Praise as Sin Prevention
Opening Prayer
If you have rebelled against God, repent. Then enter God’s presence in the confidence that you are forgiven.
Read Psalm 95:1-11
[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 the 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 only you would hear his voice, [8] “Do not harden your hearts as you did at Meribah, as you did that day at Massah in the wilderness, [9] where your ancestors tested me; they 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.'” Scripture taken from the THE HOLY BIBLE, NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION, NIV Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.® Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.
Reflect
What is the cause of rebellion?The psalmist begins with a call to praise God. We don’t just praise God because we are told to–we praise him because of who he is and what he has done. Re-read 1-5 and see how many reasons you can find for praising him. In the next section (6,7), the psalmist personalizes things. Having encouraged us to praise the God of the universe, he now calls us to worship because, although he is a great King above all gods (3), he is also near to us, caring for us as our Shepherd (7). Why is it, then, that we so often harden our hearts toward him (7,8)? The writer to the Hebrews uses this passage to warn us that unbelief can cause us to fall into sin (cf. Heb. 3:7–4:13). Like the generation of the Exodus (7-11), it is when we lose sight of who our God really is–either in his splendor or in his nearness to us–that we are in danger of thinking that it doesn’t really matter if we don’t obey him. So let’s praise the Lord because he is worthy, but let’s also praise him because in doing so we are reminded of who he is and why we should be faithful to him.
Apply
What is the connection between worship and holiness in your life?
Closing prayer
How has God shown his love and greatness to you? Sing, shout, or speak your praise and thanks to God (1,2)!
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