I don't have anything particularly pressing on my mind. What do I want to go to next? I mean, it's just like, you know, maybe you don't want to go to something too long. You know, you pick a psalm. It'd be nice to be able to preach through every psalm before you go away and leave this world, you know? But there's a lot to preach on, so, you know, we'll do what we can. Psalm 95. And last week, oh, not last week, but two weeks ago when we started Psalm 95, all we did is cover the first verse. Because, you know, when looking at it and I thought about it, I thought, well, you know, particularly in our day, it needs a lot of coverage for practical, very practical reasons in regards to modern Christian worship. And we need to really soak that in. Verse 1, O come, and I'm not going to review it, but O come, let us sing unto the Lord. because you've got to know how to do that and the way you approach that. We're going to actually kind of a little bit continue that thought when we move on to the next verse. Let us make a joyful noise to the rock of our salvation. And so we broke that down in its constituent parts and talked quite a bit about it. But in that last statement, And we kind of finished on that. And I just had one thing I wanted to read in regard to that last statement, because it says, let us make a joyful noise to the rock of our salvation. And from the beginning of the verse, we see the context is singing. You sing and make a joyful noise to whom? To the rock of our salvation. And so I think I asked you a question, something along the lines of, Well, how would Old Covenant Israel, to whom this was originally given, how would they understand that? What would they understand as, how would they understand the rock of their salvation? Well, quite obviously, they go back in their minds to their wilderness wanderings when they were thirsty and they thought they were going to die. And they complained to Moses for lack of water, and the Lord said, well, I'll give them water out of the rock. And Moses, you do what I tell you to do, and they'll have their water from me. They didn't deserve it. They were murmuring, complaining. They were irritating Moses up and down and sideways and forwards and backwards. And the Lord says, I'm going to show them mercy. In essence, he didn't say these words this way, but in essence, he was saying to Moses, I'm going to show them mercy they don't deserve. And Moses was having, I think, a little hard time with that because these people are so stiff-necked, you know? So he did it, but he kind of didn't go about it the right way. But the Lord gave them Life, literally, life, biologically, physically, life-giving water from a rock. You talk about a miracle. You don't smack a rock and then water comes out, okay? Everybody knows that. There's no rock in that. There's no water in that rock. There's a rock in that water. There's rocks in water. There's no water in that rock. Well, there was that day. And they thought they were going to die. It became the rock of their salvation. And that's how they'd understand that. You know, you can't use those words and then not be related to their history and a very fundamental part of their history. So for old covenant Israel, you know, the Lord, because he brought that water out of the rock. He was the rock of their salvation, but literally that rock was the rock that brought forth their physical salvation. And then we said, and now for new covenant Israel, Jesus Christ is the rock of our salvation in a higher sense. in a higher sense than that actual literal rock in the wilderness. Because he brings not just physical life and then you die, he brings spiritual life, which gives us everlasting life so that we will never die. We'll go from life to life. And so we're looking at it, and that's all related to the forgiveness of sins and the work of Christ on the cross and the gospel. So I ended up saying, you know, Because we have New Covenant truth, we can sing these Psalms in a way they couldn't. They could sing them sincerely and with great meaning from their perspective where they really saw through a glass darkly. But now we have the light of the New Covenant and we're commanded to sing the Psalms in the New Testament. How can we sing these Psalms? That was given to Old Covenant Israel. We are the Israel of God and Christ, right? So we can sing these through the filter and the lens of the new covenant in the blood of Jesus Christ. So now we can sing all the more. We can sing about the rock of our salvation with even more depth than they could ever have done it. And so, just to underscore that, I wanted to look at the text. We'll do it now. I just didn't have time last time. Hebrews chapter 8, and then we'll go back to Psalm 95, but Hebrews chapter 8. We today can sing those psalms, because you know, a lot of Christians think, well, how can we sing the psalms? That was given for Old Testament Israel. We're not under the law, and there's so many things that don't apply to us, and blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah. How about the fact that we're told three times in the New Testament to sing the psalms? Well, you know, well, you know. OK, maybe you need to sit down and think for a few minutes and contemplate the Word of God and understand that we are under a new and better covenant so that we can sing it even with greater depth of joy, it would seem to me. Well, and it's all spelled out right here in Hebrews 8, starting at verse 6. But now, now, as opposed to before the death, burial, resurrection, and ascension of Christ. But now hath he, Christ, obtained a more excellent ministry than anything Moses or any old covenant priest had. By how much also he is the mediator, Christ is the mediator, of a better covenant, which was established upon better promises. For if that first covenant which we sing a lot about it, even in the Psalms. We can sing about aspects of the first covenant. Well, see, we're not under the first