Psalms - A Song for Every Season

The whole story.

Going through the entire story of the Bible in a year, and today we're wrapping up our seventh series, which is called Better Than Gold.

Better than gold.

We're covering this section of scripture that has historically been called wisdom literature.

Wisdom.

That's where we get the phrase better than gold.

Proverbs says that wisdom is better than gold.

And so each week over the last few weeks, we've gone over a different section of the wisdom literature of the Bible.

We looked at Proverbs, which is basically like saying, hey, if you do these things, life will go well for you.

If you do these things, it'll work.

And then last week we looked at Job and Ecclesiastes, which come in and go, except when it doesn't.

And here's the wisdom you need for when life has fallen apart.

But sometimes we find ourselves in that place.

And today we get to the Psalms, which is one of the most unique sections of Scripture that we have.

We often call it the book of Psalms, but that's not necessarily helpful for the way we should maybe engage with it.

And today we're going to cover Psalms, this unbelievably unique and special section of the Bible.

Now, it's interesting because Jesus quoted what we would call the Old Testament all the time.

Jesus loves scripture.

He inspired it.

It's about him.

In fact, Jesus told the Pharisees, the religious leaders of his day, they were really stuck up, they thought they knew everything.

And he said, You search the scriptures because you think they give you eternal life, but the scriptures point to me.

And so he quotes the Old Testament all the time.

Some of his favorites were the book of Isaiah, the book of Deuteronomy was one that Jesus quoted all the time.

But the one section of scripture that Jesus quotes more than anything else is the Psalms.

For example, this is kind of an intense example.

But in Matthew chapter 27, Jesus is hanging on the cross and he's dying.

Matthew 27 · chapter mention

And it says in verse 45 that at about three o'clock, Jesus called out with a loud voice, Eli, Eli, Lama Sabakhtani, which means, My God, my God, why have you abandoned me?

And if you've you've heard this before, maybe you're thinking Jesus is really questioning whether or not God the Father still loves him.

Why has God the Father let this happen?

That's possible.

I don't know what was in Jesus' mind, but I don't think that's what's going on, because what Jesus is doing here is quoting directly from the Psalms.

Psalm chapter 22, verse 1 says, My God, my God, why have you abandoned me?

Psalms 22:1

Same exact words, same exact structure.

In fact, um we tend to call, we call this Psalm 22, that's just the modern naming convention, but in his culture, uh, the title of the psalm or the song, that's what Psalms means, the title of the psalm was the first line.

And so to all the people watching Jesus be crucified, he quotes the title of a song.

And anyone who knew that song, anyone who had been raised in that culture, would have been able to connect the dots to so many of the lyrics in that psalm that are all about the crucifixion.

It's crazy.

The detail, things about your hands and feet being pierced and being mocked, and they divide up your clothing, like all these details that happened to Jesus at the cross are all in Psalm 22.

It's Jesus saying, Hey, this is about me.

The scriptures do point to me.

So my point there is really simple.

The Psalms mattered a lot to Jesus, even at his most desperate moment in life, in his most difficult moment in life, Jesus found comfort in the Psalms.

It's the section of Scripture that he quotes more than any other.

And as a Jesus follower, he is my leader, he is the one that I follow.

If the Psalms were that important to Jesus, they ought to be really important to me.

But I'm gonna be honest, it's one of the sections of Scripture that I have traditionally had a more difficult time engaging with.

And I want to talk about that this morning.

Because I think if we can see Psalms for what they are and really how special and unique they are, they can actually lead us into a really powerful place with God.

And so, since you all sing happy birthday to me, and we've recognized the fact that I am 40 and as we've established, old, okay?

Because I mean World War II, just as close to my birthday as today.

Like that's that's old.

It's at least old-ish.

I was thinking about, I was just doing some reflecting.

And I was thinking about music because that's what the Psalms are.

They're songs.

They were written to be set to music, to be sung out loud.

