[0:00] Church, it is certainly a pleasure to be back with you today. I can tell you I'm just so grateful for all that God is doing here at First Baptist Church.
[0:12] ! Catherine and I spent the past two weeks on sabbatical, and I can tell you we are so grateful for your generosity, for giving us some time away. It was a great time of rest and relaxation.
[0:23] While I was away, I want to say thank you so much, Sean. Thank you for leading our praise team over the past three weeks. Yes, thank you. Sean had everything taken care of, everything handled, and so that really has been a blessing to me over the past three weeks. I also want to say thank you to Larry Earhart, who did the same thing in our 11 o'clock service. Both of them are my heroes over the past couple weeks, so I thank you so much for that. I also want to say thank you to the staff who handled all of my jobs day to day. Because of taking two weeks of vacation, two weeks sabbatical, and working one week in Surge, I'm pretty sure Josh Lorenz thinks that I don't work here full-time. And that's going to really be cloudy, especially in November when our first child comes. So I promise I do work here full-time, but I can see why you think that way. Absolutely. So I asked Brett, again, like he said last year when we were going through summer in the Psalms, he said he was going to do it again the next year, and I said, you care if I take one of these Psalms and kind of elaborate on it? Believe it or not, he didn't say no. He was graciously accepted. And can I tell you, I had no clue what it took to prepare a sermon. I have had several months to look at this. Brett usually only has about a week, and I am just so thankful, Brett. Not only am I thankful for your friendship,
[1:50] I see what you do on a day-to-day basis for this church. Brett, thank you so much for taking the time to preach the word for us and to prepare our hearts and minds to go and serve out in the mission field. And you and Evan and our staff, I'm just so grateful for all of you, and thank you guys for what you do for our church. So as Brett said, let's dive into Psalm chapter 19. Now this was a Psalm of David that was written to the choir master, so it makes perfect sense that a choir master preaching on it this morning, right? So after digging into this Psalm, I discovered that this Psalm is an accurate representation of what our worship should be like. Not only should we worship here in our space here today on a weekly basis, on Sunday mornings at 8 30, and in our second service at 11 o'clock, but we should be doing this in our homes with our families and having that time of worship. This involves singing. This involves reading God's word. This involves praying together.
[2:51] The psalmist, when he was writing, he did all of these things, and the psalmist loved to give praise to God. He loved to reflect on his word and what he has done, and he always knew how to respond with a pure heart. And when we come together, it reminds us that God wants him to worship him that way on a daily basis. He wants us to worship him with our thoughts, with our actions, with our plans for the future, and how we are to be the church outside of these walls. So if you have your Bible, Psalm chapter 19.
[3:27] Here's what the word of God says in verse 1. The heavens declared the glory of God, and the sky proclaims his handiwork. Day to day it pours out speech, and night to night reveals knowledge. 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 sun, which comes out like a bridegroom leaving his chamber, and like a strong man runs its course with joy. Its rising is from the end of the heavens, and its circuit to the end of them, and there is nothing hidden from its heat. The law of the Lord is perfect, reviving the soul.
[4:15] The testimony of the Lord is sure, making wise the simple. The precepts of the Lord are right, rejoicing the heart. The commandment of the Lord is pure, enlightening the eyes. The fear of the Lord is clean, enduring forever. The rules of the Lord are true and righteous altogether. More to be desired are they than gold, even much fine gold, sweeter also than honey, and drippings from the honeycomb.
[4:47] Moreover, by them is your servant warned. In keeping them, there is great reward. Who can discern his errors? Declare me innocent from hidden faults. Keep back your servant also from presumptuous sins.
[5:02] Let them not have dominion over me. Then I shall be blameless and innocent of great transgression. Let the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be acceptable in your sight, O Lord, my rock and my redeemer. I love the meticulous language David uses here when describing all these things while he's encouraging the congregation to sing along to all of these words. Now, I admit some of our hymns and our songs are not as in-depth with the language in our own hymns and texts on a weekly basis.
[5:37] You know, it sure would have been nice to have David around during the late 90s and the early 2000s when one of our most popular worship songs was, Yes, Lord, Yes, Lord, Yes, Yes, Lord. It was so hard to trade your sorrows to the joy of the Lord after singing Yes, Lord for the thousandth time.
[5:53] Now, thankfully, modern worship has turned away from that one. We've either gone back to hymns or we have gone to a little bit more theologically correct music and thank God for that. But we go back to the psalm and to see how David pulled this together.