covenant. Well, we know that. But just singing about the first covenant reminds us that we're not. We're under a better covenant, and the better covenant is the ultimate fulfillment of the old covenant. We just sing it with so much more depth to it. For if that first covenant had been faultless, and it's not like the Lord made a mistake when he gave that covenant to Israel, it's just that You know, do and live, which is what the law is, no one's going to be saved that way. There's no salvation in keeping the law. No one could keep it. And there was no salvation in the blood of bull and goats, although that would appease God to atone, not completely remove the guilt of their sins, but to atone for their sins until the Lamb of God was shed. And that's the new covenant, see? If that first covenant had been faultless in the fault that it had, it's not maybe the best word in English to put, but what it lacked was the ability to save men. They were gonna be saved through the blood of Jesus Christ. Moses was saved through the blood of Jesus Christ, not through the old covenant. He was saved through the new covenant, as was Abraham. So they longed to see our day, even though they might not have been able to spell out the details of exactly where that longing fully stemmed from. But it was there. For if the first covenant had been faultless, then should no place have been sought for the second. If all they needed was in the old law, why do you have to come up with another one? or the old covenant, why come up with another one? For finding fault with them, he saith, behold, the days come, saith the Lord, when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel, yeah, that's right, and with the house of Judah, absolutely, sons of Abraham by faith, divinely grafted in through the blood of Christ, not according to the covenant that I made with their fathers in the day when I took them by the hand to lead them out of the land of Egypt, because they continued not in my covenant, And I regarded them not, saith the Lord. Yeah, this one's a lot better, because that's not going to happen to us. For this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel. After those days, saith the Lord, I'll put my laws into their minds. See, regeneration changes a person. That's not legalism, that's not, well obviously they don't understand true gospel grace. Under this gospel of grace, yes, there's an effect of the indwelling of God's spirit. He puts his laws, not so much the Mosaic law, but the law of Christ. Everything that's binding on our conscience, from God's Word, whether it be coming from the Old Testament or the New Testament, is a law unto our conscience, improperly so. And he says he will put his laws into our minds and write them, he says, in their hearts. He writes them through the indwelling of the Spirit of God. And I'll be to them a God, and they shall be to me a people. And they shall not teach every man his neighbor, and every man his brother, saying, Know the Lord. As if a bunch don't, you need to say, well, that was true under the old covenant. All right, they were circumcised, they had the right parents, good genealogy, right. But they could maybe not care about those things, but it's their culture, so they go along. Just like being in America, everybody thinks they're a Christian because they're in America. Sorry, that's not the criteria. But a lot of people think that. Well, I've attended church before. I'm a Christian, yeah. They don't know what they're talking about. Same thing with Old Covenant Israel. So in Old Covenant Israel, you could have some bum neighbor and you'd say, hey, brother, is not Abraham your father? Yes. Aren't we to strive to keep the law? I do. I keep Passover. I do this. Yeah, but it's not in your heart. I've seen the hate in your heart. I've seen the contempt in your heart. God hasn't done anything with you. You're not being serious about this. It's a cultural religion to you. And so Israel would have to go out to their neighbors and say, hey, you got to know the Lord. Under the new covenant, you don't have to do that. You say, well, my next door neighbor, you never met him. That's not the neighbor we're talking about. Israel's neighbors under the old covenant, Israel's neighbors were Israel. But they were Israel according to the flesh. And not all of them were spiritual Israelites. So they had us teach some of their neighbors, hey, you need to know the Lord. It's just not enough to be circumcised, you know. But under the new covenant, you're not in the new covenant and part of. the Israel of God, unless you have been saved and regenerated. So amongst Israel in the New Covenant, you don't have to say to any of them, hey, you need to know the Lord. If they didn't know the Lord, they wouldn't be in New Covenant Israel. You could not know the Lord and be circumcised and be in Old Covenant Israel. You can't know the Lord, you can't be in the New Covenant and not know the Lord as your Savior. So you don't have to go out and say, hey, you need to know the Lord. They do. See, they do. And they shall not teach every man his neighbor, and every man his brother, saying, know the Lord. For all shall know me, all in Israel, all in the kingdom, they all know, from the least to the greatest. For I'll be merciful to their unrighteousness. See, we still have that, but he'll be merciful. And their sins and their iniquities will I Remember no more. So can we sing the Psalms with greater zeal? Absolutely. In a way that Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, and David, and Moses couldn't. That's something, that's something. All right, so let's go back to Psalm 95. Now we gotta move on to verse two. And in verse two we read, Let us come before his presence with thanksgiving and make a joyful noise unto him with psalms. So in verse one, let us sing unto the Lord. Let us make a joyful noise unto the rock of our salvation who is faithful and is taking care of us and he loves us and he's blessed us