We don't tend to read them that way, but that's how they were intended to be.

And I was thinking about as I grew up and how much time I spent in the car with my parents and all the music that they listened to.

And I've I've actually talked about this before, I've I've used my parents for some humor in this before, and I'm gonna be really nice, like mom and dad.

If you guys watch this, I'm gonna be nice, I promise.

But like as a kid growing up in the 90s, when I was in my formative years, my parents would listen to their music.

Right?

Like we got the high school students in the room this morning, so you guys know what it's like to have to listen to your parents' music, right?

So I would listen to my parents' music, and for them, uh, that was a lot of the 60s, a lot of the early 70s.

So some of us in the room, you're gonna date yourselves, and that's totally okay.

We're a very age-diverse church, we really are.

And so my parents, it was stuff, it was greatest hits albums.

They were all about the greatest hits albums of their favorite artists.

So it was uh Jim Croaty.

I have an encyclopedic knowledge of Jim Croce, which I should not have.

I know virtually every lyric to every song that Three Dog Night ever had, if any of you know that band.

Um, Credence Clearwater Revival.

There's that.

Uh Chicago, like so much Chicago.

I've joked about that.

I'm fine with 1970s Chicago, 1980s, Peter Sotera singing higher than a man should sing Chicago.

That can all go away.

But my parents, they were always listening to their music.

And a lot of it was fine, and I'm great, I'm grateful for the education.

I feel well-rounded, but for the most part, I just hated it.

Because it wasn't my music, right?

It was it was old.

In fact, the radio station that my parents listened to their music on was literally called the oldies.

That wasn't what us young people used to slam their music.

That's what the radio station described itself as being.

The oldies.

So here I am in like the 90s, and I'm listening to these bands from the 60s and 70s, and I'm just like, ah.

And it hit me.

The 90s, from my kid's perspective, are just as far back as what the 60s and 70s were for me when I was a kid in the 90s.

And now I listen to the oldies.

Like 10 years ago, my music wasn't old, it was retro.

Right?

It was like it was retro.

Now, no, it's it's no longer retro.

Retro is like 2005.

It's just old.

It's it's just old.

And so for me, it's not a radio station, it is a lovingly and carefully curated Spotify playlist that's ever evolving.

And it's like nostalgic comfort for me, but also utter torture for my children in the car.

And now that I'm 40, I just embrace it.

Five, six years ago, I was trying to convince my kids that no, no, this is good music, and you need to know this music and appreciate it, at least understand that if not for like Ice Ice Baby and Too Legit to Quit, you don't have the hip-hop music of your day.

Like, recognize that.

Appreciate the history, right?

But I'm done with that because my kids don't they don't see it that way, and I've realized, yeah, that didn't work when my parents tried it either.

It's it's the oldies.

And now that I'm 40, I'm just embracing it and they can deal with it.

This is what we're listening to.

And I hope that it helps them.

I hope that it blesses them.

Like, they're gonna listen to a lot of boys to men in the next few years.

And they need it, right?

Because those of you familiar with boys, like, okay, like InSync, that's a that's a boy band.

That's a boy band that you would maybe use a song to impress a girl if she was in 1996.

Um, boys to men is the kind of music you use to say to a girl, I messed up.

I'm real sorry, please don't leave me.

And that's like every boys to men song.

And so I know that my boys one day are gonna be in that moment where they've messed up and they they're gonna need some boys to men to help get them back on track.

So it's just it's education, right?

But it's it's it's old music.

And and here's the thing.

Now that I'm at this stage of life, it like I have a different appreciation for my parents in the car back in the day.

Because they just decided that some music from their perspective is good enough that it should transcend time.

And so they brought it into my life, and now I'm I'm returning the favor for my children, and I'm bringing my music into their life.

And those of you who are young and your music is cool and it is cutting edge and it is now, that's awesome.

Enjoy it.

Just know that one day it's gonna be old.

And some artificial intelligence will compile a playlist for you, and you'll make your children listen to it, and it's fine.