[6:07] The first thing I want us to look at this psalm is this. All things were created to worship. Our worship in this time should give glory and honor and praise to everyone's favorite Sunday school answer.
[6:22] Our worship should be directed to God. That's right, God. He is the one who established this world so that we who are created can worship Him who is the Creator.
[6:36] And let's go ahead and establish this up front. There is nothing that God has created that is greater than Him. There is nothing God has ever created that is greater than Him, the Creator.
[6:52] You know, there was one who challenged that idea and the Bible says he was struck down like lightning. That is why in our praise, we must constantly remind ourselves that we are not the ones who's great.
[7:06] The greatness is in our God and Him alone and He rules above all things. I'm going to give several musical examples today. And one of the obvious examples with this is the hymn that we have sung many times, How Great Thou Art.
[7:20] I love the second verse. And now most of you may know this song by heart, but I really want to focus in on what the second verse says. It says, When through the woods, in forest glades I wonder, And hear the birds sing sweetly in the trees.
[7:40] When I look down from lofty mountain grandeur, And hear the brook, and feel the gentle breeze. Doesn't that sound like a wonderful picture?
[7:51] Wouldn't you want to be there right now? No, you're here listening to me. It leads us to understand that the role of creation is to give honor and praise to the King of Kings.
[8:03] All that is in heaven and on earth is constantly pouring out praise, just as the psalmist said. Now, it is no wonder when I hear people go on an excursion or go hiking or go into the woods and see the greatness of creation, That they feel like they have such a spiritual experience.
[8:25] You know, the reason why they feel that way, and you'll feel that way if you go out in creation, Is because of them constantly pouring out praise. And you have the chance to hear it.
[8:38] Now, my father-in-law talked about this when he was walking up the Appalachian Trail. It took him a lot of work to go as far as he did. He said he was rained on.
[8:50] He said the trail was hard. At times that he was tired, but there were just a few times when he was walking through, That he would just crest a hilltop. And he would just see the glory of creation.
[9:03] And just realize that there's nothing in this world other than our Creator that could create something so marvelous. He understood that atmosphere of worship that creation was continuing to pour out.
[9:17] Did you know, luckily, right here in this room, We can create the same atmosphere of worship that creation enjoys on a daily basis.
[9:28] So you may ask, Clay, how do we create the atmosphere of worship? The way you create the atmosphere of worship is probably the same thing you've heard the last time you went to the dentist.
[9:41] Open your mouth. The act of coming together, praying, reading God's word, singing praise to God Almighty, Can turn the room that you are in into the holy of holies, Just as was in the wilderness with Israel.
[10:04] Now, how can we create something by just speaking it into existence? Well, we're imitating what our Creator has already done. The last time I read the book of Genesis, The Scriptures explain the way that God created the world.
[10:20] Whenever God was in a new day and He wanted to create something, The Scripture says the whole entire process He used. And God said, The very speech of God created the world that we see around us.
[10:37] Now, with our speech, We cannot create rocks and trees and skies and waters and hills, valleys. We cannot create any of that.
[10:48] But with our voice, We speak into existence the focus and the desire to put the cares of this world aside And pay attention to what the Father has in store.
[11:03] With one mind and in one accord, Just as we have heard in the book of Acts with the first church, The space is created so that God can dwell amongst us.
[11:15] That is why David said in Psalm chapter 22, God inhabits the praise of His people. And Jesus reinforced this in Matthew 18 verse 22 when He said, Where two or three are gathered in my name, There I am in the midst.
[11:36] Church, we must intentionally create this space for the Lord to dwell amongst us Every time we come together in worship. It doesn't have to be in this room.
[11:48] It just has to be with the focus and the created intent to welcome God to come amongst us. The second thing this psalm shows us is that our worship requires reflection.
[12:01] As we use praise to create the space for God, We should use reflection like a two-sided mirror. And I have a two-sided mirror here that Catherine let me borrow.
[12:14] When I reflect this way, What I am doing is not reflecting on myself, But I am reflecting all the things that are above me, And hopefully to the people that are around me.
[12:29] That is exactly what David was doing in verses 7-11 in Psalm chapter 19. It is clear to see that the psalmist was showing all the things that the Lord God had established in His righteousness.
[12:46] And when I see this verse of Scripture, I think of psalms like, To God be the glory, Great things He has done. So loved He the world that He gave us His Son. We also sing here in the early service, What He's done.