and he's shown us mercy. And in light of all this, Israel of old and Israel of new, Israel of God, we need to come before his presence with thanksgiving. In light of this history we have and the goodness of our God and the fact that he is the rock of our salvation, whether in the old covenant sense for old covenant Israel or the new covenant sense for new covenant Israel and for the elect in the old covenant, in light of all this, Yes, this flows from that idea. He just says how great God is in verse one. Then he says, let us come before his presence with thanksgiving. How do we come to the Lord? How do we approach him? In prayer, how do we approach him in song? We kind of seem to be talking about song here in worship. You come to him with thanksgiving. You come into his presence with thanksgiving. I want to talk about both those things. When we go to prayer, we should never just come with petitions and desires and requests for divine guidance, instruction, deliverance from problems we have. And these kind of requests, Lord, help me in my troubles, give me clarity, or forgive me of sins. These are all proper things to pray for, and they have their place. But we need to remember, when we come to Him in prayer as Christians, don't we come with a certain hope? We do go to prayer with hope, right? Don't we come with a certain expectation, faith? We're convinced he is listening to us and we're convinced that he loves us and has our best interest in heart. So when we come to him we have this hope and expectation because of the promises of God and we believe them. But there's another reason too. We come with that hope and faith and expectation because he has shown us grace in the past. That providence in our lives It should shore up our faith in hope in addition to our belief in his promises. So we should never forget to thank the Lord for his past mercies and grace. And that's what we're being told here. Let us come before his presence with thanksgiving. And just think of verse one. And then he says, I hear him say, so therefore, but that's what's in his mind. Come, let us sing unto the Lord, let us make a joyful noise unto the rock of our salvation. Let us come before his presence with thanksgiving. Because he is the rock of our salvation. And those providential experiences where God has shown his mercy and blessings and grace to us, they are part of the building blocks of our faith and hope, we believe the promises but we have a history with them and so we know the Lord hears us. and having that past experience of God's grace, just like Israel of old. Even in the Psalms, right? When they say, the rock of your salvation, isn't the psalmist reminding them, remember how he blessed your fathers before? Remember how much they didn't deserve it? Remember how they were bellyachers and complainers? Remember how it irritated Moses? But how God gave them that water. So you've got problems now, the psalmist says. Bring them to the Lord. You already know, we hear, you have some past history. And I'm saying the same thing to us. See? See, if you just read it quick, there's a zillion, there's a zillion really great practical lessons that would keep so many Christians from destroying themselves on the rocks of worldliness. Because they're thinking bad. So we should never take his mercies for granted. They should be a source of strength for us and we owe him our gratitude. But there's something else we have to say. We must come before his presence with thanksgiving. So we have to come with thanksgiving. But the verse says, let us come before his presence. Well, weren't they already in his presence? Didn't old covenant Israel already know about the doctrine of the omnipresence of God? Didn't they know that God is a spirit that fills the universe? Didn't they already know that in the old covenant? Yes, they did. Israel understood that. They understood that God was omnipresent. They knew if they ascended up into heaven, he was there. They knew if they made their bed in hell, he was there. They knew if they dwelt in the uttermost part of the sea, the furthest recesses of the oceans, that he would still lead them because he was there. It's in their Bible. It's in the Old Testament. They already knew these things. So they knew that God, wherever they were, God was there. They knew that. And yet, the psalmist says, let us come before his presence. See, I'm saying in one sense, they're always in his presence. The highest heaven, the lowest hell, he's there. There's no way you can go to escape God. It's all throughout the Bible, all through the Old Testament, our Bible too. Not our covenant, but part of our Bible. So although they knew God was everywhere, he says you need to come into his presence. And here's how you, so obviously the psalmist is talking about a different kind of presence. And he says we must come to say, let us before his presence is to clearly and distinctly imply that they weren't there and they need to at times go there. So we're talking about a unique audience in his presence that goes beyond the reality of God is always where we are. He sees everything. He misses nothing. He's omnipresent. So this is a special presence. Okay, so to really get the meaning of that, you have to go back to, you know, who is this written to? Written to Old Covenant Israel. And how would they have understood it? Right, that's how you're gonna exegete it. How would they have understood that? Let us come before his presence. We need to enter into his presence. And when we do enter into that special presence, we need to come before him with thanksgiving. So how would they understand this going into God's presence? Well, I think one way would be when the high priest entered into the Holy of Holies and approached the mercy seat, he does so representing the people. To sprinkle the blood to make atonement for their sins. He's representing them as their priests, as a mediator between God and Israel. And only the high priests could go into