turn to the 34th song. I will try to be brief. I said
I will try to be brief. The 34th song. What I want to try to do this morning is this. Let us magnify the Lord
together. Let us magnify the Lord together. Listen to what David wrote. We're
told here this is a Psalm of David. And I do want to repeat
this. A Psalm of David when he changed
his behavior before Abimelech who drove him away and he departed.
Now go and think about that sometime. I'm not even going to preach
on that. And that is a part of the Inspired Canon. This is not
some title that men get. This is a part of it. I just
want to read the first three verses. I will bless the Lord
at all times. His praise shall continually
be in my mouth. My soul shall make her boast
in the Lord. And I will add, David is not
saying this out of pride. But he's saying this in the deepest
sense of humility before God. Because he says, my soul shall
make her boast in the Lord. The humble shall hear thereof
and be glad. A proud man may hear this. It
makes no difference. The humble shall hear thereof
and be glad. Oh, magnify the Lord with me."
Do you see that? Oh, magnify the Lord with me
and let us exalt His name together. The inspired canon of Holy Scripture
uses various words to describe the worship of God. Five are
used here. When I read this, I knew what
I wanted to preach on, but I didn't have a text. I want to preach
on worshiping God. That's why I asked David to sing
that song, Worship the King. And not as luck would have it,
but as divine providence would have it. I opened up my Bible
and began to read this psalm and I said, right there it is.
Right there it is. Just in these three verses. David
says this worship is to bless. To bless God. To praise God. To boast in God. To magnify God. To exalt God. Other words are
used, not here, but other words are used throughout the Scripture
to honor God, to reverence God, to esteem God, to admire God,
to glorify God, just to name a few. You keep on going over
and over and over again. Well, as I have indicated, my
aim this morning is not so much the differences
in these words. That's a worthy study. Maybe
sometime, Joe, you'll work on that. The different variations
of the word, but that's not my intent this morning. My aim is
to bring attention to the common theme that's thrust upon us in
this text. The common theme, not the differences
of the words. Don't concentrate on that so
much this morning. Concentrate on this. This common
theme that's thrust upon us because it says, what? O magnify the
Lord with me. David is crying out to us though
he's been dead for hundreds of years. He says, O magnify the
Lord with me. And let us exalt His name together. David is doing that as it ought
to be done today. Let us strive to do that. as
it ought to be done even for us today. What is this common
theme? Oh, may it be, may it be, that
God Himself renews within us that spirit of, here it is, putting
great price upon God. Now He is of great price. But
we're to put great price upon God. Or another way of stating
it is this, regarding God above all else. all else, no matter
what it is. Or, one third way of putting
it, finding our soul boast in the magnificence of God. That's
the common theme of our text, is it not? First of all, I want to give
you two general observations about the worship of God. God
is clearly to be worshipped. Anyone who has read this book,
God is to be worshipped. That's not the debate. But I
want to give you these two general observations about the worship
of God. First of all, it would be a negative thing. Not everyone
worships God. They ought to. They ought to,
but not everyone worships God. There is a vain worship. Now when I say not everyone worships,
most people think some people worship, some people have no
worship. That's true. There are some people who don't
give any worship toward God. It doesn't matter at all. But
there is a vain worship. Our Lord spoke to some people
in Matthew chapter 15. I'm not going to turn there.
Verses 7-9. He says, O ye hypocrites! O ye hypocrites! Isaiah wrote
about you. Isaiah wrote about you. You serve
me with your lip. You say the words. Oh, praise
the Lord. That's not what we're talking
about. We're not talking about saying the phrase. Oh, praise the Lord. There's
a man that says that to us every time we go into Wal-Mart when
he's there at Wal-Mart. Praise the Lord, brother. He wants us to know I'm praising
the Lord. He's doing that for His benefit.
I'm afraid. I'm afraid. There is vain worship
because Christ said you draw nigh unto Me with your lips.
Here's the problem. Your heart is far from Me. And you do worship Me in vain.
