Glorify God by Thanksgiving-2

여호와께 감사하라 그는 선하시며 그 인자하심이 영원함이로다 ² 모든 신에 뛰어나신 하나님께 감사하라 그 인자하심이 영원함이로다 ³ 모든 주에 뛰어나신 주께 감사하라 그 인자하심이 영원함이로다. Give thanks to the LORD, for he is good, for his steadfast love endures forever. ² Give thanks to the God of gods, for his steadfast love endures forever. ³ Give thanks to the Lord of lords, for his steadfast love endures forever. (Ps. 136:1-3)

전능하신 자 하나님 여호와께서 말씀하사 해 돋는 데서부터 지는 데까지 세상을 부르셨도다 ² 온전히 아름다운 시온에서 하나님이 빛을 발하셨도다 ³ 우리 하나님이 임하사 잠잠치 아니하시니 그 앞에는 불이 삼키고 그 사방에는 광풍이 불리로다 ⁴ 하나님이 그 백성을 판단하시려고 윗 하늘과 아래 땅에 반포하여 ⁵ 이르시되 나의 성도를 네 앞에 모으라 곧 제사로 나와 언약한 자니라 하시도다 ⁶ 하늘이 그 공의를 선포하리니 하나님 그는 심판장이심이로다 (셀라)  ⁷ 내 백성아 들을지어다 내가 말하리라 이스라엘아 내가 네게 증거하리라 나는 하나님 곧 네 하나님이로다 ⁸ 내가 너의 제물을 인하여는 너를 책망치 아니하리라 네 번제가 항상 내 앞에 있음이로다 ⁹ 내가 네 집에서 수소나 네 우리에서 수염소를 취치 아니하리니 ¹⁰ 이는 삼림의 짐승들과 천산의 생축이 다 내 것이며 ¹¹ 산의 새들도 나의 아는 것이며 들의 짐승도 내 것임이로다 ¹² 내가 가령 주려도 네게 이르지 않을 것은 세계와 거기 충만한 것이 내 것임이로다 ¹³ 내가 수소의 고기를 먹으며 염소의 피를 마시겠느냐 ¹⁴ 감사로 하나님께 제사를 드리며 지극히 높으신 자에게 네 서원을 갚으며 ¹⁵ 환난 날에 나를 부르라 내가 너를 건지리니 네가 나를 영화롭게 하리로다 ¹⁶ 악인에게는 하나님이 이르시되 네가 어찌 내 율례를 전하며 내 언약을 네 입에 두느냐 ¹⁷ 네가 교훈을 미워하고 내 말을 네 뒤로 던지며 ¹⁸ 도적을 본즉 연합하고 간음하는 자와 동류가 되며 ¹⁹ 네 입을 악에게 주고 네 혀로 궤사를 지으며 ²⁰ 앉아서 네 형제를 공박하며 네 어미의 아들을 비방하는도다 ²¹ 네가 이 일을 행하여도 내가 잠잠하였더니 네가 나를 너와 같은 줄로 생각하였도다 그러나 내가 너를 책망하여 네 죄를 네 목전에 차례로 베풀리라 하시는도다 ²² 하나님을 잊어버린 너희여 이제 이를 생각하라 그렇지 않으면 내가 너희를 찢으리니 건질 자 없으리라 ²³ 감사로 제사를 드리는 자가 나를 영화롭게 하나니 그 행위를 옳게 하는 자에게 내가 하나님의 구원을 보이리라. The Mighty One, God the LORD, speaks and summons the earth from the rising of the sun to its setting. ² Out of Zion, the perfection of beauty, God shines forth. ³ Our God comes; he does not keep silence; before him is a devouring fire, around him a mighty tempest. ⁴ He calls to the heavens above and to the earth, that he may judge his people: ⁵ "Gather to me my faithful ones, who made a covenant with me by sacrifice!" ⁶ The heavens declare his righteousness, for God himself is judge! Selah ⁷ "Hear, O my people, and I will speak; O Israel, I will testify against you. I am God, your God. ⁸ Not for your sacrifices do I rebuke you; your burnt offerings are continually before me. ⁹ I will not accept a bull from your house or goats from your folds. ¹⁰ For every beast of the forest is mine, the cattle on a thousand hills. ¹¹ I know all the birds of the hills, and all that moves in the field is mine. ¹² "If I were hungry, I would not tell you, for the world and its fullness are mine. ¹³ Do I eat the flesh of bulls or drink the blood of goats? ¹⁴ Offer to God a sacrifice of thanksgiving, and perform your vows to the Most High, ¹⁵ and call upon me in the day of trouble; I will deliver you, and you shall glorify me." ¹⁶ But to the wicked God says: "What right have you to recite my statutes or take my covenant on your lips? ¹⁷ For you hate discipline, and you cast my words behind you. ¹⁸ If you see a thief, you are pleased with him, and you keep company with adulterers. ¹⁹ "You give your mouth free rein for evil, and your tongue frames deceit. ²⁰ You sit and speak against your brother; you slander your own mother's son. ²¹ These things you have done, and I have been silent; you thought that I was one like yourself. But now I rebuke you and lay the charge before you. ²² "Mark this, then, you who forget God, lest I tear you apart, and there be none to deliver! ²³ The one who offers thanksgiving as his sacrifice glorifies me; to one who orders his way rightly I will show the salvation of God!" (Psa 50:1-23)

