-Getting ready for prom, a wedding, a date. What does it entail? Showering, shaving, right outfit, hair just right. 

-Do we ever think about getting ready to worship God?

READ/PRAY (261)

-Before we dig in, I want us to pay attention to the overall flow of thought of this Psalm. God – humans – response. If you’ve been coming here very long, that should sound familiar to you! The best way I’ve found of summarizing the message of the gospel: God, humans, Christ, response.

-Who is God? What is he like? How does He communicate Himself to others? Think of how the NCC begins: God is the creator and sustainer of everyone and everything. How do we know that? His Word! Think of how the Bible begins: in the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth.

-The pinnacle of creation was humans. Humans were and are created in God’s image, meaning in some way humans reflect or mirror God. Nothing else is described that way. This also means that humans are created to be in relationship with God, and that lasts for 2 whole chapters before descending into chaos in what is known as “the fall.” This is starting to sound like terrible news, and the gospel literally means good news! And if it stopped here it would be terrible news: life sucks, oh well (naturalistic worldview: if this is all there is it’s terrible!)

-Thus far we’ve got God and humans. Calvin “true and sound wisdom consists of two parts: the knowledge of God and of ourselves.” I think we need a recovery of this idea today: we don’t know ourselves well enough, nor do we know God well enough so we continually try to find our own way, like the blind leading the blind.

-Thankfully the gospel message goes on to Christ! Because of the fall, separation from God, there needed to be some way of fixing that broken relationship, so God came to earth in a person, in a specific time and place. This God-man lived the perfect lied and died a brutal death in place of the world. But unlike every other death, He didn’t stay dead! He rose again showing that He has power even over death! This act has cosmic implications and impacts literally all of creation! But it also demands some kind of response from us.

-How should we respond to the historical fact of this resurrection? Peter answers this question in Acts 2:38 “Repent and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins.” 

-This Psalm actually contains every aspect of the gospel message in it, as you’ll see when we walk through it. But that’s why I wanted us to be aware of the bigger picture of this Psalm before we get into the nitty gritty.

-This also is meant to serve as a way we structure and understand our worship of God. See, all of worship is a response to God. God works, we respond because unlike everything else in creation, we have a choice in whether or not we choose to worship. (the rocks cry out) Worship isn’t meant to be just a feeling or a genre of music or a creative expression. Worship is meant to be a life fully surrendered to the God of the universe. So if we take this big picture idea as the way we structure our worship, it has to begin with an awareness of God, which then moves to an understanding of who we are in light of who God is, and then we can respond as we’re supposed to: in obedience and surrender. 

-Need to begin with an understanding of God: call to worship. How does God describe Himself matters greatly! Think of it like this: if I told you I loved my wife SO much and then said she’s a 5’ blonde who enjoys sewing and McDonalds you would need to start questioning my commitment to my wife! It’s the same thing with God. God created us to be in relationship with Him, which means we need to know who He is, what He’s like, how He works.

-Then we need to who we are! If that’s who God is and what He’s like, how do we relate to Him? What are the practices or expectations He has for us, and what do we need to do to ensure the relationship lasts? Again, like marriage, think of love languages. In order for a marriage to last love is integral, but both parties need to express love in a way that the other can understand. Similarly with God: because of sin (at its’ core is idolatry or worshipping the wrong God) that relationship has been broken. So when we understand who God is, we must respond with confession of our sin and need of God to get back to a healthy relationship with Him. Once that relationship has been restored:

-How do we respond? With gratitude and thanksgiving for God’s provision & salvation. If you think through the way our worship services are structured, these elements must be a part of them. It helps focus our hearts and minds in the right direction, it helps us to orient our thoughts around God, and it reminds us of the truths of the gospel message we gather around!

-The gospel message must be visible explicitly and implicitly. 

-With that in mind, let’s take a look at how this Psalm teaches us to worship.

1. The King’s Domain (1-2)

-Have you ever played “Dibs” Or seen Finding Nemo where the seagulls clam they own everything? Who truly owns the world? We have a tendency to act as if we do! We buy and sell land. We collect stuff to try to get more (or the same) stuff as the people next to us, but at some point it will either be in a landfill or belong to someone else. Everything we have is just ours to steward for the little time we have it. Do you view your relationship to “your” stuff that way?

