Worship and Witness in a Rapidly Changing World

Reverend Leo H. McCrary II

Now is the time when we ought to be worshipping God in spirit and in truth. Let us take a look at proclaiming the name of God ought to look like in today’s world.

Introduction

Maybe the world is the way it is today because we have gotten away from God, from worshiping and proclaiming His name.  What do you think about that?  I hope you will take a moment to join me for this week’s lesson as we’re going to take a look at David’s call for all the earth to rejoice and worship the Lord.  This week’s Sunday School commentary will cover scripture from 1 Chronicles 16:23-33.

A Call to Proclaim the Good News

Our lesson this week opens with a call for all the earth to sing to the Lord, and to proclaim the ‘good news’ of His salvation from day to day among the nations (1 Chr. 16:23-24).

Now, if you’re like me, you would instantly begin to wonder, Why does this scripture sound like something that you would read in New Testament scripture?  When I see the phrase, “proclaim the good news of His salvation (deliverance)”, I think of the Great Commission from Christ.  In Matthew 28:19-20, Christ commissioned the disciples to go out into the world, teaching His way to all people.

To proclaim means to declare publicly, insistently, proudly, or defiantly.  To proclaim also means to extol or to glorify or to praise.  The Great Commission of Christ is all about making known His salvation, deliverance from sin unto glory.  

The apostles found themselves having to be defiant in their proclaiming of the good news, as many, including Paul, when he went by Saul, tried to shut them up.  Ministering the good news was not an easy task for the apostles, as all of the apostles, aside from John, are believed to have been martyred.  We live in a world where all of us sincere believers ought to be proclaiming, praising the name of God.

The history behind David’s call

Now, of course, the call to proclaim news of God’s salvation in 1 Chronicles 16 is well before the time of Christ.  This chapter chronicled the return of the ark of the covenant to the tabernacle (1 Chr. 16:1).  Now, if you’re wondering where the ark of the covenant had been, we must take a look at scripture from 1 Samuel 4-7.

Before the days of Saul’s reign as king of Israel, the children of Israel lost a battle against the Philistines at Ebenezer.  After losing that battle, the elders of Israel called for the ark of the covenant to be brought to the camp, as they feared they had lost the battle because God wasn’t with them.  The Israelites often struggled to understand that God was always with them, whether the ark was present or not.

The Philistines ended up slaughtering many of the Israelites, as they captured the ark of the covenant (1 Sam. 4:1-10; 5:1).  They took the ark of the covenant to Ashdod, a city that had been part of the land allotted to Judah (Josh 15:21-47).  Judges 1:19 speaks of how Judah couldn’t drive out the inhabitants of the lowland, because they had chariots of iron.  The inhabitants of the lowland were the Philistines, who occupied what we’d refer to as the Gaza Strip, which included Gaza, Ashkelon, and Ashdod.

Now, while the Philistines possessed the ark, they were troubled and plagued (1 Sam. 5:6).  Because they were so troubled, the Philistines sought to return the ark to the Israelites, which they did after six months (1 Sam. 5:7).  In 1 Samuel 7:1-2, we’re told that the men of Kirjath Jearim, men of the tribe of Dan, housed the ark of the covenant for twenty years.

David, as it is chronicled, rejoiced at the ark returning from Kirjath Jearim; he erected the tabernacle, offered up burnt and peace offerings, and appointed Levites to minister before the ark (1 Chr. 16:1-4).  Afterwards, David delivered a song of thanksgiving into the hands of Asaph and his brethren to thank the Lord (1 Chr. 16:7).  The scripture of our lesson this week are lyrics to a song of thanksgiving, written by David, which Asaph and his brothers sang.

Praise God for His salvation

In this song, David sang that one should praise God for His salvation (deliverance).  By the time of David, Israel had defeated and subdued the enemies of Israel, like the Philistines, the Moabites, the Edomites, and the Syrians.  Israel had begun to finally have a sense of peace in the land since the days of Joshua.  Throughout his psalms, David always credited Israel’s success to the Lord, and he desired that the people join in with the singing of such praise.

Should we sing praises to God today?  Absolutely.  We should also praise God for our salvation.  We live under the grace of God, as the only begotten Son was given to deliver us from our sin.  While we are tempted and inevitably will sin, God has taken away the guilty verdict of our sins and has restored harmony between the believer and Himself.

We should sing praises for all that God provides for us, for how He sustains us, and for His protection in our daily lives as well.  Some of us may not feel praising God today because we see wickedness abounding, but as Paul said, today’s affliction is temporary.  Paul said that we are hard-pressed on every side, yet we’re still standing tall, not destroyed (2 Cor. 4:8).

It is often said, but don’t ever let the negative hinder our positive.  Wickedness may abound today, but joy has been promised, and it will come in the morning (Ps. 30:5).  The victory does not belong to the wicked one and his army.  Satan wants you to think that you have lost, but in actuality, the power and the wins of the wicked have always been temporary, and will continue to be temporary.

 For the past few weeks, I have been speaking about not surrendering your victory and joy to anyone, especially not Satan.  When we keep our praise, it is a surrender of our victory and God’s blessings.  Such a surrender grieves the soul and will send you into a pit of despair.

Satan may win some of the daily battles, but let us always remember that the battle and the greater victory are yours.  God will reach into the pit of despair and set your feet on solid ground with a blessing waiting on you (Ps. 40:2).  Lay claim to that victory and praise God today, even in the midst of tribulation, so that your soul may remain uplifted and full of life.