FCF: We tend to offer a lip service of thanksgiving without real-life thanksgiving.

주제: 하나님은 재판장이시기에 우리는 진정한 감사로 하나님을 영화롭게 해야 한다.

Theme: Because God is the Judge, we must glorify Him by genuine thanksgiving.

Introduction: We are going through high inflation during these days. Each average family financially suffer in one or another way. Many complain about the negative impacts of high inflation on their lives. Each tries to survive through financial hardships.  Manufacturers, as they face high inflation, rising manufacturing costs, have come up with an idea that they put less in the same packages. Have you checked the labels on your grocery items lately? You may be getting less than you thought. Some manufacturers are selling us the same size packages we are accustomed to, but they are putting less of the product in the box. Same size box, less soap. Same size bowl, less soup. Not only manufacturers, but also restaurants serve less amounts of food in the same size bowls. A while ago, I went to one of the Korean restaurants in Atlanta, GA., and ordered Seol-Rung Tang. I noticed it was not a normal amount we used to get. It was much less in the same bowl, and its price was higher. How something is wrapped or contained doesn't always show us what's on the inside. That's true with people as well. We can wrap ourselves up in the same packaging every day -- nice clothes, big smile, friendly demeanor -- yet still be less than what we appear to be. We see the discrepancies between our appearances and our hearts. Such hypocritical attitude is seen in our relations to God.

On the surface, we are doing what’s required by the word of God. We praise, pray, serve, do things according to the law of God. However, our hearts may be disengaged from our religious activities. So, our religiosity may be perfunctory, neither really worshiping God nor having a vital fellowship with God. This is what the psalmist in Ps. 50 points out, that is, heartless, mindless worship of God. This is the problem many Christians have, as they come to worship God every Sunday morning. They seem to be doing all things required in their services, and yet their hearts are not right with God or their minds are floating aimlessly while waiting for “the end” to their worship. Thus, the psalmist encourages us to glorify God through genuine thanksgiving because God is the Judge of all. This is the overall theme of Psalm 50, which we started discussing last Lord’s Day.

            How did you spend the Thanksgiving week? Did you try to glorify God through your gratitude? Did you give thanks to God for His forgiveness? While looking back on the days of this year, did you take a time to repent of your sins and rejuvenate your relationship with God through thanksgiving? As I said last Sunday, today’s Thanksgiving is commercialized. It seems people anticipate not Thanksgiving, but the day after Thanksgiving, so-called Black Friday or Cyber Monday because they can satisfy their hearts for electronics, appliances, or etc., with less money. Now, we are still celebrating God’s goodness and faithfulness shown to us through the year. But if we are simply following motions without getting our hearts engaged in worship, we may fall into a serious danger of hypocritical and counterfeit spirituality. We must examine whether our hearts are with the Lord or with something else. We must return to the fundamentals of our Christian spirituality, that is, grateful, heart-felt relationship with God. This is what we learn from Psalm 50. Let’s look into how we are to be grateful to God. First, we must glorify God with faith in God the Judge, which we learn from Ps. 50:1-6. Today, my second point is that we must glorify God with genuine worship, which we learn from Ps. 50:7-15.

