Why Should I Worship? - Psalm 122

Title: Why should I worship?
Date: February 3, 2009
Text: Psalm 122

Introduction

- Many people are like nomads
- In school we learned that nomads move from place to place, nowhere is really the place to stay and put down roots
- nomads focus on the journey, on enjoying the traveling rather than finding meaning or relevance in a fixed place
- a lot of us have been like nomads
- we traveled our journey, enjoying life as we were able, but without a fixed purpose or destination in life
- a pilgrim, on the other hand, is a person who is on a journey, but to a fixed destination- their life has meaning and purpose
- they are not walking around aimlessly, but have a reason for being
- this difference particularly comes out in the way we worship

Whom to worship

- Nomads have all kinds of ideas about whom to worship
- People think it doesn’t really matter whom we worship
- It is as though we can have our own personal private little God and we can take it or leave it
– this morning I want to have relationship with Him, the next day we choose to leave Him aside
- Here are some comments by college students being asked about their views on God and why they exist:
- “Why do we exist? Um, because we are very, very lucky
- “Because we're here; because that's what happened, I think."
-“ I think people should be here just to do as much good as they can."
- “Some rock got moved to the side which caused some blade of grass that some cow was going to eat to not eat it and then that cow died."
- “I guess we are here to help other people"
- “To have as much fun before we go."
- “Don't read any Bible or any scripture from any of those religions."
- “I am pretty scarce. I have my own ways of doing it."
- “Evolving to the more individualized and personal religion where everybody has their own conception of what is good and what is bad and what is right and what is wrong."
- “I would like to be a good person in my own relative terms."
- “I have my own little traditions, like my own rituals, but nothing that like has a name or people affiliated with it or anything like that.”
- “You know it's karma based - it's give and take."
- “My own voodoo or something you know."
- Here are some comments from people you know of:
- “I believe in God. I just don't know if that God is Jehovah, Buddha or Allah." – actress Halle Berry
- “Eastern thought western mysticism. I really dig the whole Hindu pantheon and I just pull from all kinds of things." – actress Meg Ryan
- “I go to the synagogue. I study Hinduism. All paths lead to God," and then she has her son baptized in an Anglican Church - Madonna in interview on 60 Minutes
- this is all very normal thinking for a nomad
– a nomad has no purpose in life except to enjoy the journey, wherever it leads

Pilgrim worship

- Madonna’s type of thinking is very different than the thinking of a pilgrim.
- In Psalm 122 we have the mindset of the pilgrim.
- this pilgrim has been on a journey, but this journey has a focus
- the pilgrim’s focus is to come to Jerusalem to worship
- This psalm gives a picture of the pilgrim arriving at the gates of Jerusalem and the kind of response that that person has
- let's take a look at Psalm 122

David the pilgrim

- Psalm 122:1-2- King David was a pilgim
- he had been anointed to be king, and his destination was Jerusalem
- Jerusalem was the place of God’s temple, a place where God was close, where man and God met each other in worship
- Jerusalem was also the place where David would reach his purpose, to be king
- David longed to reach his destination, Jerusalem
- but the road had been difficult and hard for David
- he had been kept from worshiping God in Jerusalem because of being on the run from King Saul
- so to David it was very special to at last be at the entrance to Jerusalem
- David in this psalm expresses his heart for the destination of his journey
- Verse 3-5 David describes the place to which he has been traveling all these many years
- it is a place with foundations, a place where people go to worship, a place where God rules his people, and a place which is David’s destiny
- Verses 6-9 Here David responds to his joy at having arrived at the destination of his journey
- he prays for the peace of Jerusalem, because it is a place where God dwells, a place where David goes to worship, a place which is the focal pointy of David’s journey

We too are pilgrims

- we too are on a journey
- our journey is to meet God in the place that he has chosen
- God no longer dwells in a temple made with hands
- today, he dwells in a different kind of temple
- the temple today is inside of us
- he tells us in John 14 that he will make his home with us individually
- the journey we have been on has not been one of traveling various roads till we reach our destination
- instead, our journey has been to find the one being who can give meaning and purpose to our lives
- this is the reason why we worship
- in Psalm 122 David expresses his joy at having arrived at the place where he can finally worship with all his being and strength
- when we worship here in chapel we have a chance to express our joy at having found our destination, Jesus
- when we worship we express that joy in the words we sing, in our participation, in our heart of prayer before God
- worship is a special event, it is the whole purpose of our being
- worship expresses our relationship with God
- We can’t imagine David standing quietly while everyone is worshiping God
- David worshiped with all his heart
- we too desire to worship God with all our being
- that may mean getting out of our personal comfort zone
- but we want to express what is in our heart when we hear the songs of worship that are expressed here in chapel
- if we don’t feel that joy, there is something missing and maybe we should consider what is going on
- we are not nomads, focusing on the journey
- instead we are pilgrims with a destination
- that destination is a close and intimate relationship with God
- Next week we will take a look at how we worship – what God’s word says about it