Praise God for His marvelous works

Continuing in calls for praise within this song, David sang praises for God being great (1 Chr. 16:25-27).  The song called for people to sing praises to God for His wonders among all people.  While some of the people worshipped idols, David sang praises of the one who made the heavens.

These are lyrics that bring into comparison God versus the idols of man.  The question is raised as to why one would praise and worship the image that they have made.  

In those times, the Baals and Asherahs, wooden images made by man, were praised and worshipped like they were the gods of creation.  How can the image that one has made with his hands be equated to the God of the heavens and the earth?  

When the children of Israel were freed from the bondage of Egypt, they crossed the Red Sea, came to Mount Sinai, and made a covenant to be God’s people.  Yet, as soon as Moses went into the mountain, they had Aaron make a calf and cover it in gold so that they could worship it.  Then, they proclaimed the calf that Aaron made to be the god that delivered them (Ex. 32:1-4).

In Isaiah 40:18-20, speaking through the prophet Isaiah, God said that no manmade image can be likened to Him.  As shown through the Bible, no man, whether they are a king, queen, emperor, or empress, is equal to God.  As Daniel said, God is the one who removes and raises kings (Dan. 2:21).

You and I should certainly thank and praise God for being above mankind.  I was thinking of worldly leaders the other day, and considering just how corrupt mankind is.  If it were up to man, only a select few would have an eternal home in paradise.  If it were up to man, that paradise would be nothing but a place of filth and sin.  Praise God for an eternal home that will be free of sin and its decay.

Honor and Worship the Lord

From 1 Chronicles 16:28-29, the song of thanksgiving calls on one to worship the Lord, and to do so in a proper manner.

The song said, “Give to the Lord glory and strength.  Give to the Lord the glory (or honor) due His name.”  This is David saying that one should honor (respect) the Lord.  Any thoughts as to why you should honor and respect the Lord?

Let’s start with the fact that God is almighty.  God is the sovereign ruler over all of creation.  The Lord ordained and established all of the ordinances of this creation that He has placed us to dwell in.  This sets our place beneath the Lord, and as He has said, “Heaven is My throne, and earth is My footstool (Is. 66:1).”

Moreover, God has given instructions for mankind to abide by so that we may please Him and find favor in His eyes.  God first did this by making a covenant with the children of Israel.  The children of Israel were meant to be a nation of priests who would lead all of mankind in the way of God.  However, when they broke God’s covenant, committed themselves to the way of sin, God gave His only begotten Son.

Christ showed mankind the way of righteousness, therefore, also declaring the way that is unrighteous.  Not only that, but Christ also made it clear to mankind what the unpardonable sin is – blaspheming the Spirit.  Christ said, “If I had not come and spoken to them, they would have no sin, but now they have no excuse for their sin.” 

It is this teaching of Christ that led Paul to share similar words in an address he made at the Areopagus.  Paul said, “Truly, these times of ignorance God overlooked, but now commands all men everywhere to repent, because He has appointed a day on which He will judge the world in righteousness by the Man whom He has ordained (Acts 17:30-31).”

The time of ignorance that Paul spoke of was the time before Christ.  We don’t live in a time of ignorance, lacking wisdom, because Christ came and taught.  We have the word of Christ, which teaches us right from wrong.  

If you desire to find favor in the Lord’s eyes, then you must humble yourself and give honor to the Lord.  Doing otherwise, choosing not to humble yourself before the Lord, but choosing to remain prideful, is a ticket to being cast away from God’s presence.  True worship is done out of humility, with honor for the one who is responsible for our daily living and will judge.

Spiritual Realignment

The spirit of man is not aligned with the way of God, which is why the world is in the condition that it is in today.  The heart of man truly is wicked and evil, as many don’t believe they need to worship or praise the Lord.  So many of us often seek to serve our own self-interest rather than look at the big picture.

The big picture:  God created man to be fruitful and to multiply; to fill the earth and subdue it; to have dominion over the earth (Gen. 1:28).  While some may think that speaks of procreation, the reality is that God did not make man to be like animals.  In Genesis 1:22, God blessed all other creatures, also saying to them, “be fruitful and multiply”.  However, all other creatures were not created according to the likeness of God, nor were they given authority over the earth.

Man was created to be a blessing in this world, having authority given to us, through our nature, by God.  The design was for man to live together, to work together, and to flourish together.  Sadly, sin entered the picture with Adam and Eve’s sin in the garden, and from that point forward, man has a nature that lives out of alignment with the Lord.

I often seek to teach and preach about getting realigned with God, as I feel it is incredibly important we understand our spiritual nature – our first and second nature.  We are ruled by our second nature, a nature that is of sin, and it is a nature that has seen to mankind’s fall since the garden.  God gave His only begotten Son to wash away that nature and restore the nature we were created in.

The call to worship and proclaim the Lord today is as much about the greater good–getting realigned with God so that we may flourish.  We will never truly flourish in this world so long as we continue to choose sin and its way over God and His way.  

All of us who are of faith must sit by quietly, surrendering our authority to sin.  Let this week’s lesson be another reminder of how we must become more zealous in our walk of faith.  We need more of those who are of faith, especially those with great social presence, to stand witness to the way of God, in His grace, mercy, and truth.