      I.         재판장이신 하나님을 믿음으로

With faith in God the Judge (vv. 1-6)

    II.         진정한 예배로

With genuine worship (7-15)

In Ps. 50, we see the covenant community of Israel go wrong on their faith. They have forgotten God is the Judge to whom they are accountable. They have misunderstood God needed something from them, even though God owns all things and can do all things. Their misunderstanding of God has negatively affected their faith and misguided it. As a result, their worship has gone wrong. Their worship has been mindless and heartless toward God. Therefore, the psalmist invites the Israelites to listen to God’s indictment against their empty worship. The second stanza vv. 7-15 is God’s direct speech to Israel. God calls on Israel to pay attention to His indictment. In His speech, God first reminds Israel that He is her God: 내 백성아 들을지어다 내가 말하리라 이스라엘아 내가 네게 증거하리라 나는 하나님 곧 네 하나님이로다.  "Hear, O my people, and I will speak; O Israel, I will testify against you. I am God, your God. The LORD is Israel’s covenantal God. Israel belongs to Yahweh. So, Israel is supposed to listen to Yahweh by honoring His covenantal authority. Refusal to listen to God’s speech of indictment and command implies disregarding God’s authority. Here, we realize we must listen to God before we speak to Him. We must not belittle or ignore His Word for us. Attentive listening is part of true spirituality and worship. Do you truly listen to Him in worship and in life?

Second, God’s indictment is not about their sacrifices, but about heartless, thankless sacrifices. Old Testament sacrifices signify worship. God rebukes their empty ritual of worship. Here is what He says, ⁸ 내가 너의 제물을 인하여는 너를 책망치 아니하리라 네 번제가 항상 내 앞에 있음이로다. “Not for your sacrifices do I rebuke you’re your burnt offerings are continually before me.” They offered sacrifices according to God’s regulations. They were good at externally obeying sacrificial law, while forgetting the true spirit of worship, that is, heartfelt thanksgiving. According to Yahweh’s indictment, the Israelites have been offering burnt offerings to God without fulfilling the true intent of burnt offerings. They have brought animal sacrifices for their sins and dedication. “Sacrifices” in general presuppose Israel’s uncleanness and sinfulness. Sinners can’t approach the holy God with their sins. The problem of sin is the greatest issue that needs to get resolved by the death of a sinner. A worshiper brings an animal sacrifice and confesses his sins by laying his hand on it, which signifies the transfer of sins to the animal. Then, he slew the animal. The priests offered up the blood and sprinkle it around on the altar. The animal died on behalf of the worshiper. His sins were transferred upon the sacrifice. The shed blood atoned for his sins. This was the way a sinner was allowed to approach the holy God.

So, the worshiper is supposed to give thanks to God for God’s forgiveness, access to God’s holy presence, and fellowship with God. As he offers a burnt offering, he demonstrates his dedication and devotion to the God who has forgiven and accepted him as His own. In so doing, he can’t help feeling so thankful to God for allowing him to worship God. The Israelites in the psalm have brought animal sacrifices without defects. Their sacrifices have no flaws, which means they are acceptable according to God’s law. They have been keeping sacrificial laws on the surface. They have not missed their sacrificial rituals at all. As God says, their burnt offerings are continually before God. However, their heart attitudes are not right. Their hearts are not with their offerings. Their hearts do not coincide with the theological implications of burnt offerings. Rather, their hearts are arrogant before God. Instead of offering heartfelt thanksgiving for God’s overflowing grace and bounties, they have been mechanically offering their sacrifices without being faithful to the true spirit of worship.    

