Praise & Worship - Part 3

0:12 I am in part three of my series on praise and worship. Today is part three of praise and worship. Thank you, those five of y'all over here. Let me come over here. Part one we talked about, we took a look at several stories in the Bible where we saw how God responded to praise and worship. We saw God do miraculous things in people's lives when they praised and worshiped God. We saw God answer prayers. We saw God give victory over enemies. We saw God do the spectacular. We believe that when we give God praise and worship, it sets up an opportunity for God to do the unbelievable. Amen. And so that was part one. Part two, which was last week, we spent some time talking about reasons why we should praise God.

1:10 Why should we praise God? And we looked at several places where the scripture gave us reasons. We praise God because it's a sacrifice. We give God a sacrifice. We praise him because it's for his pleasure. I want you to look at your neighbor and say, praise and worship ain't for you, it's for God. Now tell a person on the other side, it ain't about you.

1:35 It's about God. It ain't about you. It's about God. It's for his pleasure. So many people think the church should be designed for their pleasure. It's not about you. It's about the kingdom of God. We also talked about the fact that we should worship and praise God because he's worthy. How many of y'all know that we serve a God who is worthy? He's worthy. We praise him because he inhabits the praise of his people. He lives in the environment of praise and worship. He can do the spectacular when everybody gets on the same page and worship him. He lives in that kind of environment. We praise him because of his mighty acts. God has done some mighty acts. I don't know your name. I don't know your story. I don't know where you live, but here's what I do know about everybody in here.

2:30 You can look back over your life and find at least one thing that you know that God did for you. There are some things that you can look back over your life and know that nobody else could have made this happen. Nobody else could have opened the door. My boss didn't do it. My job didn't do it. The bank didn't do it. My school didn't do it. God did some things that only God could do.

3:00 And then finally, last week we talked about that we praise him because he took us out of darkness into his marvelous light. How many of y'all know you're in the light now? You didn't know how jacked up your life was until God brought you into the light. Now, today I want to spend this final message today talking about how to praise God. Because the Bible gives us clarity and specific instructions on how to praise God. I have learned in my years in church, and I've been in church all my life. I've been preaching for 53 years, pastoring for 39 years. and I conclude that everything in church masquerading as praise and worship is not praise and worship.

3:58 Amen. Amen. Yeah. The Bible gives us clarity about specific instructions on what we are to do and how we are to praise God. And I want to give you those. I have five. Good. I wanted somebody to say, take your time. That's exactly what I intend to do here at the 12 o'clock service. This is the take your time service right here. Amen. You don't come to this service unless you want God, you want the pastor to take his time. People come to this service because they want to worship God and praise God. This is the dancing service right here. This is the service that went straight from the club to the service to church.

4:57 Can I get an amen right there from anybody? Here's number one. I got five points. The first point is we praise God with a Shabak. Shabak. What does Shabak mean? I'm glad you asked the question. Shabak is a Hebrew word. This is a Hebrew word that means to make a loud noise, a loud tone. It means to, let me give you the definition, to unashamedly and triumphantly shout. I need to talk about that for a moment because all of the screams and hollers that you hear in church is not triumphant. Sometimes people are wailing in pain. That's not praise and worship. God does not respond to that. Shabbat is the ability to worship and praise God triumphantly.

5:53 Somebody say triumphantly. It means to lift your voice unto God. And this word Shabbat, that's what it means. It means we're going to make a loud noise, a loud shout. We're going to celebrate. That's probably a better word, celebration. It is an opportunity to celebrate God. And I don't know where y'all are, but I learned in my life with the journey that I've had with God that I don't have to wait until God answers my prayer for me to respond. his credit is good with me, I can go ahead and praise him ahead of time.

6:32 I can give him a shout ahead of time. He is a miracle worker. Thank you, Jesus. Here's what Psalm 63 and 3 says. Because your loving kindness is better than life, my lips shall praise you. Somebody say, I'm going to open my mouth and praise God. Somebody say, I'm going to open my mouth and praise God. Open my mouth and give God the praise that is due to him. Psalm 106 verse 47 says this. Psalm 106 verse 47. Save us, O Lord our God, and gather us from among the Gentiles to give thanks to your holy name, to triumph in your praise. There's that word praise. That word praise is the Hebrew word shabbat. I'm going to triumph in your praise. I'm going to triumph with a shout by opening my mouth and giving you a loud noise of celebration.

