Now, our text today is from the Psalms.<\/p>\n
We've been singing some already today,<\/p>\n
singing praises to God. If you've been a<\/p>\n
part of Grace City for some time, maybe<\/p>\n
a couple of years, maybe longer, you<\/p>\n
will know that we have been preaching<\/p>\n
through 10 of the Psalms each year. So,<\/p>\n
today is Psalm 98. So, if you do the<\/p>\n
math, and if I did the math correctly,<\/p>\n
we've been doing it for 10 years now,<\/p>\n
coming up on our our Psalm 100,<\/p>\n
how many of you were here 10 years ago<\/p>\n
when we started this series? Raise your<\/p>\n
hand. Just curious. Okay, good. Yeah, a<\/p>\n
few hands. I see those hands. So, Psalm<\/p>\n
98 today. So, this part of the Bible,<\/p>\n
uh, the Psalms, they are actually songs.<\/p>\n
And so the these are song lyrics that<\/p>\n
were sung. And in fact, many of our<\/p>\n
worship songs today are inspired by the<\/p>\n
Psalms. They come from the Psalms, even<\/p>\n
sometimes verbatim using different<\/p>\n
translations.<\/p>\n
And so what these texts uh are about is<\/p>\n
they're to be sung. They are to be sung<\/p>\n
unto God. And today's psalm makes that<\/p>\n
very clear. In fact, it's very explicit<\/p>\n
about that. We'll see that it's about<\/p>\n
singing, about praising God through<\/p>\n
song. And just as singing is so<\/p>\n
expressive<\/p>\n
in the Psalms, we see uh the full range<\/p>\n
of human emotion,<\/p>\n
you might say. Uh in essence, we see our<\/p>\n
lives and our emotions on display in the<\/p>\n
Psalms. Think about uh dancing. Think<\/p>\n
about modern dance, tap, jazz,<\/p>\n
classical,<\/p>\n
ballroom dancing, dancing throughout the<\/p>\n
ages.<\/p>\n
You know, we go through our lives with<\/p>\n
normal range of motion, right? You're<\/p>\n
sitting now. You walked into this room.<\/p>\n
We stand, we sit, we walk. But when we<\/p>\n
dance, and I know some of you dance,<\/p>\n
like to dance, and you um you put videos<\/p>\n
online of your dancing, it's very<\/p>\n
expressive.<\/p>\n
Dancing is it's a greater level a<\/p>\n
heightened expression of our normal<\/p>\n
range of motion.<\/p>\n
In the same way singing, think about the<\/p>\n
ways that we communicate. We use our<\/p>\n
voice. Some of us sign, some of us uh<\/p>\n
communicate through um our expressions<\/p>\n
and our faces. But when we do that, our<\/p>\n
expression is elevated when we sing,<\/p>\n
when we express through our hands. Some<\/p>\n
nationalities really use their hands<\/p>\n
when they speak, right? They express<\/p>\n
through a greater range of motion. So<\/p>\n
there's something powerful<\/p>\n
about singing, about dancing, about a<\/p>\n
certain range of motion. Is it any<\/p>\n
wonder when we look and study uh all the<\/p>\n
nations and cultures throughout the<\/p>\n
world, we find expressive dance and<\/p>\n
music and rhythm and song and lyrics.<\/p>\n
Right? So I want us to think about all<\/p>\n
of that. Have all that in mind today<\/p>\n
when we look at this psalm because we<\/p>\n
must remember these are lyrics and this<\/p>\n
is a song that was written unto God for<\/p>\n
us to learn from today. Now the other<\/p>\n
thing about the word of God is that uh<\/p>\n
we talk about reading the Bible but<\/p>\n
really the Bible reads us.<\/p>\n
The Bible reads us. What do I mean by<\/p>\n
that? The truth that we find in the<\/p>\n
scriptures actually comes to examine us.<\/p>\n
When we consider the words of God and<\/p>\n
the truths of God, it actually looks<\/p>\n
deep into our hearts. We'll talk about<\/p>\n
our hearts today. Looks deep into our<\/p>\n
souls and examines who we are. So, we<\/p>\n