Heartless worship has been a perennial problem with the Israelites. Isaiah and Amos pointed out their ritualistic worship without heartfelt faith and repentance. The Israelites believed they could cover their iniquities with external observance of the sacrificial regulations. Isaiah says, ¹¹ 여호와께서 말씀하시되 너희의 무수한 제물이 내게 무엇이 유익하뇨 나는 수양의 번제와 살진 짐승의 기름에 배불렀고 나는 수송아지나 어린 양이나 수염소의 피를 기뻐하지 아니하노라 ¹² 너희가 내 앞에 보이러 오니 그것을 누가 너희에게 요구하였느뇨 내 마당만 밟을 뿐이니라 ¹³ 헛된 제물을 다시 가져오지 말라 분향은 나의 가증히 여기는 바요 월삭과 안식일과 대회로 모이는 것도 그러하니 성회와 아울러 악을 행하는 것을 내가 견디지 못하겠노라 ¹⁴ 내 마음이 너희의 월삭과 정한 절기를 싫어하나니 그것이 내게 무거운 짐이라 내가 지기에 곤비하였느니라.  ¹¹ "What to me is the multitude of your sacrifices? says the LORD; I have had enough of burnt offerings of rams and the fat of well-fed beasts; I do not delight in the blood of bulls, or of lambs, or of goats. ¹² "When you come to appear before me, who has required of you this trampling of my courts? ¹³ Bring no more vain offerings; incense is an abomination to me. New moon and Sabbath and the calling of convocations-- I cannot endure iniquity and solemn assembly. ¹⁴ Your new moons and your appointed feasts my soul hates; they have become a burden to me; I am weary of bearing them(Isa 1:11-14). God refuses to accept their worship, not because their sacrificial animals are sick and diseased, but because their hearts are not offered to God and their deeds are sinful.

God tells Israel that He owns every beast of the forest. God explains why He refuses to take their offerings, as follows: ⁹ 내가 네 집에서 수소나 네 우리에서 수염소를 취치 아니하리니 ¹⁰ 이는 삼림의 짐승들과 천산의 생축이 다 내 것이며 ¹¹ 산의 새들도 나의 아는 것이며 들의 짐승도 내 것임이로다 ¹² 내가 가령 주려도 네게 이르지 않을 것은 세계와 거기 충만한 것이 내 것임이로다 ¹³ 내가 수소의 고기를 먹으며 염소의 피를 마시겠느냐. ⁹ I will not accept a bull from your house or goats from your folds. For every beast of the forest is mine, the cattle on a thousand d hills. ¹¹ I know all the birds of the hills, and all that moves in the field is mine. ¹² "If I were hungry, I would not tell you, for the world and its fullness are mine. ¹³ Do I eat the flesh of bulls or drink the blood of goats?

Here, God reminds His people that all they have is His and given by Him as a sign of God’s bounties. However, the Israelites have forgotten such obvious truth. They think their sacrifices are theirs. When they offer their sacrifices, they presume that they are giving their possessions to God. Instead of offering them back to God, they suppose they are sacrificing their own and giving them to God as if God needed their sacrificial food. They suppose they are doing God good. Instead of thinking God has done them ultimate good, they believe God is in need and they are meeting God’s needs. They are treating God as insufficient, needy, and imperfect One who can’t but to rely on their sacrificial animals. This is a gross misunderstanding of who God is and what God has done for them.

Commentator Geoffrey W. Grogan points out their fundamental problem as follows: “Their fault is not in offering sacrifice, but in their theological understanding and motivation, for verses 9–13 suggest a baalized concept of Yahweh as needing sacrifice to survive, an idea in Babylonian religion, which had close connections with Canaanite religion.” They are projecting their false, pagan view of God into Yahweh as if Yahweh were insecure, hungry, or deficient. Such an imaginary projection is an affront to the ineffable, infinite attributes of God. They are like saying, “We scratch Your back, Lord, and You scratch our back” or You, Lord, need us for your survival. So, be nice to us so that we can be nice to You.” It is like superstitious, spiritual bargaining with the Almighty, all-sufficient God. For this reason, their sacrifices are without heartfelt gratitude to God. They are filled with self-righteousness, that is, pride before God. A proud heart before God goes before the fall. It is conspicuously devoid of thanksgiving to God even in a moment of sacred worship. This is what God indicts Israel of in Ps. 50:7-15. As God states in His speech, God owns all things, knows all things, and needs nothing because God is all-sufficient. This biblical truth demands grateful worship from all of us.   