God's presence in the holy of holies and approach the mercy seat. And in that regard, Israel themselves were entering into his presence through that priest that represented him. So the high priest needs to take that into account. I think Israel of old would also say, well, how do we enter into the special presence of God? Well, you know, when God came amongst them and revealed himself, it was in the glory cloud. The glory cloud of God's presence. Not that the cloud was God. But no man sees God and lives. It was a manifestation. I am now amongst you in a special way. He was always amongst them with no cloud. But now when that cloud came, they knew the Lord is here. And it's somehow in a more profound way. You don't have to understand it. But they knew that. And that glory cloud rested above the tabernacle. Remember when God was angry with him? I'm not going to go with you. Remove the tabernacle from the camp of Israel. And they had to go put it down the way. No one can come to the tabernacle except for Moses. So there was that day that Moses went down, right? We talked about it. And it seems like all the people were standing in the doors of their tent, you know, watching Moses. They were watching Moses. They couldn't go. The Lord used to dwell in their midst in the tabernacle. He's angry with them and they know that, so they're on edge. I will not go up with you. I will not go up with you to battle. I won't totally forsake you, but I'm outside the camp. Only Moses can come. They know they've got problems. So they watch Moses go. And they're watching. There goes Moses. They look in the distance. And he walks into the tabernacle. And then we're told what happens. And the tabernacle began to fill with the glory cloud of God and the presence of God, so much so it came right out. And all the people could see the cloud. And they could say, the Lord. I was going to say at Lord's amongst us. No, he's over there where Moses is. But they could see the manifestation of the presence of God. That's a special kind of presence beyond omnipotence, omnipresence, that is. And when they went to Sinai, remember Sinai? Moses says, I'm going up. You all stay here and don't touch the mountain. And Moses goes up. The mountain quakes and shakes. And then it's all smoke and it's on fire. There's fire and there's smoke and the earth's trembling. And the people are scared out of their wits. What was all that fire and smoke for? God is amongst them. He's a consuming fire. We were talking about that several weeks ago. The presence of God. Now that's the old covenant special way of entering into his presence in that unique way beyond his omnipresence. But in the new covenant, what about us? We have to update this for ourselves. Because we're told, let us come before his presence with thanksgiving. Well, we're always in his presence, so no problem. We have an omen now. There's a special presence of God, of the Lord Jesus. It begins with salvation in the indwelling of God's spirit and that's a special presence. The Lord is everywhere. You know that pagan friend you have that has a vile mouth, cursing lips and mocks God? Maybe he was drinking and he goes to an intersection and hits someone and the car is rolling in the air and he's going upside down and he's still aware the Lord's right there, he can't not be there and this has been ordained by him. Whether that guy recognized or not, oh he's there but that guy is not in his special presence but we're all in his presence. When God's spirit comes and dwells in us that's a special presence. It's the priesthood of the believer. The veil was rent in twain. We don't need a high priest. We can enter into his presence, but we have to enter into it, though he's always with us. Jesus said, where two or three are gathered together in my name, there I am in the midst. Well, isn't he always with them? Yeah. But then he said something special, where two or three. So when you're by yourself, the Lord isn't with you anymore, he doesn't see, he doesn't help, he won't guide, he won't aid, well you've still got the Holy Spirit in you. The Holy Spirit doesn't leave just because you're by yourself. But yet the Lord says, see these things seem like contradictions of the world, oh it doesn't make any sense. They're trying to understand God through their finite, limited understandings, like as if he was a human being. So yes, he's always amongst us, but when two or three of you gather together, Jesus says, I'm in the midst of you. When two or three believers get together, and that's a special presence. And it doesn't mean, oh, two or three Christians just happen to bump into each other at the gas station, and I'm pumping 89 octane, he's pumping 87. Hey, brother, what do you got, 87? I'm doing 89. Okay, I'm not sure if that qualified bumping into each other and having no spiritual. But when two or three brethren come together and they fellowship in the Lord, there's something going on that's not normal. When we're fellowshipping with each other in the things of Christ, you've got to admit, don't you feel like You're on a little higher plane. There's something really nice happening. The thing you were worried about just 10 minutes before seems as though it's like fly away, because you're talking about the things. How does this happen? There I am in the midst of you. It's a unique coming into his presence. And when the body of Christ assembles together in the local assembly, That's another unique manifestation of Christ's presence amongst them. If it's true for two or three, how much the more is it for the actual body, the assembly of Christ, where all the saints come together under that umbrella and paradigm of his people? He's there. In Revelation, We're told Christ dwells in the midst of the seven golden candlesticks, which represent the seven churches in Asia to whom the book is written. He's saying, I dwell in the midst of these assemblies. Well, that's because they're his assemblies. It's his possession. So