercies of God by the grace found in the

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Lord Jesus Christ to present your bodies as a living sacrifice a living sacrifice say at that time to consider sacrificing it was always a dead sacrifice if you read about what happened to those animals when they were sacrificed to God they didn't survive that they were dead right there burnt whole burnt offerings they were cut throats were cut everything it was a live it was a dead sacrifice given to our

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God that was the way the Israel worshiped in the Old Covenant but Jesus came and he is our dead and now living sacrifice and so when we sacrifice to God it's no longer dead sacrifices we give to him but we give him what living sacrifice not dead it's living now but what's the nature of this living sacrifice we are the sacrifice we don't kill ourselves we live and in within our body you are called to now worship

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God in your body it's a living sacrifice he says it's to be he says going on in verse 1 of chapter 12 of Romans holy and acceptable right in light of the gospel you are to live a life of living sacrifice that is what you must do

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Christian in light of the power of the cross you are now to live your life as a living sacrifice there is no sliver of your life where no this is mine

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I kind of do my own thing right no everything is God's he is to be glorified in it all there's not one area of your life where you say well no this is just for me

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God will not have that he's too awesome for that he's created you to worship in light of his beautiful creation and light of his recreation in Jesus Christ you are now to live your life as a living sacrifice as a whole purpose of your life

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I can guarantee you the issues you face today every one of you has issues

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I have issues I have problems and I can guarantee you fundamentally if you're not dealing with it appropriately it gets back to the fact that you are not utilizing that specific instance for the glory and worship of God every aspect of your life is to glorify him you are to say this is what

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I'll use to be a living sacrifice to glorify my God you are to take every single thing as a opportunity for that you see what

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I mean by you shouldn't be a boring Christian you shouldn't be bored in your Christian life everything that God has given you you say goody this is what

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I can use now to worship God with and I can guarantee you whenever you're falling into some sort of sin and it's causing you to stress it's causing you weakness it's causing you to say where is

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God where is he and all this is because you are not utilizing that area to glorify him as a living sacrifice it goes down to that every single time you're a mother and your kids drive you nuts you're a father and your kids drive you nuts that is your opportunity to overflow of worship to your kids to show them the gospel you know

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I know why kids are leaving the faith it's not okay that our children are leaving the religion it's not okay it's because our worship is to overflow to our children and they're to say wow look at mom and dad's worship

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I want that so when our kids are disobedient we don't lash out in anger what do we do what an opportunity to utilize this to show the glory and the worship of God oh this is not appropriate

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I'm going off track with that nevertheless I can tell you that worship whole purpose to everything is for worship every single minute detail of your life is for the worship of God when you when you don't utilize it that way life gets deathly mundane doesn't it life gets so mundane so boring what is this all about but whenever you transfix it with the gaze of Jesus Christ worship towards him all of a sudden every single moment every single word you say every single thought that you think becomes gloriously worthy or you want to make it gloriously worthy of your

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God and King every word you say has meaning it has an objective everything you say to your children your co -worker your boss everything you say your wife everything is to build up as a worship

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God as a living sacrifice to him it gains so much meaning the whole purpose to everything is for worship to our

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Creator God now here's the issue here's the problem I've already said it I'll say it again it is terribly difficult to worship

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God isn't that sad your greatest purpose in life is to worship him and the hardest thing you'll ever do is worship

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God it is and if it's not hard for you that means you're doing it wrong I can guarantee you that if it's not a struggle each day to worship

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God as he deserves I guarantee you're not considering worship in the full totality of what it is it is terribly difficult the hardest thing you'll do is worship

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God consistently in the way that he deserves terribly difficult and the fact is is we can deceive ourselves to say that I'm worshiping

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God with my life and actually we're not I want to show you that really quickly because it's really important to understand that because in our weakness as we realize we're so weak we then go to Jesus but if we're not realize we're weak

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I'm pretty good we won't go to Jesus and so it's so important look at Amos 5 if you want to or listen to me

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Amos 5 21 through 23 this stuff should kind of jolt us into action you know this is

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God's covenant people are this time in the old covenant is Israel and in Amos 5 21 through 23 if you ever notice the prophets don't have much kind things to say about the

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Israelites they were messing up pretty bad right and it's an example to us as Christians don't do that and you're gonna want to don't do it

