THE RELATIONSHIP OF PRAISE & WORSHIP

Matthew chapter 15






Today we are walking in: The Relationship Of Praise &Worship






Genesis 22:5

And Abraham said unto his young men, Abide ye here with the ass; and I and the lad will go yonder and worship, H7812 and come again to you.












WORSHIP










Today we look to the word-WORSHIP- H7812 shachah--to bow down; prostrate oneself before superior in homage; before the Most High in worship













The Torah testifies.........……






Genesis 24:26

And the man bowed down his head, and worshipped H7812 the LORD.






Exodus 4:31

And the people believed: and when they heard that the LORD had visited the children of Israel, and that he had looked upon their affliction, then they bowed their heads and worshipped. H7812









Exodus 34:14

For thou shalt worship H7812 no other god: for the LORD, whose name is Jealous, is a jealous God:









Deuteronomy 8:19

And it shall be, if thou do at all forget the LORD thy God, and walk after other gods, and serve them, and worship H7812 them, I testify against you this day that ye shall surely perish.













The prophets proclaim..................









Nehemiah 8:6

And Ezra blessed the LORD, the great God. And all the people answered, Amen, Amen, with lifting up their hands: and they bowed their heads, and worshipped H7812 the LORD with their faces to the ground.









Nehemiah 9:3

And they stood up in their place, and read in the book of the law of the LORD their God one fourth part of the day; and another fourth part they confessed, and worshipped H7812 the LORD their God.









Jeremiah 25:6

And go not after other gods to serve them, and to worship H7812 them, and provoke me not to anger with the works of your hands; and I will do you no hurt.









Zechariah 14:16

And it shall come to pass, that every one that is left of all the nations which came against Jerusalem shall even go up from year to year to worship H7812 the King, the LORD of hosts, and to keep the feast of tabernacles.












The writings bear witness............






Joshua 5:14

And he said, Nay; but as captain of the host of the LORD am I now come. And Joshua fell on his face to the earth, and did worship, H7812 and said unto him, What saith my lord unto his servant?






1Chronicles 16:29

Give unto the LORD the glory due unto his name: bring an offering, and come before him: worship H7812 the LORD in the beauty of holiness.









2 Chronicles 7:3

And when all the children of Israel saw how the fire came down, and the glory of the LORD upon the house, they bowed themselves with their faces to the ground upon the pavement, and worshipped, H7812 and praised the LORD, saying, For he is good; for his mercy endureth for ever









Psalm 66:4

All the earth shall worship H7812 thee, and shall sing unto thee; they shall sing to thy name. Selah.






Chapter 11
THE RELATIONSHIP OF PRAISE & WORSHIP


Praise is seeking Yah. Worship is being found by Him.


The goal of praise is to create an atmosphere for the presence of Yah. This is why Abraham, Moses, and David were such close friends with Yah. They made room for Him in their lives. Their deep hunger to know and obey Him was the basis for their relationship with Him.


This is true for all genuine worshipers. They love to be with Yah and He loves to be with them. He shows up because they have an authentic devotion to Him and a passion for Him.


Thus, praise and worship are related but very different activities and experiences.


- Praise is initiated by us. Worship is Yah’s resp onse.


- Praise is something we do. Worship is something Yah releases.


- Praise is our building a house for Yah. Worship is Yah moving in.

Worship cannot be generated by us. It is completely dependent on Yah. We may seek to enter worship through praise, but it is up to Yah whether He will respond to our initiative.


In truth, we cannot worship Yah unless we have first praised Him, and this praise must be genuine. Otherwise, Yahusha’ indictment against the Pharisees may also be leveled against us: This people draws nigh unto me with their mouth, and honors me with their lips; but their heart is far from me. But in vain they do worship me, teaching for doctrines the commandments of men. MATTITHYAHU (MATTHEW) 15:8-9 את CEPHER.


True praise and worship are tough, but the results are awesome because everything we need is in Yah’s presence. Joy, rest, peace, mercy, power, victory, wisdom: All these and more are available to us in the presence of Yah.


You will show me the path of life: in your presence is fulness of joy; at your right hand there are pleasures forevermore. TEHILLIYM (PSALMS) 16:11 את CEPHER


For you have made him most blessed forever: you have made him exceeding glad with your countenance. TEHILLIYM (PSALMS) 21:6 את CEPHER.


