So we welcome you all in the Lord's name and we welcome those who are online as well.
We pray that our time would be blessed together.
So may we lift our voices and sing to God's praise by singing in Psalm 92a of the Sing
Psalms version.
We'll find that on page 122 of the Blue Books.
Psalm 92a, we'll sing from the beginning of that psalm.
So we'll sing down to verse Mark 4 and then we'll jump down to verse Mark 12 to the end
of the psalm and sing them last two stanzas.
I'll read these words.
How good it is to praise the Lord, to sing a joyful song, and to your name, O God most
high, make music all day long, to show your love when morning comes, your faithfulness
at night, with music of stringed instruments, your praises to recite.
For by your mighty deeds, O Lord, you make my spirit glad.
I sing for joy when I survey the works your hands have made.
And then at verse 12.
So in old age, they still bear fruit.
They will stay fresh and strong.
They will proclaim the Lord is just, my rock who does no wrong.
A psalm of thanks and praise to God, thanking Him for the time of Sabbath worship as they
come to worship.
And a reminder there in the last two verses of the everlasting worship that will continue
in glory.
So we'll stand together and sing these verses.
How good it is to praise the Lord.
How good it is to praise the Lord, to sing a joyful song.
And to your name, O God most high, make music all day long.
To show your love when morning comes, your faithfulness at night.
With music all singed instruments, your praises to recite.
For by your mighty deeds, O Lord, you make my spirit glad.
I sing for joy when I survey the works your hands have made.
Like palms and cedars flourishing, the righteous all will be.
And planted in the house of God will grow upon thee.
So in all days they still bear fruit.
They will stay fresh and strong.
They will proclaim the Lord is just.
My God who does no wrong.
Okay, we'll say a short prayer now for the young ones that are with us.
Let us pray together.
Our Father in heaven, we thank you for this time that we have to come to church.
We thank you that we can sing and lift our hearts and voice.
And praise you and thank you for all that you have done for us.
We thank you, God, for the homes that you have provided for us.
The families that you give to us.
And the friends that are around us.
We thank you, Lord, for Sunday school.
We thank you for all our teachers.
And we pray that we would learn about you and learn about your son, Jesus Christ, as we go to our own classes.
Lord, we pray that we would be like those that are planted within the house of God.
And that though we are young.
And Lord, we pray for the young.
And we remember the young.
We pray also that you would remain with them as they grow.
But that they would grow strong.
And grow in you.
We pray, Lord, that they would trust in you.
All the days of their lives.
And even in the uncertainties and difficult things of life.
And the questions that they have about life.
We pray, Lord.
That we would remember them.
And that they would remember you.
So be with us in our classes as we go there and shortly.
Be with our teachers as they lead.
We pray for them as well.
And we pray that you would be with us.
And be with all our friends as we gather together.
Help us to have fun.
In Jesus' name we ask these things.
Amen.
Okay, boys and girls.
I'm just going to say a short word to you before you go off to your Sunday school classes.
You might remember last week, of those who were here,
I said that you were doing a lesson about people and the disciples and the friends of Jesus
that were glad to speak about all the things that Jesus had done.
But today, I believe, you're going to learn about someone who was glad to do anything for Jesus.
I think you're going to learn about a man called Stephen today.
He was not afraid to do anything for God.
And to be obedient to God, even when other people were saying not to tell people about Jesus.
He still went and told them.
And I want to tell you a little story about a man called Hudson Taylor.
I think it's James Hudson Taylor he was called.
And he was a man who did a lot for God.
He was a man who felt that God told him to go to China.
So he did.
And he spent 51 years in China.
He was a man that did a lot there.
And he loved the people, the Chinese people.
And he lived just like the Chinese people did.
And he was thankful to God for guiding him.
And that's why he did so much.
And that's why Stephen did so much.
And that's why all of us who are Christians do so much.
We're thankful for the heart that God has given us and all that he has done for us.
Hudson Taylor, when he was in China, made this organization called the China Inland Mission.
And do you know what he did?
He managed to recruit 800 missionaries.
And missionaries are people that go and tell people about Jesus.
So there's 800 people just like him that went to tell people about Jesus all over China.