In vain do you worship Me after the doctrines and using for your
commandments the doctrines of men. There are people in this world
that think as long as you worship God, it really doesn't matter
as long as you're sincere. These people were sincere, but they
were sincerely wrong. So much so that Christ Himself,
the compassionate One, the One who's meek and lowly, said hypocrites. Oh God, deliver me from that. Oh God, deliver me from that. There is a vain worship. Remember,
Paul talked to some people and said, you ignorantly worship
this God. I'm going to tell you about one.
To the unknown God, they had an inscription out. Just in case
we missed one. Paul said, that's the one. The
one you don't know, that's the one I'm going to preach to you. Now
he was being a little tongue in cheek. He said, you ignorantly worship.
They weren't really worshiping him. There is a vain worship. Turn to 1 Peter chapter 2. There is a vain worship. That's
true. But here's the second point.
Not everyone worships God. Man must be called by God unto
true worship. And here we see two different
classes of people mentioned by Peter. Look at it. 1 Peter 2,
let's begin in verse 6. Wherefore, also, it is contained
in the Scripture. Behold, I lay in Zion a chief
cornerstone. This is Christ. A chief cornerstone,
elect, precious. And he that believeth on him
shall not be confounded. Unto you therefore which believe
he is precious. Now Christ is this. And unto
you which believe he is precious, but unto them which be disobedient. The stone which the builders
disallowed, the same is made the head of the corner. And a
stone of stumbling, and a rock of offense, even to them which
stumble at the word, being disobedient, whereunto also they were appointed." God is not surprised by this.
God is not taken off guard by this. God Almighty is in absolute
control even of this. You hear what I said? Even of
this. But, aren't you glad there's
a but there? But ye are a chosen generation,
a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a peculiar people that ye should
show forth the praises of Him who hath called you out of darkness
into His marvelous light. You see the two peoples there?
See the two different kinds of people? Man must be called unto
true worship. And the third point is this,
in summary of 1 Peter 2, 6-9, the primary reason of our salvation. Do you know what the primary
reason of our salvation? Our puny little finite mind and even
as believers, our self-centeredness, we think the primary reason for
our salvation is so we can go to heaven or we can escape hell.
No, the primary reason of our salvation is to show forth God's
praises. That's what it's all about. That's
where it's all about. So not everyone worships God.
I say that saddens me. But, God Almighty has ordained
these things. All of them. That's why we worship
God in all that He is. That's why you got some people
who only worship God part way. Because to them, they have a
part way God. Right? God only does part of
things. Half of it is under His control. The other half is kind of out
there loose, dangling around in the wind. Well, you ain't
going to worship God for that, are you? But go back and read what the
psalmist said. Praise God for all that He is. We praise Him for His grace.
We praise Him for His wrath. We praise Him for His mercy.
We praise Him for His judgment and justice. Secondly, second
general observation about the worship of God. False worship
is to be rebuked and true worship is necessitated. Turn to John
chapter 4. You probably know where I'm going.
You remember the woman at the well? Samaritan woman? Let me
say it again. The second observation is this.
False worship is to be rebuked. And true worship is necessitated.
Verse 19, for the sake of time, I'll just begin there. The woman
saith unto him, that is this woman at the well, this Samaritan
woman, what people would call very unpolitically correct, I
would assume, a half-breed. She wasn't a full-blooded Jew. I'm going to ask you to pardon
me for saying that, because that's the truth. But anyway, he meets
this woman at the well. He met her at the well. She didn't
find him. He met her there. I must need
to go through something. The woman saith unto him, Sir,
I perceive that thou art a prophet. What great insight. Look, but now look, our fathers,
now she wants to engage this prophet. I'm going to engage
you now. I perceive you're a prophet.
Now let me tell you where I stand. Our fathers worshipped in this
mountain. And ye say that in Jerusalem is the place where
men ought to worship. She already has manifest that
she's got it wrong. She's talking about a place.