when we come together, well, let me put it to you this way. Jesus is here. I can't see him, but he is. I've always told you this story, because it's an old one. I only tell this story because I have the same experience with many of you. But the only reason this one sticks out is it went the whole night, and all of a sudden, so Chris and I are in the backyard, we're talking, having a campfire, but I think it was one of the ones where Clayville came to my house and everybody left, because it was getting late, it was like 11, 11.30, and everybody went, and then Chris stayed, and finally got to be like midnight, 12.30, and Paul says, well, I think I'm gonna go to bed. She goes to bed, I say, well, I'll be there in a little bit. A little bit, and then all of a sudden I say, hey, Chris, what? The sun's coming up. We didn't talk about a baseball score, politics, no. We talked about what Christ meant to us and what a great thing he's doing for us. And it was like time went away. And he was in our midst. And he dwells in the midst of the seven golden candlesticks, the assemblies, because they're his. Even the angels observe. Because the women ought to cover their heads for the sake of the angels. So yeah, the instruction is, let us come before his presence in that special way. But the overall thought is that we should have in light of all this is, how can I, or I could phrase this, how should I, depending on the, You could say it both ways, it's a both good questions. How can I or how should I come into his presence? Into the presence of the Lord who loves me and loved me when I didn't deserve it and I still don't. How do I come into the presence of the one who gave his life's blood so that I could be forgiven of my sins and he bore my sins and carried my sorrows And the Father sent him in love. How can I come before his presence who has done this for me when I completely didn't deserve it? And how could I come into his presence, which we do when we pray? I didn't even mention that one. We come into his presence in a special way when we begin addressing him because he listens. How can I come into his presence when he's done all this for me and be forgetful of his past mercies and come to him without thanksgiving in my heart? How could I ever address him without thanksgiving? Because the instruction is, let us come before his presence with thanksgiving. And that's in light of verse one because of his many great blessings that were undeserved. It made me think of Ezekiel 16, if you go there. Ezekiel 16. And verse one, again, the word of the Lord came unto me saying, son of man, call Jerusalem and know her abominations. Yeah, and I'm not so sure that the Lord did choose them because he saw something really special in them. I'm going to rehearse this morning. And say, this is what you say to them, Thus saith the Lord God unto Jerusalem, Thy birth and thy nativity is of the land of Canaan. Oh, you're the holy people. You know what? You originated from the heathen lands. Thy father was an Amorite, and thy mother a Hittite. And as for thy nativity, in the day that thou was born, thy navel was not cut, neither was thou washed in water to supple thee. Thou was not salted at all, nor swaddled at all. When you were born, the umbilical cord was never even cut off your body, and no one ever washed you to clean you up. You were covered in blood. No one held you and swaddled you. No, they're saying, we're going to throw this baby away. And he says in verse 5, none I pitied thee to do any of these unto thee, these good things, like a mother normally would, to have compassion upon thee. But thou was cast out in the open field. Imagine a little baby with the umbilical cord covered in blood just laying in a field by itself. To the loathing of thy person in the day that thou was born, Well, let's face it. They kind of were born metaphorically in Egypt as slaves. Well, this is like almost literally true, you know. And when I passed by thee, I saw thee polluted in thine own blood. I said unto thee, when thou was in thy blood, live. See, he chose to love them. There's no merit here. Reverting back this morning, but you know, you can find that everywhere. Yea, I said unto thee, when thou is in thy blood, live. That's all it takes. God speaks, and the world comes into being, and men come to spiritual life. I have caused thee to multiply as the bud of the field, and thou hast increased and waxen great, and thou art come to excellent ornaments. Thy breasts are fashioned, and thine hair is grown. See, they matured, they're growing, and the Lord's nurturing them, whereas thou wast naked and bare. Now, when I passed by thee, and looked upon thee, behold, thy time was the time of love, and I spread my skirt over thee, and covered thy nakedness. Yea, I swear unto thee, and entered into a covenant with thee, saith the Lord God, and thou becamest mine. Then I washed thee with water, yea, I throughly washed away thy blood from thee, and I anointed thee with oil. I clothed, look at all the good things he did for them, I clothed thee also with broided work, and shod thee with badger's skin, and I girded thee about with fine linen, and I covered thee with silk, the best of the best. I decked thee also with ornaments, and I put bracelets upon thy hand, and a chain on thy neck. These things aren't needed. People say, you know, fundamentalists, like, jewelry's evil. Yeah, well, the misuse of it is, yeah. If your life is about your beauty, then the Lord may be disgusted with your beauty. It's not that these things are evil. I don't think that would be put here if that was the case. And I put a jewel on thy forehead, and earrings in thine ears. and a beautiful crown upon thy head, as if you were the queen of the king, yeah. Thus was thou decked with gold and silver, that's a long way from bludder and umbilical cord, being left to die, and thy raiment was of fine linen, look what he did for them, and silk, embroidered work, thou didst eat fine flour and honey