Embrace that.

When it comes, just embrace it.

My music now is oldies, it's transcended time, and I'm fine with that.

Well, all jokes aside, take that idea and put it on steroids when you think about the Psalms.

The Psalms is a lovingly and carefully curated playlist of ancient Jewish worship music that has not transcended a few decades.

It has transcended thousands of years.

And for thousands of years, this playlist, this musical playlist, has helped people understand God, connect with him, relate to him, and worship him.

Even if you're not sure where you stand on the Bible and God and all that stuff, I mean like that's cool.

That's how many playlists will still be relevant 2,000 years from now?

I don't think mine will, although I think it's a great playlist.

I just don't think that many people will be listening to it 2,500 years from now being like, yes.

But in the Psalms, we have exactly that.

We have this incredible collection of music, of poetry, that is still relevant today.

In fact, almost every worship song we sing either quotes the Psalms or it's directly inspired by a psalm, just like Matt did with this original song that the worship team put together, like it was inspired by a psalm.

And I think if we can understand it, we see it that way.

We engage with psalms that way, understanding what it is.

It is music, and it does what music does.

It really helps us experience what we're meant to experience.

And so, like, if if you read the Psalms and you didn't know that, it might feel a little random.

Like you might get to Psalm 23, which is probably the most famous Psalm.

It's really short.

Psalm 23 says, The Lord is my shepherd, I have all that I need.

He lets me rest in green meadows, he leads me beside peaceful streams, he renews my strength, he guides me along right paths, bringing honor to his name.

Even when I walk through the darkest valley, I will not be afraid, for you're close beside me.

Your rod and your staff protect and comfort me.

You prepare a feast for me in the presence of my enemies, you honor me by anointing my head with oil, my cup overflows with blessings.

Surely your goodness and unfailing love will pursue me all the days of my life, and I will live in the house of the Lord forever.

Now remember, that was a song that was set to music, and I don't know what that music would have sounded like.

But I bet it was Peppy.

I bet it was like it's it's happy, right?

That's happy music.

It is God is my shepherd, I have everything that I need, he leaves me beside like chill pastures.

It's very, it's gotta be like a super chill, super happy song.

But if you were reading the Psalms sequentially, remember that the psalm right before that is Psalm 22 that I referenced earlier.

The title of that psalm being My God, My God, why have you abandoned me?

I mean, the very first lines of that psalm were, My God, my God, why have you abandoned me?

Why are you so far away when I groan for help?

Every day I called you, my God, but you do not answer.

Every night I lift my voice, but I find no relief.

That was set to music too.

Not a happy song.

Not peppy at all, super depressing.

And again, if you're just reading the Psalms like it's some book that's just meant to be read that way, you would go, like, what gives?

Why the turn?

But think about how common it is when you're listening to an album or a playlist for there to be one song that's super happy, and it's just like, yeah, this is great, life is wonderful, and the next song is full of angst.

And you connect with that.

Like that's just how music works.

Music has this way of speaking to you whatever season that you're in, and that's what the Psalms, if properly understood, can teach us.

How do I worship God in every single season and in every single emotional state that I might find myself in?

Because in every season, in every season, God is worthy of being worshiped.

Here's an example of that.

Acts chapter 16 tells the story of Paul and Silas, two of the earliest leaders of the church.

Acts 16 · chapter mention

And they're preaching about Jesus, and they're being threatened by it, and they're being beaten, tortured, jailed, all just like over and over again.

And they're in one of those seasons.

It says that they were severely beaten, then they were thrown into prison.

The jailer was ordered to make sure they did not escape.

So the jailer put them into the inner dungeon and clamped their feet in the stocks.

Around midnight, Paul and Silas were praying and singing hymns to God.

They're worshiping.

And the other prayer prisoners were listening.

Suddenly there was a massive earthquake, and the prison was shaken to its foundations, and all the doors immediately flew open, and the chains of every prisoner fell off.