[13:00] What He's done. All glory and the honor to the Son. My sins are forgiven. My future is heaven. I praise God for what He's done.
[13:12] Do you know how hard it is to fit all that God has done Into a song that's three and a half minutes? Do you know how hard it is to even fit it into an hour time slot once a week on Sunday morning?
[13:27] And as I hold this up and I use different reflection, You can see different parts of the ceiling. And that's what our worship should be. It should continue to show the blessings that come from above.
[13:40] That as David said, It makes simple the wise. And it makes that which is dirty, That which is discarded, Perfectly clean, As it continues to pour out praise from heavenly places.
[13:54] It should be our desire to be that reflection. To not only share it amongst ourselves as Christians, As body of believers, But to share it with those who may even be in this room today That do not know who Jesus is.
[14:11] We are called to share this to a lost and dying world Because there are people who do not understand the glory there is to serve the Almighty God.
[14:25] We sing these songs, We read God's Word, And we pray so that we may reflect what He has done through us. Reflecting the glory of God in worship Is one of the most beautiful things we can do together.
[14:39] However, If all we do in our worship is simply reflect The majesty and glory of God that is around us, We have not worshipped in the manner Christ has asked us to do.
[14:54] You see, Christ said that we must worship in spirit and in truth. That's why I have two sides to this mirror. One side is meant to reflect the spirit And all that He is continuing to do in our lives.
[15:07] But the other side is so that I can reflect on myself. Our worship in truth should remind us of who we truly are.
[15:19] You know, I look in this mirror and I see many things. I see my teeth that my mother and father paid tremendous amounts of money So that they could be straight. I see a few more gray hairs than I had last year.
[15:33] I see a few less hairs than I had last year. I see that that is my future. But when I look into the eyes of the person in this mirror, I'm reminded that I'm not enough.
[15:48] I'm reminded that the person in that mirror has failed time and time again. Church, we must see our depravity in worship.
[16:00] This is relevant in the songs that we sing. It says, one song says, Alas, and did my Savior bleed, And did my Sovereign die? Would He devote that sacred head, The original text says, For such a worm as I.
[16:18] We sing a song in here all the time that says, I was a wretch. I remember who I was. I was lost. I was blind. I was running out of time.
[16:32] Just a few minutes ago, we sang, How great the chasm that lay between us. How high the mountain I could not climb. In desperation, I turned to heaven And spoke your name into the night.
[16:47] Church, on our own, We are not enough. Many have tried to live in a false sense of righteousness. But Paul preaches against that in Romans 3.23 When he says, All have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God.
[17:03] Jesus mentioned in the Sermon on the Mount That it's easy to see the sin and the speck in our brother's eye When we certainly have a plank in our own eye. The great Charles Spurgeon once said, Brother, if any man thinks of you ill, Do not be angry with him.
[17:22] For you are worse off than he thinks you to be. The truth is, if our sin is not forgiven, We are destined for a hell that is designed for eternal separation from God.
[17:38] The deeper we understand that the wages of our sin is death, The more we can appreciate that the gift of God is eternal life Through Jesus Christ, our Lord.
[17:51] He came for the imperfect. He came in our filth and in our shame. He came for the person that's on the inside of that mirror.
[18:03] And he paid a price of a life that was perfect So that I could have life So that you could have life more abundantly. And that's why we finish these songs.
[18:16] At the cross At the cross where I first saw the light And the burden of my heart rolled away It was there by faith I received my sight And now I am happy all the day.
[18:31] Thank you, Jesus For the blood applied. Thank you, Jesus It has washed me white. Thank you, Jesus You have saved my life.
[18:42] You've brought me from the darkness Into glorious light. Hallelujah. Praise the one who set me free.
[18:52] Hallelujah. Death has lost its grip on me. You have broken every chain. There is salvation in your name. Jesus Christ You are my living hope.
[19:06] You know, the reflection we see In our worship to the King Should show us our scars Of our sin And who we were. But when we accept Jesus Christ As our Lord and Savior That reflection Then shows us The righteousness of God Of which we are covered.
[19:25] We did not deserve this. There's a song that says We were the beggars But now we're royalty. We were the prisoners But now we are running free.
[19:37] We are forgiven Accepted Redeemed by His grace. So let the house Of the Lord Sing praise. The same reflection That shows us our sin Shows us That we are children Of the Most High King.
[19:55] Let us never forget Those two things. As we look to our third thing Is the final thing Of this psalm shows us Is our worship requires us To respond.