You shall hide them in the secret of your presence from the pride of man: you shall keep them secretly in a cukkah from the strife of tongues. TEHILLIYM (PSALMS) 31:20 את CEPHER.


These gifts of Yah’s presence are not to be the focus of our search, however. Seeking the blessings of Yah instead of the face of Yah never works. When we persist in this, asking Yah for stuff instead of Himself, we forfeit precisely what we seek. That is, we lose the things we ask for because we fail to gain the presence of the One who holds them in His hand. Then He says to us, “You’ve missed the most important thing. Seek My Kingdom first. Then I’ll give you all the land, houses, food, clothes, and jobs you need” (see Matt. 6:33).


WE FORFEIT THE THINGS WE ASK Yah FOR WHEN WE FAIL TO SEEK HIM FIRST.


Yes, you may find that seeking Yah first is difficult because your wants and needs clamor for attention. Nevertheless, you must persevere. He knows that you come to Him with many problems, burdens, and questions. He understands your need. Yet, He enjoins you to seek His face before you seek His hand. You may think you need a prayer line, but He knows that you really need time with Him. When He gets into your life, He will fix in one moment things you have been working on for days, weeks, and even years. In this respect, seeking Yah is quite like praising Him. Your focus must be on Him, and He must be your delight.

Praise Me, Seek Me... With All Your Heart


Yah responds to people who have a deep hunger for
Him.


AS the deer pants after the water brooks, so pants my soul after you, O Elohiym. My soul thirsts for Elohiym, for the living El: when shall I come and appear before Elohiym? TEHILLIYM (PSALMS) 42:1-2 את CEPHER


This heart cry of David is the entreaty of every true worshiper. Where is Yah? Why can’t I find Him? How can I build a road to where He is so that I may be with Him?
So deep is the hunger and thirst of these committed ones that they seek Yah until they are caught by Him. Their passion for Him will not allow them to stop until they gain the One for whom they reach. Hours spent in prayer and praise are the rule for them, not the exception.


This attitude is uncommon. We are much too comfortable to expend the effort such a passion requires. Why is this? Why are we so lackadaisical in our search for Yah? One possible answer is that we have yet to exp erience the beauty and power of Yah’s manifest presence. Therefore, we don’t understand that the reward for our seeking is worth every bit of our effort, and more.


Another possibility is that our self-centeredness and the competing loyalties within us prevent us from giving full allegiance to anyone, including Yah. We cannot seek Him with all our heart because there are too many closed doors in us that bar Yah from entering.


Walking in Yah’s ways and obeying Him in all things is a privilege, not a hindrance. Yet we often treat Yah as such. When things become a little difficult—we don’t like singing choruses, we are out too late Saturday night, we begin to tire from standing during the praise and worship time—we are quick to assume that coming to service and giving Yah our full attention is an imposition rather than a blessing. How wrong we are!


Remember that Yah doesn’t need us so that He can be Yah. We need Him so that we can be human. Seeking Him is for our benefit, not His. When we praise and seek Yah, He turns around and finds us. He gives us Himself, which is all we really need.


WHEN WE PRAISE AND SEEK Yah, HE TURNS AROUND AND FINDS US.


If, then, we find that we are unable to seek Yah because of the many obstacles in our life, what are we to do? Get rid of the junk and clean house.

Praise Me; Seek Me ... With Repentance


As the children of Israel were about to enter the Promised Land, Joshua recounted all that Yah had done for them and challenged them to choose whom they would serve.


And if it seem evil unto you to serve Yahuah, choose you this day whom ye will serve; whether the elohai which your fathers served that were on the other side of the flood, or the elohiym of the Emoriym, in whose land ye dwell: but as for me and my house, we will serve Yahuah. YAHUSHA (JOSHUA) 24:15 את CEPHER.


The people chose to serve Yah.


And the people answered and said, Far be it that we should forsake Yahuah, to serve other elohiym; For Yahuah Elohaynu, he it is that brought us up and our fathers out of the land of Mitsrayim, from the house of bondage, and which did those great signs in our sight, and did guard us in all the way wherein we went, and among all the people through whom we passed: And Yahuah drove out from before us all the people, even the Emoriym which dwelt in the land: therefore will we also serve Yahuah; for he is our Elohiym. YAHUSHA (JOSHUA) 24:16-18 את CEPHER.


