The Lord will be pleased to help me once again. I'd like you to turn with me to the chapter that we read, 1 Chronicles chapter 16, and the text you'll find in verse 36. Blessed be the Lord God of Israel, forever and ever. And all the people said, Amen. Praise the Lord. So we're really encouraged by the hymn that I think Keith chose for us to sing, the Song of Praise in Hymns for Worship number 41. Praise my soul, the King of heaven, at his feet thy tribute bring. Ransom healed, restored, forgiven, who like thee his praise should sing. Praise him, praise him, praise the everlasting King. This David desired to bring the Ark of the Covenant into Jerusalem. He desired to bring the presence of God into the central point, the central city of the people of Israel. And he had that desire that God would be worshipped, God would be praised, God would be adored and that his people would have a place by which they could come and worship the Lord, the Lord their God. and we come to worship, we are falling down before our Maker. It is the meeting point by which man and God come together and David had that desire to bring that meeting point, the Ark of the Covenant, into Jerusalem so that the people of God would be able to congregate and collectively worship God in their in the center point of the kingdom. The Ark of the Covenant was a very special piece of the temple, a very special piece designed by God himself and given those instructions given to Moses. And we read in the book of Exodus of that specific way by which this ark and the angels above the ark were to be made. in Exodus 25. It gives a great detail there of how it should be made. But in verse 22 it tells us something very special. That once the ark is made with the cherubims above that ark, that would be called the mercy seat. and verse 22 and there I will meet with thee and I will commune with thee from above the mercy seat from between the two cherubims which are upon the ark of the testimony with all things which I will give thee in commandment unto the children of Israel. And so as God commanded Moses to make this Ark of the Covenant. Inside of that Ark of the Covenant was the Law of Moses, the two tablets of stone, the Ten Commandments were inside of that box. And then above that box was these two angels with their wings spread out touching each other. And it is said that when the high priest came to that place, that was the meeting point of God and man. The high priest we know was not able to enter into that holy place without blood and so the way that was made, the means by which was used was the sacrifice of the animal, the coming into the holy of holies with the blood, the sprinkling of the blood upon the mercy seat and only then Was there that communication able to take place? Only then was God satisfied that he could enter into fellowship and communion with his people through that passing through the blood. that day of atonement that was made, that sacrifice, and then the sending of the scapegoat into the wilderness, symbolizing the running away of sin. And so God says that there I will meet with you. David had that desire that that ark would be found in Jerusalem. And so he made a way for it to get there. The Bible tells us at first that it was done in a wrong way. Moses was told a specific way by which the ark was to be moved, by which the tent was to be taken down, and it was to be done by the Levites. The tent was to be taken down. The Ark of the Covenant was to be covered over. Then badgerskins was to be laid over all of the Ark and all of the other things, the instruments that were in the temple. And it was only then that the sons of Korah were able to come in and gather up all of the things of the temple and begin to transport everything. And should they make one mistake, should somebody touch the Ark, other than the priests, then they would die. The punishment for disobedience to God in this specific area of worship was death. And as David, as he consulted with the elders of Israel about bringing the Ark of the Covenant into Jerusalem, they overlooked one specific criteria. What does God want us to do? They had their plan. They had their idea about what they were going to do. And they did what they thought they should do. And so they placed it, they got the cart and they, sorry, they got the ark and they placed it onto a new cart and they began to transport it. But as the ark was being transported upon the cart, it began to wobble. In 1 Chronicles chapter 13, And when they came unto the threshing floor of Chidon, Uzziah put forth his hand, and behold, to hold the ark, for the oxen stumbled and the anger of the Lord was kindled against Uzziah and he smote him because he put his hand to the ark and there died before the Lord, before God. David was displeased because the Lord had made a breach upon Uzziah. Therefore that place is called Perez Uzziah until this day. And so as they were transporting the Ark of the Covenant they were worshipping God, they were playing the instruments, they were in no doubt excited, they were singing but they weren't doing what God wanted them to do. He had said there was a specific way by which this ark is to be transported and it is not onto a new cart. And Uzziah, although his motive may have been right, yet the judgment of God fell upon him because he was not doing what God