must do that as well as we approach<\/p>\n
the word of God today. As we read Psalm<\/p>\n
98,<\/p>\n
let it meet you where you are right now.<\/p>\n
You know where you are and God knows<\/p>\n
where you are. And to the extent that<\/p>\n
you have shared with others, they may<\/p>\n
know where you are as well. But ask<\/p>\n
yourself these questions. How am I doing<\/p>\n
in this season of life? Even today, how<\/p>\n
am I feeling deep down in my heart?<\/p>\n
What are my thoughts? What are my what<\/p>\n
are my dreams? What fears occupy my mind<\/p>\n
at this moment? What is bringing me joy?<\/p>\n
What is troubling me? What have I<\/p>\n
brought today that feels heavy?<\/p>\n
What am I unsure of?<\/p>\n
And so when we come to God, when we come<\/p>\n
to his word, we also bring those things<\/p>\n
in honesty before God.<\/p>\n
And and God speaks to us through his<\/p>\n
word.<\/p>\n
My kids tell me, they say, \"Daddy, you<\/p>\n
preach two sermons when you preach.\"<\/p>\n
That was the first one. So, thanks for<\/p>\n
bearing with me, but I want us to take<\/p>\n
time really to have our hearts prepared<\/p>\n
to hear from the word of God. Let's<\/p>\n
pray. God, we thank you that we can<\/p>\n
gather here today for worship<\/p>\n
of you and to hear from your word. Some<\/p>\n
of us have joyful hearts like we talked<\/p>\n
about, like I talked about just now. We<\/p>\n
feel elated today. We are happy. We're<\/p>\n
joyful. But some of us, if we're honest<\/p>\n
and someone asks, \"How are we doing?\" We<\/p>\n
would say, \"Actually, I'm not doing that<\/p>\n
great. I'm hurting or I'm full of<\/p>\n
sorrow.\"<\/p>\n
Some of us might feel a sense of peace.<\/p>\n
We feel like we're in a good place.<\/p>\n
Things are okay. And some of us are<\/p>\n
actually weary. We're tired. We're<\/p>\n
exhausted mentally, physically, maybe<\/p>\n
even spiritually. We have questions,<\/p>\n
doubts perhaps.<\/p>\n
Some of us may feel safe.<\/p>\n
Others may feel or be experiencing a<\/p>\n
sense of dread or fear.<\/p>\n
So, however we come today, we know that<\/p>\n
you have created us. We believe that you<\/p>\n
know our hearts. And so, we ask God,<\/p>\n
would you meet us in your word? Would<\/p>\n
you meet us in this place?<\/p>\n
The reality is we just sang is that we<\/p>\n
need you. We need to hear from you. We<\/p>\n
need to know, be reminded that you are<\/p>\n
God, that you are good, that you love<\/p>\n
this beautiful yet broken world and<\/p>\n
you're working in ways that we may not<\/p>\n
even see fully. So, please open our<\/p>\n
hearts to all of this.<\/p>\n
Help our minds to be wrapped around your<\/p>\n
truth to grasp it. Speak to us.<\/p>\n
Help us know your truth within us. We<\/p>\n
pray this in your holy name, Lord Jesus.<\/p>\n
Amen.<\/p>\n
I'm going to read Psalm 98 to us<\/p>\n
and we'll refer back to it. It's not a<\/p>\n
very long psalm, but there is there's<\/p>\n
much here to be gleaned and we will do<\/p>\n
that. This is the word of God. Psalm 98.<\/p>\n
Oh, sing to the Lord a new song, for he<\/p>\n
has done marvelous things.<\/p>\n
His right hand and his holy arm have<\/p>\n
worked salvation for him. The Lord has<\/p>\n
made known his salvation. He has<\/p>\n
revealed his righteousness in the sight<\/p>\n
of the nations.<\/p>\n
He has remembered his steadfast love and<\/p>\n
faithfulness to the house of Israel. All<\/p>\n
the ends of the earth have seen the<\/p>\n
salvation of our God. Make a joyful<\/p>\n
noise to the Lord, all the earth. Break<\/p>\n
forth into joyous song and sing praises.<\/p>\n
Sing praises to the Lord with the liar,<\/p>\n
with the liar and the sound of melody,<\/p>\n