7:31 Hallelujah. Here's Psalm 145 verse 4. Psalm 145 verse 4 says, One generation shall praise your works to another. Let me roll back and give it to you again. One generation shall shabak your works to another and shall declare your mighty acts. Y'all missed a great spot to say amen. Here's what that means. It means that one generation, one people who have experienced the mighty works of God has the responsibility to tell it to the next generation. Amen. Don't expect them to understand it. Your children are not going to understand what God has done like what you know what God has done because you saw God do it and you can shout and celebrate what you know God has done. I wish I had an amen right here for just a second. You know what God has done, and you want to give him the glory and honor.

8:28 And the scripture says, shout it to the next generation. Let me find the next generation. Let me tell the next generation. Let me tell them he's a miracle worker. Let me tell them he'll answer your prayer. Let me tell you he'll provide your money for school. Let me tell them he'll help you get a passing grade on your group school, y'all, in your class, even when you didn't study as hard as you should have studied. Oh, let me take that back. That ain't true. Let me pull that one back. you do have to study. God can't pull on nothing that ain't there. Come on, holler back at her, brother. Somebody tell your neighbor, it's got to be there. It has got to be there. Now, here's what praise and worship is not.

9:18 Here's what Shabbat is not. Thank you. act. That's how some of y'all behave. God woke you up this morning, but you're sitting like a lump on a log. God worked miracles for you, but you don't open your mouth. You don't raise your hand. You don't say nothing, do anything. But I know God has done something that is worthy of some kind of praise from you. Some kind of acknowledgement.

10:10 Make a move. Make some kind of move. Look at your neighbor and say, Shabak. Some kind of move, some kind of movement, some kind of noise, some kind of something. Acknowledge him somehow.

10:44 Just don't sit there and look. Don't cross your arms and shut your mouth up. Thank God. Somehow, some way, somehow, some way. Have I got a witness anywhere in the camp? Here's number two. Here's number two. Barak. B-A-R-A-K. This is two. Barak, Barak, Barak. It means to kneel and bless God has an act of adoration. To kneel and bless God. That's an interesting thing. This is how you bless God. you're always looking for a blessing. Sometimes you can be a blessing to God. To kneel and bless God is an act of adoration. And Psalm 95, 6 says, O come, let us worship and bow down.

11:42 Let us kneel before the Lord, our maker. Amen. It's okay to kneel down. It's okay to bow before his presence. You can kneel, you can bow, you can lay down prostrate, lay down flat on your face before God is a form of worship. Hallelujah. Can I get an amen right there from somebody? This is a Hebrew word, again, from Psalm 95 and 6, let us come, oh, come, let us worship and bow down, let us kneel, kneel, kneel before our maker. It is a way for us to worship God. Here's number three, number three, number three, number three. I want to talk about hands, your hands, your hands, your hands. There's a multitude of verses, I'm sorry, there's a multitude of Hebrew words that are used to talk about what to do with your hands. Psalm 47 and 1, Psalm 47 and 1 says, oh clap your hands all you peoples. Shout to God with the voice of triumph. Somebody say clap your hands. That's a way to worship God by clapping. Hallelujah. Hey, listen to that noise, that, listen to that, that, that, that sound. It means something to God when you make the sound. If you did it by yourself, it don't mean anything. Wait, hold up before y'all clap. This is why this is so important. This is why worship, corporate worship, because you can only make this kind of a noise when you are in a corporate environment.

13:21 When you're at home by yourself, you can't do this by yourself. But go ahead, everybody clap. I want everybody to give God some clap. Listen to that. Listen to that noise. It's a sweet aroma in the ears of God. It means something to him. Oh, clap your hands, all you people. Hallelujah. Thank you. Praise him. He's worthy.

13:56 We serve a God that's worthy of us giving him some kind of a celebration. Oh, clap your hands, all you people. Here's another thing. Here's another something you can do with your hands. Psalm 134, verse 2. Lift up your hands in the sanctuary and bless the Lord. Here's another way to bless the Lord, by lifting your hands. Somebody say, lift up your hands. Something about the lifting of hands that has value to God, that celebrates him, that blesses him. Look at Psalm 63, verse 4. Psalm 63, verse 4 says, thus will I bless thee while I live. I will lift up my hands in thy name. Amen. Listen, you got to learn that it's okay to lift your hands, to clap your hands, use your hands to give God praise. Amen. When I was in school, you know, the teacher would ask a question.