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Amos 5 it's very oh it's fearful Amos 5 21 through 23

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I hate God says through the prophet Amos I hate I despise your feast and I take no delight in your solemn assemblies the words he's using there is like legitimate religious practice solemn assemblies they were to do these things right the feasts are the feasts that God has appointed for them to do they are to do it and they were doing it and God says

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I hate it I absolutely hate what you're doing he says in verse 22 even though you offer me your burnt offerings as you should and grain offerings

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I will not accept them and the peace offerings of your fattened animals I will not look upon them take away from me the noise of your songs could

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God be saying that about our songs what a frightful thought that we would come in here saying that we have living worship saying that we're doing the things we should but God is actually saying take away from me the sound of your lips

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I hate it that's a fearful thing to think that we could perhaps be acting like we're worshiping as Israelites we're doing and really

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God is objectively saying I hate it I don't like it he says to the melody of your carps

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I'm not going to listen Psalm 50 in Psalm 50 verse 7 through 13 in Psalm 50 it is such an interesting song because we get the same problem going on as that we just read about in Amos but we get the beautiful solution in Amos 50 verse 7 through 13 here

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I'm sorry that's the Amos 50 I can't remember what I said now Psalm 50 7 through 13

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Psalm 50 verse 7 here all my people and I will speak

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Oh Israel I will testify against you I am God your God not for your sacrifices do

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I rebuke you your burnt offerings there they're continually before me as they should be I will not accept though a bull from your house or goats from your folds for every beast of the forest is mine the cattle on a thousand hills they're mine

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I know all the birds of the hills and all that moves in the fields it's mine if I were hungry if I needed those things

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I wouldn't even tell you I wouldn't waste my time for the world and its fullness are mine do I eat the flesh of bulls or drink the blood of goats problem is is that Israel was giving them sacrifices but they were doing it with a very wrong motivation they're doing it as if God needed the sacrifices right that's what the pagans did you know our

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God in order for him to be happy with us we need to give him what he wants and needs that is animal sacrifices the

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Israelites fell into that kind of worship so they're doing everything right on the outside but on the inside they're doing it as if he needed it and God says

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I hate that I don't need those things even if I did I want to tell you why would

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I tell you what I needed it's all mine all of it is mine why would I need anything from your hand as if it wasn't so what was the problem before we get to there is it is it possible for us to come here and worship

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God as if he needs it I know pastors a lot of times act like that oh God just wants your worship so bad he needs that I heard the

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Pope the other day say that God created because he needs us that's heresy even for the

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Catholics that's heresy I don't get why they're okay with that it's heresy God doesn't need us he doesn't need our worship he didn't do it for that he created us because he doesn't need us he created us for our benefit because we need him right created us for us to adore him not because he needs it because he's a good

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God and he gives us good things not because he needs it and so the problem here is that they were given sacrifices as if the reason why their motivation was because he needs it and that's why he says in verse 14 and 15 of Psalm 50 offer to God a sacrifice of thanksgiving and perform your vows to the

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Most High and call upon me in the day of trouble and I will deliver you and you shall worship or glorify me in verse 23 of the same psalm he says the one who offers thanksgiving as a sacrifice glorifies me to one who orders his way rightly

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I will show the salvation of God what do we do what's our worship it's all because we are so overwhelmed with thanksgiving to our

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God for creation and for recreation for creation and for recreation in Jesus Christ I am so amazed at this creation

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I had get to walk now in this daily life that I have and I can do it in a way that's worshipful because of Jesus Christ recreating a new heart within me we are to come together we are here together right now because we are so overwhelmed with thanksgiving to our

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God anything else God doesn't like any sort of other motivation that you have as if it's you're doing

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God a favor or you're doing your mom a favor you're doing your dad a favor you're doing a husband a favor you're doing any kind of thing at all any other motivation but that I am so overwhelmed with thanksgiving for God that he has allowed me to take another breath in this life he's sent his son to die for my sin so I can worship him rightly that is the only motivation that God looks upon and is pleased with anything else

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God says take it away from me anyone who is worship God in that kind of way at the end you know what he's gonna say you depart from me

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I don't know you I don't know you your motivations was far from what is proper and pure so let's take inventory of our worship