When we offer to God, therefore, we must first acknowledge that everything comes from God. Then, we must recognize God gives us what we need and that God wants us to worship Him with what we have. We offer to God out of appreciation for His rich provisions. Our worship is a natural, grateful response to who God is and what God has done for us in Christ. God has not spared His own son for us. We should be willing to give all things, including ourselves, back to God. Worship is a best way to express our total dedication and utter thankfulness to God. If we feel stingy toward God, we have forgotten the fact that God is the Owner of all. Stingy and proud attitude toward in God calls for God’s dire indictment. The only proper attitude toward God in worship is a grateful heart. So, God expects us to gratefully offer our best to Him in worship. If we fail to worship God this way in Christ, our worship will be unacceptable before God. 

No doubt God wants us to offer with thankfulness. Verse 14 says, 감사로 하나님께 제사를 드리며 지극히 높으신 자에게 네 서원을 갚으며. “¹⁴ Offer to God a sacrifice of thanksgiving, and perform your vows to the Most High.” Again, God reveals that Israel has failed to worship God with gratitude and keep their vows to the Most High. The NLT helps us grasp the main idea of verse 14: 하나님께 드리는 너희 제사가 감사가 되게 하라. Make thankfulness your sacrifice to God, and keep the vows you made to the Most High. To the Israelites, worship was nothing less than drudgery, an empty ritual, or a formal worship without heartfelt thankfulness. They come to God with prescribed sacrifices but fail to keep their vows to God. Votive offerings are made for the good God has done for His people. The Israelites have forgotten what the Lord has done for them, while failing to pay their vows to God. Their devotion and allegiance to God are verbal and external, not sacrificial and internal. So, God commands them to make their worship thanksgiving.

OT saints were required to bring sacrifices to God. God prescribes animal sacrifices for sinners to approach His holy presence. When the Israelites offered sacrifices, they were reminded of their sinfulness, God’s holiness, and the transfer of their death upon sacrificial animals. There were to transfer their death penalty to sacrificial animals by laying their hands on the heads of those animals. God would accept them and their worship because of the sacrifices. The Israelites have forgotten the theology of sacrifices, that is, worship. They have forgotten their sinful realities and the necessity of repentance. They have tried to cover their sins with ritualistic sacrifices. Since they have felt they did everything required in the law, they put their trust, not in Yahweh and His grace, but in their sacrificial actions before God. They have relied on their external religious correctness, not on what God has done for them. For this reason, their sacrifices are not acceptable before God.

We must not assume that God accepts our worship automatically. We have to worship Him in Christ. Animal sacrifices point to the perfect Sacrifice of Jesus Christ the Lamb of God for the expiation of our sin. Like OT saints, we worship God with God’s perfect Sacrifice the Lord Jesus Christ. Our sins are transferred to Christ. Christ took our sins upon Himself and died on our behalf. There is nothing of us we can rely on when we approach our holy God. Nothing of us in worship can bring us close to God. Our offerings, praises, prayers, or faithfulness are not the ground for our acceptance before God. Even our utter devotion is not the reason that God accepts our worship. The only ground we can come to the holy presence of God is Christ’s atoning sacrifice. Even offering our best to God is not the ground for our acceptance before God. Only Christ is the reason for our acceptance before God. He is the sufficient reason for our worship. As we think of God’s perfect love and grace demonstrated in Christ’s sacrificial death and resurrection, we cannot but to be filled with gratefulness for what God has done for us in His Son Jesus Christ. Thankfully, we are always allowed to approach the God of holiness in Christ with thankfulness. We are able to worship God thankfully in union with Christ because our sins are forgiven by the shed blood of Jesus Christ.   