15:03 And if we knew the answer, we would raise our hand to say we knew the answer and we wanted the teacher to call on us. But now, if the teacher was offering a prize to whoever got the right answer, and we had the answer, we'd say, and if you really wanted the prize, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, you made a noise and you lifted your hands. Okay, y'all not getting it. Let me make this plain to you. Hold up, wait, hold up. Here's what this means. When you lifting your hands and opening your mouth, you're saying to God, ooh, I know what the answer is. I know that you're a way maker. I know that you're going to work it out. I know that you're going to answer my prayer. I know you're going to give me the victory. I know I might not feel like it.

15:56 I might not feel like worshiping you, but I know you are the answer to my dilemma. I know that you are a way maker. I know that you are a problem solver. I know that you are a miracle worker. Oh, oh. Woo!

16:24 Now, I know some of y'all ain't, I've been watching some of y'all, y'all ain't opened your mouth, you ain't raised your hand, and I'm not mad at you. I'm not mad at you. The Lord ain't mad at you because he know you just don't know him. When you have a relationship with God, when you have him as your personal savior, you, matter of fact, when you see, you know what? I, ooh, ooh, ooh. I discovered when you see God do something spectacular on your behalf that you know that nobody but God did it, you will unashamedly, unapologetically, boldly, courageously raise your hand and open your mouth and clap your hands and give him the praise. Oh, oh, oh!

17:16 Hey! Anybody here know he's a miracle-working God? Anybody here know he's a problem-solving God? Anybody here know he's worthy of our praise? He is right! me a bow, I pray.

18:00 Hey! I know you said it ain't in your temperament. I know you say it's not in your personality, but what I know is the God that we serve will put the Holy Spirit inside of you and transform your personality and transform your temperament that you will willingly be willing to give him the glory. Hallelujah. I'm almost finished. Here's number four.

18:46 Y'all got number one? Number two. Number three. Number four. I'm just trying to make sure y'all paying attention. Singing and music. Somebody say singing and music. Psalm 66 verses 1 through 2. Psalm 66 verses 1 through 2. Shout with joy to God, all the earth. Sing the glory of his name. Make his praise glorious. Hallelujah. Hallelujah.

19:28 You got to sing. I used to sing in United Voices as a young man, as a teenager, I sang in United Voices, and Brother Mike McDaniels, who was in the tennis section with me, used to take a key out of his pocket and say, pass this to John.

19:51 Ain't that cold? He would pass it out there, give this to John, tell him to get on this right here, get on the key. That's cold, yeah. but I later told him I wasn't singing for you, to you.

20:15 I don't have any help here. Anybody here? No. And guess what? Some of y'all don't know how to stay on key either, but it's okay. It's all right. It's okay to go ahead and sing even though you're off key. It's okay. God knows your heart. Huhuhääahahahaha It's okay. Just open your mouth and sing. It's blessing him. Even though you're off key, it blesses him.

20:52 Let's see. Psalm 34. Did I give y'all that one yet? Psalm 34. One says, I will extol the Lord at all times. His praise will always, continually be in my mouth. I like that verse right there. Because what it says is, regardless of what I'm in right now, his praise shall continually be in my mind. Here's how you know that you've achieved a level of maturity when you know how to worship God, even when things are not going the way you want them to go.

21:34 Even though the doctors have diagnosed you with a condition that they can't do anything about, Even though you don't have enough money in the bank to pay the bill, even though the situation looks bleak and sad, your praise to God should continually be in your mouth. Somebody say, how can I do that? Because I know that whatever happens, God has my best interest in mind. If you just know this, here's a verse I want everybody to get in their heart. Get this verse in your heart. Get this verse in your mind. Memorize this verse because it's going to help you through life. Romans 8 28 and we know that all things work together for good to those who've been called I wish I had a praying crowd with me here today through thick and thin he's still worthy through hell and high water it may not look good right now but when I get to the end of the story, all things work together for my good. I may not see it now, but when I get to the end of the story, it will be good.

22:45 Somebody high five your name and say, when I get to the end, it'll be good. Tell yourself, when I get to the end, it'll be good. Give yourself a high five and say, when I get to the end, when I get to the conclusion, when I get to the end of the story, when the book is finished, when I get to the completion, I will be better. liter charlie So, it's singing and music. Somebody say, and music.

