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"Lifting Jesus Higher
For Today's Generation"
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 | Praise ye the LORD. Sing unto the LORD a new song, and his praise in the congregation of saints. Let Israel rejoice in him that made him: let the children of Zion be joyful in their King. Let them praise his name in the dance: let them sing praises unto him with the timbrel (tambourine) and harp. For the LORD taketh pleasure in his people: he will beautify the meek with salvation. Let the saints be joyful in glory: let them sing aloud upon their beds. Let the high praises of God be in their mouth, and a two-edged sword in their hand; To execute vengeance upon the heathen, and punishments upon the people; To bind their kings with chains, and their nobles with fetters of iron; To execute upon them the judgment written: this honour have all his saints. Praise ye the LORD. Psalms 149 (KJV) |
| Praise ye the LORD. Praise God in his sanctuary: praise him in the firmament of his power. Praise him for his mighty acts: praise him according to his excellent greatness. Praise him with the sound of the trumpet: praise him with the psaltery and harp. Praise him with the timbrel and dance: praise him with stringed instruments and organs (in some translations this is translated flute). Praise him upon the loud cymbals: praise him upon the high sounding cymbals. Let every thing that hath breath praise the LORD. Praise ye the LORD. Psalms 150 (KJV) |
| I will praise thee, O LORD, with my whole heart; I will shew forth all thy marvelous works. Psalms 9:1 (KJV) |
| How happy are those who can live in your house, always singing your praises. Psalms 84:4(KJV) |
| And my tongue shall speak of thy righteousness and of thy praise all the day long. Psalms 35:28(KJV) |
| In God we boast all the day long, and praise thy name forever. Psalms 44:8 (KJV) |
| I will freely sacrifice unto thee: I will praise thy name, O LORD; for it is good. Psalms 54:6(KJV) |
| Let the heaven and earth praise him, the seas, and every thing that moveth therein. Psalms 69:34 (KJV) |
| Exalt the Lord our God, And worship at His
footstool-- He is holy. Psalms 99:5 (NKJV) |
From David’s descriptions we find a lifelong passion for
celebrating the Love of God. When David
spoke about praises of the Lord it was with tenderness and a love of God that
ran extremely deep. This is why David was known for having a heart after God.
We must come to KNOW God personally. Not just to know about Him. Praise
is an opportunity to develop an expression of our heartfelt, greatful,
exuberant, unending, Love of the Heavenly Father for all he has done for us.
It is an opportunity to celebrate his glory to give him the
honor he is due. To begin practicing for our heavenly calling where we
will sing the Song of Moses:
And they sing the song of Moses the servant of God, and the song of the Lamb, saying, "Great and marvelous are thy works, Lord God Almighty; just and true are thy ways, thou King of saints.
Who shall not fear thee, O Lord, and glorify thy name? for thou only art holy: for all nations shall come and worship before thee; for thy judgments are made manifest." Rev 15:3-4 (KJV)
We must
not just seek to learn about God but also to come to know him personally in our
heart of hearts. Praise becomes a way to adore our heavenly Father, for
the essence of praise is to express our deep love and gratitude for all God has
done. One way of experiencing this is to close your eyes as you sing and
pretend you have just entered the Kingdom of Heaven, and you are standing with
Jesus looking him straight in the face and worshipping him thanking him for
saving you and for loving you. The Bible says to praise the Lord
with all manner of instruments, and even in dance. The historic Jewish
tradition celebrates this type of worship with traditional Jewish dance.
We worship the Lord with our voices, with our instruments, with our prayers and by bowing down and even laying prostrate before our God. The word worship in John 4:23-4 is translated from the Greek word – proskunevw. The definitions of proskunevw in Strong’s concordance include:
| to kiss the hand to (towards) one, in token of reverence |
| among the Orientals, esp. the Persians, to fall upon the knees and touch the ground with the forehead as an expression of profound reverence |
| in the NT by kneeling or prostration to do homage (to one) or make obeisance, whether in order to express respect or to make supplication |
| used of homage shown to beings of superior rank (e.g., to God, Christ, heavenly beings, and Jewish high priests) |
This word is also used in the New Testament to describe the worship the wisemen showed Jesus in the manger. The following are instances where worshippers bowed and fell down on the ground before God:
| When Abram was ninety-nine years old, the Lord appeared to Abram and said to him, "I am Almighty God; walk before Me and be blameless. And I will make My covenant between Me and you, and will multiply you exceedingly."Then Abram fell on his face, and God talked with him . . . Genesis 17:1-3 (NKJV) |
| Moses immediately fell to the ground and worshiped. Exodus 34:8 (NKJV) |
| Then King Jehoshaphat bowed down with his face to the ground. And all the people of Judah and Jerusalem did the same, worshiping the LORD. 2 Chronicles 20:8 (NKJV) |
| Then Saul, still breathing threats and murder against the disciples of the Lord, went to the high priest and asked letters from him to the synagogues of Damascus, so that if he found any who were of the Way, whether men or women, he might bring them bound to Jerusalem. As he journeyed he came near Damascus, and suddenly a light shone around him from heaven. Then he fell to the ground, and heard a voice saying to him, "Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting Me?" And he said, "Who are You, Lord?" Then the Lord said, "I am Jesus, whom you are persecuting. It is hard for you to kick against the goads." So he, trembling and astonished, said, "Lord, what do You want me to do?" Then the Lord said to him, "Arise and go into the city, and you will be told what you must do." Acts 9:1-9 (NKJV) |
Abram fell on his face even though he was
ninety-nine years old, Moses fell to the ground to worship, King Jeoshaphat
bowed down with his face to the ground, and Saul fell to the ground. Do we bow
down before the Lord and give the Lord the honor and Glory he deserves? In John
4:23-24 Jesus said “for the Father is seeking such to
worship Him”. What would happen if we chose to honor the Lord and
worship him as Jesus described? Maybe this is a part of what Jesus meant by
worshipping in Spirit and in Truth?