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I've already said that worship is hard doing it anyone can come to church and sit down in a pew for a bit right anyone could do that but doing it in a way that God says that's pleasing it's terribly difficult and remember that it's difficult not to make us say well

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I got to work harder but to say I need Jesus it's terribly difficult so when we consider okay worship what is it supposed to be what am

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I doing there should be there's going to be some kind of gap and beloved do not be upset well be upset but let it be in a way that's hopeful because that's where Jesus meets you

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I'm getting ahead of myself I can't help it that's where Jesus meets you let's take inventory of our own worship on a corporate level

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I've already alluded to it but let's continue it have you all gathered together with the

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Saints with an aim to truly worship a heart full of Thanksgiving for creation and recreation or is there a tendency to come here as if it's a favor that we're bestowing upon God we're blessing

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God with our presence here at LaRue Baptist Church we fellowship clear into the afternoon we lunch together and we fellowship into the afternoon those of you who are regular participants of that do you do that with a full heart of gratitude and Thanksgiving to God or do you how often is it do we wake up a kind of grumble complain too much time devoted to these things right and we'll do it because it's expected of us we do it all the time now if I weren't to come and do those normal things people would ask questions and but it's not with a heart of actual

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Thanksgiving for salvation for the gospel it's for other things those of you who are heavily involved at LaRue Baptist Church there's people who are heavily heavily involved it started with worship but is it is it continued in worship are you doing the things that you're heavily invested in because a pure worship and gratitude to your

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God and Savior or has it become something else that's expected me now pastors die out they flame out they get tired what's the word

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I'm looking for they get burnt out because it started with worship but if they were to be honest with you this is expected of me in fact you know if you're paid a pastor

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I'm paid to do this I need to do it but it's not because they actually are so overwhelmed gratitude of Thanksgiving that Christ has recreated a new creation but it's because all this is expected of me this is what

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I have to do and because there's not a legitimate grounds for worship it gets tiring it gets old and there's complaining and it's not full of any kind of worship corporately we can gather together and do it in a way that God hates our motivations need to be pure because God has done amazing things and it is our delight to gather and to tell them how amazed we are and what he has done period on an individual level what does

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Jesus say John 738 whoever believes in me as the scripture has said out of his heart will flow rivers of living water this is a promise of the new covenant that those who believe upon Jesus out of his heart will flow living water this isn't a one -time thing right you believe once and now it's done right you believe once and now it's done this is a daily believing upon Jesus Christ for salvation and through that trust through that belief through that longing for him then flows abundant rivers of water of living water this is the promise of Jesus this is what on an individual level we want our worship to look like that I woke up today and I went to Christ Jesus because from him comes forth abundant living water and there's this beautiful thing the thing that Jesus is referring to on an individual level is from coming forth of this living water of belief upon Jesus it comes the outflow of it the overflow of it it just goes to everywhere it goes everywhere our families our societies everywhere receives this abundance of water of open and free and beautiful and genuine worship and so individually you woke up this morning and did you challenge your heart at least on an individual level with me it's amazing to wake up in the morning and breathe air is a gift from God that's it's awesome that your heart kept on going while you're on conscience and you kept on living on through you could have been taken easily you woke up and you breathe air how many times

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I wake up annoyed that I'm awake you know my goodness I'm awake that's annoying you know instead of the first thought being of worship to God the first thought is my goodness this is annoying how many times it's so easy for us to degrade into a complaining a non worshipful a disobedient way of mode of doing things and so how important it is for us to wake up instead of being annoyed instead of grumbling instead of being indifferent to God we wake up and praise to God this is true biblical belief that leads into a water flowing forth from you

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Psalm 43 5 says why are you cast down all my soul and why are you in turmoil within me hoping

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God for I shall again praise him my salvation and my God I think

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Christians can wake up thinking well it really indifferent we can not challenge ourselves we can just kind of go with the hub and flow of the day not challenge ourself in my is my heart ready to utilize everything

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I had today to worship God we don't do that we just kind of go about our business and we do it in a way that's lax and daisy huh we need to wake up thinking is my heart ready to use everything

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I have before me every action everything everything I must do all my chores all the things am

