Nehemiah 12:27-47

We'll continue our work today through the book of Nehemiah.

I believe after this morning we'll have one more sermon in the book.

and I hope that it's blessed your heart the way it has mine over this past few weeks.

Nehemiah chapter 12.

Nehemiah 12 · chapter mention

Now to give you just a brief summary up to this point,

catch your mind up to speed for this morning.

God has brought His covenant people home to Israel

after 70 years of Babylonian captivity.

Remember, they were carried off into captivity because of their sinfulness.

Because of the way they had disregarded God's law.

And so they were taken captive and led away.

They've been brought back now.

A couple of different movements coming back.

But they're home now in Israel, in the promised land.

And they've now refinished rebuilding the temple we see in the book of Ezra.

And now the wall surrounding Jerusalem here in the book of Nehemiah.

There's been a great revival that I believe started prior to chapter 8.

But we certainly observe it take its full swing.

In chapter 8, it's broken out amongst them.

In this past few weeks, we've observed together the evidences of God-sent revival.

That revival is not something that we put on a calendar or on a sign.

We don't pitch a tent across from Kroger and Gainesville.

That's not revival.

But that God brings revival.

A special returning of His people to Him.

And we noted that if revival is God's sin, God's people will be praying.

That they will reestablish the Word of God as the ultimate authority in their lives.

I hope you at least have a copy of it with you this morning.

That they will recognize their defiance of God and view His chastisement as just.

They'll quit making excuses and justifying the things that they do.

But they'll recognize that they have not observed God's law as He requires.

And they'll turn from that defiance to obedience.

They'll say, God, in all ways I want to honor You.

If Your Word says it, I want to do it.

And I will work to that end.

This is a mighty work of the Spirit in the hearts of men.

But it is something we ought to be endeavoring to do.

And as we see these things happening in our lives,

we can certainly say that the Spirit is at work and moving in our hearts.

We see here in Nehemiah that the Spirit draws the sword from the scabbard.

And has His work, has His way with His people.

And it has been my prayer for us that the same will be true.

That we'll no longer be complacent Christians.

But that we will devote ourselves to God the way He deserves our devotion.

Now this morning I want to draw our attention to the dedication service for the wall

that we see recorded in chapter 12, verses 27 through 47.

But I don't want to totally neglect chapter 11 and the beginning of chapter 12.

There is some significance there.

And there may even be some significance beyond what I'm about to share with you.

But for us today, I think the significance we need to see is this.

Chapter 11, verses 1 through 2.

Now the leaders of the people lived in Jerusalem.

And the rest of the people cast lots to bring 1 out of 10 to live in Jerusalem, the holy city.

While 9 out of 10 remained in the other towns.

And the people blessed all the men who willingly offered to live in Jerusalem.

A number of weeks ago we talked about the fact that the wall had been built

and yet nobody lived in Jerusalem at that time.

The thing that ultimately grieved Nehemiah's heart, as we see recorded in chapter 1,

is that the city was in ruins.

And as such, the state of the people of God looked horrible.

Their capital city, the place that should have been the center of all activity and trade,

the place where the temple was located,

no one even inhabited it at this time.

And so they rebuilt the wall for the glory of God.

Not for protection, but for the glory of God.

But yet people still didn't come in to live and dwell in that place for his sake.

But we see here now a correction of that.

So remember in chapter 7, I spoke to you, verse 4, it says,

The city was wide and large, but the people within it were few,

and no houses had been rebuilt.

And then in verse 73 of the same chapter,

So the priests, the Levites, the gatekeepers, the singers,

some of the people, the temple servants in all Israel, lived in their towns.

And when the seventh month had come, the people of Israel were in their towns.

They had yet to reoccupy the city.

And to say to the nations around them,

God is certainly good to his people.

So it's important for us to see that they've now made reparations for that.

They have fixed that now.

They have now sent people into the city to live.

Now, verse 3 in chapter 11 through chapter 12, verse 26,

I just want you to get one thing.

It is a massive list of names.

And this is what I want you to get from it.

God has set apart for himself a covenant people.

People group.

Here it was Israel.

Now it is the church.

It's us, right?

But a people is certainly made up of individuals.

And individuals matter.

God is concerned for the individual, right?

Which means he cares for you.

He cares for you.

And as such, we should care for individuals.

I've been encouraging you over some time just to get to know each other's names.

There's a good starting point, right?

And here we see a massive list of names of the people who came to occupy the land.

So, we skipped a stone off of chapter 11 and the beginning of 12.

I'm sure there's some more depth to it there.

But I want to get into this worship service that we can see in chapter 12, beginning in verse 27.

So, let's read that together.

I'm actually going to hop and skip a little bit through it to avoid the burdensome nature of some of these names,

both for my sake and for yours.

So, bear with me as we do that.

And I'll give you some explanation as we go along here.

So, beginning in verse 27.

And at the dedication of the wall of Jerusalem, they sought the Levites in all their places

to bring them to Jerusalem to celebrate the dedication with gladness,

with thanksgiving, and with singing, with cymbals, harps, and lyres.