And these 800 people managed to make 125 schools.
And it is believed that this organization worked to the effect of converting 18,000 people to Christianity.
James Hudson Taylor did a lot for God.
And he said that all God's giants, the people who trust in God, he called them giants.
And he said all God's giants have been weak men who did great things for God because they believed that God would be with them.
And that's the same for everyone who believes in Jesus.
They do things.
And maybe sometimes they do strange things.
And they do things that we don't understand.
Because they believe that God is with them in everything.
We do because God has done for us.
And we value everything God has done for us.
Even it might be beyond our own lives.
We can do anything through God who gives us strength.
Amen.
Let us say the Lord's Prayer together.
Our Father which art in heaven.
Hallowed be thy name.
Thy kingdom come.
Thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven.
Give us this day our daily bread.
And forgive us our debts as we forgive our debtors.
Lead us not into temptation.
But deliver us from evil.
For thine is the kingdom, the power and the glory forever.
Amen.
We'll continue in praise to God by singing in Psalm 96a of the Sing Psalms version.
You'll find that on page 126 of the Blue Book.
Sing Psalms version of 96a.
From the beginning we'll sing down to verse 10.
Oh sing a new song to the Lord.
Sing praises to his name.
And his salvation day by day.
Let all the earth proclaim.
Sing down to verse 10.
Tell every land the Lord is king.
Established is the earth and cannot move.
The Lord will judge the people in his truth.
Today in our consideration as we move on to the next step of Psalm 40.
We'll look at how David worships God.
So our singings today are ones that really draw us in praise and worship to God.
So let us stand and sing.
Oh sing a new song to the Lord.
Amen.
O sing a new song to the Lord.
Sing praises to his name.
And his salvation day by day.
Let all the earth proclaim.
His glory as his mighty deeds.
To every land declare.
How great and awesome is the Lord.
For other gods are rude and soul.
The Lord made heaven's might.
All power and majesty are his.
He dwells in glorious light.
All nations to the Lord.
The glory of God.
He has said.
Ascribe to God.
And praise his name.
Amen.
Enter his.
His words with joy and ring, and offering with you.
Worship the Lord in holy fear, all earth before Him bound.
Tell every land the Lord is King, established its Seer.
And can all good, the Lord will chant, the people say His truth.
We turn now to God's Word, and if we could turn to Paul's letter to the Ephesians, chapter 3.
And then we'll turn after a short reading in Ephesians to Psalm 40.
Paul's letter to the Ephesians, chapter 3, and we'll read from verse Mark 14.
That short passage at the end of the chapter.
Let us hear God's Word.
For this reason, I bow my knees before the Father,
from whom every family in heaven and on earth is named,
that according to the riches of His glory,
He may grant you to be strengthened with power through His Spirit in your inner being,
so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith,
that you, being rooted and grounded in love,
may have strength to comprehend with all the saints
what is the breadth and length and height and depth,
and to know the love of Christ that surpasses knowledge,
that you may be filled with all the fullness of God.
Now to Him who is able to do far more abundantly
than all that we can ask or think,
according to the power at work within us,
to Him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus
throughout all generations,
forever and ever.
Amen.
We turn with me now to
the book of Psalms and Psalm 40.
Our focus today will be from verse Mark 6 down to verse Mark 10,
but I think we'll read from the beginning of Psalm 40,
and we'll read down to the end of verse Mark 10.
I waited patiently for the Lord.
He inclined to me and heard my cry.
He drew me up from the pit of destruction
out of the miry bog
and set my feet upon a rock,
making my steps secure.
He put a new song in my mouth,
a song of praise to our God.
Many will see and fear
and put their trust in the Lord.
Blessed is the man who makes the Lord his trust,
who does not turn to the proud
or to those who go astray after a lie.
You have multiplied, O Lord my God,
your wondrous deeds and thoughts towards us.
None can compare with you.
I will proclaim and tell of them,
yet they are more than can be told.
Sacrifice and offering you have not desired,
but you have given me an open ear.
Burnt offering and sin offering you have not required.
Then I said,
Behold, I have come.
In the scroll of the book,
it is written of me.
I desire to do your will, O my God.
