How do I approach the Lord in worship?

April 10,14-15 2017

Worship:  Scandal of Grace by Hillsong United

Grace, what have you done?

Murdered for me on that cross

Accused in absence of wrong

My sin washed away in your blood

Too much to make sense of it all

I know that your love breaks my fall

The scandal of grace, you died in my place

So my soul will live

Oh, to be like you

Give all I have just to know you

Jesus, there's no one besides you

Forever the hope in my heart

Death, where is your sting?

Your power is as dead as my sin

The cross has taught me to live

And mercy, my heart now to sing

The day and its trouble shall come

I know that your strength is enough

The scandal of grace, you died in my place

So my soul will live

Oh, to be like you

Give all I have just to know you

Jesus, there's no one besides you

Forever the hope in my heart [repeat]

And it's all because of you, Jesus

It's all because of you, Jesus

It's all because of your love

And my soul will live

Oh to be like you

Give all I have just to know you

Jesus, there's no one besides you

Forever the hope in my heart [repeat]

Songwriters

JOEL HOUSTON, MATT CROCKER

Published by

Lyrics © CAPITOL CHRISTIAN MUSIC GROUP

Song Discussions is protected by U.S. Patent 9401941. Other patents pending.

Read more: Hillsong United - Scandal Of Grace Lyrics | MetroLyrics

Lyrics: http://www.metrolyrics.com/scandal-of-grace-lyrics-hillsong-united.html

Video: https://youtu.be/xhYboRutSGY

Witness:

The other day my friend sent me a text about his day of anxiety. In that text, he recounted that in the midst of it all there was one blessing. His son had called him and during the conversation had shared that he could not find his wallet. My friend prayed with his son over the phone that the wallet would be found. Later on, his son called and said he had found the wallet. This answer to prayer had really bolstered his son’s faith who also suffers from anxiety and depression. I texted back to my friend these words:

“How often does God do BIG things through little things in our lives?”

Oh, how often I have shouted hallelujah! How often I have thanked God for an answer to prayer for a small thing. I may have a doubting thought, or a feeling of sadness hit me, and I ask my Father for reassurance and comfort, and almost immediately a song comes on with the answer or a thought crosses my mind, seemingly out of the blue, that brings the comfort I need. That leads to another truth as I pondered what I had said.

“How often do we make BIG things out of little things?”

I’m not saying that every seeming BIG thing is really a little thing. The lost wallet, I found out later, was part of a bigger issue that I won’t go into. However, little things can grow into big things. My little doubts could fester into BIG doubts if I dwelled on them instead of giving them to the LORD. And in reality, all BIG things are really small things in light of the BIG God we know and love. In fact, the word “BIG” is really too small of a word to describe our GREAT GOD.

Jer 32:17,27 "Ah, Sovereign Lord, you have made the heavens and the earth by your great power and outstretched arm. Nothing is too hard for you” …"I am the Lord, the God of all mankind. Is anything too hard for me?  NIV

Mark 10:27 Jesus looked at them and said, "With man this is impossible, but not with God; all things are possible with God." NIV

Big or small

Take it all

Before Him fall

Faith install

Doubts stored

And all discord

To Him be poured

Who is the LORD

Heaven hears

Dries your tears

Calms your fears

Comforts and Cheers

Eph 3:20-21 Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us, to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, for ever and ever! Amen.
NIV

What a friend we have in Jesus,
All our sins and griefs to bear!
What a privilege to carry
Everything to God in prayer!
Oh, what peace we often forfeit,
Oh, what needless pain we bear,
All because we do not carry
Everything to God in prayer!

                                                            --Joseph M. Scriven

Ps 26:4-8 4 I do not sit with deceitful men, nor do I consort with hypocrites; 5 I abhor the assembly of evildoers and refuse to sit with the wicked. 6 I wash my hands in innocence, and go about your altar, O Lord, 7 proclaiming aloud your praise and telling of all your wonderful deeds. NIV (’84)

Ps 26:4-8 4 I do not spend time with liars or go along with hypocrites. 5 I hate the gatherings of those who do evil, and I refuse to join in with the wicked. 6 I wash my hands to declare my innocence. I come to your altar, O Lord, 7 singing a song of thanksgiving and telling of all your wonders. Holy Bible, New Living Translation ®, copyright © 1996, 2004 by Tyndale Charitable Trust. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers. All rights reserved.

Ps 26:4-8 4 I have not sat with vain persons, neither will I go in with dissemblers. 5 I have hated the congregation of evil doers; and will not sit with the wicked. 6 I will wash mine hands in innocency: so will I compass thine altar, O Lord: 7 That I may publish with the voice of thanksgiving, and tell of all thy wondrous works. KJV

Ps 26:4-7 4 I do not sit with men of falsehood, nor do I consort with hypocrites. 5 I hate the assembly of evildoers, and I will not sit with the wicked. 6 I wash my hands in innocence and go around your altar, O Lord, 7 proclaiming thanksgiving aloud, and telling all your wondrous deeds. ESV

The phrase “I will wash my hands” (v 6) is seen as a rhetorical device by some, and by others, as an actual activity David did to symbolize his declaration of innocence. Whether it is the former or the latter makes little difference, though I suppose the actual carrying out of the ritual may have had greater visual impact. However, whether rhetorical or real, the point he is trying to make is what really matters. Some say he was referring to the ritual the priests performed. The Pulpit Commentary says concerning verse 6:

This seems to be the key-note of the psalm. If not a necessary, it is at any rate a probable, exegesis, that David composed this psalm on an occasion when he was about to offer a sacrifice of praise and thanksgiving to God for some mercy recently vouchsafed him (ver. 7). Before offering, he feels the necessity of doing spiritually that which the priest' who officiated would have to do ceremonially (Ex 30:17-21) - to "wash his hands in innocency, and so to go to God's altar." His self-justification from ver. 1 to ver. 5 has had for its object to clear him from guilt.
(from The Pulpit Commentary, Electronic Database. Copyright © 2001, 2003, 2005, 2006 by Biblesoft, Inc. All rights reserved.)