and oil, and thou was exceeding beautiful, and thou didst prosper into a kingdom. And thy renown went forth among the heathen for thy beauty, for it was perfect through my comeliness, which I had put upon thee, saith the Lord God. He did all these things for them. So when you look back at your past history and God has blessed you, you ought to come before him with thanksgiving, never being unmindful of all the great good things he's done for you. But guess what? They didn't come before his presence with thanksgiving. Verse 15. But thou didst trust in thine own beauty, and playest the harlot because of thy renown, and pourest out thy fornications on every one that pass by. His it was. The psalmist is saying, don't do it. Let us come before his presence with thanksgiving. He was the rock of our salvation. Let us come before his presence with thanksgiving. You have to put yourself in their shoes or in your own shoes. Use a hypothetical. Let's say you and your family, for some reason, were being rejected by society. And I mean seriously rejected. And everybody hated you and your whole family. for whatever reason. It was unrighteous, but that's the way it was. They falsely accused you. They falsely imprisoned you. They used lawfare against you and your family. And then when you finally got out of prison, they'd already leveled your home and destroyed it. You had no home. You were homeless. You had no money. You have a wife and children. You're destitute. There is no society safety net. You're going to die. And then the king of the land in which you happen to be living, who you've never met and he doesn't know you from a hole in the wall, you've never met him, you have no history with him, he comes by and sees you and he has compassion on you. And he sees your plight and he takes up your cause. This is the king. What would you think of that king? I mean, if he took you off the street from starvation, along with your wife and children, and he took all care of your medical needs, because you had problems, took care of them. You need a place to live. You're going to live in my royal palace. Royal palace? You live with him. What would you think of that king? And he says, who are the people that did this to you? And you say, well, and you name them. And he gets them, and he prosecutes them, and justice is had, something we're praying for in our own nation. I hope we can get it. It's not enough to say, let's stop it. People, we need justice. And this king saw to the justice. The wrongs that were done to you, he was going to correct them. And you watch him do that. What would you think of that, King? And he gave you the best of food, clothing, and all the comforts you could ever hope for. And he built for you palatial homes for you and your wife. He built little palatial homes and estates for all your children. And he created endowments and foundations in your name to supply you with anything you'll ever need for the balance of your days and your children's day. And says, if any man touches these people, you're gonna answer to me and my government, and he announces it. How would you feel about that, King? Would it be possible for you to ever enter into the room, and he's there. Now you might be more familiar with him. But if that was truly your whole history, could you ever go into his presence being unmindful of everything he did? Doesn't mean you necessarily show the proper appreciation at any moment but could you ever really go into his presence and not be aware of that and not have it be the parameters through which it causes you to conduct yourself and how you approach it? You can never forget it. It was too much and too overwhelming against all odds and he never quit, never stopped and it continues to this day. You'll never think of him as you would any other man on the face of the earth. Every time you saw him. And yet sometimes believers can approach the Lord quite casually. And we had to come before his presence with thanksgiving. You know what, this is our history. My little hypothetical, metaphorically, it's literally true metaphorically. Literally true metaphorically. But yet we can take the Lord for granted. And we come, Lord, My life, I got problems. Do this, do that. I need to do this. I need to do that. I need to stop this. I need to stop that. I need, I need, I need, I need. Oh, our prayers and petitions, that's biblical. It is biblical. But if that's all you do, that's not biblical. Let us come before his presence with thanksgiving. So, verse 2, Psalm 95, let us come before his presence with thanksgiving. And make a joyful noise unto him with psalms. James 5.13, is any merry? Let them sing psalms. Make a joyful noise with psalms. Is any happy? Then let them sing psalms. Seems like something you should do when you're happy, right? Make a joyful noise unto him with psalms. Well, you know, some of the psalms are, you know, Lord, my enemies are attacking me. Oh, Lord, where are you? I cry out to you, and you're so far from me. And it seems like, but then, you know, why is my soul cast down? But then it ends up, hope thou in God. So although they make the psalmist complain, people are trying to kill me, or I've been unrighteously judged, and Lord, I pray, it seems like my prayers don't reach the heavens, and Lord, where are you? Show mercy upon me. But you know, then we see, but hope thou in God. And even in those kind of psalms, there's a joy we have. We're mourning with the psalmist, because, like, I know how you feel, because I remember this, I remember that. So we're identifying with the psalmist, but we know the end of the story. So even the bad psalms that make C.S. Lewis frown should make us happy. Is any happy? Let them sing psalms. Only certain psalms, because there's a lot of unhappy psalms out there. No. You know, you know. Let us make a joyful noise unto him with psalms. And verse three, for the Lord is a great God and a great king above all gods. Well, yeah, that'll only help you to remember