with trumpets and the sound of the horn.<\/p>\n
Make a joyful noise before the King, the<\/p>\n
Lord.<\/p>\n
Let the sea roar<\/p>\n
and all that fills it, the world and<\/p>\n
those who dwell in it. The rivers, let<\/p>\n
the rivers clap their hands. Let the<\/p>\n
hills sing for joy together before the<\/p>\n
Lord. For he comes to judge the earth.<\/p>\n
He will judge the world with<\/p>\n
righteousness and the peoples with<\/p>\n
equity. This is the word of the Lord.<\/p>\n
Do you have a favorite song?<\/p>\n
Do you have a favorite song? A song that<\/p>\n
you just love to listen to if you're in<\/p>\n
the car by yourself. You put it on and<\/p>\n
maybe you play it again and again. Maybe<\/p>\n
you listen to it on the train, on your<\/p>\n
way to work,<\/p>\n
on your way to school. you just love the<\/p>\n
song.<\/p>\n
Have you ever stopped to think about<\/p>\n
what is it? Sort of analyze what is it<\/p>\n
that I like about this song?<\/p>\n
Is it is it the music?<\/p>\n
Is it the the rhythm?<\/p>\n
Is it the lyrics? Is it what the song is<\/p>\n
about? Is it the composition? Maybe<\/p>\n
you're very technical and you think,<\/p>\n
\"Wow, what a what a beautiful song. the<\/p>\n
way it elevates and then you know calms<\/p>\n
down but then it gets fast again. I<\/p>\n
don't know what what is it right? What<\/p>\n
is it about that song<\/p>\n
that moves you that makes you experience<\/p>\n
some emotion that then becomes to you<\/p>\n
something that you cherish something<\/p>\n
that you like.<\/p>\n
So in this psalm,<\/p>\n
something has really moved the psalmist<\/p>\n
and it's God.<\/p>\n
It's creation. It's God's work.<\/p>\n
Now, we know the author of many psalms.<\/p>\n
If you look in the Bible, you'll often<\/p>\n
see that it's attributed<\/p>\n
to an author that God worked through.<\/p>\n
So, King David wrote many psalms.<\/p>\n
There's a a group called the the Sons of<\/p>\n
Kora<\/p>\n
that wrote many psalms. There are other<\/p>\n
psalms attributed to other authors that<\/p>\n
God worked through to bring his word<\/p>\n
about, but not this psalm. We don't know<\/p>\n
who wrote this psalm, but we do know<\/p>\n
from the lyrics that God has revealed<\/p>\n
himself to this person in a powerful way<\/p>\n
through his actions and his character in<\/p>\n
his word.<\/p>\n
And we see that this psalmist is moved<\/p>\n
was moved to write this down and to sing<\/p>\n
out and to encourage and to admonish or<\/p>\n
to charge us if you will to sing out as<\/p>\n
well.<\/p>\n
Sing to the Lord a new song, a new song.<\/p>\n
This writer's heart was changed. This<\/p>\n
life was you know changed by an<\/p>\n
encounter with their creator with God.<\/p>\n
God made his salvation known<\/p>\n
and it led to a new life. It led to a<\/p>\n
new song. It led to praise and worship<\/p>\n
of God.<\/p>\n
I'm going to point to uh two<\/p>\n
contemporary artists<\/p>\n
to show how that happens<\/p>\n
in today's time. One is a singer<\/p>\n
songwriter that's a friend of ours,<\/p>\n
Jason Herod. Another is a English poet,<\/p>\n
an English an a living English poet that<\/p>\n
uh I think there's a line in both of<\/p>\n
these songs and in this poem that<\/p>\n
captures a bit of what we're talking<\/p>\n
about. Let me let me uh show this to<\/p>\n
you.<\/p>\n
Jason Herod sings this. And there are<\/p>\n
Thai translations for these. Male might<\/p>\n
have a little bit better nuance.<\/p>\n
So you can listen to Mel as she<\/p>\n
translates this. But the English says<\/p>\n
this in Jason Herod's song and it's<\/p>\n
called living song. He says it's kind of<\/p>\n
a bluesy song. So he kind of sings I got<\/p>\n
