A Call to Worship

I remember growing up each time we gathered in church, my Father would call us to worship. I never understood truly what he was inviting us to, but as I grew in my faith, I have learned that it is an invitation for us as believers to gather together on one accord to commune, worship, and hear from our Almighty Father. 

Psalms 95 serves as the introduction to a series of Psalms devoted to the "Call of Worship". It has long been regarded as an invitation to worship. 

Oh come, let us sing to the Lord! Let us shout joyfully to the Rock of our salvation.  Let us come before His presence with thanksgiving; Let us shout joyfully to Him with psalms.  For the Lord is the great God, And the great King above all gods.  In His hand are the deep places of the earth; The heights of the hills are His also.  The sea is His, for He made it; And His hands formed the dry land. Oh come, let us worship and bow down; Let us kneel before the Lord our Maker.  For He is our God, And we are the people of His pasture, And the sheep of His hand. Today, if you will hear His voice:  "Do not harden your hearts, as in the rebellion, As in the day of trial in the wilderness, When your fathers tested Me; They tried Me, though they saw My work. For forty years I was grieved with that generation, And said, 'It is a people who go astray in their hearts, And they do not know My ways.'  So I swore in My wrath, 'They shall not enter My rest.' " (1-11)

"This psalm helps the believer to reorient and focus his thinking and practice concerning worship.  It turns our  attention and affection toward God. A  “Call to Worship” is to readjust our thinking.

How we regard what happens on Sunday mornings in many churches, many of us refer to the overall event as the "worship service." We really (either consciously or subconsciously) divide it into two parts. Some may even have someone called the "worship leader" who provides direction to all the events leading up to the message which is brought by someone called the "preacher."  Verse 7 in the Psalm gives us just such a transition. The process of coming together, giving expression to our joy and thanksgiving, seeing God's awesomeness and realizing His great love for us ultimately leads us to being receptive to "hear His voice."

 In these verses, the Psalmist mentions at least several reasons for praising and to hear from the Lord. Not only are we to sing joyfully, but we are to sing aloud thankfully.  Our expressions of praise and rejoicing should be with joy and thanksgiving and  they should be done enthusiastically as suggested by the repeated call to  "shout" to the Lord.

As if joy and thanksgiving were not enough, the Psalmist moves on with an even more compelling reason to sing, praise and shout unto a Great God - He is  an awesome God. He is extreme, vast, magnificent, and so much more that makes him indescribable.  As if being a "Great God" were not enough, He is also a "Great King." This  speaks of His rule and reign as King as well as His Kingdom. The Psalmist seems  to have no other word to appropriately describe His Godhead and Kingship beyond  "Great." (Verse 3)

Second, He is the Owner of everything from the deepest  valleys to the highest hills - all the land and all the sea. To say that He holds it in His hand speaks of the greatness of our God. (Verse 4-5)

Third, He is the Creator of all that is. (Verse 5).

The overflow of joy and thanksgiving in shouts of song and praise along with the realization of the awesomeness of God must culminate in Worship. We don't kneel much in the twenty-first century. The spirit of the self-made person is alive and well. Today's philosophy is to get as much power as possible and submit to no authority. The lack of respect for authority is prevalent. Children don't respect their parents, students don't respect their teachers, and employees don't respect their employers. Respect for the things of our God is on the decline. Our God is worthy to be worshiped because He is so much greater than we are.

Finally the passage says that He is worthy to be worshipped because He is a personal God. Though He is the God of many, He is able to be the God of one, mine. That means He knows us, each one, and we know Him. Such a relationship has been His intent and plan from the beginning.

The redeemed worship because they understand that they are already the people of His pasture and He is their God. True worshipers are also eagerly looking forward to that time when we are gathered to Him to dwell in His presence forever. Our Lord is to be worshiped for He alone is Worthy.

The process of coming together, giving expression to our joy and thanksgiving, seeing God's awesomeness and realizing His great love for us ultimately leads us to being receptive to "hear His voice." 

Hearing His voice, which comes from the proclamation of the word, is an essential part of the worship experience. Without hearing the word proclaimed then we may become like the Children of Israel in the wilderness who demonstrated faithlessness. We know that "faith comes by hearing and hearing by the word of God." The consequence of unbelief and rebellion would be that we would not heed the call to worship.  Failing to worship Him and choosing rather to question and rebel against Him is not acceptable and is the very thing the Psalmist warns against. The consequence of failing to worship this Great God is twofold. First, there is a lack of knowledge concerning the ways of God. Failing to recognize and follow His ways are sure recipes for sin. In order to follow His ways we must spend time getting to know Him. A rebellious spirit will hinder that endeavor. Second, according to the scripture there is no rest. How many times do we miss the opportunities of rest in Jesus because we are rebellious in Spirit? A true worshiper of God is more concerned with worshipping Holy God than promoting their personal agenda. A true worshiper understands that God indeed knows the thoughts of man. Worship is not merely a given action to be performed. Worship is heartfelt and genuinely offered to a Holy and omniscient God.

True worship is not birthed out of ritual or compulsion rather out of privilege. Worshiping God should be from the joy in our hearts because of who He has been in our lives. He has done great and mighty things for us and our worship of Him should be from a heart of thanksgiving for all that He has done. Worshiping Him with joy and thanksgiving is how we are to worship. The text does not mention worshiping with hymns or praise choruses. That is trivial in the grand scheme of things. The debate over such issues has become greater than the worship of a Holy God. Selfish and personal preferences have infiltrated the time of worship and the people of God have involved themselves in debates over the style of worship and missed the opportunity to worship. God is not concerned with whether we use hymns, praise choruses, or instruments to praise Him. The call is simply to worship Him.

A call to worship includes laying aside our personal desires, preferences, and plans and picking up the attitude of praise. So, today in The Sanctuary we extend to you an "Call to Worship"…come let us worship Holy God and sing joyfully to Him as He alone is worthy.  Invite him in and tell him "You want Him and how you love Him"!