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How do you hear from God? — Part #2 of, “Are you a winner or a loser?”

As a framework for our discussion, I repeat…

“Are you a winner or a loser?” – I ask you to think about what that means to you.

— For if you consider yourself a Christian and you live in this world feeling hopeless and helpless to change the evil around you, or that afflicts you, you are being deceived into a mentality of defeat.

— If you are living captive to the lie of your defeat, you are listening to Satan, not to God.

The last session’s scripture homework was: Does your worship reflect defeat or victory?

To discuss this properly we need a clear idea of what WORSHIP is… So let’s look into that.

The Bible tells us that King David wrote this for the music leader of his day. – Psalm 40:1-13 (CEV)

(1) I patiently waited, LORD, for you to hear my prayer. You listened  (2)  and pulled me from a lonely pit full of mud and mire. You let me stand on a rock with my feet firm,  (3)  and you gave me a new song, a song of praise to you. Many will see this, and they will honor and trust you, the LORD God.  (4)  You bless all of those who trust you, LORD, and refuse to worship idols or follow false gods.  (5)  You, LORD God, have done many wonderful things, and you have planned marvelous things for us. No one is like you! I would never be able to tell all you have done.  (6)  Sacrifices and offerings are not what please you; gifts and payment for sin are not what you demand. But you made me willing to listen and obey.  (7)  And so, I said, “I am here to do what is written about me in the book, where it says,  (8)  ‘I enjoy pleasing you. Your Law is in my heart.’ ”  (9)  When your people worshiped, you know I told them, “Our LORD always helps!”  (10)  When all your people met, I did not keep silent. I said, “Our LORD is kind. He is faithful and caring, and he saves us.”  (11)  You, LORD, never fail to have pity on me; your love and faithfulness always keep me secure.  (12)  I have more troubles than I can count. My sins are all around me, and I can’t find my way. My sins outnumber the hairs on my head, and I feel weak.  (13)  Please show that you care and come to my rescue. Hurry and help me!

— Today we are going to dig deeper into the levels of thought contained in this David’s song of worship. (Perhaps we can improve our own worship by his example.)

First a little FILL IN THE BLANKS exercise… (From the Contemporary English Version Bible above)

Vs.1-3/ I ___________  _________, LORD, for you to hear my prayer. You listened  (2)  and _________  ___  ________ a lonely pit full of mud and mire. You _____  ___  ________ on a rock with my feet firm,  (3)  and you gave me __  ______  _________, a song of praise to you. Many will see this, and they will honor and trust you, the LORD God.

David writes of a process that led to victory over his struggles, let’s examine these:

— Q1/ Of patience? – (Vs.1) I patiently waited, LORD, for you to hear my prayer. You listened… What good is patience, if the answer never comes? (So what is required of us to hold fast and be patient?)

— Q2/ Of being pulled from a pit? – You listened  (2)  and pulled me from a lonely pit full of mud and mire… Is this talking about a tow truck when you get stuck in the bush?

— Q3/ Of standing firm? – You let me stand on a rock with my feet firm… So what about standing firmly on a rock?

— Q4/ The focus for today comes from… Given a new song? – What is this idea of “being given a new song of praise”?

— Q5/ Does that eliminate singing ‘old songs’? – To answer this we’ll read (Vs.8-10) ‘I enjoy pleasing you. Your Law is in my heart.’ ”  (9)  When your people worshiped, you know I told them, “Our LORD always helps!”  (10)  When all your people met, I did not keep silent. I said, “Our LORD is kind. He is faithful and caring, and he saves us.”
(The underlined portions refer to remembering ‘old’ acts of mercy and grace from the Lord = ‘old songs’.)

— Q6/ What is the purpose of all worship from Psalm 40?

To answer, how about another FILL IN THE BLANKS?

— (Vs.3)  and you gave me a new song, a song of praise to you. ________   ______   ______  this, and they will honor and trust you, the LORD God.

— And (Vs.10) When all your people met, I _____   _____   _______   ___________.  I said, “Our LORD is kind. He is faithful and caring, and he saves us.”

— Q7/ In closing, Think about the value of worship… Is it a weapon that gives us victory?

— Next session we’ll dig further into this by asking, Does God require our worship?

— And start looking at the lyrics (what we say) of our worship.