Your law is within my heart.
I have told the glad news of deliverance
in the great congregation.
Behold, I have not restrained my lips,
as you know, O Lord.
I have not hidden your deliverance within my heart.
I have spoken of your faithfulness
and your salvation.
I have not concealed your steadfast love
and your faithfulness
from the great congregation.
Amen.
May the reading of God's word be blessed to us.
May we turn to God in prayer.
Let us pray.
Amen.
Our Father in heaven,
we pray that you would give us peace of mind
and rest as we come into your house
and as we come before you, O God.
Give us a clear sight of who you are
and reveal to us yourself to us
through your word.
Lord, may you be great to us.
May we understand what is the width,
the height, the depth and breadth of you
and your love towards us.
And Lord, when we come before you,
we acknowledge our weakness.
We acknowledge that we have sinned
and that we have a heart that is desire
originally to incline itself towards sin.
Lord, we pray that you would be one to renew our hearts
and to change us and to transform us.
That you would put within us
a heart that would desire to come and worship you
and to glorify your name
and sing praises to you.
Lord, we ask that you would be with us
as we consider your word
and as we draw from it,
may it be rich to us.
May it be encouraging to us
and restoring our spirit, Lord.
Lord, there are many
who are crying out to you.
There are many who are crying out
from the depths of their heart
because they do not know where to go
or who to turn to.
So Lord, we pray
that you would reveal yourself to them too.
Lord, reveal to the one who calls out to you.
Reveal yourself to the one
who does not know who to call to you.
Lord, let us not be ashamed
to declare of what you have done for us
and the righteousness that you have placed within us
through Christ Jesus
and the riches of his mercy.
Lord, help us to understand them and grasp them
that we may be people that would be
equipped and prepared to proclaim
what you have done for us.
That people who do not know where to turn to
would hear of the salvation
we have found in Jesus Christ
and say of themselves that they need that too.
Lord, give us a heart for souls that are lost,
souls that are unconverted,
souls that lay in the pit of destruction.
Lord, we pray for them
and we pray that the outreaching of your hand
may touch them
by whatever means, Lord, may it be.
We pray for the efforts that are made
in your church,
in all denominations.
Lord, we pray for the efforts
that are made to proclaim your gospel this day.
We pray your spirit be upon.
We pray your spirit to bless it.
Lord, we pray that you would be with us
as we gather.
Give us minds to focus our attention to you.
Hearts that long to know you.
Hearts that long to feel
the riches of your grace
and the provision and security
that you afford to us
through Christ Jesus.
Lord, wash us in his blood.
Lord, we pray for the spread of the gospel
through our nation.
We pray that it would go out
and reach the ends of the world.
Lord, we thank you for the provision
made in offering these services online.
And maybe it is by these means
that you will reach the ends of the world.
We do not know.
But Lord, the gospel,
we pray the gospel
to be faithfully proclaimed
by your men
and within our own hearts, O Lord,
as we go out into the world.
Amen.
Situations.
We pray
that we would have effect
not of any strength of ourselves,
for we often see our weaknesses
and we are full of fear
to speak about you.
But Lord,
may we be great in your eyes
and may we do great things
in your eyes
as we rely on you
and as we reckon
and trust
like Hudson Taylor
that you would be one
that would go with us.
Lord, give us thanks
for your provision.
Lord, we pray for our people.
We pray for each of us here.
We pray that you would meet us
at our needs
and there are great needs amongst us.
We pray for those
who have concerns over health.
We pray for those
who have concerns for others.
We pray for those who more.
We pray that you would be with them
and comfort them.
Lord,
be with us.
May your word
become alive to us.
May it be a place
of warmth to us
where we desire
to come back to.
A place of instruction.
A place
Lord,
where we see you
and we see ourselves.
So be with us, we ask
as we turn to it now.
Prepare our hearts.
Be with those
who worship
in the Gaelic as well.
We pray that you would be with them
and that your spirit
would equally be upon us
and enrich our souls.
all these things we ask
in the name
of Jesus Christ.
Amen.
We'll continue in praise
and sing in the Scottish Psalter
version,
Psalm 100.
Scottish Psalter,
Psalm 100
on page 362.