Crazy story.

And I think what's amazing is that I can understand worshiping God once the chains fall off.

That makes a lot of sense.

Like, praise the Lord.

Well, first you run out of the prison, and then you worship and praise the Lord.

But worshiping God while you're in the chains, bruised and beaten, that's different.

They didn't worship God once the chains fell off.

They worshiped God while they were in them.

And it's this amazing picture for us that in every season of life, in the good times and in the hardest times, just like when Jesus was on the cross, God is worthy of being worshipped.

In fact, I'll go even further.

It is wise to worship God in every season of life.

It's wisdom.

That's why the Psalms are part of the wisdom literature.

Psalm 14, 1 says that only fools say in their hearts there is no God.

That's harsh language, I know.

Only fools say in their hearts that there is no God.

And if you're wrestling with God, if you're struggling with God, if you question God, or maybe you question certain things about God that you were raised to believe and now you're not so sure, that's fine.

That's not what this is talking about.

This is talking about the utter rejection of the concept of God, which, if we're being honest, is like the elevation of self into the place of God.

It's like saying, I have such a high view of my intellect and my ability to reason that I've decided that there is no God, meaning that I'm basically God for my life.

I determine what is true and what's not.

That's a bold, that's a bold place to be.

And scripture says that only a fool would utterly reject God.

So then what's the opposite of that?

If that's foolishness, and wisdom is the opposite of foolishness, what is the opposite of rejecting God?

Well, the opposite of that is to worship God, to acknowledge him, to embrace him, to recognize how great he is and to worship him.

That is wisdom.

When Paul and Silas were worshiping God in chains, they weren't being foolish, they weren't being silly, they were being wise.

Because it is wise to worship God in every single season.

Some seasons it's easier to worship God than it is in others.

Sometimes things can go super well and it's not hard to worship God.

You're like, yes, thank you.

Other seasons it's harder, but in every season of life, in every emotional place you could be, it's wise to worship God.

And so God inspired for us hundreds of songs that we have preserved in Scripture in the book of Psalms, hundreds of songs, this playlist of ancient Jewish worship music that uh to this day helps us connect with Him no matter what season you're in.

And so here's what we're we're gonna do We're gonna take a few minutes and I'm gonna look at I'm gonna have us look at five different categories of Psalms.

This is not an exhaustive list, but it's pretty complete.

You'll be amazed at how many of the different psalms in Scripture fit into these categories.

And you might be amazed at how much of your life experience fits into these categories.

And what you'll find is that there is a song for every season, there is worship in every situation.

Because in every situation, God is God.

And so let's let's look at a few of these.

Let's start with an easy one.

Thanksgiving.

There are so many psalms of thanksgiving, songs that are all about giving thanks to God.

Psalm 92 would be a good example.

Verses 1 through 4 says, It is good to give thanks to the Lord, to sing praises to the Most High.

It is good to proclaim your unfailing love in the morning, your faithfulness in the evening, accompanied by a ten-stringed instrument, a harp, and the melody of a lyre.

You thrill me, Lord, with all you have done for me, and I sing for joy because of what you have done.

When God does something that's undeniable, like you just have to worship him.

You have to give him thanks.

You know, we celebrated last week that we had this big event called Canvas just a few weeks ago to raise money for a family in our community that's that's going through a really hard time.

And so many of you responded, we had over we had almost 600 people here at that event.

We raised$42,000.

And yeah, we can clap again for that.

Um that's cool.

But and I'm not just saying this to be cliched because I'm on this stage at this time, like the overwhelming thought that ran through my mind over and over was thank you, God.

Because, see, I never could have envisioned that.

Like, like ever.

In fact, the Sunday before, we had about 300 tickets sold, and our record was 350 or something like that, and so I was kind of challenging all of us, like, let's get there, let's we can do it.

I never could have imagined that Sunday getting to that number.

I know that because we were in panic mode all week long trying to make it all work.