Today, we offer thanksgiving to God in worship. We have to ask ourselves honestly: Do we make our worship an act of thanksgiving? Do we truly thank God for both prosperity and adversity, both health and sickness, and both success and failure? Are our hearts filled with gratitude for the Lord Jesus who shed His precious blood for the remission of our sins? Or do we worship God out of a perfunctory sense of obligation? Do we offer to God with stingy hearts? Do we worship God as if we are making great sacrifices to God, forgetting the great Sacrifice of God demonstrated at the cross of Jesus Christ? Or do we attend worship as if we were attending music festival or performance? Are we fans of Jesus in worship or disciples of Jesus in worship? Each time we approach God in worship, we must examine our hearts to see why our hearts should be thankful to God in Christ. We must remind ourselves what God has done for us in Christ. We must remind ourselves of Christ’s sacrificial love and grace. Until our hearts are set aflame with Christ’s sacrificial love, we must pray with all sincerity in the Holy Spirit, so that we can make our worship a sweet fragrance of gratitude in Christ.

To do so, we have to acknowledge everything we offer to God is a gift of God. If we try to be thankful for something special done for us, we may not be able to thank God for all things. Paul says, 범사에 감사하라 이는 그리스도 예수 안에서 너희를 향하신 하나님의 뜻이니라. “Give thanks in all circumstances; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you (1 Thess. 5:18). We are to be thankful for everything. However, we take many things for granted. Breathing air as easily as possible, walking normally, having a job to do, having a family, worshiping God in the church, having people we serve and love, offering to God with our means, enjoying health, etc., we can go on and on. But we often take them for granted because we do not consider those things special. Life is a gift of God. Our everyday life is a special gift of God. Christ is the perennial subject of our gratefulness. We shouldn’t take little things for granted. A thankful attitude certainly leads us to thanking for little, minor things. If we thank God only for great things, we will miss the enjoyment of little things that God has given us. As the psalmist, God owns all things and grants us His bounties in our lives. We are obligated to think of what we are supposed to be always thankful to God, so that gratitude becomes our second nature.

Heartfelt thankfulness should be part of every kind of worship. Revival meeting, Sunday worship, Wednesday service, wedding service, funeral service, memorial service, ordination service, dedication service, or baptismal service are to be offered with thankfulness. Apathy and grumbling are the opposites of thankfulness. Such attitudes destroy the true spirit of worship. If we forget what God has given us in Christ, we are likely to complain about what we don’t have, like the Israelites who made a habit of complaining about food and water, even though they had been well fed by God. They kept forgetting what God did for them in the wonderful act of Exodus. We shouldn’t repeat their folly.  

If we worship God with all gratitude, keep our vows to God, and rely on God in a day of trouble, God will deliver us from our trouble. The psalmist says, 환난 날에 나를 부르라 내가 너를 건지리니 네가 나를 영화롭게 하리로다. ¹⁵ and call upon me in the day of trouble; I will deliver you, and you shall glorify me." The imperative “Call upon me in the day of trouble” may suggest Israel’s failure to trust God in the day of trouble. They are self-righteous, self-serving in their worship practice. They rely on their external religious righteousness for acceptance with God in worship. However, no one can approach the holy God unless He allows him or her to come into His holy presence with God-ordained sacrifices, all of which points toward the perfect sacrifice of the Lord Jesus Christ on the cross. Because the Israelites are self-righteous and arrogant, they are without gratitude in worship. This implies they don’t rely on God in a day of trouble. Though they offer empty, verbal vows to God, they are doing it to impress God or show off their religious fervency. God points out they are not keeping their vows; so, God commands them to keep their vows first. Also, God invites them to call upon His mighty name in the day of trouble, so that He can demonstrate His power to deliver them from their trouble and offer them an opportunity to bring glory and gratitude to God.

Surely, God wants us to rely on Him alone when we are in trouble. Instead of relying on manpower, military power, or monetary power, God commands us to call upon His name so that He can deliver us and make us glorify God. However, we are more likely to depend on what we see, what we deem to be right, instead of God’s unfailing promise. Ps. 33:17-22 says, 구원함에 말은 헛 것임이여 그 큰 힘으로 구하지 못하는도다. 여호와는 그 경외하는 자 곧 그 인자하심을 바라는 자를 살피사 저희 영혼을 사망에서 건지시며 저희를 기근시에 살게 하시는도다. 우리 영혼이 여호와를 바람이여 저는 우리의 도움과 방패시로다. 우리 마음이 저를 즐거워함이여 우리가 그 성호를 의지한 연고로다. The war horse is a false hope for salvation, and by its great might it cannot rescue. Behold, the eye of the Lord is on those who fear him, on those who hope in his steadfast love, that he may deliver their soul from death and keep them alive in famine. Our soul waits for the Lord; he is our help and our shield. For our heart is glad in him, because we trust in his holy name.