And the sons of the singers gathered together from the districts surrounding Jerusalem

and from the villages of the Nataphatites,

also from Beth Gilgal and from the region of Geba and Asmoth Beth,

from the singers had built for themselves villages around Jerusalem.

And the priests and the Levites purified themselves,

and they purified the people and the gates and the wall.

Then I brought the leaders of Judah up onto the wall

and appointed two great choirs that gave thanks.

One went to the south on the wall to the dung gate.

Verse 38.

We're going to hop over this list of people that went in this procession along with this one choir.

Verse 38.

The other choir of those who gave thanks went to the north,

And I followed them with half of the people on the wall above the tower of the ovens to the broad wall,

and above the gate of Ephraim, and by the gate of Yashana,

and by the fish gate and the tower of Hananel, and the tower of the hundred to the sheep gate,

and they came to a halt at the gate of the guard.

So both choirs of those who gave thanks stood in the house of God,

and I and half of the officials with me.

And then we're going to jump down a little bit further to verse 43,

and we'll finish out the rest of the chapter.

And they offered great sacrifices that day and rejoiced,

for God had made them rejoice with great joy.

The women and children also rejoiced,

and the joy of Jerusalem was heard far away.

On that day men were appointed over the storerooms,

the contributions, the firstfruits, and the tithes,

to gather into them the portions required by the law for the priests,

and for the Levites according to the fields of the towns.

For Judah rejoiced over the priests and the Levites who ministered.

And they performed the service of their God in the service of purification,

as did the singers and the gatekeepers,

according to the command of David and his son Solomon.

For long ago in the days of David and Asaph,

there were directors of the singers,

and there were songs of praise and thanksgiving to God.

And all Israel in the days of Zerubbabel,

and in the days of Nehemiah,

gave the daily portions for the singers and the gatekeepers.

And they set apart that which was for the Levites,

and the Levites set apart that which was for the sons of Aaron.

Join me in prayer.

Father, we thank you for your word,

your very spoken word, your breath to us.

And I pray this day that you will, by your spirit,

apply it to our hearts.

And don't let us just take these things in

and have some mental understanding of the last part of chapter 12,

but show us how it is that the activity recorded here

for the nation of Israel means something for us this day.

Help us, Father, to see how to rightly worship you.

And we pray this in Christ's name.

Amen.

Now, again, the observation here is a worship service

set apart for the dedication of the wall.

And we've seen a couple of other worship services.

This one consists primarily of music.

That's a major activity in this particular worship service.

We saw at the beginning of chapter 8 a worship service

that was primarily the reading of God's word.

Half the day, teaching and reading of God's word.

We see another in chapter 9,

which consisted of the reading of God's word,

and then confession through prayer.

So we're seeing this mix of different types of service

as they come together and worship God.

We have to be very careful as we talk about worship.

And so we're going to spend a little bit of time this morning

simply defining our terms.

What do we mean when we say worship?

This is something that has been far misconstrued

in the Christian church these days.

When did the worship of God become just about music?

Oh, that was wonderful worship this morning.

What do people are referring to when they say that?

The music.

What do we call the guy with the guitar?

The worship leader.

As if the only activity of the Christian life

that is worshipful to God is singing songs.

Shame on us.

This is a trite view of what worship actually is.

When did this happen?

I wish I knew.

I want to do a sociological observation experiment.

I wish I could see through history and see what happened.

I would expect that at some point

the term music minister didn't apply

to the skinny kid, Gene,

getting up there with the faux hawk playing the guitar.

And they had to come up with a different term for him.

Right?

Because the music minister is a guy

that leads music with his hand

and puts together cantatas.

Right?

But I don't really know what happened.

What has happened to our thinking

about this term worship?

Now get me,

many of us say words

and we're trying to communicate something

and if somebody were to correct us

we would say,

oh well, I don't mean that.

Many of us would do that.

There's a very important biblical teaching

that simply says,

out of the outflow of the heart,

the mouth speaks.

What you say directly connects

to what you think about particular matters.

Right?

We go after you pretty hard

about calling this

building the church.

Right?

Because it clearly communicates

that in your mind

the gathering of God's people

is not about people.

It's about institution.

Building.

Lights.

And trappings.

It's not about that.

It's about God's people

coming together.

We are the church.

This is an example.

Worship is another.

It's a burr in my saddle.

Let me show you why.

Hebrews chapter 12

Hebrews 12:28

verses 28 and 29.

You can turn there if you want to.

I'm going to go pretty quick

because I have twice as many notes

as I normally do

on a Sunday morning.

The writer of Hebrews says,

Therefore, let us be grateful

for receiving a kingdom

that cannot be shaken.

He's just presented the gospel

in a very clear way.

And thus, let us offer to God

acceptable worship.

Acceptable worship.

Is he talking about music here?

No.

With reverence.

Not relevance.

Catch that.

With reverence and awe.

For our God

is a consuming fire.

Now, we are so quick

when we're reading the scriptures

to let these man-made divisions

block our thinking.