Not really panic mode, just we were we were working hard, let's just say that.

And by we, I mean mostly people that aren't me.

Um, but it was uh it was fun to watch them, really fun to watch them work so hard and be like, well, well done, guys.

Now, honestly, I was overwhelmed with gratitude.

I was just like, God, thank you, like thank you for doing this for this family, and thank you, Lord, for doing it here.

When God does something that is so obviously a God thing, it is appropriate, it is wise, it is necessary to thank Him, just to pour your heart out and say thank you.

And there's so many psalms that help you do that.

And so if you're in a place in life where something really good has happened, or you're in a great season, like it's just it's working, things are going really well, your dreams are coming true.

Maybe look up some thankfulness psalms and just read it aloud.

As prayer to God, just say, God, thank you for all that you've done.

But it's not just thankfulness, there's another category.

It's battle or victory.

Songs that are all about battle and victory.

That's another category that we have.

And so, for example, Psalm chapter 5, verses 8 through 12.

Psalms 5:8–12

It says, Lead me in the right path, O Lord, or my enemies will conquer me.

Make your way plain for me to follow.

My enemies cannot speak a truthful word.

Their deepest desire is to destroy others, their talk is foul like the stench of an open grave.

Their tongues are filled with flattery.

Now remember, this is a song.

This is being sung.

Pretty intense song.

O God, declare them guilty.

Let them be caught in their own traps, drive them away because of their many sins, for they have rebelled against you.

But let all who take refuge in you rejoice.

Let them sing joyful praises forever, spread your protection over them, and then all who love your name will be filled with your joy.

For you bless the godly, O Lord.

You surround them with your shield of love.

When you're going through a difficult time, when you're in a battle of sorts, not to be cliched and use that too much, but sometimes that's life.

Like you're fighting.

And you're fighting for something, and you're fighting against something, you're fighting with someone, whatever.

When you're in a fight, you need to worship the Lord.

Because he is a God who gives victory.

That's just true.

He is a God who gives victory.

He fights on behalf of those he loves and those who love him.

He always has.

He is frequently referred to in scripture as the God of angel armies.

And so when you're in it, when you're struggling and you're fighting and you're seeking victory in some area of your life, you need to worship God.

It is wise to go to God in that place.

And there are so many psalms that are all about battle that'll inspire you, that'll give you courage and help you connect with God through the fight.

Let you worship Him as you battle.

It's interesting.

Historically, when the Jewish people would go to war, the people on the very front lines, as they would march to battle, were worshipers, musicians.

As they would go into battle, they would be singing praises to God.

And there's something there, I think, for all of us.

Maybe you're not in a season like that, but you know how fast that can that can change.

And even in that season, there's wisdom in worship.

So we have Thanksgiving, we have we have battle and victory.

Our third category is lament or struggle.

A little different than battle.

It's when you just feel like you failed.

When you feel like there is no hope, everything's lost, nothing that you've done has worked, and you feel defeated.

Psalm 130 1 and 2 say From the depths of despair, O Lord, I call for your help.

Hear my cry, O Lord, pay attention to my prayer.

Psalm 38.

Psalm 38 has a ton of this.

Verses 4 and 5 say that my guilt overwhelms me, it's a burden too heavy to bear, my wounds fester and stink because of my foolish sins.

The very last verses of that Psalm say, Do not abandon me, O Lord.

Do not stand at a distance, my God.

Come quickly to help me, O Lord, my Savior.

Even when you feel like you felt, like you have failed, even when you feel like all is lost, it is worthwhile to worship the Lord.

It's wise to worship God even in that place.

Because in that place, you need someone who can pull you out of it.

And God can do that.

He does it all the time.

I've seen it, I've experienced it.

It is wise to worship God from those places of despair and struggle.

So if that's a season that you're in, there is worship in that season.

And there's so many psalms that speak to this.

And you can just search what are what are some psalms that have to do with despair?

And again, say it out loud.