She thinks the same. God's all the same. All of us
are worshipping the same God. It's just a matter of where we
do it at. Get it? Get it? Jesus said to her, woman,
believe me, the hour cometh. when ye shall neither in this
mountain nor yet at Jerusalem worship the Father." Now look,
wait a minute. Oh well, okay, he's saying, you
know, look at his next word. Ye worship ye know not what. He didn't say you don't know
the right place. He said ye worship ye know not what. You're not
truly worshiping God. He's rebuking her vain, false
worship. Do you see that? And I can see
some now. Who are you to tell me? This
is incarnate truth. That's who He is to tell. Someone says, but you're a preacher.
Who are you? You don't know it all. He does.
I'm telling you what He said. Ye worship ye know not what we
know what we worship for salvation is of the Jews but the hour cometh
and now is when the true worshippers, so if there's true worshippers,
that's By default there are false worshippers. Is that not right?
Even our Lord used that designation true worshippers The hour cometh
and now is when the true worshippers shall worship the Father and
Spirit in truth now there was a time when you worship God you
did so at Jerusalem and And you even look toward Jerusalem. Remember
Daniel prayed, what, three times a day or whatever? He turned
his face toward where? Jerusalem. Why? Because that's
where God for that time had ordained it to be so. But look, the hour
cometh and now is when the true worshipers shall worship the
Father in spirit and in truth. Notice those two necessities.
Why? For the Father seeketh such to
worship Him. God is spirit and they that worship
Him must. Must. But the two things are
what? Spirit and in truth. Why spirit
first? Because even if you got the truth,
if it's not in spirit, it is still vain worship. In other words, you can say,
praise the Lord out here all you want and do it even according
to truth. But if it's not coming, if it's
not welling up from in here, inwardly, it's vain worship. But if your worship is welling
up from in here, but it's not according to the truth, it's
still vain worship. You get that? This is what Christ
said. For the Father seeketh such to
worship Him. God is a Spirit. And they that
worship Him must. It is necessity. Absolute necessity. Why? Because God says so. They that worship Him must worship
in spirit and in truth. You do not worship God in lies.
Works for favor before God are lies. You do not worship God
and works for favor before God. You don't even come up with faith
to get God's favor. Faith is a manifestation. God's
already shown you favor. You don't come to God by some
so-called free will. That's a lie. You worship free
will. If you acknowledge free will
as existing, then you're not worshiping God. You are worshiping
yourself. You're actually worshiping a
figment of your imagination. Because free will don't exist.
And I could go on and on. It's in spirit and in what? Truth. Truth. You think you know it all. I
know Him who is all. And I know I am to worship Him
and Him alone. Now, let me just give you a little
thing first before I even go to the four things in this, I'm
going to say about this second observation of the worship of
God. First of all, God's seeking of such to worship Him is a seeking
of manifestation, not a discovery. God's not running around saying,
boy, I wish I could find one that would worship me in spirit
and truth. You see what I'm saying? A lot of people when they read
that, God's seeking such to worship Him, so God's up there looking,
trying to find one or two. No, you get it wrong. You get
it wrong. You don't have to turn to it,
because I'm going to go through this pretty quick. I'm going to read something
to you, but before I do, I'm going to make this statement.
In light of this, God's seeking of such to worship Him is a seeking
of manifestation, not of discovery. God knows who worships Him and
who doesn't. But it's more than that. God
Almighty can force true worship. Did you know that? Now you remember
a king named Nebuchadnezzar? A proud, boastful king, Nebuchadnezzar? God Almighty caused him to go
crazy. Turned into a psychopath. Was
out in the fields eating grass like oxen and all of his nails
grew long like claws. Hair long like bird's feathers.
He was a madman. He was insane. God put him there. But listen to what this same
Nebuchadnezzar said. Daniel 4.34, And at the end of
the days, I, Nebuchadnezzar, lifted up my eyes unto heaven,
and my understanding returned unto me, and I blessed the Most
High. Did you see that? Did he ask for this? He was a
madman. Crazy in the field. Now there's
a change. Where'd that change come from?
In Him? No. It come from God. You brag about who does the changing. Who does He brag about here?