But the writer of Hebrews

didn't stop at that point,

take a couple of week break,

and then pick back up

and start chapter 13

as an entirely different

subject matter.

He goes on to explain

exactly what he's meaning

when he talks about

offering acceptable worship

with reverence and awe.

Let's, just a quick summary.

What does chapter 13

tell us we ought to be doing

to worship our God?

Let brotherly love continue.

Show hospitality to strangers.

Remember persecuted Christians.

Honor marriage.

Be sexually pure.

Do not love money.

Be content.

Imitate the faith of your leaders.

Do not be led away

by false doctrine.

Bear the reproach of Christ.

Acknowledge Christ with your lips.

Do good.

Share what you have.

Obey and submit to your leaders.

This is worship.

And what I fear happens

is that when we think of music

as the only thing

that is worship to God,

we neglect all of these things.

Now, would music be found in this list?

Yes.

It absolutely would.

Right?

We are to acknowledge Christ

with our lips.

And we do that

when we sing together.

John MacArthur,

in a book I would commend to you

called Worship,

The Ultimate Priority,

said,

Worship is any essential expression

of service

rendered unto God

by a soul who loves

and extols Him

for who He is.

Real worship, therefore,

should be the full-time,

non-stop activity

of every believer.

And the aim of the exercise

ought to be

to please God.

That is worship.

Our lives are meant to be lives

of worship.

As a person,

you are always going to be

worshiping something.

You're going to either be

worshiping the Most High God

or something else.

Yourself,

sports,

success,

your wife,

your husband,

just relationships in general.

You're always going to be

worshiping something.

Proper worship

is worship

of God.

The Puritans had a

principle

they called

the regulative principle.

the regulative principle.

Excuse me,

not the Puritans,

the Reformers.

Sorry,

history buffs.

Listen to what John Calvin said.

I think this sums up

the regulative principle well.

He said,

We may not adopt

any device

in our worship

which seems to fit

ourselves,

but look to the injunctions

of Him

who alone

is entitled to prescribe.

Therefore,

if we would have Him

approve our worship,

this rule

which He everywhere

enforces

with the utmost strictness

must be carefully observed.

God disapproves

of all modes

of worship

not expressly

sanctioned

by His Word.

So I'm taking you now

to talk about worship

and life as general.

What He's saying

certainly applies to that.

Talk about how it is

that we ought to

worship together

in our services.

Right?

Matthew 15,

8 and 9.

Jesus said,

This people honors me

with their lips,

but their heart

is far from me.

In vain

do they worship me.

Teaching as doctrines

the commandments

of men.

As they're gathering together,

they were doing things

to worship

that were man-made,

man-created,

ways in which

we should worship God.

We've been given

the instruction manual

for how we ought

to worship God.

Certainly,

it applies to how

we worship God

together.

All of our service

is worship.

This is a worship service.

That's what we have

come together to do.

From the very beginning

all the way to the end,

that's what we have

come to do.

If anybody rightly

gets the title

of worship leader,

it would be me

because I take responsibility

for everything

that happens

when we're together

on a Sunday morning.

Right?

Here in our text,

who are the worship leaders

here?

I didn't read

the name out to you,

but we see a singer

being led

at the very end

of verse 42.

The singer's leader

is Jezrehiah.

Is he the worship leader?

I would say to you,

no.

He was the leader

of the singers.

Nehemiah

and Ezra,

the men who were

leading the people

and put together

this thing

are the worship leaders.

So this morning,

I'm going to use

the term musical worship

because certainly

our singing

is that.

And unfortunately,

people have

done two things

if they're doing

anything wrongly

with music.

They've either made it,

they've relegated it

to a lesser thing.

It's the thing we do

in order to prepare

ourselves

to hear the word

preached.

It could be a way

that you treat it.

I know this is true

because I used to be

that way.

Especially when the

whole praise and worship

movement started

coming out.

I started to stop

seeing the value

in singing some of

these songs

that were being sung

and I just bore

through it so I could

get to the teaching

of the word.

Some of you may be

that way.

Others of you may

make it too big

of a deal.

You may just bear

through the preaching

so that you can

sing some more songs.

Have your emotional

tank filled back up.

Properly,

our musical worship

is worship of God.

We should come

together prepared

to do this activity

together.

We should want

to please Him

with what we do

together in song.

So today I want

to give you

four characteristics

of proper

musical

worship.

Proper musical

worship.

And I want you

to keep two questions

in mind

as we do this.

One,

do you think rightly

about musical worship?

Do you think rightly

about it?

Do you understand

what it is supposed

to be and what it

is supposed to look

like?

And then secondly,

do you participate

rightly in musical

worship?

Do you think rightly

about it?

Do you participate

rightly in it?

One of the questions

that kind of got at

my mind though

as I was looking

at this is the

question,

is musical worship

important to our

meetings?

I would venture to

say,

I may be wrong

about this,

but I would venture

to say that there

is not a church

in this nation

that you would go

to this morning

that wouldn't

sing in some

fashion on a

Sunday morning.

Why?

Why do churches

do that?

Is it just that

it's the thing

we're supposed to

do?

