Worship is such a central experience in the life of God’s people. When God spoke to Moses from the burning bush, He gave Moses the mission to bring the Israelites out of Egypt for the purpose of worshipping God (Ex 3:12). Unfortunately, we know that their worship experience in the wilderness was not a success. The entire generation, including Moses, wandered in the wilderness for 40 years, died in the wilderness, and was never able to enter God’s Promised Land.
Worship matters. The way we worship matters. How should we worship God? Let’s learn from Psalm 95.
1 Come, let us sing for joy to the LORD; let us shout aloud to the Rock of our salvation.
2 Let us come before Him with thanksgiving and extol Him with music and song.
3 For the LORD is the great God, the great King above all gods.
4 In His hand are the depths of the earth, and the mountain peaks belong to Him. 5 The sea is His, for He made it, and His hands formed the dry land.
6 Come, let us bow down in worship, let us kneel before the LORD our Maker;
7 for He is our God and we are the people of His pasture, the flock under His care.
Today, if only you would hear His voice,
8 “Do not harden your hearts as you did at Meribah, as you did that day at Massah in the wilderness,
9 where your ancestors tested me; they tried me, though they had seen what I did.
10 For forty years I was angry with that generation;
I said, ‘They are a people whose hearts go astray, and they have not known my ways.’
11 So I declared on oath in my anger, ‘They shall never enter My rest.’”
From this beloved Psalm, we learn that when God’s people gather to worship, we rejoice in the Lord with shouts and songs (v1,2), recount God’s greatness and goodness because He creates and cares (v3-5,7a), revere God in humility (v6), and respond to God in faith and obedience (v7b-11).
Of all the Rs, are you surprised that “responding” is so important in worship? In fact, when we hear God’s voice, our response should be faith and obedience, so that we may enter God’s rest. The life of Israelites serves as our antithesis.
In Meribah and Massah, the Isaelites tested and tried God again by demanding God to prove Himself by demonstrating His power and faithfulness. They asked God to give them water. Asking is not a problem. Jesus wants us to ask in faith (Matt. 7:7-12). The problem is the attitude of their heart. They didn’t ask in faith. They asked in unbelief and irreverence.
Their rebellious action at Meribah and Massah occurred even after they saw God’s many signs and wonders. God had just liberated them from the bondage of slavery in Egypt by ten miracles (Ex 5-12:42), rescued them from Pharaoh’s pursuit by opening a dry path through the raging Red Sea (Ex 14), transformed the bitter water to become sweet at Marah (Ex 15:22-27), and gave them both manna and meat (Ex 16).
They heard the word of God but didn’t believe, trust, and obey. Their hearts hardened a little bit more each time they rebelled, until they reached the point of no return at Kadesh-Barnea near the Promised Land. There, they once again rejected God’s promise, were rejected by God, and never entered the Promised Land (Numb 13:26-14:23).
With unbelief and disobedience, the entire generation failed to worship God properly and, as a consequence, failed to enter God’s rest – the Promised Land.
God is still speaking and calling. Today, God calls us to His rest, the rest in Christ: “Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest.” (Matt 11:28)
Are you experiencing the rest of Christ? When you hear the word of God, may your heart be soft. Come to Jesus, trust in God’s goodness, and obey the Spirit’s leading in every aspect of your life. Today!
Let’s pray:
Lord, thank You for the promise of rest in Christ. Forgive me that my heart has been hard. Help me to hear Your gentle voice and hasten to do what You desire for me. I cannot claim that I am better than the Israelites in Marah and Meribah. I want to give You control of my thoughts, emotions, words, and actions. In Jesus’ name, Amen!
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