-This is why it’s so important to begin with an understanding and awareness of who God is! AW Tozer: “What comes into our minds when we think about God is the most important thing about us.” As we take stock of our lives: where we spend our time and money, do we view them as good gifts from God for us to steward while we’re here, or do we view it as “No, mine” as I hear through my house regularly! In reality, the only one who can claim “No, mine!” is God:

-Kuyper “There’s not a square inch in the whole domain of human existence over which Christ, who is Lord over all, does not exclaim, ‘Mine’!” This is exactly what David is saying in this first verse. “The earth…and the fullness” Nothing is left out!

-It’s not just the land and animals, God’s oversight also includes: “Those who dwell” 

-Who’s left out of God’s oversight? No one! This means we need to care for everyone who dwells on the earth. We just heard from the Erno’s today, I had the opportunity to have lunch with them this past week and hear more about what God’s doing in China, and this is where it’s so important for us to continue to pray for and care about global missions. Whether people realize it or not, God is in charge and everyone will either bow the knee to Him willingly on this side of eternity, or be forced to on that side. Let’s look for ways and opportunities to invite people to join with God today!

-Founded and established. Complete power and control. Unlike the other “gods” people worship, the one true God created the world out of nothing. The seas are as a mere drop to Him, the rivers only course because of Him. How many of you could hold back the ocean? God can. And that’s the same God who invites us to be in a relationship with Him. It just boggles the mind.

-After reflecting on this Creator God, this causes David to ask a question:

• The King’s People (3-6)

-That question is: who can approach this God who is in charge of everything? 

-If we truly understand God as He has revealed himself to be, it forces us to ask this question. Think of Isaiah the prophet who sees God and falls on his face (woe is me! For I am a man of unclean lips!) The ones who don’t ask that question are followers of the evil one who see God and shake their fist!

-The hill of the Lord is a way of connecting back to how God has met with His people throughout history. Think back to Psalm 2:6 where God says “I have set my King on Zion, my holy hill.” This is the place where God rules from. The second question takes this idea a step further when it refers to “his holy place” the temple! Where people literally go to meet with the Lord! At this point, the temple hadn’t been built (that was David’s son Solomon’s job), but when it would be built it was placed at the highest point in Jerusalem, the hill people would have to climb to stand in the holy place, the spot where God’s presence dwelled among His people. The question David is asking is: who is worthy for such a task? Who dares to approach this powerful creator God? 

-Four requirements from God: 1-Clean hands

-NET: “deeds are blameless” Hamilton “innocent of hands”

-Someone who uses their hands only for good, being completely obedient to God with every action, being kind and caring toward others.

-Think of the 4-H pledge (I recited growing up) “I pledge my head to clearer thinking, my heart to greater loyalty, my hands to larger service, and my health to better living.”

-Another way of thinking about this is: does this person consider other’s interests higher than their own? But that’s not the only requirement, and the only way this description can be true of someone is by:

2-Pure heart

-NET: “motives are pure”

-What is your underlining drive and motivation for your whole life? That will determine much of what you do with your life! Think back to high school, for most people I knew in high school the primary driver was trying to be “cool.” Literally nothing else mattered! But things change. You’ll never be able to keep up with what’s trendy (and now when I show people pictures from when I was “cool” they laugh at me! Just last night I was mocked for my frosted tips) 

-A better, and more lasting way of summarizing this idea is found in the Westminster Shorter Catechism (similar to NCC that we’ve been reciting, but older) First question: what is the chief end of man? (or what is the motive for everyone) answer: to glorify God and enjoy Him forever. If you’re primary drive for your life remains glorifying God, you will be able to have a pure heart. These first 2 requirements are intimately connected to each other, you won’t have clean hands apart from a pure heart, and when you get those two lined up, then you can get to the third:

3-Does not lift up his soul to what is false 

-NET “who does not lie” Hamilton “Does not lift his soul to emptiness”

-Getting to the idea of speaking and believing that which is truly true. At it’s core, worshipping anyone other than God (which is idolatry) is a lie. We as Christians cannot tolerate lies of any kind. This means we need to worship God truthfully, and we need to be people who celebrate truth wherever we find it!

