THE PSALM 84 WORSHIPPER (PART 3) - DESIRING GOD

Theme: The Blessedness of Dwelling in The House of God 
Author: The sons of Korah (temple assistant)
Background: Psalm 84 expresses the thoughts of a passionate Worshipper who wants to go to Jerusalem to celebrate one of the three annual feasts (Exodus 23:17; 34:23) but could not. The psalmist inability to attend the feast did not rob him of the blessings of fellowship with the LORD. All who are pilgrims can make the same three affirmations that he made:
1) His Delight Is In The LORD (VV1-4) - the important thing is that we have a HEART devoted to the LORD, a spiritual hunger that cries out for intimate fellowship with the LORD (Psalm 42:1-2; Matthew 5:6)
2) His Strength Is In The LORD (VV5-8) - true worshippers "go from strength to strength" (Deuteronomy 33:25; Isaiah 40:28-31; Philippians 4:13) and trust God to enable them to walk a step at a time even in difficult situation [valley of Bara (weeping) - V6]
3) His Trust is In The LORD (VV9-12) - when we walk by faith, we put the LORD and His will first, and we keep our priorities straight (V10). This is the Old Testament version of Matthew 6:33 and Philippians 1:21
Do we delight in the LORD and seek Him? Do we depend on His strength? Do we walk by faith and trust in Him? Yes, "Even faints for the courts of the LORD; my heart and my flesh cry out for the living God" (VV1-2).

 "Even the sparrow has found a home, and the swallow a nest for herself, where she may lay her young" (V3). In other word, God's Living house is to his soul what a nest is to a swallow - a place of rest and security and satisfaction. The psalmist even envies the priests. "Blessed are those who dwell in Your house; they will still be praising You" (V4). Outsiders were not allowed to live there, and they were limited in where they cold go inside. Only the priests could enter the Holy of Holies.
Today, we have the privilege of fellowshipping with God without going through a priest. Do we have a desire and a hunger to worship Him? Does our hearts cry out for the living God. Or are we happy for an excuse to be somewhere else from God's house?
May we pray and hunger like David, "As the deer pants for the water brooks, so my soul pants for You, O God. My soul thirsts for God, for the living God" (Psalm 42:1-2).
Be blessed with this song: A Place At Your Altar - Hosanna Music

THE ESSENCE OF WORSHIP - THE PSALMIST (PART 2) [TRUE WORSHIP PRAISES GOD'S HOLINESS]

Continuing from Part 1, having established God's attributes of authority and greatness, justice and righteousness, the psalmist moves on to his application.

3) THE LORD IS REVEALED
God's holy nature is revealed through His dealings with humanity. For the LORD rules with equity when He allows His people to pray and intercede for others; when, altogether just, He yet forgives sins; and when also He allows forgiven sinners to reap the full consequences of their sins. In other words, our God is wonderful, forgiving, and gracious - but because He is also just and mighty, the very thought of sin should strike fear in our hearts. Realization of both aspects of God's character helps us understand that God is holy, and this understanding results in TRUE WORSHIP to Him!
To illustrate these truths, the psalmist provides instructive examples from the lives of three of God's choice servants.
"Moses and Aaron were among His priests, and Samuel was among those who called upon His name; they called upon the LORD, and He answered them. He spoke to them in the cloudy pillar; they kept His testimonies and the ordinance He gave them. You answered them, O LORD our God; You were to them God-Who-Forgives, though You took vengeance on their deeds" (Psalm 99:6-8).