[20:06] After David had written About the heavens And the grandeur And the glory That continuously flows From heaven And all that God has done He takes the time And a moment to respond.
[20:20] He makes it practical For us not to enjoy A time of praise And reflection But to go forth And be the church. Why do we have to respond?
[20:33] Because our response Is what takes us Through those doors Into the mission field. There were several Different responses In worship And I'm just going to Name a few of them.
[20:46] In a time of worship And desperation And of sadness Isaiah was worshiping And he saw the Lord High and lifted up And the train of his robe Filled the temple. Isaiah's first response Was Woe is me For I am a man Of unclean lips And an angel Took a coal From the altar And touched his lips And said Now your iniquity Has been purged.
[21:12] Your sin Has been forgiven. Then God said With a loud voice Who will go before me? Who will go And be my voice? What was the response Of Isaiah?
[21:22] Do you remember? Here I am. Send me. From then on Isaiah went forth And prophesied To the nation of Israel. In a time of prayer And of anguish Of what was to come Our Savior was Dripping drops of blood In the garden of Gethsemane.
[21:44] The burden That was to come On him Was greater than Any man could ever bear. Obedient worship Is sometimes so real And so frustrating That it will move us To tears From our hurt.
[21:58] And as he wept In obedience He prayed Lord if it be your will Let this cup Pass from me Church I'm glad He didn't stop right there The next thing He said was But Lord Not my will But thine be done After that He got up And did what he needed to do He carried the cross For you And for me In a time of singing And worship Paul and Silas Were in prison Again They did not expect Anything to come Of where they were They were in a Dark prison cell You can imagine The filth You can imagine The nastiness Yet they were obedient In worship And singing The praises of God All of a sudden The doors Of the jail Swung open And it would seem That they would go free But they waited
[23:00] Why did they wait? Why didn't they run through? Because they knew That a jailer Was about to take his life And he did not know Jesus Christ As his Lord and Savior Because they stayed And in obedience They went to the jailer And said Hey Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ And you will be saved You and your household And in that moment The jailer Accepted Jesus Christ And his entire family Sometimes Our accurate response Is to stay back And is to realize Where we are And to share the gospel Of Jesus Christ Even when it doesn't seem Like we should Finally In a time of wonder The disciple Whom Jesus loved Was able to see The glorious eternity On the Isle of Patmos He saw The new Jerusalem Coming down From the throne of God He saw the new heaven He saw the new earth He saw Satan Cast into the lake of fire And in a loud
[24:01] Thunderous voice He heard the Lord say Surely I come Quickly John's response was Amen Come quickly Lord Jesus Our response Today Can look like Many of these forms But unless I've missed it We have not seen The heavens open today We have not Bled drops of blood In anticipation of death We are not Sitting in a prison cell And we are not On some secluded island Looking at the eternity That is to come So What is an appropriate response?
[24:42] Committing us To the call of Jesus To our lives In accordance To his word The response Is what the psalmist wrote He said Let the words Of my mouth And the meditation Of my heart Be pleasing to you Oh God My rock And my redeemer David gives us The key here To practically Go forth And to be The church And to live Our lives In full surrender To the calling Of Jesus Christ And if you're here today And you have simply Gone through the motions And not made Jesus Christ Lord of your Savior Has not made Jesus Christ The Lord of your life I pray That you would come And that you speak to me Speak to Evan Speak to Josh Speak to Brett Speak to anyone here Because today Is the day Of salvation For those of us Who are saved Let us respond Just as David did And consider where we failed And ask God To guide us
[25:43] So that we may be Good stewards Of the light That is shining Through us This is why we worship This is why we come together We're created to come together We are required To reflect And we are required To respond So let's do that at this time Would you join me In a word of prayer Our God We thank you For your word today And what it has taught us About worship I'm reminded daily In my reflection That in my own self I am insufficient And that I need you And Father I pray that if there are Those of us here today That do not know you As Lord and Savior That they would be bold enough To respond In obedience today Father for those of us Who have accepted you As Lord Of our lives May we be reminded That our words And the meditations
[26:44] Of our heart Carry more importance Than we could ever Imagine Father let us be The church outside Of these walls And not just here On Sunday morning Let our words Our thoughts And our actions Would make us children That you would be proud of For it's in Jesus Humbly name we pray Amen Would you please stand As we close our worship service We're going to sing Oh come to the altar If the spirit of God Is speaking to you And you need to respond I ask you to do that At this time