everything I've said so far in this sermon. Just remember that and that'll be the proper guide to how to approach the Lord. And then verse four, I'll read four through six. In his hand are the deep places of the earth. The strength of the hills is his also. The sea is his, and he made it. I like putting that inflection in. I inflect with my voice. I remember there was one Presbyterian man. He says, you know, you should never read the Bible with inflection. Like you're adding to the Word of God. So if the psalmist is saying something happy, if you sound a little joyful when you're reading it, well see, no amendment now. Just read it neutrally, let the Spirit of God convict through the words, you're adding to the Word of God. Like okay, when the Pharisees have arrived, we see, and I've noticed the hem of their garments, they are extremely large, very impressive. No, you know, if I read with inflection, it's because I feel what the psalmist is communicating. I think you can't help but to say it that way. In his hand are the deep places of the earth. The strength of the hills is his. The sea is his. And he made it. And his hands formed the dry land. O come let us worship and bow down and let us kneel before the Lord our maker. That's all so good. In light of all these good things from verse 1 right on up to that. And because He is our creator and our sustainer and the rock of our salvation and all these things, we should do what's described in verse 6. Therefore, because of all this goodness, let us come and let us worship and bow down and let us kneel before the Lord our Maker. That's how we approach God. I want us to know. Verse six. Worship, bow, kneel. Worship, bow, kneel. Worship, bow, kneel. How should we approach the Lord? You say, with joy. Okay, that's true. And when you have that joy, worship, bow, kneel. It's not so much a legal mandated physical posture that I'm really emphasizing. It's the frame of mind that would cause them to worship, bow, and kneel, whether they bow or kneel or not. That's the frame of mind that we ought to have when we enter into his presence. because he saw us when the umbilical cord was still attached and we were covered in blood left to die and he made us royalty. I think in verse six we have laid out for us how we must always approach the Lord when we come into his presence. We come into his presence submissive, thankful, grateful, but also with reverent hearts. And so the joyful noise in verse two, make a joyful noise unto him with psalms. The joyful noise in verse two in our worship and our singing, In light of these contextual parameters, I don't think it's the reckless me-scented chaos of many compromised charismatic worship centers. Nor is it the lifeless, deadpan, lukewarm, routine rote singing of dead people using dead hymns, which you can get that in churches too. And so when you say something like that, then people think, okay, I just have to act excited and happy. No, no, I don't want anyone to act anything. And different people express joy different ways. I'm not one that's, you know, when it comes to joy, I'm not overly demonstrative, I'm just not. Some people are, I'm not having a problem with that, you know? I don't like, I'm not gonna go out and dance in front of you, okay? I'm just not gonna do that. I can't. It's not the skill. It's just, you know. I love getting up here and preaching. I might be demonstrative when I'm preaching because I'm saying, well, God said, God said. This is very exciting because God said. But then if you're dancing or you're performing with someone, you're saying, I say, look at me. Look how good I am. I feel awkward with that. But some people don't. If they can do it without pride, good for them. And I like watching them. I like watching really good musicians do really good stuff. And you can tell they're loving doing it. But if I was loving doing it, I might not be as demonstrative in showing my love in doing it, but I'd be feeling it inside, you know? I remember doing it when we played in a stage band, and I was like, oh, that was a totally cool song. And I had a pot. I had this little solo, and oh, that's a cool solo. And oh, that really came out good. I'm all excited, but you know, you're not going to see anything in my face. I felt it as much as any guy is like, yeah, you know, and he's all playing his saxophone. Wow, wow, wow, wow, wow. I don't need to do that. But I see another guy doing it, and he's enjoying himself, like, ah, you know, good for him. I'm glad he's happy. So this isn't about the legalism of let's perform. I'm not talking about that. So how do we approach the Lord in worship or in song? Well, first and foremost, don't forget who you're addressing. Verse three, the Lord is a great God and a great king above all gods. Just always remember that. In verse two, in his hand are the deep places. Do I really want to go into this? I think I'll just, I'll do the deep places. I'll stop right there. I'm going to stop in the middle of that verse. Not exactly chronologically here. I'm kind of like going around. I'm just trying to adorn and focus. Look at the big picture, but look at some of these details. Think about the psalm. He says, in his hand are the deep places of the earth. In his hand, what does that mean? Well, it's not that God has a hand. He doesn't have a literal hand. But in his hand are the deep places. Which simply means, if they're in his hands, they're under his control. What's under his control? The deep places of the earth. The valleys, the low places of the earth. Even the underground caverns. of water, lakes, oceans of water that feed the springs and the streams and the rivers and the oceans. Down below the depths of the earth, God is there. And if you go to the deepest core of the earth, science will tell you it's fire. Well, you can make your bed in the lowest hell. God is there. In his hand are the deep places of the earth. Oh, I guess I have to, I should finish this verse, I guess. And the