Why sure, I came to myself and I'm glad I came to myself. Uh-uh. No. I blessed the Most High,
and I praised and honored Him that liveth forever, whose dominion
is an everlasting dominion, and His kingdom is from generation
to generation. And all the inhabitants of the
earth are reputed as nothing. He came to understand what man
really is. What? Nothing! And He doeth according to His
will in the armies of heaven and among the inhabitants of
the earth. And none can stay his hand or say unto him, What
doest thou? God forced this true worship
on this man. Do you see that? If you truly
worship God, God forced you to. Because you by nature are not
prone to that. Neither am I. Now look, and at
the same time, my reason returned unto me, and for the glory of
my kingdom, mine honor and brightness returned unto me, and my counselors
and my Lord saw unto me, and I was established in my kingdom,
and excellent majesty was added unto me. Now, Let me sum this
up. I, Nebuchadnezzar, am such a
great person again. Now, he already knew where that
got him, didn't he? Now, I, Nebuchadnezzar, praise
and extol and honor. Well, give it a break, Nebuchadnezzar.
Come on now. Why? Because of the person he's
talking about. I praise and extol and honor the King of Heaven,
all whose works are truth and His ways judgment and those that
walk in pride. He is able to abase. Anyone who
is still in pride. It's simply it's not because
God ain't able It's just cause God ain't purpose to yet and
maybe not even purpose to at all Because those that walk in
pride he's able to a base God can force true worship true
worship never demands of God It never demands of God Remember
that leper? And that leper came to him, and
it says he worshipped him. And he had a need! He had a need. But what was his first thing?
Lord, if Thou wilt, Thou canst make me clean. That's worship. He didn't just do it. I figure,
Joe, he bowed down on his face. It may even say that. I'll have
to go back and read it. He worshipped Him, but it was
real if thou wilt. True worship never demands anything
of God. You don't demand of God. I don't
demand of God. True worship never demands of
God. False worship, remember, is to be rebuked, and true worship
is necessitated. True worship never dishonors
Christ. It never dishonors Christ. John
5.23, our Lord said, He that dishonors Me, dishonors the Father. That's just the way it is. You
don't leave Him out. You don't sidetrack Him. You
don't lessen Him. You either honor Christ or you
don't honor God. Christ's obedience according
to Paul in Philippians 2 verses 8-13, Christ's obedience earned
Him the highest honor. He earned it. Now He was due
it simply because of who He was, but He also earned it. And He
became obedient. Obedient even unto the death
of the cross wherefore God hath highly exalted Him and given
Him a name which is above every name. And at the name of Jesus,
every knee should bow and every tongue should confess that He
is what? Lord, to the glory of God the
Father. Christ's obedience earned Him
the highest honor. Why do we rebuke false worship?
Because it dishonors Christ. That's why. And any worship that
dishonors Christ is a vain worship. Point our fingers at those who
worship not at all. But we need to be reminded even
of ourselves. You leave out Christ. Not just
that. You don't give Christ the highest
of exaltation, then you don't worship God. It pleased the Father
that in Him should all fullness dwell. Those who have not bowed
to Christ have not bowed before God. It's that simple, is it
not? Those who have not bowed to Christ,
we talk of believing Him, and rightfully so. Rightfully so,
Joe, that's the scriptural word. But believing is more than just
mental assent. It is bowing down to the authority
of Jesus Christ. It's receiving the record God
gave of His Son. You said that, didn't you? Those
who have not bowed to Christ, have not bowed before God. Those
who have bowed to Christ, they cry out these words, I will bless
the Lord at all times. His praise shall continually
be in my mouth. My soul shall make her boast
in the Lord. The humble shall hear their love
and be glad. And if you're a humble person this morning, remember
those that walk in pride, He's able to obey. Then David says,
hey, come on with me. Come over here to the side I'm
standing on. Oh, magnify the Lord with me. And let us exalt
His name together. I will summarize this this way.
I want to give you a symphony. You want to hear a symphony?