Worshipping in Spirit and in Truth is more than the act of worship it is
an attitude, an attitude of great love for our Savior, a love that flows from the
heart. Worship is an attitude of expectancy as we expect God to inhabit our
worship and begin to conform us into the image of Christ. Developing this
attitude is more than singing songs at Church it is coming to love Jesus Christ
as John Wesley said it: “at all times, in all places”. And as David said:
“Let the saints be joyful in glory: let them sing aloud upon their beds
(commentary added – as we go to bed in the evening and as we rise in the
morning)”.
Something else that is interesting is that Jesus taught about Worshipping in
Spirit and in Truth to the Samaritan Women at the Well. Jews did not associate
with Samaritans in Jesus’ day. But still Jesus took the time to teach about
Worshipping in Spirit and in Truth to a Samaritan. Worshipping in Spirit and
Truth is not limited. . . God is seeking anyone who is willing to worship him in
Spirit and in Truth.
Before Jesus left this earth, he said:
"If you love Me, keep My commandments. And I will pray
the Father, and He will give you another Helper (in the Greek Paraclete),
that He may abide with you forever--the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot
receive, because it neither sees Him nor knows Him; but you know Him, for He
dwells with you and will be in you.
I will not leave you orphans; I will come to you. A little while longer and the
world will see Me no more, but you will see Me. Because I live, you will live
also. At that day you will know that I am in My Father, and you in Me, and I in
you. He who has My commandments and keeps them, it is he who loves Me. And he
who loves Me will be loved by My Father, and I will love him and manifest Myself
to him." Judas (not Iscariot) said to Him,
"Lord, how is it that You will manifest Yourself to us, and not to the world?"
Jesus answered and said to him, "If anyone loves Me, he
will keep My word; and My Father will love him, and We will come to him and make
Our home with him. He who does not love Me does not keep My words; and the word
which you hear is not Mine but the Father's who sent Me.
These things I have spoken to you while being present with you. But the Helper, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in My name, He will teach you all things, and bring to your remembrance all things that I said to you. Peace I leave with you, My peace I give to you; not as the world gives do I give to you. Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid.” John 14:18-27 (NKJV)
The word helper or comforter is translated from the greek word parakletos (par-ak'-lay-tos). The King James New Testament Greek Lexicon dictionary defines this word as:
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Summoned, called to one's side, esp. called to one's aid |
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one who pleads another's cause before a judge, a pleader, counsel for defense, legal assistant, an advocate |
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one who pleads another's cause with one, an intercessor |
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of Christ in his exaltation at God's right hand, pleading with God the Father for the pardon of our sins |
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in the widest sense, a helper, succourer, aider, assistant |
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of the
Holy Spirit destined to take the place of Christ with the apostles (after his
ascension to the Father), to lead them to a deeper knowledge of the gospel
truth, and give them divine strength needed to enable them to undergo trials
and persecutions on behalf of the divine kingdom |
In John 14:17 Jesus promised that he
would send us the comforter or helper which is the Spirit of Truth who will guide
us into all truth about ourselves so that we can be transformed more and more
into Jesus likeness.
Later Jesus says: “He who has My commandments and keeps
them, it is he who loves Me. And he who loves Me will be loved by My Father, and
I will love him and manifest Myself to him.” We need to strive to keep
God’s commandments as we seek Him for Jesus says that those who love Jesus will
want to keep his commandments and the Holy Spirit will lead us into all truth,
reminding us about what Jesus has taught us. It is with this attitude that we
come in Spirit and Truth seeking the Father, and Jesus promised he would love us
and manifest himself to us. Later in this passage Jesus even promised that the
Father, the Son and Holy Spirit would make there home with us. AWESOME.
THANK-YOU JESUS. Did you know Jesus would come and move in with you to bring a
counselor to guide us everyday. Have
you invited the Holy Spirit to come make his home with you and help teach you,
to help guide you, to help transform you into the image of Christ? Conversely,
Jesus said: "He who does not love Me does not
keep My words; and the word which you hear is not Mine but the Father's who sent
Me". Jesus is saying that if we want to love
him we must keep his commandments.