We just know

when we come

together as a

church,

you sing.

I don't know

why we sing,

but we sing.

Some of you

may feel that

way.

Some of you

might stand

stoically without

uttering a word.

I don't have a

good voice.

I don't want to

sing.

I hate the

singing.

Why do we sing

in church?

Is musical worship

important to our

meetings?

If you were to be

a careful student

of the word of

God, you could

emphatically answer

that yes.

Music is all

throughout the

Bible.

From the very

first book,

there are hymns

recorded, songs

sung to praise

God in Genesis

all the way

through to the

book of

Revelation.

Except for the

book of Psalms,

you know that

Revelation has

more songs of

praise in it than

any other?

There's 14 songs.

I don't have my

14 songs sung in

the book of

Revelation.

It is everywhere.

Why were the

Psalms even

written?

What was the

very point of

them being

written?

It was written

to give God's

people songs to

sing together.

Listen to just a

couple of examples

of the Psalms

speaking to this

very point.

Psalm 22,

22.

I will tell of

your name to

my brothers.

In the midst of

the congregation,

I will praise

you.

The picture in

Hebrew of singing

praise to God's

name.

Psalm 35,

18.

I will thank you

in the great

congregation.

In the mighty

throng, I will

praise you.

Psalm 68, 26.

Bless God in

the great

congregation, the

Lord of you who

are of Israel's

fountain.

Yes, it's key.

Yes, it should

be done.

John Calvin

called the Psalms

the anatomy of

all the parts of

the soul.

These songs have

been given to us

to relate to and

express with and

to understand some

of the realities of

God in our

inner being, in

our very emotion,

the seat of who

we are.

Laura Melendez

put up on

Facebook a cool

quote from

Jonathan Edwards

this week, which

was so timely,

so I nabbed it

and I put it in

here.

Jonathan Edwards

said,

the best,

most beautiful,

and most perfect

way that we have

of expressing a

sweet concord of

mind to each

other is by

music.

Hear that

again.

The best,

most beautiful,

and most perfect

way that we have

of expressing a

sweet concord of

mind to each

other is by

music.

Martin Luther,

a great reformer,

said,

next to the word

of God,

music deserves

the highest

praise.

The gift of

language combined

with the gift

of song was

given to man

so that he

should proclaim

the word of

God through

music.

That's what we

come together to

do when we

sing.

That's why the

music isn't so

loud that you

can't hear yourself

and the person

standing next to

you in this

room.

It's not a

concert.

Congregational

worship and

songs should

look much

different than

a rock show,

to be sure.

And this is all

me.

This is my

quote.

I just want to

get myself in

the mix with

these guys.

Singing is

vital to our

meetings because

songs most

readily,

it's not the

only way,

but songs most

readily unite our

minds and our

hearts.

We get the

information packed

in to our heads

and songs help

it unite with

our heart.

We feel the

truth when we

sing.

At least I

hope you feel

the truth when

you sing.

You ever

wondered why we

do two songs

before the

preaching and

three songs

after?

Not that those

are magic numbers

at all, but the

ways when we

broke it up that

way is because we

want you to

rejoice in the

truth of the

gospel after the

preaching of the

gospel.

If you're not a

person that really

engages with lyrics

on a screen, we

want you to

have heard it

spoken to you so

that you'll be

more likely to

have these things

happen, to have

your mind and

your heart unite

around these

truths.

So yes, yes,

music is important

to our meeting

together.

All right, so

first observation,

proper musical

worship is

ordered.

Proper musical

worship is

ordered.

Take a look at

the activity of

the choirs here.

This is not

something that just

got suddenly thrown

together in a

spontaneous fashion.

There are some who

think that musical

worship ought to

always be just

spontaneous, right?

That it just

ought to come from

the spirits leading

and then somebody

just starts playing

and somebody starts

singing.

Or that when they

are in fact given

a slotted time to

sing, they go on

and they go on

and they go on

and they go on.

And I'll tell you

this, that a person

that cannot bring a

resolution to a song

usually isn't being

spirit-led, but

they're not good

enough to resolve

a song.

If they just play

that chorus one

more time, they're

going to figure out

how to end the

song on that

go around.

Proper musical

worship is

ordered.

Look at the

activity of the

choirs.

The first part of

verse 31, there's

these two great

choirs appointed

to give thanks.

The first group

goes up on the

wall.

We skipped over

some of this,

right?

But they go up

on the wall and

they move in a

counterclockwise

direction.

All of this record

of the places they

were passing by,

if you understood

the city, you

would just know.

He's just telling

us the direction in

which they flowed as

they walked on this

walkway that would

have run around the

inside of the edge

of the wall.

That's what's going

on here.

I had to pull up a

map and carefully

plot the course and

see what they did.

You've got the first

group that goes and

they go counterclockwise

around the wall.

The second group goes

up and they go

clockwise around the

wall.

The first group is

led by Ezra.

The second group

followed by Nehemiah.

And they come around

the city and meet

at the house of God.

That's where we end

up seeing them

standing.