which is not correct English. It's I<\/p>\n
have<\/p>\n
but I got a living song deep in my soul.<\/p>\n
He sings that again. I got a living song<\/p>\n
deep in my soul. I got a song so deep,<\/p>\n
but it's not mine to keep, so I let go.<\/p>\n
So, Herod is singing, Jason is singing<\/p>\n
about a song. He's personifying or he's<\/p>\n
he's elevating this this song that's<\/p>\n
inside of him. And he's got to let it<\/p>\n
out. He's got to sing out this song in<\/p>\n
his soul that he cannot contain.<\/p>\n
And so, he says, \"It's not mine to keep.<\/p>\n
I can't keep it. And he sings it out.<\/p>\n
There's a line in this poem by Malcolm<\/p>\n
Gite, English poet, um that speaks to<\/p>\n
this as well in a way about music and<\/p>\n
about song.<\/p>\n
It's called Oencia<\/p>\n
Sapiensia<\/p>\n
Malcolm Gite. I'll read it to us. I<\/p>\n
cannot think unless I have been thought.<\/p>\n
Nor can I speak unless I have been<\/p>\n
spoken. I cannot teach except as I am<\/p>\n
taught or break the bread except as I am<\/p>\n
broken.<\/p>\n
Oh mind behind the mind through which I<\/p>\n
seek. Oh light within the light by which<\/p>\n
I see. Oh word beneath the words with<\/p>\n
which I speak.<\/p>\n
Oh founding unfound wisdom finding me.<\/p>\n
Oh sounding song whose depth is sounding<\/p>\n
me. Oh memory of time reminding me. My<\/p>\n
ground of being always grounding me. My<\/p>\n
maker's bounding line defining me. Come<\/p>\n
hidden wisdom. Come with all you bring.<\/p>\n
Come to me now disguised as everything.<\/p>\n
In the same way that Jason Herod had to<\/p>\n
sing out a song that was placed and deep<\/p>\n
in his heart, poet Malcolm Gite writes<\/p>\n
of this song<\/p>\n
capitalized<\/p>\n
God that is searching and reaching down<\/p>\n
into his very soul. The sounding song<\/p>\n
whose depth is sounding me.<\/p>\n
When we read Psalm 98,<\/p>\n
we see from this psalmist<\/p>\n
that they have to sing out. That is the<\/p>\n
response<\/p>\n
about the marvelous things they write<\/p>\n
that God has done.<\/p>\n
the character of God,<\/p>\n
the faithful and mighty God, a God of<\/p>\n
steadfast love, a God of faithfulness,<\/p>\n
a God that has brought salvation,<\/p>\n
a God that saves,<\/p>\n
a God that rescues.<\/p>\n
The language describes how God has given<\/p>\n
the nation of Israel victory over their<\/p>\n
enemies.<\/p>\n
Not through their own power,<\/p>\n
but through the power and might of God.<\/p>\n
God has worked his salvation. And the<\/p>\n
psalmist writes that God has made known<\/p>\n
his salvation.<\/p>\n
He's made it known. He's revealed his<\/p>\n
righteousness to the nations.<\/p>\n
In Romans<\/p>\n
in the first chapter, the apostle Paul<\/p>\n
also writes about revelation.<\/p>\n
He writes this, \"For the wrath of God is<\/p>\n
revealed from heaven against all<\/p>\n
ungodliness and unrighteousness of men<\/p>\n
who by their unrighteousness suppress<\/p>\n
the truth. For what can be known about<\/p>\n
God is plain to them because God has<\/p>\n
shown it to them. For his invisible<\/p>\n
attributes, namely his eternal power and<\/p>\n
divine nature, have been clearly<\/p>\n
perceived<\/p>\n
ever since the creation of the world in<\/p>\n
these things that have been made.<\/p>\n
So they are without excuse.<\/p>\n
For although they knew God, they did not<\/p>\n
honor him as God or give thanks to him,<\/p>\n
but they became futile in their thinking<\/p>\n
and their foolish hearts were darkened.<\/p>\n
So, the Apostle Paul is writing about<\/p>\n
mankind's sinfulness<\/p>\n
in light of God's revelation that we<\/p>\n
just talked about in the Psalm, Psalm<\/p>\n
98, God's revelation of his salvation<\/p>\n