23:48 And music. Y'all see these jokers up here? We pay them to play music. Why do we pay them to play music? because they are gifted and good. These jokers right here are good. They are gifted. They are anointed. Thank you. I could not do that if my life depended on it. That sounds anointed. That sounds anointed.

24:46 All right.

25:16 Thank you. And somehow or another when we combine all of this with your voices and with your hands raised and with your hands clapping, God is blessed when we do it all together. When we put them in the same page and put them on the same chord and sing the same song, we give God glory.

26:18 We give God praise. And he does the spectacular when we do that. Hey! Hey! Hey! Hey! Hey! Hey!

26:48 All right, all right. I got one more, I'll be finished. This is, this is, I could not go to a church where it's dead silence the whole time. That ain't my cup of tea, especially when the Bible tells me to make a joyful noise.

27:10 Oh, yeah, I got to be in a church where there's going to be some noise. Amen. Oh, yeah, because the Bible tells us to make the noise. Finally, here's number five, dancing. Somebody say dancing. Psalm 149 verse 3. let them praise his name with the dance let them praise let them sing praises to him with the timbaland harp but I want you to see this in part 149.3 let them praise his name with the dance the dance is okay the dance is okay look at her over here Do it then?

28:04 Yeah. Yeah, it's now dancing is a form of worship. So y'all need to listen to the music before you jump on the dance floor. Yeah, what did I say?

28:25 What's the words of the song before you jump out there? Because y'all jumping out there, y'all. Where them fans at? Where them fans? Fam, fam, fam. Yeah, that's what the song said. Yeah, it'd be different if it said, where them saints at? And if y'all be saying, here I am right here. Right I'm saying safe. Safe.

29:18 Now, I'm going to read this passage to you in 2 Samuel 6. Then I'm going to be finished. And let me give you some, let me set up the stage that David is king.

29:54 David is king. He has married the prior king's daughter, Saul's daughter. And now he's trying to get everything in order because Saul had been rejected by God because he disobeyed God. and he's bringing the Ark of the Covenant back to where it's supposed to be. It was in the wrong place, so now he's trying to get it back to the right place. And in 2 Samuel chapter 6, verse 14 says, Then David danced before the Lord with all his might. And David was wearing a linen ephod. I like this, right? This is a verse that this whole story blesses my heart. So David and all the house of Israel brought up the ark of the Lord with shouting and with the sound of the trumpet.

30:54 Now as the ark of the Lord came into the city of David, Michael, Saul's daughter, who's also David's wife, looked through a window and saw King David leaping and whirling before the Lord. and she despised him in her heart. Now y'all need to understand that when you dance before the Lord, somebody gonna get mad at you. They're going to be mad at you. She's upset. She's angry. She's mad with him. And I love, and again, I want you to be at a place where you don't worry about other people.

31:36 You don't worry about what they think, what they say. Don't worry about their opinion. You don't worry about that. Now slide down to verse 20. I'm almost finished. I'm going to be finished right after this right here. Verse 20, then David returned to bless his household, and Michael, the daughter of Saul, came out to meet David and said, how glorious was the king of Israel today, uncovering himself today in the eyes of the maids of his servants as one of the base fellows shamelessly uncovers himself. He danced so hard, he danced out of his clothes. So David said to Michael, I love this right here. It was before the Lord who chose me instead of your father.

32:39 And all his house to appoint me ruler over the people of the Lord over Israel. Therefore, I will play music before the Lord. And then he said this, and I will be even more undignified than this. You thought I danced today? You wait till you see me dance the next time I dance. I'm looking for some people that got a mindset to say, I don't care what you think, what you say, what your opinion of me is. If you thought I look bad today, wait till you see me shout the next time I shout. You wait until you see me give God the praise, the next opportunity that I have. Hallelujah.

33:35 We serve a God that's worthy of our praise. He's worthy of us giving him the glory. He's worthy of us shouting and thanking him. He's worthy of us with all of the things he's done, the miracles he's wrought, the forgiveness he's extended to us. You know why I shout? You know why I'm not? You know why I'm praising the Lord? because I'm not going to hell, somebody said. I was on my way to hell. I was on my way to a burning hell and Jesus reached down and woke me up and saved me and forgave me and cleansed me and you think I'm not going to give him the praise?