A Pattern of Worship

Date Created: 5/3/2004
Author: Matt Redman
Scripture References: Psalm 95

Verse Text:

1 Come, let us sing for joy to the Lord let us shout aloud to the Rock of our salvation.
2 Let us come before him with thanksgiving and extol him with music and song.
3 For the Lord is the great God, the great King above all gods.
4 In his hand are the depths of the earth, and he mountain peaks belong to him.
5 The sea is his, for he made it, and his hands formed the dry land.
6 Come, let us bow down in worship, let us kneel before the Lord our Maker
7 for he is our God and we are the people of his pasture, the flock under his care. Today, if you hear his voice,
8 do not harden your hearts as you did at Meribah, as you did that day at Massah in the desert,
9 where your fathers tested and tried me, though they had seen what I did.
10 For forty years I was angry with that generation I said, 'They are a people whose hearts go astray, and they have not known my ways.'
11 So I declared on oath in my anger, 'They shall never enter my rest.'

The Bible, New International Version.
Copyright 1973, 1978, 1984 by International Bible Society.
All rights reserved.

"Come let us return unto the Lord"
Psalm 95 is probably one of the best known of the Psalms amongst lead worshippers. For one thing, quite a few of the worship songs we sing today borrow some lines from this ancient song. It doesn't make clear in the Psalm itself who wrote it, yet in Hebrews 4:7 it quotes a section of this Psalm and attributes it to King David. As for the content of this song, in essence, it's a "call to worship".

When we lead worship, it's so important we remind ourselves of what we're doing, and point ourselves to where we're going. That's what a "call to worship" is all about. We're spurring each other on to remind ourselves of how worthy our God is, and journey in praise into His courts together again.

Even the first line of the song, calling each other to "Come let us sing for joy to the Lord" is packed full of meaning for worship. Firstly, that we should singing to the Lord as an expression of our worship. It's a wonderful way He has ordained for us to bring Him praise. Secondly, that we should do that as a congregation - let us sing - the people of God joining together in the worship of God.

Thirdly, that this can be a joyful event. Hebrews 12:22 reminds us that we have come to "thousands of angels in joyful assembly"; and as we approach, we have the privilege of joining in that song of joy. Lastly, this first verse reminds us that it's very appropriate to sing to the Lord. We miss something if we only sing about Him. Worship is relationship, and God has called us to engage with Him and respond to Him personally.
In verse 2 we're urged to "come before Him with thanksgiving", or as some translations have it, "come before His presence with thanksgiving". What a beautiful way of looking at what we do in worship. Entering the very presence of God with gratitude in our hearts.

So, these first 2 verses are a great way to begin our congregational worship here and now today. Coming before God with joyful songs, shouting aloud because of His salvation, and with thanksgiving in our hearts. It's good to begin our worship by calling ourselves to worship Him, and then moving into songs of celebration and praise for His saving love.

So far, we have sung of the goodness of God. In the next stage (v. 3-4) we go on to sing of the greatness of God. He is "the great God, the great King, above all gods." And He is the creator of all. The powerful fusion of the goodness and greatness of God adds mystery to our worship encounter.

Next, in verses 6-7, we move into a stage of reverence and adoration - we are God's chosen people, drawing near with reverence and kneeling before our Maker. As Charles Spurgeon reminds us, our adoration must be humble. In "Treasury of David" he says of Psalm 95: "The joyful noise is to be accompanied with lowliest reverence. We are to worship in such a style that the bowing down shall indicate that we count ourselves to be as nothing in the presence of our all-glorious Lord."

The range of expression in this Psalm teaches us a lot of what our worship should look like. It is so dynamic - one minute we're "shouting aloud", and the next we're "bowing down" and listening for His voice. In fact, that's the final stage of this Psalm. "Today if you hear His voice, do not harden your heart" (v.8). The final stage of our worship must be obedience. George Mallone describes this verse as the need to "complete the integrity of our worship with obedience." We walk out of worship as a changed people, desperate to do the will of God, and to be made more like Him.