Words that are familiar
to us,
but words
that turn
ourselves
to thank God
with cheerful voice
for all that he has done
for us.
to praise him
and to invite others
to know
of this
great God.
All people
that on earth
do dwell.
Sing to the Lord
with cheerful voice,
himself with mirth,
his praise forth tell,
come ye before him
and rejoice.
We'll stand
and we'll sing
to God's praise
all people
that on earth
do dwell.
Amen.
All people
that on earth
do dwell.
Sing to the Lord
with cheerful voice,
himself with birth
his praise
foretell,
love me
before him
and rejoice.
Rejoice.
Know that the Lord
is on him
singly to the Lord
of his
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For it is
simply so to
do.
For by the Lord
our God is good,
His mercy is
forever sure,
which to that
all times were he
stood, and
shall from age to
age change
I'd like to turn our minds now
to Psalm 40.
And those who were here last week,
we looked at the first verses up to
verse 5.
And we call that the waiting upon God, and we saw
how the psalmist there
trusted in God
from where the situation that he was in
as he lay in the pit of destruction
and the mire that he was in.
But God did not leave him there.
God was one that rescued him from that place,
and God was one that worked a transformation in his life.
And we saw that transformation there in verse 3,
with the new song that had been put within him.
And then from verses 4 and 5,
we saw that the psalmist then had a testimony in God,
for what he had done for him,
saying that with none can compare with you.
God is incompatible and great.
And God is one that is worthy to be trust.
And he said the man who puts his trust in the Lord
will be blessed.
So now we turn to our step 2, in a sense,
from verse Mark 6 down to verse Mark 10.
And we will call this next section
the worship of God.
And you can see there is actually a shift in the psalm
from where in the first part we saw that
it was God who made approach to David,
or the psalmist.
But now as we look at this next passage
from verse Mark 6,
we'll see that the psalmist now draws near to God.
This is his worship,
to draw near to God,
to approach God.
And this is our heart as we come here.
This is David's heart to draw near to God.
This is our worship,
to draw near to God as we gather,
whether it be online or in person.
We pray that our hearts would be directed towards God.
And other worldly distractions will be set aside
for this time, if at all possible,
that we may lift our voices in praise and thanks
to the one who rightly deserves all honour and glory.
But as we come,
we must be mindful that we do it in the right manner.
God specified in the days of old
how they were to approach God
with sacrifices and offering.
This is what God required.
And so we, as we approach him today,
must be mindful that worship
is not something of our own imaginations.
It is not something that we
choose to do of ourselves.
It is something that God has asked of us.
Who knows where we'd end up
if we did what we wanted.
But really what worship comes down to
is that it is a natural response or desire
to approach this God.
And to approach this God
who reverently asks us to.
There's a dutiful response, in a sense,
to coming to worship God.
We can say that worship
is not just dutiful, though.
Because, in a sense,
our hearts are aligned
to what God requires.
Our hearts seek to lift up
the name of God.
Seek to come and praise him
as God has asked us to.
That work within us,
that transformation,
aligns us to God.
So much so,
that when we come,
in that sense,
we find that we have delight
in worshipping God.
It is a delight for the Christian
to come and draw near to God.
And such is the delight
that they know
that they cannot but declare
the riches of his glory
and what God has done for them.
As we sing
and gather together
under his word.
You see, this is our worship.
To be dutiful
to God's direction in it.
We have a duty.
And with the renewed heart
that God has put in us,
we find delight.
But we are people
who cannot keep these things silent.
We desire to declare
and tell people
what God has done for us.
So in our worship,
there is a duty,
there is a delight,
and there is a declaration made.
Even as we come here today,
we make a declaration to the world
that I am coming
to worship God.
So let us take our first point there.
Duty.
And you know,
we don't really like to
describe our worship as duty.
It's not solely duty, though.
It's not a box-ticking exercise
that we do.
It's a loving duty.
It's a loving duty
of that aligned heart
that comes to God.
But it is God
that we come to.
It is God
that is above us.
And we are the ones
dutiful to him.
This is what the writer
in Ephesians wrote.
For this reason,
I bow my knees
before the Father
from whom every family
in heaven and earth
is named.
