Channels of Grace - Worship II
How to Deepen and Grow in Our Worship

Psalm 147 (NIV)
 1 Praise the LORD. [a]
       How good it is to sing praises to our God,
       how pleasant and fitting to praise him!
 2 The LORD builds up Jerusalem;
       he gathers the exiles of Israel.
 3 He heals the brokenhearted
       and binds up their wounds.
 4 He determines the number of the stars
       and calls them each by name.
 5 Great is our Lord and mighty in power;
       his understanding has no limit.
 6 The LORD sustains the humble
       but casts the wicked to the ground.
 7 Sing to the LORD with thanksgiving;
       make music to our God on the harp.
 8 He covers the sky with clouds;
       he supplies the earth with rain
       and makes grass grow on the hills.
 9 He provides food for the cattle
       and for the young ravens when they call.
 10 His pleasure is not in the strength of the horse,
       nor his delight in the legs of a man;
 11 the LORD delights in those who fear him,
       who put their hope in his unfailing love.
 12 Extol the LORD, O Jerusalem;
       praise your God, O Zion,
 13 for he strengthens the bars of your gates
       and blesses your people within you.
 14 He grants peace to your borders
       and satisfies you with the finest of wheat.
 15 He sends his command to the earth;
       his word runs swiftly.
 16 He spreads the snow like wool
       and scatters the frost like ashes.
 17 He hurls down his hail like pebbles.
       Who can withstand his icy blast?
 18 He sends his word and melts them;
       he stirs up his breezes, and the waters flow.
 19 He has revealed his word to Jacob,
       his laws and decrees to Israel.
 20 He has done this for no other nation;
       they do not know his laws.
       Praise the LORD.

Psalm 147:1 (NIV)
      Praise the LORD.  How good it is to sing praises to our God, how pleasant and fitting to praise him!

Hallelujah means to make our soul boast about God

Jeremiah 9:23-24 (NLT)
     This is what the Lord says: “Don’t let the wise boast in their wisdom, or the powerful boast in their power, or the rich boast in their riches, But those who wish to boast should boast in this alone: that they truly know me and understand that I am the Lord who demonstrates unfailing love and who brings justice and righteousness to the earth, and that I delight in these things.  I, the Lord, have spoken!

1. The call to worship is both to reveal the distractions that have become the center of our hearts and then to intentionally replace it with God again

Psalm 147 (NIV)
      Praise the LORD.  How good it is to sing praises to our God, how pleasant and fitting to praise him!

Do we have a useful view of God or a growing intimate relationship with Him?

2. God is not just useful but objectively and subjectively beautiful – and we become our best when we see Him unveiled in His true beauty

C.S. Lewis said, “In commanding us to glorify Him, God is inviting us to enjoy him.” God wants our worship to be motivated by love, thanksgiving and delight not duty.

Yet, nothing is more useful than finding God beautiful because when we are simply drawn to His beauty, nothing is as life-transforming than that!

Ecclesiastes 10:10 (NIV)
     If the ax is dull and its edge unsharpened, more strength is needed but skill will bring success.

Deciding to come to worship simply because He is beautiful sharpens our spiritual life

Psalm 27:4 (NIV)
     One thing I ask of the LORD, this is what I seek: that I may dwell in the house of the LORD all the days of my life, to gaze upon the beauty of the LORD and to seek him in his temple.

Psalm 147:10-11 (NIV)
     His pleasure is not in the strength of the horse, nor his delight in the legs of a man;  11 the LORD delights in those who fear him, who put their hope in his unfailing love.

Hebrews 13:5 (NIV)
     …because God has said, "Never will I leave you; never will I forsake you."

Hebrews 13:5 (Amplified)
     … for He [God] Himself has said, I will not in any way fail you nor give you up nor leave you without support. [I will] not, [I will] not, [I will] not in any degree leave you helpless nor forsake nor let [you] down (relax My hold on you)! [Assuredly not!]
 
3. We discover God as beautiful and not just useful when we realize that we dearly loved and will never be forsaken because He was forsaken for our sake