commanded them to do. The ark was placed into the house of Obed-Edom and David decided to go again to collect the ark after he saw that a blessing was on the house of Obed-Edom for the ark. This time he did what was right. using the Levites they brought the ark into Jerusalem offering sacrifices to God and they brought the ark then to settle it into its place. So they brought the ark of God and set it into the midst of the tent that David had pitched for it. And they offered burnt sacrifices and peace offerings before God. And when David made an end of offering the burnt offerings and peace offerings he blessed the people in the name of the Lord. And here again we have that worship through blood. As God commanded Right at the beginning there was to be those sacrifices and that bloodshed. And so as the Ark of the Covenant is brought into Jerusalem in the book of I think it's 2 Samuel we read, every six steps David slaughtered oxen before the Lord, offering sacrifices unto God, moving forward and offering more sacrifices unto God until it came to the final destination, to the final resting place. And then he offers more burnt offerings, more peace offerings before God. And so the worship of God was to be done through sacrifice and substitute and blood. And the design of worship was to glorify God and to humble man. make man realize who God is. That he cannot rush into the presence of a holy God but there must be that barrier because of the sins of man there is that barrier of sin and that God can only be approached by the shedding of blood And only then can that peace be made. And so as David desired to bring the Ark of the Covenant into Jerusalem, as that signified the presence of God in the midst of the people, that the people of God could worship God there at Jerusalem. And so the design or the desire of David was to bless the name of the Lord, to lift up his name and to sing unto him psalms and to talk of his wondrous works. And so he writes this psalm which we have in the middle of the chapter from verse 7 to verse 36. This psalm which is also written in Psalm 105. We have it there and also in Psalm 106 and portions of it are written in the book of Psalms. So David's desire was that the people of God would be able to bless God and to praise God and lift up the name of God. And his desire was that the people would be able to come collectively together around their maker. to acknowledge the true and living God. In his psalm he declares that all of the other gods are as nothing but God made the heavens and the earth and today we come to worship the true and living God The God who created the heavens and the earth. The same God as Abraham and Isaac and Jacob. The same God that David worshipped. The same God that Solomon worshipped. The same God through the same way. In Isaiah it tells us that The purpose of God to redeem a people for himself, to call a people from the nations is that they may show forth his praise. What was David's desire? David's desire was that the people of God would praise the name of the Lord. They would elevate the name of the Lord, they would lift up the name of the Lord, they would give thanks unto the Lord for his abundant mercy, for his goodness, that his mercy endures forever and ever. Oh give thanks unto the Lord for he is good. for his mercy endures forever. David had experienced the mercy of God. The people of Israel had experienced the mercy of God. God had not dealt with them as they deserve to be dealt with. And even though he slaughtered Uzziah in judgment for him touching the ark of God, yet God in his mercy did not consume all not consume David who initiated all of those things but in his mercy he took one to bring them to a standstill, to cause them to consider their ways, consider what they were doing and really to consider who God is. How often do we really consider who God is? It's very easy for us to come here week by week and it becomes just a ritual that we do. We're going to chapel. We don't really consider who it is we are going to worship. May we don't even use those words. We're going to worship. May we just say we're just going to chapel. We are coming here to worship the true and living God. The same God that struck Uzziah down. The same God that struck Aaron's sons down. The same God that struck Eli's sons down. because they messed around with the worship of God, his worship. And David was witnessed what God would do if his worship was corrupted. And as we come today, we come to worship this God who is holy. Holy, holy, holy is the Lord God Almighty. And it's our privilege to be able to come here and to fall down at his feet through his beloved son the Lord Jesus Christ and to give thanks unto him for he is good, for his mercy endures for forever and ever. Just because we live in the New Testament times does not mean that God has lost his holiness. Doesn't mean that God has become unfearful. That God doesn't care about our standard of worship. Just because we have the freedom in Christ does not mean we can do as we please. We come to worship a holy God. I think because of the familiarity that we have now in our society that familiarity has been passed on to our understanding of God. We have children who call their fathers and mothers by their maiden names. A lack of respect, lack of authority. It's become like mothers