True worshipers can never perceive God as merely the “man upstairs.” As the Sovereign Maker, he is alone worthy of extravagant worship.
- A limited theology will lead to lackluster worship and eventually to a liberal worldview.
- Any attempt to domesticate God will always lead to devastating results.
- We will never give God the worship He deserves if we perceive Him as merely “the man upstairs.”
Proper Perspective (95:1-7a)
- The only acceptable response to such an incredible God is unbridled, enthusiastic worship.
- God deserves far more than stoic routines of obligatory worship gestures.
- God made everything, and therefore, God owns everything.
- If blatant humility is absent from your worship, you have yet to comprehend who you worship.
Persistent Protest (95:7b-11)
- During the wanderings, Israel tested God by doubting His ability to sustain them in the wilderness (cf. Ex. 17:1-7; Num. 20:2-13).
- God’s people making the same mistake twice shouldn’t shock you if you honestly evaluate your personal history.
- An insufficient perspective of who God is will always lead to a defiant rebellion against what God commands.
- Some of us will never find true rest because we are fighting against God’s path to experiencing it.
Jesus is the rock of our salvation – innocently struck for our hardened hearts (cf. John 19:34).
- Would God describe you right now as having wholehearted worship or a hardened heart?
- Do you see Jesus as the man who lives upstairs or the God who came downstairs?