They stood in the

house of God, you

see in verses 40

through 43, offering

great sacrifices and

rejoicing.

Most of our

translations probably

record the great

number of choirs.

Let me see if I can

spot that real quick

as I didn't make a

note about it.

Yep, yep, yep.

Gather Together from

the District's

Rounding.

Okay, anyway, there's

a record of it being

a great choir.

Okay, this is not

speaking to the

choir's quality of

voice, that they were

a well-trained choir,

although I propose

that they were, but

speaking to their

number, a massive

number of people that

were a choir that had

to coordinate.

You've got two

choirs getting up on

the wall and singing

and passing around

and then going

together and

into the house

of God.

This was

incredibly ordered.

Right?

So practice matters

at this point, is

what I'm trying to

say.

Notice in verse 28,

you see this

interesting phrase,

the sons of the

singers.

The sons of the

singers.

Is he referring

here to those who

were descendants of

the singers?

That could be a

possibility since we've

now seen Israel go

away and return from

Babylonian captivity

because these be the

sons of the men who

were singers before

Babylonian captivity,

now returned?

No, that's not what

he's talking about.

This was common

Hebrew language.

To say sons of

something was a way

of saying in the

order of.

That it was their

job.

It was something that

was prescribed to

them.

It was their nature.

They were the sons

of the singers.

You'll notice it

again, a similar

phrase in verse 47.

You'll see the sons

of Aaron.

Right at the very end

of the chapter,

the sons of Aaron.

Were they descendants

of Aaron?

And certainly they

were.

But the point he's

making here is that

these were the

priests.

These were the ones

who were in the

priestly order.

They were the ones

given the task of

serving as priests.

So we see men,

potentially women

here, that are

specifically given

the task.

That was their

calling to do

this very thing

for the people of

God.

Notice in verse

29.

They've actually

congregated together.

For the singers

had built for

themselves villages

around Jerusalem as

the people weren't

living in Jerusalem.

They had congregated

together.

And I would imagine

that this was because

they were practicing

their skill.

They were together.

I don't know what

kind of picture this

brings up in your

mind.

Maybe for some of

you it's robes and

books in a room

behind the sanctuary.

Them gathering

together and honing

their craft as they

came together.

I think of kind of

hippie guys sitting

around in their

flip-flops in a

circle playing drums

and guitars.

But they were

together in towns

together working on

this craft.

They were prepared

for this activity.

We see no record of

them having to go for

weeks and weeks of

practice so they could

get together to lead

this massive congregation.

30,000 to 50,000

people are back now

from Babylonian

captivity in the

song.

No, they were ready.

They knew the songs

and all they had to do

was be coordinated in

this movement around

the city.

Notice in verse 47

that there was

actually provision made

for these singers.

This was a job,

a task,

an official assignment

given to them.

Money, provision

was set aside

to care for them

so that they could be

better and better

and better at their

craft.

We, for the size of

our church, we are

immensely blessed with

musical talent.

Kind of blows my mind.

I'm mentioning

Lauren Melendez again.

She won the Eddie's

Attic open mic night,

if you know that or not,

which is a pretty

incredible task.

Yeah.

Yeah, pretty incredible.

We have great, great

talent here.

What if, what if,

wouldn't it be just

fantastic if Wes,

rather than having to

show up at 8.30 on

Sunday morning and get

everybody together and

get their talents on the

same page together,

what if he could spend

more time in the week

preparing and doing that

to lead us in this very

important aspect of

worshiping God together

in our singing, right?

This is something that

the people of Israel

recognized was important

to set aside provision

for the singers,

for those who are in

the order of singing.

Just as an interesting

side note, it says

very little to do with

what we're talking about

here, but with that

in mind, thinking of

these people being the

sons of the singers,

we see the sons of

Aaron.

Isn't it interesting that

Jesus is called the

son of God?

Certainly he was born,

we came into the earth

that way, but it means

more than that.

To the Hebrew reader,

they would have seen

and understood that he

was in the very order

of God.

He himself was God.

His deity is found in

that very title, being

the son of God.

I thought that was

pretty cool when I

discovered this this

week.

So, firstly, proper

musical worship is

ordered.

Secondly, proper

musical worship is

content-driven.

It's content-driven.

So we look at the job

of these singers.

It's mentioned a couple

of times.

Verse 31, verse 38,

verse 40.

Their job was to give

thanks.

That was the work that

they were about.

But what was it that

they were to give

thanks for?

What is the very thing

that they're praising

God for?

Verse 46 says,

For long ago in the

days of David and

Asaph, there were

directors of the

singers and there were

songs of praise and

thanksgiving to God.

They had songs that

they were singing.

There's a record of it

here.

That they had the very

songs of David and

Asaph.

What are they

referring to?

The Psalms.

They're referring to

the Psalms.

What would have been

the major thing that

would have been praised

for David and

Asaph?

What was the major

activity, the major

praising of God in

song?

His person and his

work in the Exodus.

Right?

Psalm 105 is a really

like perfect example

of this.

They praised him for

the work he had

done on their

behalf.

Right?