You see the greatness
of who his God is.
Every family on heaven and earth
is named on the outset.
And our understanding of God
is crucial to our worship.
It will proportionally affect
our worship, in fact.
If God is nothing to you,
there will be no worship.
If God is little to you,
there will be little worship.
You may think God
has been the almighty creator.
He's the one who sustains us
in our days.
We may give him reasonable worship
because we can reasonably
understand him,
in a sense.
But if God
is your God,
and if God
is the God
of your heart,
your soul,
your mind,
and your strength,
then we have an intimate
worship with God.
And we have a heart
to worship him.
But God
is not
who we
think he is.
God is truth
regardless
of how we worship him.
God
is almighty
and over all things.
And we must come
to worship him
in a sense
with a fear
and reverence
before the almighty
creator.
Let us read
in verse 6
of Psalm 40.
Sacrifice and offering
you have not desired,
but you have given me
an open ear.
Burnt offering
and sin offering
you have not required.
Now you see
David
in his worship.
He realizes that
well,
sacrifice and offering
you have not desired.
And this is an
interesting insight
for this day.
Because this was
a day when
sacrifice and offering
would have been
required.
So he's saying
now sacrifice
and offering,
God does not
desire these things.
God
does not
require these things.
which raises
a question.
Why did God
ask for them?
Why did God
ask us to approach
him with these
offerings?
But really
what's coming
through there
is that David
is identifying
that, you know,
the sacrifice
in and of itself
wasn't everything.
The sacrifice
wasn't
the thing
that would
restore
a relationship
to God.
all of itself.
I'll just
give you an
illustration
to make
this clearer.
You know,
you may
have worked
in a job
or you may
have heard
one of your
colleagues say
in their
employment
that, you know,
my heart
wasn't in it.
And
that really
means that,
well,
they're not
really enjoying
their work.
Their heart
isn't in it.
And they may
seek another
employment.
But if you
were to watch
two people
who were to
fulfil the
same task,
one with the
heart to do
the work
and one
without the
heart to do
it,
you may
watch them
and you
would see
significant
differences
in the way
they approached
it and the
value that
they gave
to doing
what they
did,
the task
to fulfil
the task
that they
had to
do.
That's the
difference.
Is there
heart in
it?
Is the
person's
heart in
it?
The person
that doesn't
have the
heart in
it may
actually
do a
better
job.
But you
can see
clear
differences.
And that
is what
God delights
to see.
The one
that has
the heart.
That is
where whose
value lies.
God loves
a cheerful
giver.
It says
in 2nd
Corinthians.
It doesn't
say God
loves a
giver.
God loves
a cheerful
giver.
The heart
of the
matter is
the crux.
And this
is what
comes through
in the
psalm.
It's through
David.
It is
his heart
as he
comes to
worship.
We'll see
that.
But we've
got to ask
ourselves,
where is
our heart
as we
come to
worship?
Why do
we come
to worship?
How great
is God
as we
come to
worship him?
How do
we sing
when we
sing praises
to God?
How do
we pray
when we
pray to
God?
How great
to you
is God?
And what
David is
saying here
would have
been probably
controversial
in its
day.
But with
no heart
of repentance,
no acknowledgement
of sin
and only
doing this
outward
traditional
procedure
offering
sacrifices,
God had
no delight
in it.
If the
heart was
misaligned,
God did
not delight
in it.
And Samuel
picks up on
this as well
in Old Testament
times.
He asks
the question,
has the
Lord as
great delight
in burnt
offerings and
sacrifices?
As in
obeying the
voice of the
Lord,
behold,
he says,
it is
better to
obey than
to offer
sacrifice.
Behold,
to obey is
better than
sacrifice and
to listen
than the
fat of
rams.
That
lovingly
dutiful
offering of
ourselves comes
through there.
But David
says something
else in this
passage,
which is quite
interesting.
He says that
you have
given me
an open
ear.
Now,
you look at
this version,
you think,
well,
okay,
David said
sacrifice and
offering God
has not
desired.
And God
has given
him an
open ear.
Is that
open ear
that God
has given
him
understanding
that
these
sacrifices
and offerings
are of
little
value if
they come
on of
themselves.