And something I've recently started to do is not read the psalms, but speak to them because they were meant to be spoken, they were meant to be sung.

And I'm not singing them yet, I'm not there yet.

I'm working toward that, right?

I'm not a good singer.

But to at least say them out loud because it's powerful.

Because it's true.

It's always powerful when you speak truth.

And when you feel despair, worship the Lord.

Because he can pull you out of it.

Confidence, that's our fourth category.

Confidence.

Like there's one, it's one thing to have self-confidence.

Like it's good.

Like you want to be confident in yourself.

But self-confidence, self-reliance, that's like a it's like walking on a cliffside.

You know, you feel really good until you don't.

But confidence in the Lord is a whole different thing.

And I'll be honest, I didn't used to have nearly as much of that as I should have.

But that's kind of how life goes.

I hadn't experienced God coming through in ways that I've seen Him come through in the last 10, 15 years.

Now, and I'm not just I'm I can remember times at our church.

I became the lead pastor here 10 years ago, and people used to ask me, Did you feel called to this or did you feel forced to do it?

And my answer was yes.

Um both.

Because it was kind of a crazy situation and difficult time that I stepped into this role or was pushed into this role or forced to, whatever, however you want to call it.

And man, my head was spinning with all the things that could go wrong, and it felt just so much, just so much bigger than me.

And back in those days, we only had one child, so um I didn't feel as bad to like leave Megan early on a Sunday morning and come here like way before her.

But I would come here in this room, sometimes I mean five o'clock in the morning, no one was even in the building yet, and I would turn on some worship music and I would sit in this room.

And I would just be like, God, I don't know what to do.

I have no clue what I'm doing.

And then I would stand on this stage a few hours later and pretend to be confident, you know, because that's what you want in a leader.

But I saw God, there were so many situations here that I just couldn't see how we were gonna get out.

How are we gonna get right financially?

How is I mean when the roof, how many of you were here back when the roof was a thing, right?

Some of you were like, what are you talking about?

There's there's a roof ahead on above you.

There didn't used to be, it was just wide open, not really, no, no.

Um, but it might as well have been because every time it rained, it was just like water everywhere, and to fix the roof, to replace it was$350,000.

And maybe some of you just have that.

We didn't.

And that was like an amount so astronomical to me, I had no idea how that was gonna happen.

I was really stressed all the time, but but time and time again, God came through.

And that despair, that lament and struggle turned to thanksgiving because I saw God come through.

And when you experience that enough, when you worship, I'm just being honest, when you worship God in the struggle and you thank God and worship him in the victory, you begin to become confident in God to the point where even when you're going through something hard, you and this this has started to happen in my life, and Lord, I pray that it stays.

But like, you just expect God to do something.

And there have been times where in the last year or two, someone will bring a problem to me, and I'm like, wow, I don't know what we're gonna do.

But I bet God's gonna do something really cool.

I'm confident in Him.

Because He always comes through, just like we sang this morning.

And so Psalm 27.

The Lord is my light and my salvation, so why should I be afraid?

The Lord is my fortress protecting me from danger, so why should I tremble?

When evil people come to devour me, when my enemies and foes attack me, they will stumble and fall.

Though a mighty army surrounds me, my heart will not be afraid, even if I'm attacked.

I will remain confident.

You can be confident in God.

You can you can thank God on the front end before He's even answered prayers that you may not even know you need to pray one day.

You can say, God, I don't know what's coming in my life ten years from now, but I'm confident in you.

And I'm confident that you're strong, and I'm confident that you know what to do, and I will worship you, and I will let you know that I am confident not in myself, not in the world around me, but I'm confident in my God.

There's so many psalms about confidence, and so if you battle with insecurity, you need confidence.

And worship, worshiping God, stepping into that, it will give you confidence.

It's powerful.

One more category, and that is just quite simply praise.

Have you ever stopped just to think about how incredible God is?

Like, like, and I'm sure many of you have, but I don't think any of us can do it enough.