We can really take comfort from the fact that God answered the prayers of Moses, Aaron and Samuel. The psalmist points out that even these greatmen of God struggled with sin just a we do. They had weaknesses and failings so that even though God "answered them" and was "to them God-Who-Forgives," He nonetheless "took vengeance on their deed" (Psalm 99:8).
Moses, Aaron, and Samuel all committed sins against God. The Bible records that Moses incurred the LORD's wrath at the waters of Meribah Kadesh, where he showed lack of respect for God in the presence of the people (Deuteronomy 32:51). Aaron also stirred God's anger at Meribah, and he had earlier transgressed when he sanctioned idol worship (Exoducs 31:1-6) and rebellion against Moses' leadership (Numbers 1:1-2). And what was Samuel's sin? We cannot say determinely since the Bible provides no direct mention of it, unless it was perhaps a failure to discipline his two sons (1 Samuel 8:3).
However, we do know two things for certain. First, according to the psalmist, all three men confessed and repented of their failures. How do we know? Moses, Aaron, and Samuel must each have been contrite before the LORD, for He forgave them. Second, not withstanding His forgiveness, God still took "vengeance of their inventions." That is, when His servants followed their own ways, God allowed even these great men to bear the full consequences of their sin. Both Moses and Aaron, for example, were not permitted to enter the Promised Land. Instead, even with the end of their wilderness journey in sight, God took them to glory (Numbers 33:38 and Deuteronomy 34:5).
We, too, will stumble and fall into sin. But "if we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness" (1 John 1:9). Nevertheless, we must always face some kind of consequence because of that sin. Why? Because God is just and holy. Yet there is a second reason, one intended for our benefit. Just as the nerves of our fingertips warn us never again to touch a hot stove, the experience of sin's consequences is an inducement to forsake our own "inventions."


4) THE LORD IS REVERED

The psalmist has sung of God's holiness as demostrated by the way He reigns in awesome might, dwells above all the people. combines power with justice, answers prayer, gives instruction, and forgives sin though not disallowing its consequences. So what is the natural conclusion of the matter? The psalmistexhorts us to "exalt the LORD our God, and worship at His holy hill; for the LORD our God is holy" (Psalm 99:9).
To exalt means to lift up. does God then need me to lift Him up? Of course not. We exalt the HOLY ONE, not just because He is God, but because HE IS OUR GOD! If we are His people, we lift up our God's name above all others. Think about it! He is altogether HOLY, and yet we who are nothing by comparison can call Him our God! Considering our God and ourselves in that light, our natural expression must be to give Him the highestplace in all things. And if He holds that place, our worship should show it.
God's preeminence is the reason we join with the psalmist in worshiping at God's holy hill. His prescribed place of worship. At first, the place of worship was the tabernacle that God's people put up and took down as they traveled in the wilderness. Later the permanent temple in Jerusalem became the place of worship. Thus, as the psalmist sang in his opening stanza, the people were called to honor the King who "sits between the cherubim" and to worship Him who is "great in Zion" and "high above all the people."
In the New Testament, God commands us as His people to worship in our hearts. Indeed, even as we learned from the story of Cain and Abel, the heart has always been the site of TRUE WORSHIP. Even when God promised to be present in a physical location. He warned the Israelites, "But if your heart turns away so that you do not hear [you] are drawn away, and worship othergods, and serve them" (Deuteronomy 30:17). Jesus, also, affirmed that TRUE WORSHIP takes place in the inner man. He taught that "TRUE WORSHIPERS SHALL WORSHIP THE FATHER IN SPIRIT AND IN TRUTH" (John 4:23).
If we know God and enjoy His presence in our hearts, we will worship Him there. Our worship and exaltation of Him will manifest humility in response to His holiness. To worship otherwise is to indicate that we do not really know the holy God of the Bible.
(an extract from: True Worship by David Whitcomb and mark Ward, Sr.)

PRAISE REVOLUTION: GATES

"Enter His gates with thanksgiving His courts with praise;

Give thanks to Him and praise His name.

For the Lord is Good and His love endures forever;

His faithfulness continues through all generations"

Psalm 100: 4-5

How important it is for each of us to know the way into God's presence? How do we enter His gates? How do we come into His courts? The psalmist points out the way that God has ordained: We enter His gates with thanksgiving and into His courts with praise. It is only as we come to God with thanksgiving and with praise that we have access into His presence.

The prophet Isaiah likens the presence of God among His people to a city, concerning which he says: " You will call your walls SALVATION and your gates PRAISE" (Isaiah 60:18). The only way through those walls of SALVATION is by the gates of PRAISE. Unless we learn to approach God with praise, we have no access into His presence.