and fathers are friends and mates with their children. I had friends who used to go night clubbing with their mums and dads. They were mates. There was no authority but they were brought down to the same level and behaved like children and teenagers together and this familiarity has come down into the church. It's come down to our understanding of God. that God is holy, that he is powerful, that he is sovereign, that he is not our mate. Though he is a friend that sticks closer to a brother yet he is still the creator and sustainer of heaven and earth and we cannot rush into his presence, we cannot enter into his presence except we come through the blood sacrifice of the Lord Jesus Christ. And as David experienced, he could not do as he wished, but he must follow the guidelines, the laws, the ceremonial laws that God had laid down in the scriptures. For our God is holy, our God is a consuming fire. But oh give thanks unto the Lord for he is good, for his mercy endures forever. And so it was David's desire that the people of God could come collectively together and to worship God. It was collective because all the people said Amen. In Psalm 106 right at the end In verse 48 it says, Blessed be the Lord God of Israel from everlasting to everlasting. And let all the people say, Amen. Praise ye the Lord. It's what David's desire was. He wanted the congregation to be knit together in unity, in collective worship before this holy God. He desired them all to be participating in this worship. All of them giving thanks and acknowledging that God is good. All of them acknowledging that God's mercy endures forever and ever. All of them stating that God should save us. and acknowledging that God is a God of salvation and a delight and a desire to be gathered together in unity and to be delivered from their enemies, the heathen, the ungodly, that we may give thanks unto thy holy name. and glory in thy praise. And so he desired that they would collectively say, after this, as it were, this benediction, this elevation of praise and adoration to God, that they would all collectively say, Amen. So be it, or it is truth. In the New Testament, The Lord Jesus uses those words verily, verily, which in some other versions are translated as truly, truly. But really it is amen, amen. 101 times the Lord Jesus Christ is stated to quote verily, verily. 51 times in the New Testament is the same word translated as amen. mostly at the end of Paul's letters, at the end of his benedictions, he closes with an Amen. In Corinthians, as he's writing to the church there at Corinth, when he's speaking about tongues, as we looked at recently, he uses the reason why people should not speak in an unknown tongue because people would not be able to understand but not only would they not be able to understand they would not be able to acknowledge what was being said as truth. 1 Corinthians chapter 14 verse 16 it says 14. If I pray with an unknown tongue, my spirit prays, but my understanding is unfruitful. In other words, no one is able to understand what I'm saying. What is it then? I will pray with the spirit, and I will pray with the understanding also. I will sing with the spirit, and I will sing with the understanding also. Else, when thou shalt bless with the spirit, how shall he that occupieth the room of the unlearned say Amen at thy giving thanks, seeing he understandeth not what thou sayest? For thou verily givest thanks well, but the other is not edified. And so in the early church, there was this acknowledgement of what was being said. And this comes from the Jewish custom in the synagogues. As the rabbis were preaching, teaching, and praying in the synagogue in accordance with what David taught, there was an acknowledgement that the people of God they said amen at the end of the prayer, they said amen at the end of the sermon, at the end of what they had heard. There was that collective acknowledgement that what was being said was truth and that the people had benefited from the truth that they had been hearing. The word was not water off a duck's back but the word had penetrated their minds and their understanding and they acknowledged that what was being said was right. Sometimes you go to churches and you say well let us turn to 1 Corinthians 14 and it's just silence. It's like everybody's asleep. No one is engaging really in what is being said. The end of the prayer, there's no noise, no acknowledgement. It seems that we're so afraid of being outlandish or wacky. even if our heart is burning within us and we have a desire to acknowledge this is truth I'm benefiting from this truth we can't act upon that and yet the scriptures say the people of God said amen they acknowledged that what was being said was the truth of God's holy word and they agreed with that truth Do we agree with the truth of God's word? Does it affect our hearts as we come to worship the true and living God? Does it have an effect upon us? Are we truly coming to worship God? Do we truly feed off the word of God? Do we truly benefit by meeting collectively with God's people? Do we really come to give thanks unto the Lord for he is good? Have we gathered here this night to give thanks to God? Have we gathered here tonight to worship him in the spirit of holiness? Have we gathered to bless the Lord our God? To speak well of him and to