Passionate Worship

 

2 Samuel 6:11-16 (KJV)

11 And the ark of the Lord continued in the house of Obededom the Gittite three months: and the Lord blessed Obededom, and all his household.

12 And it was told king David, saying, The Lord hath blessed the house of Obededom, and all that pertaineth unto him, because of the ark of God. So David went and brought up the ark of God from the house of Obededom into the city of David with gladness.

13 And it was so, that when they that bare the ark of the Lord had gone six paces, he sacrificed oxen and fatlings.

14 And David danced before the Lord with all his might; and David was girded with a linen ephod.

15 So David and all the house of Israel brought up the ark of the Lord with shouting, and with the sound of the trumpet.

16 And as the ark of the Lord came into the city of David, Michal Saul’s daughter looked through a window, and saw king David leaping and dancing before the Lord; and she despised him in her heart.

 

What moves you? What really makes you tick on the inside?

Shopping?

Hunting?

Golf?

Work?

What is it that gives you the passion for these activities?

Your relationship with them!

Look at a basketball player for instance: they might walk to school and dribble with their ‘weak’ hand, have basketball practice after school, and when they get home they might practice their three-point shot…

If they weren’t passionate about basketball, their routine would probably be so dreadful and they would begin to actually hate basketball.

This is the same with church.

What makes services boring? What keeps the presence of God from flowing like a river?

A lack of relationship!

Worship is not: singing, clapping, running, or shouting. These are all by-products of worship!

Worship is adoration to the one you have a relationship with. Worship can be one chorus, but sung with an intense desire to please God.

How many of you felt like that you were completely giving your all to God this morning?

Why not? Lack of relationship!

What would make a king react the way David did? Relationship!

Understand that the ark of God wasn’t in the country for as long as David lived; Saul had used it in battle long before David ever came to the throne, and it remained lost until now. All of David’s adult life there wasn’t a physical representation of God, which he so longed for. Every song, psalm, and prayer that he had ever written or prayer was to a being he imagined in his mind. In a land void of the presence of God, the ark was returning, and it was time to worship!

 

Malachi 1:11-14 (KJV)

11 For from the rising of the sun even unto the going down of the same my name shall be great among the Gentiles; and in every place incense shall be offered unto my name, and a pure offering: for my name shall be great among the heathen, saith the Lord of hosts.

12 But ye have profaned it, in that ye say, The table of the Lord is polluted; and the fruit thereof, even his meat, is contemptible.

13 Ye said also, Behold, what a weariness is it! and ye have snuffed at it, saith the Lord of hosts; and ye brought that which was torn, and the lame, and the sick; thus ye brought an offering: should I accept this of your hand? saith the Lord.

14 But cursed be the deceiver, which hath in his flock a male, and voweth, and sacrificeth unto the Lord a corrupt thing: for I am a great King, saith the Lord of hosts, and my name is dreadful among the heathen.

 

Their offering wasn’t accepted by God, because they weren’t bringing their best, but rather the worst; it was what they had left over.

Since when did it become acceptable to bring God our worst and not our best?

Only the best will do. Curses will come upon you when you bring an inferior sacrifice to God.

Where is your relationship with God?

How long has it been since you worshipped?

How far from the path of relationship have you strayed?

It becomes so easy to become caught up with making everyone think you have the relationship.

We know when to: clap, sing, raise our hands, go to the altar, and respond the right way. All the while, we have no relationship.

We are no longer looking for response, but rather for worshippers!

I am preaching to everyone! We must have passionate worship!