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I ready to do it in a way that glorifies the God who has been kind to me all the good we do in Christ's kingdom comes from the overflow of this organic worship from our hearts husbands be the overflow to your wife parents be the overflow to your children that's amazing with our children

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I thought we Sarah and I well at least I thought for sure that we just need to return our children and get different ones right it's just amazing how difficult it is but then a full realization that this is our worship right it is terribly difficult to raise these kids and then we are to utilize that and then worship

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God in light of it and let them receive the overflow of our worship in the hardness of it so that they can receive the gospel the means of God's grace there but whenever we are not challenging ourselves in the morning we're not on an individual level leaning into Jesus Christ and the hardships of life whenever I doing that instead we utilize those activities in a way that's very deficient and our children and those who we come in contact with our loved ones do not see the overflow coming forth from our hearts now even if we have been doing good on our best days of worship right our best days we are waking up and and we we do realize my goodness my thoughts are far from Christ but then

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I lean into God and I remind myself to the hope I have in Christ I remind myself of the goodness of Christ and now

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I'm on a good footing to use everything I have before me to worship him in right even when we're on the best day that we're doing those things that we're consistently doing day in day out then we gather with the

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Saints ready to worship because he's been good to us in the week even when we're doing that how much worship is our

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God worthy of is there ever a time where we're gonna be like hey guess what guys he's no longer worthy of any more we can go home we're good right in heaven in eternity right there's never gonna be a time we're like well okay it's been 2 ,000 years that's about as much as God is worthy of we can stop now right no

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God is so eternally rich so eternally awesome that he deserves our eternal perfect worship now show of hands

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I want to see him who here has been given God perfect worship it's a few in the back

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I got a little one little girl says that yep perfect worship we got a couple only right there's there's got to be understanding in our

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Christian life that even on my best day God is worthy of more than I gave and that doesn't cause us to be like whoa is me that gives us a certain meaning to my life

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I am to grow in this worship because Christ is worthy of more than I can give today I am to grow in this it's actually a life -giving thing it the worst thing you can do is plateau at the age of 20 right there's there's stories of what

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I think I read it was like astronauts who went to the moon young and they suffered with terrible depression what else am

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I gonna do I went to the moon right it's not a good thing to pull it the plateau it makes us bored as Christians we never plateau do we because plateau because Christ is worthy of more that we can ever give to him so it's always a leaning into greater and greater worship so my point and all of this worship is vital it's everything but hard you're never done you're never done growing the

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Psalms are here to help you the Psalms is your door to greater worship whether you have no worship at all right now like I was struggling with years ago

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I'm still struggling with my goodness I could praise them so much better the Psalms is God giving you the book to help you with greater worship utilize it for that utilize it for that it's a book of raw prayers it's a book of raw prayers it's the

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Psalms is a book of prayers it's a it's a book of songs and it's raw prayers nothing kills your worship more beloved than when you are hanging by a thread right you're so overwhelmed with just you're annoyed with things you the things aren't going right right you're complaining in your heart you're hanging by a thread you know it things are not going well a certain issue and you're hanging by a thread and your prayer consists of thinking your prayer consists of thanking

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God for the weather of asking God that I hope Billy's root canal goes well today you don't need to pray

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God for any of that you need to say God I'm hanging by a thread and I need it's a terrible

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I don't want to worship you right now you're hanging by a thread and we instead have such boring prayers that has nothing to do with the actual issues at hand

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I can't help but think I you have an issue in your life and it's causing you distress do not start going off on different things in your prayer but let it be raw go to God with those issues

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God I don't believe you right now you're not here for me I don't feel you at all look at Psalms look at the way that was just quickly look at the way a lot of these start off it's a book of raw prayers look at Psalm 4 real quick and just go with me just for a couple of Psalms Psalm 4 1 answer me when

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I call God of my righteousness you have given me relief when I was in distress be gracious to me and hear my prayers look at chapter 5 give ear to my words

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Oh Lord consider my groaning give attention to the sound of my cry my king and my

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God for to you do I pray look at verse or chapter 6

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Oh Lord rebuke me not in your anger nor discipline me in your wrath be gracious to me

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Oh Lord for I am languishing heal me Oh Lord for my bones are troubled my soul also is greatly troubled but you

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Oh Lord how long how long are you gonna be far from me look at chapter 7