unto the nations.<\/p>\n
Now, we'll speak about this more later,<\/p>\n
but suffice to say that God's revelation<\/p>\n
of himself has been made known to the<\/p>\n
nations. The psalm is speaking of it.<\/p>\n
The Apostle Paul is writing and<\/p>\n
referencing this truth.<\/p>\n
He's made known his salvation. He's made<\/p>\n
known his righteousness, his holiness.<\/p>\n
Made known unto mankind. Made known unto<\/p>\n
us.<\/p>\n
It's the sounding song, you might say,<\/p>\n
that Malcolm Guide is writing about<\/p>\n
probing the depths of our hearts. It's<\/p>\n
that sense that we as humans have down<\/p>\n
in our hearts of something more.<\/p>\n
God reveals himself<\/p>\n
through his creation.<\/p>\n
God reveals himself through his eternal<\/p>\n
All of this made known and by the work<\/p>\n
of the Holy Spirit of God.<\/p>\n
So, we're going to go back to the psalm<\/p>\n
now.<\/p>\n
As we continue reading this,<\/p>\n
the psalmist highlights God's powerful<\/p>\n
rule and reign. How<\/p>\n
God is shown as the king.<\/p>\n
He's the king.<\/p>\n
He rules over all things.<\/p>\n
His unfolding plan is good and true.<\/p>\n
God has worked and is working his<\/p>\n
salvation unto this world.<\/p>\n
So we are called to praise him for his<\/p>\n
work. His work in us, his work in this<\/p>\n
world and throughout history, throughout<\/p>\n
time.<\/p>\n
He is the king.<\/p>\n
The psalmist turns to show utmost praise<\/p>\n
of God's creation unto God. Not only do<\/p>\n
humans<\/p>\n
have this song stirred up within them<\/p>\n
and worship their creator, but here the<\/p>\n
psalmist animates all of creation. Look,<\/p>\n
the rivers clapping their hands, the<\/p>\n
hills singing out for joy.<\/p>\n
Humankind was created in the image of<\/p>\n
God to know God. And like the psalmist<\/p>\n
here, when we come to know our creator,<\/p>\n
when we see the marvelous things that<\/p>\n
God has done, we can't help but respond.<\/p>\n
We sing out. We call out. We cry out. We<\/p>\n
acknowledge<\/p>\n
the lordship and the kingship of our<\/p>\n
creator.<\/p>\n
The psalm, it concludes, it's not very<\/p>\n
long. It concludes with a look to God's<\/p>\n
promises for the future. Do you see that<\/p>\n
the king is ruling and the king will<\/p>\n
come again? Coming to judge. The king<\/p>\n
will judge. Jesus will judge with<\/p>\n
righteousness<\/p>\n
and is coming to establish his eternal<\/p>\n
rule and kingdom.<\/p>\n
When this psalm was written,<\/p>\n
the people of God<\/p>\n
were still waiting. The promised one of<\/p>\n
God, the Messiah,<\/p>\n
the one that would come, the savior that<\/p>\n
would come, that God had promised to<\/p>\n
save his people. They were awaiting. And<\/p>\n
yet, we read here of God's salvation. We<\/p>\n
read here of God's salvation being<\/p>\n
revealed and shown to the nations. And<\/p>\n
yet they're waiting.<\/p>\n
God had revealed his saving hand. And he<\/p>\n
would work in a powerful way to provide<\/p>\n
deliverance<\/p>\n
from mankind's greatest enemy,<\/p>\n
sin and death.<\/p>\n
So this psalm points to the future<\/p>\n
in two ways.<\/p>\n
One, it tells of God's coming salvation<\/p>\n
to be known through the saving work of<\/p>\n
Jesus Christ. It points also to when<\/p>\n
Jesus will come again, judging the<\/p>\n
world. Other parts of the Bible talk<\/p>\n
about Jesus will be the judge<\/p>\n
judging the world in righteousness and<\/p>\n
setting up his eternal kingdom.<\/p>\n
How though?<\/p>\n
How how would God bring salvation to<\/p>\n
darkened hearts that mentioned here in<\/p>\n
Romans to darkened hearts? How would God<\/p>\n
rescue those that suppress the knowledge<\/p>\n