-Think of one of the descriptions of love in 1 Cor. 13 where Paul says “love does not rejoice at wrongdoing, but rejoices with the truth.” As people who live according to the God of love, we must also be people of true truth.

-But notice that it also includes how we worship. Church, don’t miss this: there is a right and a wrong way to worship God! There is worship that God will accept, and worship that He won’t, and it’s not dependent on which songs you sing!

–Hebrews 12 picks up this idea and summarizes it well when it says “let us be grateful for receiving a kingdom that cannot be shaken, and thus let us offer to God acceptable worship, with reverence and awe,for our God is a consuming fire.” God’s kingdom, acceptable worship means there’s unacceptable ways to worship Him, and if you don’t you won’t ascend His hill or stand in His holy place!

4-Does not swear deceitfully 

-NET “make promises with no intention of keeping them” Hamilton “does not make an oath for treachery”

-This person is not two-faced. They keep their word and promises, even if it’s at great personal cost to them! Another way of not lying.

-If someone lives out these 4 characteristics, they will receive a blessing and righteousness.

-What is a blessing? The opposite of cursing! Good gifts from a good Father who loves us and wants what’s best for us. They’ll have a full life, a joy-filled life, and be able to weather any difficulties that arise. 

-What is righteousness? Perfect standing before God, being declared innocent of any charges. This is the only way someone can stand before God is if they are righteous!

-All of this leads to/culminates in salvation. Saved from what? Death, destruction, separation from God.

-The 4 expectations (clean hands, pure heart, worshipping truly and being truthful, and reliable/keeping their word) are supposed to demonstrated, lived out by those who seek God. None of us do this perfectly, but are these descriptions overall true of your life? Would someone use these words to describe you?

-Interesting way of referring to God here. The covenant making and keeping God who ties Himself to His people. God isn’t disconnected or unconcerned about daily life. God makes covenants with a specific people, and then keeps it. Who are those people? Described above!

-Selah. This is a great time for this! Reflect on these verses and think if they’re true!

-We’ve finally arrived to the last part of this Psalm! We’ve started with the Creator God, moved to His people, and finally we see what the response should be to this King.

• The King’s Arrival (7-10)

-What do you think the proper response should be to the king arriving somewhere? Do you lock the doors and hope pretend you didn’t see him? Do you try to casually bump into him in the street? Tell him “Well I didn’t vote for you!” 

-The proper response is to give him a royal welcome!

-As you think of these gates and doors it’s almost as if they’ve gotten tired of waiting and have begun sagging their shoulders so they need to be woken up and stand at attention! Throw wide the gates and let Him in!

-Call and response. David inviting the city to throw open the gates, the people ask: “who is this king” David answers. 

-The strong Lord, able to win any battle. If He created everything and has provided the means of salvation, surely He would also be mighty in battle.

-And that question is asked again! And this time we are reminded that He has an entire army following and serving Him! If you’re opposed to this Creator God you will face annihilation. 

-Before we take some time to contemplate this whole Psalm, we need to take some time to contemplate who this description is true of. Remember at the beginning I said all 4 parts of the gospel are seen in this Psalm, but we’ve only seen 3! Where’s Jesus? Let’s think about those 4 characteristics again:

-Clean hands: think of what Jesus did with His hands? All the healings, the blessings, the ways He cared for others.

-Pure heart: Jesus Himself said He didn’t do anything of His own desire, He only did what His Father wanted! Jesus lived out glorifying God and enjoying Him forever perfectly.

-Not lying: Jesus described Himself as THE truth! He only ever spoke the truth and only ever lived out truth.

-Not misleading: see above, but also think of all the misleading He corrected in others. “You’ve heard it said…”

-Jesus is the only person who ever lived who actively lived these descriptions out, and now because He lived that way, salvation is available to any and everyone! So when God looks at us, He no longer sees our sin, instead He sees Jesus’ perfect righteousness. So if you haven’t responded to this truth in faith and trust yet, respond today! If you have responded, today’s a great time to praise God for that salvation that He’s given you!

-Selah