Confronted with this requirement, we are sometimes tempted to look around us at our situation and ask: " But what do I have to thank God for? What do I have to praise Him for?"There may be nothing in our immediate circumstances that appears to give us cause to thank and or praise God. It is just here that the psalmist comes to our help. He gives us three reasons to thank and praise that are not affected by our circumstances: first, the Lord is good; second, His love endures forever; third, His faithfulness continues through all generations. All three reasons are eternal, unchanging facts. If we truly believe them, then we have no alternative but to praise God for them CONTINUALLY!
Like to share with you a song I wrote. You can listen to it at www.reverbnation.com/rickysim or click SONGS @ right column of blog :-

Verse 1
I will enter His gates,
With thanksgiving in my heart
Enter His courts with praise
I will sing of His grace,
For all that He has done
I will rejoice and bless His Name

Chorus
Blessed be Your Name,
My strong and mighty Tower
Blessed be Your Name,
The Rock of my Salvation
Blessed be Your Name,
There is no other name
Jesus the Name above all names

Verse 2
I was glad when they said,
Let us go into His house
There I find peace and joy
The Lord He is good
And His mercies endure
I will rejoice and bless His Name

Blessings
TPWC

PASSION FOR GOD'S DWELLING PLACE -PART 1

How Lovely Is Your Dwelling Place,

O LORD Almighty!

My soul yearns, even faints for the courts of the Lord;

my heart and my flesh cry out for the living God."

Psalm 84:1-2

Can you hear the passion in the Psalmist's voice? The yearning to be in the courts of the Lord, the place of God's very presence. His whole being longing just to be with God. His heart and flesh crying out, shouting joyfully to the Lord who is alive and living and present there. Have you ever felt so desperate to get to church, to enter into worship that you thought you might just faint dead away? You know, if we’re honest, most of us don’t approach worship that expectantly, with that depth of feeling, that desperately even.

The Psalmist tells us that his entire being longed to be at the house of God! His soul, his body and his heart longed to be in the place of worship! Perhaps he remembered what many saints of God have forgotten that the house of the Lord is an oasis in the desert of this world and it is a safe haven from the storms of life. Whatever thoughts occupied his mind, when he thought of the house of God, his pulse quickened, his eyes brightened and he longed to be there more than anything else in his life.

How did the Psalmist knows loveliness of the dwelling places of the Lord unless he had been there? Furthermore besides enjoying the glorious shekinah presence of God, the following reasons reveal why he was so desperate to be in God's dwelling place:
Psalm 84:2 : there are many courts - different dimensions of His presence
Psalm 84:4 : blessings for those who dwell in His house
Psalm 84:7 : spiritual renewal growing from strength to strength
No wonder the Psalmist declares in Psalm 84:10 that a single day in His presence is far superior than all of the thousand best days the world can provide combined! Most of us know Psalm 84, if for no other reason, than because of the modern worship song “Better Is One Day,” based on portions of this Psalm. It touches the passion within us in verses 1-2, and 10, used in that song, and evokes our own sense of longing for God. Listen to this cool renditon by Worship Jamz:

We also know that all through King David's life, he exhibited this same passionate desire to be in the house of the Lord. Psalm 27:4, "One thing have I desired of the LORD, that will I seek after; that I may dwell in the house of the LORD all the days of my life, to behold the beauty of the LORD, and to enquire in his temple." 1 Chronicles 29:3, "Moreover, because I have set my affection to the house of my God," The whole idea from David's experience is that he was a man who loved the house of the Lord and longed for it when he couldn't be there!

As worshipers, what are our motive for going to the house of the Lord? There is a difference between going there for Him to please our hearts and going there for us to please His heart. We touch a higher dimension in God's presence when we are desperate for more of Him.

Blessings - TPWC

PRAISE - Our Weapon In Spiritual Warfare

Let the high praises of God be in their mouth,
And a two-edged sword in their hand,
To execute vengeance on the nations,
And punishments on the peoples;
To bind their kings with chains,
And their nobles with fetters of iron;
To execute on them the written judgment—
This honor have all His saints.
Praise the LORD!

Psalm 149:6-9 (NKJV)

This particular passage of Scripture shows that praise and spiritual warfare go together. With high praises and the Word of God (a two-edged sword) we have the ability to excute God's vengence, inflict punishment, bind kings, bind nobles and execute judgments.

In spiritual warfare, our enemy is not people. Apostle Paul said that " we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places" (Ephesians 6:12). We must always keep in mind who our enemy is: the devil.