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Oh Lord my God and you do I take refuge save me from all my pursuers and deliver me less like a lion they tear my soul apart rendering it in pieces with none to deliver but then you get those positive

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Psalms right it turns look at chapter 8 Oh Lord our God how majestic is your name in all the earth you have set your glory above the heavens out of the mouth of babies and infants you have established strength because of your foes to still the enemy and the

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Avenger chapter 9 and this is the last one we'll do look at the the positive I will give thanks to the

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Lord with my whole heart I will recount all your wonderful deeds I will be glad and exult in you

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I will sing praises to your name almost high what's the point that I'm getting at it's raw it's true it's genuine many times we bring to God what we think he wants us to hear instead of what we need to bring to him because we're languishing we're on a thread and these prayers they'll teach you to pray honestly and earnestly to God you wake up in the morning and you are full of annoyance and disturbances in your heart you don't just give what

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God wants you think he wants you to hear Oh God thanks for this weather and for this time that I have to enjoy this weather

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God I'm languishing I don't want you right now I have no desire for you help me you've been my help in the past I know you can be my help in the future through Christ right real abiding genuine prayers that are raw and filled with truth don't give

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God what you think he wants to hear give God what you desperately need to say to him because you're languishing but it's full of raw of positives right our

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God is a reigning God he's supreme he's awesome right it teaches you how to give true Thanksgiving and adore

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God who is above at all right it's full of raw prayers the Psalms can help you pray and have true prayerful worshipful prayers to him it's a book of raw songs right it's poetic songs it's poetic it has very a lot of gospel warmth to it right it's not just wooden things right just very wooden without any life the prayer the

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Psalms will help you to have gospel worshipful singing forth from your heart right

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I'll never forget how I started to pray through the Psalms started going through it also in my prayer life existed still growing and still work in process but then all of a sudden

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I remember the first time as I'm singing on you know the Lord's Day all of a sudden

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I had a delight to sing the songs it wasn't a chore anymore I remember listening to my garbage oh

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I'm sorry to my bad music that on the radio just really bad music I had terrible taste and all of a sudden

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I was like you know I don't want to listen to this I actually want to listen to the godly things right I'll never forget how the

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Psalms really opened up my desire to sing out to my Lord to sing praises to and have genuine worship within my heart that expresses itself in singing to our

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God it's one thing to say come let us worship our God it's a whole nother thing to sing it out with poetic utterances here in the

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Psalms these raw prayers these raw songs here in the

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Psalms you will see yourself you're gonna see yourself in the Psalms you'll see your victories your setbacks your depression you're being overjoyed your anger your sadness your happiness

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John Kelvin says the book of Psalms is an anatomy of all the parts of the soul for there is not an emotion of which anyone can be conscious that is not here represented as in a mirror in other words he says all the emotions are there in the book of Psalms all the emotions your happiness your sadness your depression your everything it's all in the

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Psalms nothing's hidden everything's laid out and bare before our God it teaches you to be raw with God think about your own relationships your greatest relationships here on earth are the ones that you could be most raw with isn't it you can be completely honest with it's usually your spouse but someone you can be truly and that can actually hinder you you know we can abuse that and let out our anger and use our words to hurt and we can imagine that our relationship with our

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God is seen forth and true and genuine when we could be absolutely raw with him all the emotions of the heart laid bare before him we don't hide anything from our

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God a life of worship includes all the emotions God has given you and then here in the

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Psalms you'll see yourself you'll see yourself in all your terrible glory and all your sadness joy everything but here in the

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Psalms you will see your Christ I don't have time to do it but you look at Psalm 22 you'll see the suffering

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Jesus this is just an example you'll see Christ throughout the Psalms Psalm 22 you see the suffering Jesus and in light of his suffering you see in Psalm 23 the shepherd of your sinful souls and in Psalm 24 you see him as the risen

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King to reign within our own hearts and within earth itself you see in the

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Psalms you see your brokenness but in the Psalms you see Christ Jesus and his great work on the cross and how it can be done in your own heart save me

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Lord for I am far from you and then also you set your eyes upon the Jesus in the Psalms he comes and he comforts you he gathers you to himself right this is worship this is true genuine worship here in the