strength of the hills is his also. That word hills can mean mountains as well. Hills, mountains. What is the strength of the hills? What is the strength of the mountains? Why do we look at mountains and say, oh, they make you think of strength and power and majesty? There's one reason. They're big. They're really big. I'm puny. That's huge. They're made out of rock. But what's the strength of the hills? You try and go to the top of that thing. Sometimes it's impossible. And if you can do it, it's hard. The higher you go, the harder it gets. It's beating your body up. The strength of the hills, the mountain peaks, they're images of strength because they're just so high. So God is in the deep places of the earth and he's in the peaks of the highest mountains. They're all in His control. In His hand are the deep places of the earth. Strength of the hills is His also, which means they're in His hands. You know what, just let me do this. The sea is His. You got the mountains and the peaks and the valleys and even that which is below the earth, even down to the center. And then the seas. Oh, He's covered all the dry land and now all the wetland. The oceans. They're in his hands, they control them. He made it, he says. He made the seas and his hands formed the dry land. Water, dry land, everything. Because of that, verse six. Oh, come let us worship and bow down. Let us kneel before the Lord, our maker. It seems to me those verses require of us, it demands of our conscience that we approach him with a heart that is bowing and kneeling. Sometimes it may cause us to physically bow and kneel but even when we don't, I mean I'm sure many times you've prayed sitting down and your heart and your mind is bowed and kneeled before him. That's what's important. That's how we should approach Him in prayer, that's how we approach Him in song. But that seems all so powerful and frightening, but you come with joy. Because that God that that's powerful, that controls all those things, He's the one you're praying to, He's the one that has the ability to answer your prayers, and He's forward to do it, because all things work together for good to them who love God, and to them who are the called, according to His purpose, And we can come before him this way, because, verse 7, for, see, for, we need to bow, we need to worship, bow and kneel, verse 6, for, here's why we should do that, that's what, this should be our attitude, we need to come before him with thanksgiving, why? For he is our God. And we are the people of his pasture and the sheep of his hand. So how do you come flippantly before the Lord? I see a lot of Christian worship, it's utterly flippant. They have worship singers, leaders, bands, and you could tell those people are there to put on a performance so that people look at them and they want them to say, wow. You look, I say it kind of half-jokingly, but it's not a joke. It is half-jokingly, but, you know, they take that, as soon as you take that mic out of the stand, will you remind me of that? I always say, someone was recently. Soon as that mic comes out of the stand, You know, it's like, I'm going to perform. Oh, he's so good and filled with anointing of the Holy Spirit. But the reason the mic stays in the stand is you're almost like the more glorious the song, the more majesty and power in the song that can bring glory to God. You want to make sure it goes to God. So you kind of take a humble posture so that people aren't thinking about you and that you're singing. should make them think about God so you try not to put on any antics. But when they put them on big time for a show and people fall for it and they say it's the Holy Spirit, it's sickening to my stomach because I'm looking at the Bible. Worship, bow, and kneel. In heart and spirit and sometimes in body. Always in heart and spirit because he's the one who took that umbilical cord off us and cleaned off the blood. And we totally didn't deserve it. And he made us his bride. And then you don't have to spell out a bunch of legalistic rules about how to worship and how to sing. I'm not here to come up with a bunch of rules and like I'm some Pharisee. I'm just saying the spirit's wrong. And you can tell by the product. I've seen men back in the day when people left their microphones on the stand. I've seen men do very moving songs, singing to try and honor God. And they were very good singers, but they were very toned down in their bodily department. Because I think they actually were trying to honor the Lord with that. And I look at the Christian world, and I look at Psalm 95, and I'm saying, what are we doing? And people look at Christians now who maybe humbly will sing with everything they have to honor Christ, and they try to diminish themselves. He must increase and I must decrease. And when the modern Christian world sees that, they say, the Holy Spirit isn't in that place. Look how dead they are. Like the one guy who said to me, well, Jim, I had business to go over to the big Baptist church over there in Smithfield. He goes, man, that church is huge. He says, boy, you must be doing something wrong. Because he knew he'd seen this building. So I just, well, I don't know. Maybe he's doing something wrong. That's why that looks that way. I knew he wouldn't get it, so. Let's bow our heads in prayer. Heavenly Father, teach us to pray. And like the disciples asked of Christ, we ask Thee to continue to teach us, which the psalmist has helped enough to do. Teach us to worship Thee aright and not worship ourselves. And keep us humble and ever thankful, ever mindful when we address Thee, when we speak of Thee, and when we live for Thee, ever mindful of all the mercies and grace You have showered upon us. And it will just take care of everything automatically. Help us not to forget. Receive our praise and adoration in its simplicity. But Lord, may we always offer it with cheerful and thankful hearts in sincerity and in truth. We pray this in Jesus' name. Amen.