of God?<\/p>\n
How would God save those that turn their<\/p>\n
hearts away from God?<\/p>\n
How would God do that?<\/p>\n
In second Corinthians, we'll look at a<\/p>\n
couple of passages in chapter 5.<\/p>\n
Actually,<\/p>\n
the Apostle Paul writing again wrote<\/p>\n
this.<\/p>\n
God made him talking about Jesus here.<\/p>\n
God made him who had no sin<\/p>\n
to be sin<\/p>\n
for us<\/p>\n
so that in him in Jesus we might become<\/p>\n
the righteousness of God.<\/p>\n
This is how Jesus or how God father<\/p>\n
would would bring his salvation about<\/p>\n
conquering death. Jesus<\/p>\n
and his atoning sacrificial death for<\/p>\n
us. That is how God brought final and<\/p>\n
everlasting rescue. This is how God<\/p>\n
would reveal and bring salvation. How he<\/p>\n
conquered sin and death once and for<\/p>\n
all. Our sin<\/p>\n
was placed on Jesus.<\/p>\n
He died in our place so that we would<\/p>\n
know the mercy,<\/p>\n
the forgiveness,<\/p>\n
the grace,<\/p>\n
and see the righteousness of God.<\/p>\n
Friends, when we turn<\/p>\n
from our sin, from our death unto our<\/p>\n
creator God, and confess that Jesus is<\/p>\n
Lord<\/p>\n
and God,<\/p>\n
a new song, this new song that the<\/p>\n
psalmist is writing about is stirred up<\/p>\n
within us.<\/p>\n
It's stirred up within us. Jesus brings<\/p>\n
this new life and he puts this new song<\/p>\n
in our hearts. A song of worship, a song<\/p>\n
of praise, a song of all the marvelous<\/p>\n
things that God has done. This is the<\/p>\n
song that we sing now<\/p>\n
and it's the song that we will sing<\/p>\n
forever more as new creations in and<\/p>\n
through Jesus Christ.<\/p>\n
Earlier in chapter five, Paul wrote<\/p>\n
Therefore, if anyone is in Christ,<\/p>\n
this person is a new creation.<\/p>\n
The old has passed away and the new, the<\/p>\n
new has come.<\/p>\n
this new song,<\/p>\n
this new heart,<\/p>\n
singing out unto God.<\/p>\n
In Psalm 40, another psalm, we also sing<\/p>\n
and read of this new song. He put a new<\/p>\n
song in my mouth,<\/p>\n
a song of praise to our God. Many will<\/p>\n
see and fear.<\/p>\n
This fear has to do with reverence and<\/p>\n
respect and honoring of God. Many will<\/p>\n
see and fear and put their trust<\/p>\n
in the Lord.<\/p>\n
You see how the Bible so beautifully<\/p>\n
woven together. We're looking at Old<\/p>\n
Testament, New Testament<\/p>\n
prophecy, looking ahead to Jesus and the<\/p>\n
salvation to be known through him.<\/p>\n
So<\/p>\n
the question each week when we look at<\/p>\n
the word of God and when we study the<\/p>\n
scriptures is how do we take these<\/p>\n
truths and how do we allow them to be<\/p>\n
placed on to read our hearts right to<\/p>\n
apply them to our own hearts now it's<\/p>\n
clear that the admonition here in this<\/p>\n
psalm is to sing out to praise God you<\/p>\n
know our theology informs and it leads<\/p>\n
our doxology<\/p>\n
what does that<\/p>\n
Theology seeking to understand and to<\/p>\n
know God that leads to doxology to<\/p>\n
praise unto and worship of God.<\/p>\n
That's the rightful response.<\/p>\n
When we come to know who God is, what<\/p>\n
God has done, we see it,<\/p>\n
we experience it, and our hearts then<\/p>\n
turn in praise and we worship. We<\/p>\n
worship God. We worship the Lord with<\/p>\n
our lives. We worship the Lord as the<\/p>\n
gathered church, as God's people.<\/p>\n
We worship<\/p>\n
and worship is about God.<\/p>\n
It's not performative.<\/p>\n
It's formative.<\/p>\n
It's not performing like singing as a<\/p>\n
show unto others of a great voice. and<\/p>\n
that's wonderful.<\/p>\n
Or maybe you feel like I I don't feel<\/p>\n