In the greek the word ajlhvqeia is translated truth (as
used in John 4:23-24). In the greek this word means: “what is true in things
appertaining to God and the duties of man, moral and religious truth”. God seeks
those who want to be obedient to his word to follow him and be conformed more
and more into Christ’s image. He seeks those that desire to have the sin in
their lives removed and those who are open to having the Spirit begin to purge
the sin from their lives. This is not to say that we have to be perfect before
we come to the Lord desiring to Worship in Spirit and in Truth, we simply have
to be submitted to the Holy Spirit so that the Spirit can begin to change us.
As we seek the Father Jesus promises that we would find him. In Psalms 22:3 David writes that God inhabits the praises of Israel.
But thou art holy, O thou that inhabitest the praises of Israel. Psalms 22:3 (KJV)
God inhabitest the praises of his
people. God is so pleased with the praises of his people that he inhabits their
praises. God’s presence is in his praises. As we seek him out we find his
presence and we are able to develop a deepening relationship with him, one in
which we are able to talk with the Father, and the Holy Spirit
is able to to Love us, instruct us, and direct us.
In the old testament, Solomon sought to worship God by building a temple to glorify the
Lord. The following verses from the old testament document what happened as
Israel chose to worship the Lord in Spirit and Truth:
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It came even to pass, as
the trumpeters and singers were as one, to make one sound to
be heard in praising and thanking the LORD; and when they
lifted up their voice with the trumpets and cymbals and
instruments of musick, and praised the LORD, saying, For he is good; for
his mercy endureth for ever: that then the house was filled with a cloud,
even the house of the LORD; So that the priests could not stand to minister
by reason of the cloud: for the glory of the LORD had filled the house of God.
2 Chr 5:13-14 - (KJV) |
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And it came to pass, when the priests were come out of the holy place, that the cloud filled the house of the LORD, So that the priests could not stand to minister because of the cloud: for the glory of the LORD had filled the house of the LORD. 1 Kings 8:10-11 (KJV) |
Are we seeking to worship the Lord in Spirit and Truth? Are we seeking to celebrate life and the Glory of the Lord expecting to be in the presence of the Lord to experience his power and Glory? Are we so filled with the Love of Christ that nothing can keep us from celebrating HIS glory? Do we seek to worship the Lord, to close our eyes and sing our praises to the Lord as if Jesus were standing in front of us; singing with tremendous awe and joy desiring to honor the King of Kings and Lord of Lord with our praises? What would happen if we did? How might God respond?
God not only inhabited the praises of his people in the Old Testament, he also inhabited the praises of his people in the New Testament. In Acts chapter 16, Luke writes about what happened when Paul and Silas were captured, bound, chained in jail, and chose to worship the Lord with prayer and singing.
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About midnight Paul and Silas were praying and singing hymns to God, and the prisoners were listening to them. Suddenly there was such a violent earthquake that the foundations of the jail were shaken, and immediately all the doors were opened, and everyone's chains came loose. When the jailer woke up and saw the doors of the prison open, he drew his sword and was going to kill himself, since he thought the prisoners had escaped. But Paul called out in a loud voice, "Don't harm yourself, because all of us are here!" Then the jailer called for lights, rushed in, and fell down trembling before Paul and Silas. Then he escorted them out and said, "Sirs, what must I do to be saved?" So they said, "Believe on the Lord Jesus, and you will be saved--you and your household." Then they spoke the message of the Lord to him along with everyone in his house. He took them the same hour of the night and washed their wounds. Right away he and all his family were baptized. He brought them up into his house, set a meal before them, and rejoiced because he had believed God with his entire household. Acts 16:25-34 |
As the worshippers in the Temple
of Solomon, Paul and Silas worshipped the heavenly Father in Spirit and
Truth, God’s presence showed up, and the Holy Spirit was able to minister and
change hearts. The jailer IMMEDIATELY accepted Christ. The jailer also let
Paul and Silas free, took him home, and THE JAILER'S WHOLE FAMILY WAS SAVED. The Holy Spirit did this! But it
was as Paul and Silas chose to honor the Lord and worship in spirit and truth.
Worship was never meant to be entertainment so that we can appreciate what
others are doing. It is a time to draw nearer to the Lord. It is often in these
times that the Holy Spirit can shine light on our sin and change our hearts, can
mend broken hearts, and broken spirits. It is during these times, that we can
develop an intimate Love for the Father, Son and the Holy Spirit and can express
our love in an intimate way for the love they continue to shower on us.
It is in these times of worship that God can fill us with his Love for those
around us so that we carry within us a love so strong that we want to share it
with others.
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If you desire to seek God as God
wants to be sought and to find God as he wants to be found, won't you join us in
this prayer:
Father in heaven, we Love you and praise you we come in celebration of your
awesome grace and wonderful name. King of Kings, and Lord of Lords, we
come seeking your face, we come seeking to know you help us, teach us as you
have promised, teach us to worship you in Spirit and in Truth. Oh heavenly
Father do not pass us by, have mercy on us, help us to be free to worship you as
you desire to be worshipped. Help us to respond to you, to come expecting
to be instructed to be corrected and to allow you to change us.
In Jesus Christ's name we pray. Amen.
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