Further, apostle Paul said that "the weapons of our warfare are not carnal, but mighty through God to the pulling down of storng holds" (2 Corinthians 10:9). You cannot fight a spiritual enemy with natural weapons. We must use spiritual weapons of war to combat our spiritual enemy. Praise is one of those weapons. It is a spiritual weapon of war that binds and breaks the powers of darkness.

Psalm 149:7 - Praise can execute God's vengence. God does take vengence, for He said, "Vengence is mine" (Romans 12:19). God wants to settle the score in all matters and give just recompense to whom is due. The primary target of the vengence is the devil.

Psalm 149:8 - We see that our praise will "bind kings with chains and nobles with fetters of iron." Let's first understand who the kings and nobles are that the psalmist is talking about. I believe them to be the principalities and rulers of darkness. They are the wicked demonic kings that have set up rulership and dominion in geographical locations and in people's lives. The Bible says that our praise binds them with chains and fetters of iron. As we praise the Lord, we immobilize the. We cause them to desist and stop whatever maneuvers, plans or strategies they are attempting to carry out.

Psalm 149:9a - Our praise "execute (s) the judgment written." The NIV version states it this way: "to carry out the sentence written against them." The enemy has already been defeated and the church has already won the victory. Let us arise with praise in our mouths, as we execute His judgment upon the powers of hell.

Psalm 149:9b - "This honor have all the saints." What honor is the psalmist talking about? The honor of executing God's judgment and vengence on the powers of air. Spiritual warfare is not a toilsome thing. It is an honor that God has bestowed upon you and me. It is done with joy in our hearts as we celebrate the victory of our Lord.

Now that we know Praise as our Spiritual Weapon, we should now change the way we view what the devil tries to throw across our paths. When we are confronted by the enemy, we have the privilege one more time of showing the devil who we are in Christ and who he is not. We then lift up our hands, raise our voices in song and dance before the Lord as we acknowledge Him as the mighty man of war who is mighty in battle through us!
(an extract from Silencing The Enemy by Robert Gay)
Have a blessed and victorious week! -TPWC

BOWING DOWN IN WORSHIP

Come let us sing for joy to the LORD;

let us shout aloud to the Rock of our salvation.

Let us come before Him with thanksgiving

and extol Him with music and song

For the LORD our God is the great God,

the great King above all gods ...

Come, let bow down in worship,

let us kneel before the LORD our Maker;

for He is our God and we are the people of His pasture,

the flockunder His care.

Psalm 95:1-7

There is a beautiful progression here that brings us into the immediate presence of God. The Psalmist in Psalm 95:1-2 tells us how we should praise Him - it starts with loud and jubilant praise and thanksgiving: "Let us sing for joy ... let us shout aloud ... " God encourages us to express freely our praises and our thanksgiving. Then Psalm 95:3-5 tells us why we should praise Him - for the Lord is the great God, the great King above all gods!

Then, as we go further, the mood changes: "Come, let us bow down in worship, let us kneel before the Lord our Maker (Ps 95:6-7)." Praise and thanksgiving lead us on to worship. Worship is not so much an utterance as an attitude. It is bowing down, kneeling - even at times prostrating ourselves before God. Every part of our being and every area of our personality is involved. All unite in total, unreserved submission to God.

Praise means looking up, but worship means bowing down. Alas, some people who enjoy lifting their hands and shouting do not enjoy bowing their knees and submitting. True worship is much deeper than communal praise, for worship involves realizing the awesomeness of God and experiencing THE FEAR OF THE LORD and A DEEPER LOVE FOR HIM. Too often, Christian "praise" is nothing but religious entertainment and it never moves into spiritual enrichment in the presence of the Lord. Our singing must give way to silence as we bow before the Lord. He alone is JEHOVAH, the LORD, the covenant-making and covenant-keeping God. He is our MAKER (Ps 95:6b) and our SHEPHERD (Ps 95:7a). He made us, He saved us and He cares for us! Why should we hesitate to fall before Him in worship?

The pathway that the psalmist here describes takes us through praise and thanksgiving into worship and stillness before God. When we come into this attitude of worship, we are able to hear God speaking directly to us. That is why the psalmist continues, "Today, if you hear His voice ..." (Ps 95:7b)

Bow down and worship God! - HE IS WORTHY! \0/\0/\0/
TPWC