His goodness to

mankind has been

evidenced in his

work.

Right?

So truth.

That is what the

songs were about.

That was what they

were returning

thanks for, for the

things that God had

done.

John 4, 23-24,

Jesus says,

The hour is coming

and is now here

when true worshipers

will worship the

Father in what?

spirit and truth.

Not spirit and song.

Spirit and truth.

Not spirit and emotion.

Spirit and truth.

For the Father is

seeking such people

to worship him.

God is spirit and

those who worship him

must worship in spirit

and in truth.

Right?

You know that this

return from Babylonian

captivity back to

Israel became known

as the second

Exodus?

That it was a

another picture of

God's goodness in

that way?

And you know that

what we've experienced

in Christ, a

deliverance from the

bondage, the slavery

of sin and death, is

known as the third

Exodus?

These are the things

that they and we are

to be praising God

for.

The truth of the

gospel.

Who he is and how

it is that he's

displayed who he is

to us.

Turn with me to

Revelation chapter 5.

Revelation 5 · chapter mention

We really ought to

take cues from the

scriptures, particularly

pictures into heaven

about how we ought to

be praising God.

Doesn't it only make

sense that we take a

glimpse, John's vision

of the praise that's

happening in heaven,

this musical worship,

and go, oh, is that

how it's done?

We will model after

that.

This must have

pleased God.

It's taking place in

heaven where his will

is perfectly accomplished.

Let's ask for God's will

to be done here in our

musical worship.

Revelation chapter 5

Revelation 5:9–10

verses 9 through 10

and then 12 through 13.

Here's the picture, the

singing.

What are they praising God

for, giving thanks for?

Worthy are you to take

and open its seals.

For you were slain and

by your blood you ransomed

people for God from every

tribe and language and

people and nation.

You have made them a

kingdom and priests to

our God and they shall

reign on the earth.

Verse 12.

Worthy is the Lamb who

was slain to receive

power and wealth and

wisdom and might and

honor and glory and

blessing.

And then further down in

13.

To him who sits on the

throne, the Lamb be

blessing and honor and

glory and might forever

and ever.

You see the truth,

praising God for the

good things he's done

for us in Christ.

This should characterize

our songs together.

Now, that doesn't mean

that we can't sing

simple songs.

I'm not suggesting that.

We don't tend to sing

many songs here that

don't have a lot of

words in them.

And I fully recognize

that.

Simple songs can be

okay, but are they

true songs?

Is there actual

content?

Is there a weight in

the content of the

song itself?

Many of you have heard

me say, if you can

replace Jesus' name or

God's name in a song

with your girlfriend's

name, it really isn't a

song to be sung in

church.

There should be some

weight and some truth

when we speak and sing

praises to our God.

Let's look this morning

at the bulletin insert

we gave you.

If you don't have one,

look on with somebody

else.

Just take a look.

Now you know why we

printed these out today.

Just take a look at

these titles that Wes

very carefully picked

out for us.

Look at what he

included.

He included the

scripture reference.

The very words of God

to us in song.

That's what these are.

If you know your

Bible well, when you

sing these songs, you

can, oh, that is the

scriptures.

I have read that.

I know.

I know what he's

talking about.

He's singing straight

from the word of God.

That's what the record of

this is here.

Look at the song we

just sang, How Great

Thou Art.

First verse, praising

God for his creation,

his mighty works on man's

behalf in creation.

Second verse, his

redemption of our souls.

Third verse, our final

glorification.

The fact that one day

we will exist with him

in glory perfected

forever.

You see the totality of

the truth here.

Many of our great old

hymns, a lot of us

probably grew up in

Baptist churches where

the songs were just too

long, so we sang like

the first, the third,

and the fifth verse.

You're familiar with

that?

But most of them were

written very carefully to

give us a broad

spectrum of the gospel.

To take us from the

very beginning, who we

are, what Christ has

done for us, how it is

that we're continuing

life to death, and what

will happen finally and

fully after that.

They're beautiful pictures

of the gospel.

So we unite our minds

with our hearts as we

sing true words together.

That's why we do things

that way.

Now music, I think,

should be good.

I think that if we're

going to do anything to

praise God, we should

work at it.

Right?

As I noted before,

music was ordered.

They practiced.

I'm sure this was a

very pleasing sound.

We ought to strain at

that.

If you're in the

congregation and you

don't feel like you're

a good singer, sing

anyway, but try to sing

well.

You don't have to get in

your own little zone and

sing horribly off key,

but if you can't sing on

key, that's alright.

Just sing.

Right?

It's good to try to hear

the notes.

It's good to try to know

the music.

It's good to do those

types of things, but it's

not the ultimate thing.

That's not what matters

mostly.

So many of us are

emotionally driven by

music.

You recognize that that's

part of our fiber, very

part of our being.

There's a reason that

we're moved by music, that

crescendo lifts our

spirit.

Right?

But that shouldn't be the

thing that causes us joy

when we sing.

Right?

It should be the truth of

the gospel.

MacArthur, again, in

worship, the ultimate

priority, said,

Worship should engage the

intellect as well as the

emotions.