We can
say that,
and it is
true in a
sense that
God does
open our
ears,
God does
unblock our
ears to
understand who
he is.
And David
has a clear
insight,
a clearer
insight maybe
than many of
in their day
as to who
God was.
us.
But if you
look at the
Scottish Psalter
version,
the version
that we
sing,
you'll see
that it
says that,
it doesn't
say my
ears were
open,
but my
ears were
bored.
And that's
really what
the Hebrew
is.
It means a
boring of
the ear.
And I
want to just
mention something
here because
it is worth
mentioning.
And it
references a
servant and a
master really
here.
And the
context of
it comes
from the
Old Testament
where the
boring of
the ear is a
piercing of
the ear as
such.
And the
master would
bore or
pierce the
servant's ear.
And this
would be a
sign of
something.
So to
give you the
context of
that sign,
it would
have been
in the
year of
Jubilee,
when the
servant would
have been
set free.
He would
have done
a six-year
duty and
he would
have been
set free.
And in
Exodus 21,
I'll read a
short passage
here that
really makes
it clear for
us.
If the
master gives
him a
wife in
this time
that he
had been
a slave,
if the
master gives
him a
wife and
she bears
him a
son or
a daughter,
the wife
and her
children
shall be
the
master,
and he
shall go
out alone.
But if
the slave
plainly
says,
I love
my
master,
I love
my wife,
I love
my children,
I will
not go
out free,
then his
master shall
bring him
to God,
and he
shall bring
him to
the door
or to
the
doorpost,
and the
master
shall
bore
his
ear
through
with
an
awe,
and he
shall be
his
slave
forever.
The
act of
piercing
the
slave's
ear
meant
that the
slave
was
willingly
submitting
himself
to remain
within
the
master's
house
forever.
And this
is the
heart of
David coming
through here
in worship.
He's
saying,
you have
borne
my ear,
and I
am one
that will
remain in
your house
forever.
Dutifully
devoted to
your house,
I choose
to remain
with you.
But these
words are
not all
about David.
They're not
all about
ourselves.
They're
largely about
Christ.
And that's
where the
richness comes
through in
the boring
of this
ear.
Jesus was
the one
that was
represented
in the
sacrifices.
But Jesus
was the
one that
sacrificed
with his
heart.
Christ is
the servant
that chose
to have
his ear
bored to
God's
house in
a sense.
Christ is
the one
that chose
to remain
in the
house of
God
for his
love for
the people.
Like the
slave who
was willing
to submit
to those
that were
in the
house,
Christ
was willing
to submit
for us.
Christ
is the
one
who
submitted
himself
to the
service
of the
father
because
he
could
say like
the
slave,
I love
my
master,
I love
my wife,
I love
my children.
It's as if
he was
saying I
love my
father,
I love
my bride,
the church,
and I
love the
children that
you have
given to
me.
and he
chose
that he
would be
pierced
for these
people
that were
given to
him.
And he
chose
that he
would be
the one
that would
remain
forever
with them.
The one
that chose
to give
his heart
and life
for these
people.
The act
of piercing
was a
sign that
the slave
would remain
forever,
but that
he was
willing to
do it.
Christ was
willing to
be pierced
for us
in order
that we
may know
him and
that he
may remain
with us.
But how
was her
heart?
Do we
have that
heart's
desire?
to
remain
with God,
to come
to God,
not to
run after
our own
things,
but to
say
dutifully,
I remain
with you.
Matthew
Henry
writes,
when the
law of
God is
written on
our hearts,
our duty
will be
our delight.
So briefly,
we'll look
at delight.
And we
see that
from verse
seven.
Then I
said,
behold,
I have
come.
In the
scroll of
the book
it is
written of
me.
I
desire to
do your
will,
O my
God.
Your
law is
within
my heart.
David
as the
one,
that
slave that
was
willing to
come.
Behold,
I have
come,
he says.
He comes
to God.
He comes
and is so
willing like
that slave
to come.
And he
confesses that
in the
scroll of
the book
it is
written of
me.
Now this
points to
Christ,
of course.
But is it
not true
that David
himself can
confess that
within the
scroll of
the book
it is
written of
me.