Surely, God promises to answer our heartfelt, grateful, and sincere prayers. The grateful, who rely on God, will experience God’s gracious answer and deliverance. They will experience God’s protection. Furthermore, they truly glorify God. Empty rituals never glorify God; rather they call forth God’s disapproval and discipline. But grateful worship is a way we truly enjoy God’s rich bounties and glorify God through gratitude. Willem A. VanGemeren says in his commentary on Ps. 50:15, “The Lord will graciously move his people to gratitude if they will humble themselves and call on him in their need. When the spirit of pride is broken and their trust in God restored, they will again enjoy the benefits of answered prayer and experience the Lord’s deliverance of those who call on him. In response, they are expected to give “honor” to God with heartfelt joy.

Experiencing God’s answer to our grateful prayers leads us to bring glory and honor to God. Surely, biblical worship is designed not to worship man’s glory, but to worship God’s glory. Franz Joseph Haydn (1732-1809) was present at the Vienna Music Hall, where his oratorio The Creation was being performed. Weakened by age, the great composer was confined to a wheelchair. As the majestic work moved along, the audience was caught up with tremendous emotion. When the passage "And there was light!" was reached, the chorus and orchestra burst forth in such power that the crowd could no longer restrain its enthusiasm. The vast assembly rose in spontaneous applause. Haydn struggled to stand and motioned for silence. With his hand pointed toward heaven, he said, "No, no, not from me, but from thence comes all!" Having given the glory and praise to the Creator, he fell back into his chair exhausted.

William Temple has given us his masterful definition of worship: 예배는 우리는 모든 본성을 하나님께 순종하는 것입니다. 예배는 하나님의 거룩하심으로 우리의 양심을 깨우는 것입니다. 예배는 우리의 지성을 하나님의 진리로 양육하는 것입니다. 또한 우리의 생각을 하나님의 아름다움으로 정화하는 것입니다. 우리의 마음을 하나님의 사랑에 여는 것입니다. 우리의 의지를 하나님의 뜻에 순복하는 것입니다. 예배는 이 모든 것이 찬양으로 모아지며 우리의 본성이 가장 가능한 정도로 자기를 잊는 정서이며 고로 우리의 원죄와 실행죄의 근원인 자기 중심성을 치유합니다. “Worship is the submission of all our nature to God. It is the quickening of conscience by His holiness; the nourishment of mind with His truth; the purifying of imagination by His beauty; the opening of the heart to His love; the surrender of will to His purpose -- and all of this gathered up in adoration, the most selfless emotion of which our nature is capable and therefore the chief remedy for that self-centeredness which is our original sin and the source of all actual sin.”

Worship is to be a celebration of heartfelt thanksgiving to God. To do so, we must take time to reflect on who God is and what He has done for us through His Son. With our hearts reverberating for God’s grace and love, we are to make thankfulness our worship to God. This is what genuine worship is all about. This kind of worship unfailingly glorifies God.

Conclusion: Derek Kidner, a British commentator, said, “It soon appears that the judgment scene is not for passing sentence but for bringing truth to light and sinners to repentance.” God intends through His speech of indictment and command that we come to appreciate the truth about His attributes, repent of our sins in true, grateful worship, and glorify Him through genuine thanksgiving. Our problem is superficial, self-centered lip service of thanksgiving in worship. Instead of relying on the precious blood of Jesus Christ, we try to rely on what we do for God in worship and desire to boast about our religious righteousness to God. For this reason, our worship is full of false gratitude and false lip services, and yet devoid of heartfelt repentance and reliance upon Christ alone.