acknowledge his greatness and to say amen unto him? In the New Testament The object of our worship is the same. David and the people of Israel came by the blood of sacrificed animals into the presence of God. We see when Solomon dedicated the temple, thousands of beasts were slaughtered. The ark was taken then into the holy of holies and the spirit of God, the smoke of God came down. The priests leave the holy of holies and the fire comes down from heaven and consumes the altar, consumes the sacrifices of God. They experience God's favor, God's divine blessing because they had done what God required them to do. Oh hear thou in heaven thy dwelling place. They fell down and worshipped the true and living God. And today we come into the presence of God and we come as the church, we come as the household of the living God. And God has promised, Christ has promised to be present with his people. We don't have to wait for his presence. He is here amongst his people. He's indwelling in the bodies of believers. Yes, we may not see the power, the full extent of his power and influence on the world and in our lives, but he is with us. He is present with his people as they gather to worship. He is their object and desire and they come to God through the Lord Jesus Christ, our Our eyes are fixed upon God. He is the father but we come to him through the blood of the son the same way as David. Through the blood of sacrifice we come through the blood of the Lord Jesus Christ our great high priest our mediator whoever lives to intercede for us and we come with the same desires that David had. for collective blessing, to give thanks to God, because he is good, he is always good, even if our circumstances state that it's difficult and hard, yet God remains good and his mercy towards his people endures forever and ever and ever. We come and we say, save us. We acknowledge our need of salvation. acknowledge the need of the salvation of souls round about us. We have a desire that the Lord would move and save for he is a God of salvation and we desire that he saves people from the consequences of their sin but also that he may save us from our besetting sins, from our difficult circumstances, from falling short of the glory of God, from bringing shame upon the name of God, from living with the appearance of evil, to save us from ourselves and from sin that dwells within. Our desire is that we gather together. just as David had that desire to gather all Israel together to worship God. So our desire is to come collectively and to worship God. We are able as New Testament believers in the Lord Jesus to worship God wherever we like. We can worship as we walk down the road. We can worship in our studies, in our rooms. We can worship in the countryside. We can worship in family worship. We can worship God wherever we like. But it is God's favour and blessing we seek as we come collectively together as the body of Christ to worship him. asking that he would knit us together in the unity of the Spirit that we may be encouraged and blessed but also that we would be delivered from the heathen. There are persecutors. Our brethren are persecuted in other lands. Some people are persecuted in the workplace. Some people are persecuted at school, college, universities. And we desire that they would be delivered from the heathen. We would desire that we also would be delivered from the evil within, that we may have strength to continue. that we may give thanks to his holy name part of worship is not only to receive a blessing for ourselves as we come to sit under the word of God but it is to lift up the name of the Lord Jesus Christ to lift up our God our creator to praise him forever and ever. And all the people said, Amen. In the Gospel of John, when the Lord Jesus Christ is speaking to the lady by the well, He speaks to her and he says, the father is seeking those who would worship him in spirit and truth. John chapter four and verse 23. But the hour cometh and now is when the true worshipers of God shall worship the father in spirit and in truth. For the father seeketh such to worship him. God is a spirit and they that worship him must worship him in spirit and in truth. There is a danger isn't there of just having a form of worship, just having a dead form, a ritual without any feeling without any true understanding of what we are doing. God is searching for, the scripture says, he's seeking such that will worship him in spirit and in truth. That there may be people who are knowledgeable of what they are doing. They are worshipping in an informed way. David in the beginning was ill-informed. He did what was not right in the sight of God and experienced judgement. But when he did what was right and pleasing in the sight of God, it was then that he experienced blessing. Same with Solomon. Solomon did what was right in the establishing of the temple and the bringing in of the ark and the sacrifices. They experienced the blessing and the presence of God. They worshipped God in an informed manner, the way in which God desired to be worshipped. In truth, Christ is the truth. Nobody can worship God outside of the truth, outside of the Lord Jesus Christ. God's word is truth. We must come to God as he desires us to come to him. It is only through the Lord Jesus Christ that our worship can ever be acceptable in the