We don't have a DVD player, do we? We don't have to have a DVD
player. Because the symphony I'm going
to give you will be in three movements. It will be a symphony,
but it's not a symphony of stringed instruments, wind instruments,
horns, flutes, and drums. It's a symphony of words. words. There is a great symphony to
God's splendor. Now listen to it. Here's the
first movement. God is creator. God is eternal. God is faithful. God is holy,
holy, holy. God is immutable. God is incomprehensible. God is infinite. God is just. God is long-suffering. God is
love. God is merciful. God is omnipotent. God is omnipresent. God is omniscient. God is righteous. God is self-existent. God is sovereign. God is truth. God is unsearchable. It's like,
man, do you hear the symphony playing? Do you hear it? Do you
hear the words ringing forth? But we're not done yet. God is
wise. God is compassionate. God is
the judge. God is wrath. God is king. God is meek. God is forgiving. God is light. God is life. God is jealous. It is no wonder
that David said, I will bless the Lord at all times. I will praise His praise. His praise shall continually
be in my mouth. Now listen, as Joe has already
pointed out, if you worship God in spirit, it's going to leak
out on you. You're going to want to brag
on God. Yeah. That's the first movement. That's
the first movement. Here's the second movement of
this symphony. It's a lot shorter. A lot shorter. but it's glorious nonetheless.
Who is this God we worship? He's God the Father. He's God
the Son. He's God the Holy Spirit. He
is triune transcendency. Now Joe, you preached adequately
on that this morning. Triune transcendency. He is these three things. manifest
in these three persons, Father, Son, and Holy Ghost. And all
that other, that first movement, apply to Him. Triune transcendency. Think of
it. I heard that Dr. Martin Lloyd-Jones, Joe gave
me some tapes by a message he preached on Ephesians chapter
1 and it just struck me. Bless me. He said this. Here's the second movement. It's
short. God the Father, God the Son, God the Holy Spirit. Triune
transcendence. He's above everything else. But we are so self-centered that
when we think of Ephesians chapter 1, we think of our blessings,
don't we? Look at how the Father blessed us in election and predestination.
Look at how the Son blessed us in forgiveness and by His blood
and redemption. And look at how the Holy Spirit
blesses us in sealing us and keeping us until the eternal
day of redemption. Something that Dr. Martin Lloyd-Jones
pointed out is this. Paul does not go into the blessings
without first, in verse 3, saying, Blessed be God. Blessed be even
the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. Before we even
get to define the blessings, we should praise Him. And then
you look at it, and I knew it was there, when He talks about
the Father's work. Immediately, He says that we
should be to the praise of His glory. When He talks then about
the Son's work, He sums it up as that we should be to the praise
of His glory. And when He talks about the Spirit's
work, He sums it up with that we should be to the praise of
His glory. Worshipping God is paramount.
It's paramount. Now that's the second movement. Is it any wonder I say, I will
bless the Lord at all times. His praise shall continually
be in my mouth. My soul shall make her boast
in the Lord. I'm going to brag on God. Now
when you do, people are going to get mad at you. They're going
to start pointing the finger at you and say, boy, you think
you're something else. No, I think my God is something
else and I'm going to bless Him. I'm going to praise Him. But
here's the third movement. He is Elohim. He is Adonai. He is Jehovah, or more particularly,
He is Yahweh. He is El Shaddai. He is El Elyon. He is El Olam. He is El Gibbon. He is Jehovah Jireh. He is Jehovah
Nisa. He is Jehovah Shalom. He is truly
the Lord our righteousness. You see the symphony of God's
Word? And I have only scratched the surface. I've only scratched
the surface. Do you hear the symphony? Does
it stir up your heart and your mind and your soul? Does your
spirit well up and gush forth with the psalmist David? And
it says within you, maybe you don't voice it out here a lot,
but it's in here. And your cry gushes forth, I
will bless the Lord. When? At all times. When all
hell breaks loose. When the bottom drops out of
it, I'm still going to bless the Lord at all times. His praise
shall be continually in my mouth. Not because I'm such a great
praiser, but because He's worthy of it. My soul shall make her boast
in the Lord. The humble shall hear thereof
and be glad. And you know, the humble people
say, I want to be around people like that. So the summary of it, the great
crescendo of this symphony. To God's splendor is this, O
magnify the Lord with me. David says that to us. I say
that to you. Magnify the Lord with me. And let us exalt His name together. And that's it.