Let me illustrate how to glorify God in worship through heartfelt repentance and gratitude. King David fell into the sin of pride when he ordered his general Joab to take a census. The reason God was against David’s census is that David attempted to rely on the number of his military troops, that is, the power of his military, instead of relying on the power of God. So, God told him to choose one of the three punishments for the folly of his pride: three years of famine, three months of devastation by the foes, or three days of pestilence. David chose the last one, falling to the hand of God. So, God sent a pestilence on the people of Israel. Tens of thousands of the Israelites died from the pestilence. Then, God relented from the calamity. David lifted his eyes and saw the angel of the LORD standing by the threshing floor of Ornan the Jebusite. He fell on his face, clothed in sackcloth, which implies his heartfelt repentance. He said to God, “Was it not I who gave command to number the people? It is I who have sinned and done great evil. But these sheep, what have they done? Please let your hand, O LORD, my God, be against me and against my father’s house. But do not let the plague be on your people.” Then, the angel of the LORD commanded David through the prophet Gad to raise an altar to God on the threshing floor of Ornan. Obeying the Lord’s command, David went up to Ornan’s threshing floor.

Now, Ornan was threshing wheat. He saw King David coming to him and paying homage to him with his face to the ground. David said to him, “Give me the site of the threshing floor that I may build on an altar to the LORD-give it to me at its full price-that the plague may be averted from the people.” Then, Ornan said to the king, “Take it, and let my lord the king do what seems good to him. See, I give the oxen for burnt offerings and the threshing sledges for the wood and the wheat for a grain offering; I give it all.” But King David said to Ornan, 그렇지 아니하다 내가 결단코 상당한 값으로 사리라 내가 여호와께 드리려고 네 물건을 취하지 아니하겠고 값 없이는 번제를 드리지도 아니하리라. “No, but I will buy them for the full price. I will not take for the Lord what is yours, nor offer burnt offerings that cost me nothing” (1 Chron. 21:24). So David paid Ornan 600 shekels of gold. And David built there an altar to the LORD and presented burnt offerings and peace offerings and called on the Lord, and the LORD answered him with fire from heaven upon the altar of burnt offering. David saw the Lord answered him at the threshing floor of Ornan. Then, he said, 이는 여호와 하나님의 전이요 이는 이스라엘의 번제단이라. “Here shall be the house of the LORD God and here the altar of burnt offering for Israel (1 Chron. 22:1). David was willing to do anything to express his utter gratefulness and devotion to God in worship. As King, he could have taken the free gifts from Ornan his faithful servant and offered them to God as if the offerings had been from him. According to his conscience, David was willing to do anything at all costs in worship. So, he glorified God through genuine thanksgiving in worship. He chose the same place, where he experienced the Lord’s mercy and forgiveness, as the future site of the temple in Israel. Also, he did his best to prepare for the building of the temple.

How do you glorify God through your worship? Do you really think you are glorifying God through your worship? Is your worship filled with gratitude? Do you remind yourself of who God is and what He has done for you in Christ? What do you offer to God in worship? Is it a mere, mindless lip service or are you following motions without getting your heart engaged? Do your worship cost you anything? Well, we are called to offer our best to God in Christ. Indeed, there is nothing we do or say, that we can rely on in worship? The only person we should rely on in worship is the Lord Jesus Christ, who died on the cross for our sin and rose again from the dead for our justification. We must call upon the Lord so that we can glorify God through heartfelt, grateful worship. Let our worship be a joyful act of gratitude for the matchless love and grace of God. Paul says, 그러므로 형제들아 내가 하나님의 모든 자비하심으로 너희를 권하노니 너희 몸을 하나님이 기뻐하시는 거룩한 산 제사로 드리라 이는 너희의 드릴 영적 예배니라. I appeal to you therefore, brothers, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship (Rom. 12:1).

Benediction: ²⁴ 능히 너희를 보호하사 거침이 없게 하시고 너희로 그 영광 앞에 흠이 없이 즐거움으로 서게 하실자 ²⁵ 곧 우리 구주 홀로 하나이신 하나님께 우리 주 예수 그리스도로 말미암아 영광과 위엄과 권력과 권세가 만고 전부터 이제와 세세에 있을지어다 아멘. ²⁴ Now to him who is able to keep you from stumbling and to present you blameless before the presence of his glory with great joy, ²⁵ to the only God, our Savior, through Jesus Christ our Lord, be glory, majesty, dominion, and authority, before all time and now and forever. Amen. (Jud 1:24-25)