Within
the
scripture
it is
written of
me.
He saw
who he
is himself
through
God's
word.
And that
is
likened to
ourselves.
It is
God's word
that reveals
who we
really are.
Negatively,
it shows
us who we
are in
our sin,
who we
are before
God,
who we
are in
our own
nature,
the things
that we
desire that
are not
good for
us.
But
positively
so,
does the
word of
God show
us who
we are
in Christ
Jesus.
We are
adopted by
him and
we are
redeemed
by him.
But there
is a
delight to
do the
will of
God as
well.
It delights
not his
own will,
not things
that are
pleasing to
his own
desires.
God
desires.
He desires
to do
what God
requires.
That is
our
dutiful
response
as we
come and
worship.
Our
worship is
not an
arena for
open
experimentation.
If we
worship by
doing what
we enjoy,
rather than
doing what
is pleasing
to God,
our worship
will gravitate
towards
idolatry.
Sproul,
R.C.
Sproul wrote
these words.
We must
be careful
in how
we approach
God.
But it's
a transforming
work
only that
can make
us really
approach God
with a
heart of
worship.
And we
desire to
come to
God and
maybe we
wonder why
we come to
God in
such a
way.
We
question
ourselves
and say
I love
these things
of the
world.
But then
I desire
to do
God's.
I desire
to come
to God
greater.
That's the
heart that
God put
in us.
It's not
our work
of ourselves.
You see
of Christ
this is
true as
well.
Christ
was the
one who
confessed
himself.
The
will of
God was
difficult
for him.
Nevertheless
not your
will but
yours be
done.
He was
dutiful in
his approach
to God.
But he
delighted to
do the
will of
God.
And you
see that
at the
extremities
of life
Christ
our
example
was glad
to
fulfil
the
will
of
God.
And in
a sense
we see
that
well
delight
to do
God's
will
is not
always
a sense
that we
are happy
full of
praise
joy
and
feeling
joyous
but it
overlaps
back into
a dutiful
sense.
Paul
had the
thorn in
his flesh
and asked
the Lord
to remove
it but he
was content
that it
wasn't
removed
from.
There's
things that
are difficult
in our
lives that
are the
Lord's
will
but we
struggle to
understand
and we
are not
immune from
the sharp
end of
life's
stick as
a sense.
And of
course we
cry to
God in
our
experiences.
we plead
with God
in the
situations
that we
find
ourselves
in.
We
ask why
is this
not
different?
Your
will
is too
hard for
me to
grasp.
We
confess
that your
will is
not what
I want.
Your
will is
not my
will.
but do
we have
the heart
to say
in
confession
as we
come before
God
nevertheless
not my
will
but yours
be done.
We have
that servant
willing to
devote his
life to
God again.
The one
who is
willing to
have his
ears
pierced.
Devoting
himself
not the
things that
I want.
what does
God
desire
of me?
What is
the will
of God
for my
life?
Whatever
it is
may we
find a
delight
in it.
We may
not see
the delight
in it
immediately.
The
delight
may come
afterwards.
It may
not even
come in
this
lifetime
but let
our
delight
be in
his
will.
May
our
heart
be
inclined
to
his
ways.
And
may
we
be
people
that
are
not
ashamed
to
speak
of
all
that
he
has
done
for us.
The last
few
verses
there
I have
told the
glad
news of
deliverance
in the
great
congregation.
Behold I
have not
restrained my
lips as you
know O
Lord.
I have
not hidden
your
deliverance
within my
heart.
I have
spoken of
your
faithfulness
and your
salvation.
I have
not
concealed
your
steadfast
love and
your
faithfulness
from the
great
congregation.
We don't
have time
to go
into this
really.
But it
is that
man who
is
unashamed
to speak
of what
God has
done for
him.
David was
glad to
tell of
the
righteousness
and
deliverance,
the
steadfast
love of
God
in his
experience.
God
is
he
was
active
and
confident
as he
did
so.
You can
see that
I have
is scattered
through them
two
verses.
And he
comes before
the great
congregations
gladly
telling
these
things.