like I have a great voice. You know<\/p>\n
what? That's okay.<\/p>\n
Sing a new song. You are ad admonished<\/p>\n
to sing, encouraged to sing. Worship,<\/p>\n
corporate worship, worship unto God is<\/p>\n
not performative.<\/p>\n
It's formative. Meaning<\/p>\n
God is working in us,<\/p>\n
shaping us, forming us.<\/p>\n
as a community, as his church, as a<\/p>\n
people, and our individual hearts as he<\/p>\n
works in our lives.<\/p>\n
God is revealing his work. He's helping<\/p>\n
us. He's helping us. He's leading us to<\/p>\n
worship. So, we sing out.<\/p>\n
We praise God together. When we worship,<\/p>\n
we join together as as one body, as one<\/p>\n
community with one voice, one<\/p>\n
expression, one body. That's why<\/p>\n
sometimes we stand together. Sometimes<\/p>\n
we we may lift our hands in worship of<\/p>\n
God together. Sometimes we sit in awe of<\/p>\n
who God is and we actually listen or we<\/p>\n
just read the lyrics of what's being<\/p>\n
sung and allow it to minister to our<\/p>\n
hearts. When we sing, we profess to one<\/p>\n
another the truths that we hold to.<\/p>\n
When we hear the person next to us<\/p>\n
singing, we may be reminded that God has<\/p>\n
revealed himself and has brought us<\/p>\n
together as his church.<\/p>\n
When we see others joining in worship of<\/p>\n
God, when we see heads bowed, when we<\/p>\n
read lyrics that are being sung, when we<\/p>\n
see arms raised, when we see hands open<\/p>\n
to receive what God is impressing upon a<\/p>\n
heart, or we even see someone, as I<\/p>\n
said, sitting quietly,<\/p>\n
just listening, or just reflecting on<\/p>\n
the word of God, we use our voices, we<\/p>\n
use our bodies, we use these instruments<\/p>\n
that were even listed here. Not just the<\/p>\n
liar,<\/p>\n
but we use and and horns, which might be<\/p>\n
kind of cool one Sunday, but instruments<\/p>\n
and the instrument that God has given us<\/p>\n
as well, our voices. We sing out.<\/p>\n
God has allowed humans uh<\/p>\n
to know him.<\/p>\n
God has worked that we uh would<\/p>\n
understand being seeing himself you know<\/p>\n
his his truth revealed to us<\/p>\n
and he allows us to come and and know<\/p>\n
him and worship him. That's our<\/p>\n
response. All this is from God and all<\/p>\n
this is unto and for God.<\/p>\n
There's a beautiful passage in the book<\/p>\n
of Zephaniah in the Old Testament.<\/p>\n
The Lord your God<\/p>\n
is in your midst,<\/p>\n
a mighty one who will save.<\/p>\n
He will rejoice over you with gladness.<\/p>\n
He will quiet you by his love.<\/p>\n
He will exalt over you<\/p>\n
with loud singing.<\/p>\n
How profound<\/p>\n
is it that our creator, that our God<\/p>\n
rejoices over broken and sinful people.<\/p>\n
How beautiful that God has made his<\/p>\n
salvation known to this world and that<\/p>\n
there's a song of repentance and a song<\/p>\n
of praise that is stirred up within us<\/p>\n
as we turn to faith in God and look to<\/p>\n
Jesus as our savior<\/p>\n
and we rest in him.<\/p>\n
This is the song of our hearts<\/p>\n
and we're called to sing it out unto<\/p>\n
God.<\/p>\n
years ago, I spent some time around a<\/p>\n
family for a summer. I was working at a<\/p>\n
retreat center<\/p>\n
and there was a family that had a number<\/p>\n
of children<\/p>\n
and one of their sons had been born with<\/p>\n
a number of physical and mental<\/p>\n
challenges.<\/p>\n
He was confined to a wheelchair and he<\/p>\n
would be for his lifetime.<\/p>\n
He wasn't able to speak.<\/p>\n
He had limited cognitive ability<\/p>\n
and limited ability to move his body<\/p>\n
or to even communicate in any way.<\/p>\n
