TREMBLE BEFORE HIM…AND WORSHIP!

Psalm 96:1-13; 89:5-18

 

In The Chronicles of Narnia, by C. S. Lewis, a lion named Aslan is a pivotal character symbolic of Christ who is at once utterly frightening and irresistibly lovable.  They “didn’t know what to do or say when they saw him.  People who have not been in Narnia sometimes think that a thing cannot be good and terrible at the same time.  If the children had ever thought so, they were cured of it now.  For when they tried to look at Aslan’s face they just caught a glimpse of the golden mane and the great, royal, solemn, overwhelming eyes; and then they found they couldn’t look at him and went all trembly…His voice was deep and rich and somehow took the fidgets our of them.  They now felt glad and quiet and it didn’t seem awkward to them to stand and say nothing.” (The Lion, Witch and the Wardrobe, pp. 140-141).  And then later on his way to lay down his life for them, Aslan said to the girls, Susan and Lucy, “I’ am sad and lonely.  Lay your hands on my mane so that I can feel you are there and let us walk like that.’  And so the girls did what they would never have dared to do without his permission, but what they had longed to do ever since they first  saw him—buried their cold hands in the beautiful sea of fur and stroked it and, so doing, walked with him.” (p.164).

 

     Can we see God as both good and terrible at the same time?  Our worship requires that we understand the fear of the Lord.

 

THESIS:  Our worship will always be weak and anemic until it is filled with awe and saturated with the fear of the Lord.

 

I.  The Fear of the Lord Gives rise to glad hearts and joyful songs

 

God is…

·              Frighteningly Beautiful

·              Awfully Glorious

·              Dreadfully Strong

  

We are…

·              Frightened, but Fascinated

·              Terrified, yet Drawn

·              Unnerved, still Captivated

 

Psalm 2:11  Serve the Lord with fear and rejoice with trembling.

 

Hebrews 12:28 …Let us be thankful, and so worship God acceptably with reverence and awe, for our God is a consuming fire.

II.  The Fear of the Lord…Gives worship proper consideration of God’s worthiness

 

When we consider…

 

A.  The Works of His Hands

 

·  His Marvelous Deeds

             Psalm 96:3

 

             Psalm 66:5

 

·  His Matchless Power

             Luke 5:8-9

 

B.      The Words of His Mouth

 

·  The Power of His Words

             Psalm 33:6, 8-9

 

             Mark 4:41

 

·  The Trembling of the Foundations

             Isaiah 6:4

 

C.      The Splendor of His Holiness

 

            Psalm 96:6, 9

 

·  Serve and Worship Him

 

·  Tremble before Him

 

D.      The Glory of His Name

 

·  His Name Is Great and Greatly to Be Praised

                  Psalm 96:4

 

Psalm 145:3  Great is the Lord, and highly to be praised; and His greatness is unsearchable.


                       

E.  The Glory of His Name

·  His Name Is Glorious and Strong

                  Psalm 96:7-8

 

Psalm 48:10   As is Thy name, O God, so is Thy praise to the ends of the earth; Thy right hand is full of righteousness

  

 F.  The Wonders of His Faithfulness

·  Praise His Wonders and Faithfulness

                  Psalm 89:5

        “In the assembly of the holy ones…”

·  Fear His Awesomeness above All

         Psalm 89:7

        “In the council of the holy ones…”

 

G.  The Power of His Love

    Psalm 62:11-12  One thing God has spoken, two things I have heard:  that you,  O God, are strong, and that you, O Lord, are loving...

  

·  An Everlasting Love

 

 Psalm 103:17  But from everlasting to everlasting the Lord’s love is with those who fear Him.

                  

·  A Unifying Love

 

Jeremiah 32:38-39   And they shall be My people, and I will be their God; and I will give them one heart and one way, that they may fear Me always, for their own good, and for the good of their children after them.

                  

·  A Love that is Good

 

 Jeremiah 32:40-41…and I will put the fear of Me in their hearts so that they will not turn away from Me.  And I will rejoice over them to do them good, and I will faithfully plant them in this land with all My heart and with all My soul.
               

·  A Joyful Love that Fears God

 

Jeremiah 33:9  And it shall be to Me a name of joy, praise, and glory before all the nations of the earth, which shall hear of all the good that I do for them, and they shall fear and tremble because of all the good and all the peace that I make for it.          

 

“People …sometimes think that a thing cannot be good and terrible at the same time.”

     God wants us to know that He cannot be worshiped as He is until we know that He is both good and terrifying, loving and strong.

     Much of the inconsistency in worship arises from the absence of any genuine fear of the Lord, any sense of the awe that His presence brings.

Psalm 96:9  “Worship the Lord in the splendor of His holiness; tremble before Him, all the earth!”