Ephesians
speaks
of
that we
may have
strength to
comprehend
with all
the saints
what is
the breadth,
the length,
the height,
and the
depth
of God.
You know,
we come
together with
our different
experiences.
And as
Christians,
you know,
it's great
hearing people's
testimonies.
And you
think,
well,
I didn't
know that
about the
person,
and I
didn't
know they
had gone
through that.
I didn't
know God
would work
in such a
way as
he has
done in
that person's
life.
But as
we come
together,
and as
we gather
together,
unashamed
of what
God has
done for
us,
may we
declare
that God
has done
a great
work in
my life.
And as
we do
this
together,
we
strengthen
one another,
strengthen
with all
the saints.
What is
the breadth,
length,
height,
and depth?
You know,
we might
hear of
someone's
conversion,
or God
working in
someone's
life,
and we
say,
you know,
it's amazing
that God
did that.
And it
extends
our
understanding
of God.
And you
might hear
something
else,
and it
raises
the
might of
God in
your eyes.
And then
you hear
something else,
and you
say,
well,
I didn't
realize God
could reach
the depths.
As we
come together,
we strengthen
one another,
and we
uplift
God's
name,
and
praise
him for
all that
he has
done.
And
together,
we
enlarge
our
understanding
of who
God is.
And as I
said in
the beginning,
that's
really
central
to the
matter of
our
worship.
Who is
God to
you?
I pray
that as
we come
together,
we would
have our
eyes
opened
to
understand
who
God
is,
what he
has done
for so
and so,
what he
has done
for me.
And we
say,
God,
wow,
no one
can compare
with you.
to the
extent that
we say,
I'm not
going to
go anywhere
else.
All these
desires that
I have
do not
compare,
the worldly
desires do
not compare
to what
Jesus can
do for
me,
to what
God can
give me,
to what
remaining
in his
household
means to
me.
as God
becomes
great to
us,
may we
be people
that have
a heart
to come
to worship
him,
that have
a heart
to devote
ourselves
dutifully
to him,
have a
heart to
delight
ourselves
in whatever
his will
is for
our life,
but be
unashamed
to declare
all that
he has
done,
to be
marked
by God,
to have
our ears
pierced
as it
were,
that we
would be
willingly
submissive
to remain
in his
house
forever.
I pray
that our
hearts
would be
such.
Pray it
would be
blessed
to us,
our
worship,
our
duty,
our
delight,
and our
declaration.
Amen.
We'll
conclude
by singing
in Psalm
40,
the Scottish
Psalter
version,
page 260
of the
Blue Book.
And we'll
sing the
verses that
we read
there,
from
verse 6
down to
end of
verse 10.
No
sacrifice,
nor offering,
didst not
require.
We'll
sing down
to the
end of
verse 10
that
thy
kindness
which
must
love
in us,
concealed
have not
I,
nor from
the
congregation
great,
have hid
thy
verity.
We'll
stand
together,
and we'll
lift our
voices and
hearts,
praising God,
no
sacrifice,
nor offering.
No
sacrifice,
Thine is no offering, it's thou at all desire.
Mine is the Lord's sin, all three love, and burn its all three fire.
Then to the Lord these were my words, I come, ye, O thou see.
Where did thou own you, all the book, the great is of me.
To do thy will I take delight, O thou my heart, thou art.
Yea, that most holy law of thine I have within my heart.
Within thy congregation great, I my righteousness did reach.
O thou art, thou scroll, O Lord, that I refrain in not my speech.
I never did within my heart conceal thy righteousness.
I thy salvation have declared, and show thy faithfulness.
Thy kindness which most loving is.
Conceal it, have no time, nor from the congregation great, have it by benity.
Conclude in prayer.
Our heavenly Father, we thank you for this time we have had together to come and to praise your name.
Lord, we pray that you would remain with us.
Lord, give us hearts renewed to worship you.
We pray for our service this evening.
We pray for Mr. McKeever as he leads us.
We pray you prepare at heart to receive the word.
Be with us as we part.
Forgive us our sins that we know are many and great.
Through the name of Jesus Christ, the one who was pierced for our transgressions.
Lord, in his name we ask these things.
Amen.
graciousさせ keys.
Amen.
Thank you.