And so for most of the time he would sit<\/p>\n
with a restful quiet expression on his<\/p>\n
face.<\/p>\n
But when anyone from his family would<\/p>\n
call out his name and they would they<\/p>\n
would speak loudly so he could hear,<\/p>\n
whenever they would call out his name,<\/p>\n
he would this broad smile this big smile<\/p>\n
would come across his face.<\/p>\n
And sometimes, not always, but sometimes<\/p>\n
he would utter a sound, some something<\/p>\n
from within him that was a response.<\/p>\n
It wasn't any language. It wasn't words<\/p>\n
that we could understand,<\/p>\n
but it was something coming from within<\/p>\n
him.<\/p>\n
It was a response to love.<\/p>\n
It was a response to being known and<\/p>\n
loved.<\/p>\n
Friends, God has created you in his<\/p>\n
image.<\/p>\n
He's placed a song in your heart that<\/p>\n
you were made to sing out.<\/p>\n
Sing out that song<\/p>\n
as you live in and by his grace.<\/p>\n
Let's pray.<\/p>\n
God, we thank you for your work<\/p>\n
in our hearts, in our lives, in this<\/p>\n
world. We thank you that even though<\/p>\n
this world is broken and hurting, you<\/p>\n
are working into it.<\/p>\n
We thank you that for the we just thank<\/p>\n
you for the way that you stir hearts up<\/p>\n
to know you and to praise you.<\/p>\n
And we pray that you would do this more<\/p>\n
around us with our friends,<\/p>\n
with our colleagues, with our neighbors,<\/p>\n
with people that we know and love that<\/p>\n
that do not not yet know you in this<\/p>\n
way. We pray that you would help us to<\/p>\n
trust in your good and ongoing work and<\/p>\n
your timing and your pace and the way<\/p>\n
that you reveal yourself.<\/p>\n
Help us trust in that.<\/p>\n
Help us to be a people that worship you<\/p>\n
as we ought.<\/p>\n
Help us to sing out. Help us also to<\/p>\n
love and care for those around us<\/p>\n
in your name and by your strength.<\/p>\n
And it's in your name that we pray, Lord<\/p>\n
Jesus. Amen.<\/p>","english_search_text":"","":"","original_publish_date":"20251105","video_url":"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=vMgtCkp4iec","video_id":"vMgtCkp4iec","video_duration":"36:12","channel_name":"Grace City Bangkok"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/gracecity.machakosconsulting.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/109","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/gracecity.machakosconsulting.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/gracecity.machakosconsulting.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gracecity.machakosconsulting.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gracecity.machakosconsulting.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=109"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/gracecity.machakosconsulting.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/109\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":110,"href":"https:\/\/gracecity.machakosconsulting.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/109\/revisions\/110"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gracecity.machakosconsulting.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/108"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/gracecity.machakosconsulting.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=109"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gracecity.machakosconsulting.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=109"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gracecity.machakosconsulting.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=109"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}