sight of a holy God. We may do all manner of things. We may put on a great show as David put on a great show that it was not done in the way that God required. The only way to come to God and to be accepted by God is to come through the finished work of the Lord Jesus Christ. That blood sacrifice that stands between the Lord Jesus Christ our high priest and mediator. Even our worship is impure and unacceptable in his sight outside of the Lord Jesus Christ. And so we must come to God in truth but also in spirit. David wanted that fixed location for the worship of God. But as the Jews rejected the Lord Jesus Christ, that temple was destroyed completely by the Romans. And now the scripture tells us that your bodies are the temple of the Holy Ghost who is in you. We are not bound by location. You're not bound by location. Yes we like to have buildings and we can have buildings in our country because there is that freedom to do so. But should persecution come and we have to meet in the woods, we have to meet in secret, we don't have to have special buildings. The early church met in people's houses from house to house. We have a privilege of gathering together in freedom. where we are gathered together, there the Lord Jesus Christ is in the midst of us. Whether it be in a cave, whether it be in the forest, whether it be in the desert, in the wilderness, or in somebody's home, somebody's garage, there we are able to worship the Lord in spirit and in truth through the Lord Jesus Christ because our hearts have been changed. It's not about our bodies. It is about our hearts. Our hearts are indwelt by the spirit of God and our heart is the central point of our whole body. Our worship of God comes from our heart for what Christ has done. We bow down before our maker and it gives us a passion for the worship of God. We desire to praise the Lord, to lift up our voice and to lift up our hearts and to praise the Lord. Do we have a passion for God? Do we have a passion for the Lord Jesus Christ? Do we find ourselves in places and times lifting up our voice, lifting up our hearts in worship and adoration to our God? there been those times in your life and it's not necessarily here. when you've been alone and you've been able to worship God in spirit and in truth, you know what it is to be under the influence of the Holy Spirit and to lift up your voice, to lift up your praise, to lift up your worship and to the true and living God. May the Lord give us each a true understanding of who it is we are coming to worship, that it is a holy God, and we come to proclaim his holy word and it is the duty of every man, woman, boy and girl to fall under the authority of God's holy word and to worship him. Oh that the Lord may give us a new heart to worship him in spirit and in truth, that we may come to this place, that we may come to the word of God with an informed understanding of who God is and who Christ is and our need of him. As Peter, as he saw who Jesus was, he says, depart from me for I'm a sinful man, O Lord. That is what we need to understand, that God is holy, that we are sinful and it is our privilege to be able to come and worship him through the Lord Jesus Christ in the freedom that we have without the ceremonial laws and the sacrifices and the blood and the fear. but to come to him through his beloved Son, the Lord Jesus Christ, singing, Blessed be the Lord God of Israel for ever and ever. And all the people said, Amen, and praised the Lord. Amen. Let us conclude our worship this evening by singing 632 from Gadsby's. And the actual tune is 737. So the tune is actually 737. 632 the hymn. Whoever in Jesus believes the blessing is sure to obtain a full and free pardon Christ gives to all that confide in his name. Nor Moses, nor Satan, nor sin can sentence believers to hell. No evil without or within shall ever against them prevail. 632 to the tune 737. ♪ In His short, terrible day ♪ ♪ Our fallen, free Father Christ is ♪ ♪ To all that confide in His name ♪ ♪ Nor Moses, nor Satan, nor sin ♪ ♪ But sinners, believers ♪ We move without awakening. ♪ As the earth we pass by ♪ ♪ Till this Lord can fall from His throne ♪ ♪ His promise and faithfulness crown ♪ ♪ All people's earth weakness become ♪ ♪ And their lack is heard ♪ Though death moves against him tonight, his faith stands a-changing. and let them rejoice in their King. The water will cease before long, and they must meet victory. Almighty God, we acknowledge that Thou art holy and we thank Thee for the Lord Jesus Christ, our mediator, Thy Lamb that takes away the sin of the world. We thank Thee that we can come and worship Thee and we acknowledge that Thou art worthy to be worshipped and we pray that we may be granted a greater measure of understanding of our own sinfulness and our own need of the Lord Jesus Christ and Lord we pray as we look into the heavens and we see the greatness of thy creation help us to realise that God is greater than his creation. We thank thee, Lord, for thy revealed truth in thy holy word, and we pray that it may be made a blessing to our never-dying souls. We ask that thou dismiss us with thy blessing. And now, by the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, and the love of God the Father, with the fellowship and the communion of the Holy Spirit, to be with you each now and for evermore. Amen.