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Psalms seeing yourself seeing the Christ you will find your true worship

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John Gill says the whole book the whole book of Psalms is a rich mine of grace and evangelical truths a large fund of spiritual experience and is abundantly suited to every case state and any condition that the

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Church of Christ or any particular believers are in at any time the Psalms helps us to see that this is filled this is what the

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Christian life looks like in every area this is what it looks like this is how I am to respond in every area so that God gets glory and my worship is true

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Martin Luther since our pastor here pastor Tim loves the man so much

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Martin Luther says the Psalms it's like a mini book itself a mini Bible itself the whole Bible is miniature in the book of Psalms you know speaking of Martin I was gonna make a

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Martin Luther joke should I do it I'm gonna do it Martin Luther if you want you know tell

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Tim the next time you see him because last week he said no one knows well he doesn't say no one knows but I'm gonna say because it's just funny to say this way he says no one knows

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Martin Luther anymore say I know Martin Luther say he was a I'm gonna say I should have wrote it down I'm gonna say it wrong now well the punchline of the joke is all gone now tell him

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I know Martin Luther he's a he's a angry drunken monk and just leave it at that he is an angry drunken monk

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Martin Luther was insane but we needed him he brought back justification by faith alone but that guy scares me that guy scares me in fact one of the

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Pope's I forget what Pope it is whenever he heard about Martin Luther for the first time it was before it really flamed he said he said

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I was just a drunken monk that's all it is he was more than that of course all right in conclusion a sign of a mature

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Christian a sign of a mature Christian is not one who appears to have no problems a sign of a mature

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Christian is not one who appears to have no problems at all because it's not true you do have problems and a sign of a mature

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Christian is one who locates those problems and brings it out to God for him to see and say

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God look at this I need help that is a sign of a mature Christian and I think many of us live a

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Christian life where we want so bad to look like we have no problems we even try to fool God and trying to fool

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God we have no maturity at all because God is not fooled by anyone the Psalms will help you locate your problems and it'll help you to see the biggest thing the best thing you can do is say

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God look at my problems and he'll point you to Jesus Christ and then in those problems it'll be his glory his worship he'll mature you through those problems the worst thing you can do as a

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Christian and say I don't have problems I don't have problems you try to hide it from God from others we don't do that here that's not genuine worship it's not genuine

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Christianity God loves your problems because he fixes it in Jesus Christ and the

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Psalms are really good at showing it the Psalms will teach you how to worship it'll teach you how to be humble it'll teach you to cry out to your

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Lord it'll teach you that Jesus will come to you every single time you do so I love the

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Psalms I adore them I every day I pray through two of them one in the morning one in the afternoon and my hope is is that if you're someone who has not encountered the

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Psalms and that sort of worshipful way that perhaps in our study of it you'll learn to start praying through it and teaching you to worship our

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God truly as he deserves to be worshipped and it is your good and is your life to do so may that be what happens as we go through the book

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God in heaven thank you for this time of worship Lord we know worship is not just simply a time that we get together on the

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Lord's Day and we do different activities God we know that's so much more than that although it is involved in that we know

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God that we are as an individuals are to be worshipping you within our own individual selves we are to believe upon Jesus Christ each day that you have given us in your kindness and from that flows life of living water so that when we come here to gather with the

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Saints it's not a bunch of desert rather it's a bunch of life that comes together and we know that this is the whole purpose of your kingdom that then it overflows to everyone our children come to know the gospel through the overflow of our worship in our own hearts our unbelieving spouse comes to know you through the overflow of our own hearts the society around us can't help but wonder what is so different about them that they have such a living hope within them we know

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God it all comes forth from this true genuine worship of you God in heaven I'm the worst of all culprits to try to have a fake

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Christian life to try to ignore my problems and just be indifferent to them to not deal with them to not go to you and my desperate need

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Lord forgive me of these sins and I pray God that instead we would allow the Psalms to teach us to be raw with you open and laid open to you so that you can take these issues and let

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Christ refine them so that again what comes forth is living worship I pray

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Lord that this would be all of our desires and this would be all of what we want to do here as we gather in our own homes to gather at church this would be what we desire to do help us in our weakness let us look upon Jesus closer in our weakness and let us praise him for coming to us in his kindness thank you