By all means, musical

worship should be

passionate, heartfelt, and

moving.

But the point is not to

stir the emotions while

turning off the mind.

True worship merges heart

and mind in a response of

pure adoration.

Based on the truth revealed

in the word, music may

sometimes move us by the

sheer beauty of its sound,

but such sentiment is not

worship.

You catch what he said

there?

If you're simply moved by

the beauty of sound, that's

not worship.

Music by itself, apart from

the truth contained in the

lyrics, is not a legitimate

springboard for real worship.

Truth.

It should be content-driven.

Thirdly, proper musical

worship is characterized by joy.

It's characterized by joy.

Content-driven, characterized by joy.

Look at verse 43 of chapter 12.

It says,

And they offered great

sacrifices that day and

rejoiced, for God had made

them rejoice with great joy.

The women and children also

rejoiced, and the joy of

Jerusalem was heard far away.

Now here the record doesn't

tell us exactly how it is that

God made them rejoice with

great joy, because it already

did.

Am I right?

That's what the first 11

chapters have been about.

What God had been doing for the

people, to make His name great

amongst them.

This is what God did to make

them rejoice with great joy.

Do you remember the taunts of

Sanbalat and Tobiah, the

opposers of the work of the wall?

I know a lot of you weren't here.

Turn back to chapter 4, the very

beginning.

I'll show you the taunts of

Sanbalat and Tobiah.

Verse 1.

They're beginning the work on

the wall.

Now when Sanbalat had heard they

were building the wall, he was

angry and greatly enraged, and he

jeered at the Jews, and he said in

the presence of his brothers and

of the army of Samaria, what are

these feeble Jews doing?

Will they restore it for

themselves?

Will they sacrifice?

Will they finish it up in the

day?

Will they revive the stones out of

the heaps of rubbish and burned

ones at that?

He's mocking them.

Look at these feeble, ridiculous

Jews.

They'll never be able to

accomplish this work that's

ahead of them.

And then verse 3.

Tobiah the Ammonite was beside

him, and he said, yes, what are

they building?

If a fox goes up on it, it will

break down their stone wall.

It's going to be such a poor and

pitiful wall that even if a

small animal, light-footed animal,

were to get up on it, it'll just

break down the stone wall.

These are the taunts that they

are experiencing.

Can you imagine as they marched

an army of singers with men and

leaders to follow them up onto

the wall, and they marched around

the entire circumference of the

city, that through their minds

they must have been saying, oh

yeah?

How about that, Tobiah?

Chapter 6, verse 15 and 16

says,

So the wall was finished on the

25th day of the month of Elul.

In 52 days, the wall's finished in

52 days.

And when all our enemies heard of

it, all the nations around us were

afraid and fell greatly in their own

esteem, for they perceived that

this work had been accomplished with

the help of our God.

So see, all the people around them

recognized this was a difficult work

to do, to rebuild this wall.

These poor, pitiful, feeble Jews

rebuilt it.

It must have been done with the

help of their God.

And they were afraid.

They stood in awe of who God was

as a result.

So these are the things that God had

done.

God had made them rejoice with great

joy, is what it says there in verse

43 of chapter 12.

This is how he made them rejoice.

Remember, again, the truth.

The things that God had done

on their behalf.

Now, all of this joy

is for the glory of God.

And in the same way,

ours should do that.

People who come into this place,

even people who may claim to be

Christians who aren't, or people who

are just lukewarm in their

Christianity, ought to come into this

place and go,

Man, that is a joy-filled

people.

They must worship a different God

than I do.

I am not filled with joy in the way

they are filled with joy.

What am I missing?

And I hope that in the lyrics of the

songs, and in our preaching,

in our prayer, and Aletheia,

all of those things, they see and

they get it.

They go,

That, it's the truth.

It's the truth.

I haven't been reveling in the truth

the way these people revel in the

truth.

I need to do that more.

I need to saturate myself with the

truth of God's goodness to me,

so that I will also overflow with joy.

Anyway, rightly understanding the

gospel, beloved, will cause this to

happen.

It's not a negotiable thing.

Like, well, it will if you're having

a good day, if you're feeling all

right, if you got plenty of sleep the

night before.

This will, in fact, happen.

And in fact, if you don't feel joy,

and I'm not talking about jumping up

and down nutty displays of joy, but if

your heart isn't warm when you're

singing songs, something's going on in

your life.

Because the realities of the gospel

aren't working themselves around in

your heart.

You fail to believe it, at least in

that moment.

Because if you truly understand who

God is, who you are, this great

separation between you, what Christ

has done on your behalf, you will be

filled with joy.

Men, there's nothing more precious to

me than men who sing and sing loud.

I love it.

I'm thankful that there's a very male

presence in our singing together, for

sure.

But we could do better.

Don't stand and be stoic.

Some of the most moving times I've

experienced in musical worship with

people is with somebody who does not

sing well, but just sings.

I love it.

Two great examples in this

congregation.

My father.

I love you, Dad.