He is God, He holds all things together.

He's powerful enough that He's created everything that you see.

Everything.

He imagined it, He thought it up, He created it.

There is nothing, no one that can stop Him.

He is completely in control.

He has all power, He knows everything.

And that's why last week when we looked at some of the struggles that Job had and that Solomon had, and the wisdom of them just realizing who God is.

Like Job has all these questions for God, and it's fine to question God, but if you're gonna question God, you gotta be okay with God questioning you.

Like it's gotta work both ways.

And so Job's asking God all these questions, like, where were you when this happened and what's going on, and why are you doing this?

And then God shows up and goes, Hey, Job, um, heard your questions, have a few for you.

And as we read last week, it's like, whoa.

He's like, Hey, were you here when I laid the foundations of the earth?

Do you understand how this works and how that works?

Can you say to the waves, here and no further?

And Job is just like one after another, and at the end he's like, My bad.

You know?

And it's and it is a humbling place, but it leads him to the right place.

God is God.

There have been stupid things in my life that I have gotten really excited about.

Like just things that don't even matter, that I have gone all out for.

Sports teams, you know, like when I was younger, like certain movies would come out, and I'm there at like midnight.

I was at the midnight release.

And and some of the movies I was at the midnight release of, I don't even want to say because not because they were, not because they're like bad movies, because they were just bad movies.

Like I was like, why did I come here at midnight for this?

But I was just, I was in it, I was excited, I was, I was, I was there.

Woo! You know?

Think about the things that have made you say woo in your life.

Like, how much of a woo does God deserve?

Like, he's God.

And sometimes, it's just, if we're honest, sometimes we can be much more reserved in our celebration and praise of God than we ought to be.

Like David, classic story in the Bible.

David, who is the king who wrote most of the Psalms, he's coming back from this really important little journey that he's been on, and he is so, so excited, so full of praise with God.

He is worshiping God, and as he's worshiping, like his clothing is falling off, and that brings up a whole bunch of questions that I don't have the answers to.

I don't know how clothing was secured back then, definitely pre-zipper, right?

Not sure if they even had buttons.

I'm not sure how they were doing things, but if it was like was he wearing a robe, I don't know.

But he's worshiping so passionately, not reserved at all, and it's like his shirt falls off, and his wife is embarrassed on his behalf.

And I know that none of the women in this room have ever been embarrassed by the behavior of your husband.

So you can't relate to this.

But like she is mortified, and she tells him, You're making a fool of yourself.

You know what his response to her is?

It's epic.

He says, I'll become even more undignified than this in the praise of my God.

In other words, he said, I don't care what people think, I care what he thinks, and I will put all my dignity and I will throw it away in the honor of my king.

Like that's pretty awesome, right?

It's praise to praise God.

And so, Psalm 145 would be an example.

I will exalt you, my God, my king, and praise your name forever and ever.

I will praise you every day.

Yes, I will praise you forever.

Great is the Lord, he is most worthy of praise.

No one can measure his greatness.

Woo! Like that.

Yeah, there you go.

God is worth a woo, okay?

A bunch of them.

But it's praise.

And sometimes, sometimes we just need to remember that.

Sometimes we get so caught up in the everyday and all the stuff that takes all of our attention that we just have to stop and go, oh, yeah, God.

God, he's alive and he's real, he's powerful, and I worship him, and he just deserves my praise.

I'm gonna stop my day, I'm gonna give him praise.

And the Psalms will help you do that.

The Psalms teach us how to worship God and engage with him in every single season, in every single emotional state we can be in.

That's just five categories, and there's more.

But if you would go through life and in every single one of those states, learn to worship God, you would find a wisdom that will bless you like you cannot believe, because in every situation, God is worthy of being worshiped.

In every situation, we need to worship Him.

And so here's what we're gonna do worship team, you can make your way out.

Like this whole morning's flip-flopped, okay?