Others refer to a desire to worship in purity and integrity.

[I will wash mine hands in innocency] The psalmist here refers, as another evidence of his piety, to the fact that it was a ruling purpose of his life to be pure, to worship and serve his Maker in purity. He had stated that he had no sympathy with the wicked, and that he did not make them his companions; he now states what his preferences were, and where his heart was to be found. He had loved, and he still loved the worship of God; he delighted in the pure service of the Most High. Washing the hands is an emblem of purity. So Pilate (Matt 27:24) "took water, and washed his hands before the multitude, saying, I am innocent of the blood of this just person." Compare Deut 21:6-7. The word rendered "innocency" means properly "cleanness, purity;" and perhaps the allusion here is to water that is perfectly pure. The sense of the passage is, that he would endeavor to make himself pure, and would thus worship God. He would not come, practicing iniquity, or cherishing sin in his heart. He would banish all from his mind and heart and life that was wrong, and would come with true love to God, and with the spirit of a sincere worshipper.(from Barnes' Notes, Electronic Database Copyright © 1997, 2003, 2005, 2006 by Biblesoft, Inc. All rights reserved.)

26:6-8. The setting of these verses is the sanctuary (cf. altar, v. 6, and house, v. 8). David's worship was with integrity (he washed his hands; cf. 24:4, in innocence) and sincerity (he praised the Lord and told of His deeds).(from Bible Knowledge Commentary/Old Testament Copyright © 1983, 2000 Cook Communications Ministries; Bible Knowledge Commentary/New Testament Copyright © 1983, 2000 Cook Communications Ministries. All rights reserved.)

Perhaps all these ideas ran through David’s mind. He was aware of the Temple ritual of the priest. He may have been aware of Deut. 21:1-9, where the washing of the hands symbolized a declaration of innocence in reference to a man found murdered by unknown hands. The ESV has both the Exodus passage and Deuteronomy passages in their cross references to verse 6. They also include Psalm 73:13.

Surely in vain have I kept my heart pure;

in vain have I washed my hands in innocence.

NIV

Another key verse that pertains to this is found when we move back two psalms to Psalm 24 where David in verse 3-4 says this:

Who may ascend the hill of the Lord?

Who may stand in his holy place?

He who has clean hands and a pure heart,

who does not lift up his soul to an idol

or swear by what is false.

NIV

Surprisingly, few commentators that I have access to reference this verse but to me, it is not only relevant to verse 6 but also to those referred to in Psalm 26:4-5.

The questions I must ask myself is, “how do I approach the Lord in worship? Have I stained myself with the hypocrisy and idolatry of the world? Have I prepared my heart for worship?” The Westminster Larger Catechism references this verse when instructing on the way to prepare for the Lord’s Supper.

Q. 171. How are they that receive the sacrament of the Lord’s supper to preparethemselves before they come unto it?A. They that receive the sacrament of the Lord’s supper are, before they come, to prepare themselves thereunto, by examining themselves¹⁰⁸⁸ of their being in Christ,¹⁰⁸⁹ of their sins and wants;¹⁰⁹⁰ of the truth and measure of their knowledge,¹⁰⁹¹ faith,¹⁰⁹² repentance;¹⁰⁹³ love to God and the brethren,¹⁰⁹⁴ charity to all men,¹⁰⁹⁵ forgiving those that have done them wrong;¹⁰⁹⁶ of their desires after Christ,¹⁰⁹⁷ and of their new obedience;¹⁰⁹⁸ and by renewing the exercise of these graces,¹⁰⁹⁹ by serious meditation,¹¹⁰⁰ and fervent prayer.^1101 1099 1 Corinthians 11:25-26, 28. After the same manner also he took the cup, when he had supped, saying, This cup is the new testament in my blood: this do ye, as oft as ye drink it, in remembrance of me. For as often as ye eat this bread, and drink this cup, ye do show the Lord's death till he come.... But let a man examine himself, and so let him eat of that bread, and drink of that cup. Hebrews 10:21-22. And having an high priest over the house of God; Let us draw near with a true heart in full assurance of faith, having our hearts sprinkled from an evil conscience, and our bodies washed with pure water. Hebrews 10:24. And let us consider one another to provoke unto love and to good works. Psalm 26:6. I will wash mine hands in innocency: so will I compass thine altar, O LORD.

http://www.reformed.org/documents/wlc_w_proofs/index.html?mainframe=/documents/wlc_w_proofs/index_wlc_fs.html&main=/documents/wlc_w_proofs/WLC_151-196.html

Surely the principles of self-examination and preparation listed above have farther reaching application than the Lord’s supper. When I go, do I prepare my heart for worship? When I go do I examine my life and confess my sins? Do I go expectantly? Do I go out of duty or out of Love (see v. 8)? Do I go with joy and thanksgiving? Do I witness to His goodness and majesty? Do I go to be seen by others, for the praise of my voice, or a spiritual “buzz”?

Why is it so

To church, I go?

Is it to know?

Is it to grow?

Is it for show?

Why do I praise

With hands upraised?

A heart ablaze?

A mind amazed?

For others to agaze?

Why do I serve

Without reserve?

Grace undeserved?

Grace filled verve?

To be observed?