Don't have a great singing voice, but

from an early child, I don't either, so

I'm definitely my father's son.

I'm a son of Jerry and the same type.

But from a very early age, my dad just

sang, and I always loved it.

Because I knew that he believed what he

was singing.

Clay has had two lung transplants.

Clay doesn't have the ability, I think,

to push good sound.

He's coughed so much in his life from a

CEF, and Clay is the same way.

Clay is a little quieter in his singing

because he can't push so much volume

out, but Clay warms my heart because

he sings.

Men sing.

If you think these things are true, sing.

And I'll find in my own life that

sometimes when I don't believe the

truths of the gospel in those moments,

that singing them helps me too.

Just getting it out there.

I should believe this.

I should.

It's true.

It's true.

I know it's true.

Sing.

Our joy is an encouragement to one

another.

Congregational meetings matter.

You can't do what we do here in a

building with the lights turned out,

blacked out windows or no windows at

all, and the music so loud that you

can't hear anybody around you.

You can't do it.

You can't be encouraged in the way we

should be encouraging each other as we

sing together.

You matter in this setting.

This is not a come and consume.

Come look at the show, the concert, do all

that thing.

You matter.

In so many ways, before and after, but

certainly as we worship God together in

music, the people in front of you, behind

you, around you, need to hear you sing, and

they need to hear you sing with joy.

It's important for our meetings together.

If you think that you can properly praise God in

musical worship with the congregation in the

ways I've mentioned, blacked out, music so

loud, just sit in your car and turn the music

up.

It's the same thing.

It's the very same thing.

I hope you come together to praise with the

people of God.

And fourthly, I've got to move, sorry.

Proper musical worship is prepared for.

Proper musical worship is prepared for.

Notice in verse 30.

And the priests and the Levites purified

themselves, and they purified the people and

the gates and the wall.

They purified themselves.

This was Old Testament ceremonial purification.

What would this have included?

It was all external things.

It would have included the washing of their

bodies.

It would have included the washing of their

clothing, the abstaining from any sexual

activity, fasting and prayer.

It would have included a blood offering.

This blood would have been sprinkled on the

gates and the wall.

That's what's being referred to in this

case.

Ceremonial purification was a vital part of

Israel's worship.

That's what the book of Leviticus is all

about.

So there's a lesser implication.

Of that reality that they prepared here,

that we also ought to prepare to come

together.

That you ought to get up a little bit

earlier.

We meet at 1030.

That is late in the morning.

You ought to get up and prepare yourself

to come together.

You ought to be ready to come and be

joy-filled by the things that are

happening.

Be expectant to meet together with the

people of God.

You should be doing that.

But that's the lesser implication here.

The greater thing that should be

learned.

We have to ask the question,

what was all this for?

Why was it that they did all of these

external things to prepare themselves

for worship?

It was to show them that God is holy,

perfect,

and that he must never be approached in a

flippant, cavalier, or an impure matter.

God is not to be approached in that way.

So purification always preceded the worship

of God.

It was carefully ascribed in that way,

in this very external way.

Turn with me to Isaiah chapter 6.

Isaiah 6 · chapter mention

beginning of verse 1.

In the year that King Uzziah died,

I saw the Lord sitting upon a throne.

Isaiah is having a vision,

high and lifted up,

and the train of his robe filled the

temple.

Above him stood seraphim,

each had six wings,

with two he covered his faith,

with two he covered his feet,

and with two he flew.

And one called to another and said,

Holy,

holy,

holy is the Lord of hosts.

The whole earth is full of his glory.

And the foundations of the threshold

took,

and the voice of him had called,

and the house was filled with smoke.

So here we see Isaiah simply,

we can't explain all this in the time we have,

but beholding the glory of God.

And look at his reaction,

proper reaction.

And I said,

Woe is me,

for I am lost,

for I am a man of unclean lips,

and I dwell in the midst of a people

of unclean lips,

for my eyes have seen the King,

the Lord of hosts.

Verse 6.

Then one of the seraphim flew to me,

having in his hand a burning coal

that he had taken with tongs from the altar.

And he touched my mouth and said,

Behold,

this has touched your lips.

Your guilt is taken away,

and your sin atoned for.

And then,

verse 8,

And I heard the voice of the Lord saying,

Whom shall I send,

and who will go for us?

Then I said,

Here am I,

send me.

Verse 9.

And he said,

Go and say to this people,

we'll let it off there.

So Isaiah enters into the presence of God,

recognizes his great sinfulness,

and then symbolically,

a seraphim comes and touches a coal to his neck

and says,

Your sins have been atoned for.

So there was a purification,

but not an external purification,

but an internal purification on Isaiah's behalf.

His sins had been forgiven.

All of this Old Testament external cleansing

was prefigurative.

It was a shadow of the greater thing,

the internal cleansing that was to come in Christ.

It was meant to teach them and us

that we cannot enter into the presence of God

without the righteousness of Christ.

So the greater implication of this for us

is that proper musical worship

begins with regenerate hearts.

You cannot not be found in Christ

and have your worship be pleasing to God.

You must be found in Him.