And we're gonna we're gonna finish with five songs of worship, which for some of us is the threshold of our worship endurance.

And I recognize that normally, if you're here for the first time, normally we start with three, sometimes four songs, and then we we do our thing.

But today we're we're gonna finish with five.

And here's my my request.

And it's just a request, but it practically is my birthday.

So I mean, I'm just saying.

Woo! Here's the thing.

Stay for all five and engage with the Lord through it all.

And and don't be surprised, don't be surprised if you encounter his presence in your heart in a way that maybe you weren't expecting.

Just don't be surprised.

Now, I'm not saying you all have to stand, I'm not saying everyone has to sing out loud and raise your hands.

And look, if if that's what you want to do, the more of us doing that, like it's that's fun.

It's fun, it's true.

Some of us have a hard time doing that, and there's no pressure at all.

Sometimes worship needs to be internal.

I get it.

But I mean, like, let's just, guys, let's be honest.

If Jesus, those of you who follow Jesus, I know not everyone's made that decision, but if Jesus physically showed up, how many of us would just stay in our seat and be like, huh?

That's cool.

You know what I mean?

No, what would you do?

You would stand and you would shout and you would cheer and it would be great and awesome.

And when Jesus made us a promise, he says, when two or more are gathered in my name, I am there among them.

What if we believe that?

Two or more are gathered in my name.

So we're gonna worship for a little while.

And the worship team has worked really hard to prepare sort of a time of worship for us that's very intentional.

And it's actually been a lot of work on them.

It's like double the songs, and they're all volunteers, and they've had a very busy week.

But they're great, and God is good.

Well, that was weird.

I had you guys great and God good.

It's probably you guys are good, God's great.

That was just sort of semantics.

You guys are okay.

God is awesome.

Like the guy, I'm teasing.

But my ask is that you would step forward and engage with God in whatever way you feel the Lord leads you.

I'm gonna pray and we're gonna step into that.

So, Father, we just say that you are worthy of worship.

And we recognize, Lord, that it is wise to worship you.

It is wise to acknowledge that you are God, that all things depend on you, that you hold everything in your hand.

Lord, sometimes we forget that.

Sometimes we feel like we're in control, and you do give us some measure of control, but at the end of the day, Lord, it's you who has the final say.

And you love us, and you came for us.

Lord, lead us into this place of worship.

And church, we're gonna take Lord's Supper as part of this as we step into this moment.

So if you have the bread and the juice, we're gonna do this a little different.

Normally we pray for one and then the other, and we just drink it separately.

We're gonna do it all at once, and you can eat the bread and drink the juice.

And if you don't have this, it's in the back.

Romans 12, verse 1 says, So, my dear brothers and sisters, I plead with you to give your bodies to God because of all he's done for you.

Romans 12:1

Let them be a living and holy sacrifice, the kind he will find acceptable.

This is truly the way to worship him.

This little meal, as we pray together and take this together, this little meal, it represents Jesus doing just that.

He offered himself up as a living sacrifice that was of great benefit to us.

Right?

We often think about this meal in terms of how it relates to us, which is amazing.

Jesus died on the cross, he saved us from our sins, he gave us eternal life.

But but this scripture helps us remember what this meant in terms of Jesus in relation to God the Father.

Because while his sacrifice was a blessing for us and salvation for us, this same sacrifice that this meal represents was an act of worship for him to God the Father.

And now we have an opportunity to worship the same God.

And so let's pray.

Let's continue.

Father, thank you.

Thank you, Lord, for this piece of bread and for this cup of juice.

It represents your body broken on the cross and your blood spilled on our behalf.

And Lord, from our perspective, this is salvation.

You paid a price we couldn't afford to pay.

You did what we weren't able to do.

But help us, Lord, see that from the perspective of you and the Father, this was an act of worship.

That you gave yourself up as a living sacrifice.

Help us follow in your footsteps.

Thank you, Jesus.

Let's take the bread and drink the juice.

Let's worship.