Then Joshua charged them, “Now therefore put away, said he, the strange elohai which are among you, and incline your heart unto El-Yahuah Elohai of Yashar'el. YAHUSHA (JOSHUA) 24:23 את CEPHER. In other words, he told them to make themselves qualified for serving Yah.


Seeking Yah is always this way. We cannot keep the idols of our heart and expect to receive the gift of His presence. Repentance is, therefore, an essential ingredient of seeking and praising Him. We must return to Him on a daily basis so He can turn to us. In essence, His coming to us is predicated on the fact that we get rid of all the obstacles that keep us from coming to Him.


Praise Me, Seek Me ... With Humility and Trust


Unfortunately, getting rid of everything in our life that keeps us from Yah is an arduous task that none of us can complete. Frankly, we are not capable of it. We need Yah to do it for us. Yet, He cannot free us from all that entangles us unless we are willing to let Him take over our life. Most of us find this easier to say than do. Very often we hand Him the reins one day and take them back the next. Perhaps we do this because we have not learned a truth that was quite precious to David:


And they that know your name will put their trust in you: for you, Yahuah, have not forsaken them that seek you. TEHILLIYM (PSALMS) 9:10 את CEPHER.


Trust is a necessity if we are to genuinely seek and praise the Most High. Otherwise, we will take matters into our own hands when we don’t like what is happening in our life or we don’t understand the path Yah has set before us. David could have done this many times in the years between when he was anointed king by Samuel and when he was enthroned by the people. In fact, his trust in Yah was repeatedly tested.


On one occasion when he was running from King Saul, who sought him to kill him, David had the opportunity to kill Saul. From a human perspective, this certainly would have advanced David’s cause. Yet, David, because He believed in Yah’s faithfulness to him, chose to wait for Yah’s timing instead of taking things into his own hands.


Yahuah render to every man his righteousness and his faithfulness: for Yahuah delivered you into my hand today, but I would not stretch forth my hand against Yahuah's anointed. And, behold, as your life was much set by this day in my eyes, so let my life be much set by in the eyes of Yahuah, and let him deliver me out of all tribulation. SHEMU'EL RI'SHON (1 SAMUEL) 26:23-24 את CEPHER.


Yah is searching for such a generation, a people who will value His presence over their own selfish desires and wait for His purposes despite long periods of preparation. Such a generation will approach Him with humility, subjecting their pride-filled hearts to the searching of His eyes. They will value Him and His plans for them above all else. Yahuah looked down from heaven upon the children of men, to see if there were any that did understand, and seek Yahuah. TEHILLIYM (PSALMS) 14:2 את CEPHER.


These people will be caught by Yah, for His plans and purposes always include intimacy with Him. I love them that love me; and those that seek me early shall find me. MISHLEI (PROVERBS) 8:17 את CEPHER.


They also include a future that is much brighter than any of us can imagine.


“For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, says Yahuah, thoughts of peace, and not of evil, to give you an expected end. Then shall ye call upon me, and ye shall go and pray unto me, and I will hearken unto you. And ye shall seek me, and find me, when ye shall search for me with all your heart. And I will be found of you, says Yahuah: and I will turn away your captivity, and I will gather you from all the nations, and from all the places whither I have driven you, says Yahuah; and I will bring you again into the place whence I caused you to be carried away captive. YIRMEYAHU (JEREMIAH) 29:11-14 את CEPHER.


When people genuinely want Yah’s presence, He gives it to them. This is the bottom line of praise and worship. Hence, David instructed his son Solomon to continue as he had started.


And you, Shalomah my son, know the Elohai of your father, and serve him with a perfect heart and with a willing mind: for Yahuah searches all hearts, and understands all the imaginations of the thoughts: if you seek him, he will be found of you; but if you forsake him, he will cast you off forever. DIVREI HAYAMIYM RI'SHON (1 CHRONICLES) 28:9 את CEPHER.


The same challenge comes to you. Choose to be an Abraham, Joseph, Moses, David, or Daniel. Praise and seek Yah with all your heart. Then wait and see what He will do in your life. I promise you that He will fulfill His ultimate goal and desire for you: He will grace you with His presence.


Worship: The Climax of Praise


Worship is what praise is all about: Seeking Yah until He graces us with His presence. Once He is present, everybody and everything else is dismissed. The prophet Habukkuk referred to this when he said, ... But Yahuah is in his holy Temple: let all the earth keep silence before him. CHABAQQUQ (HABAKKUK) 2:20 את CEPHER.


When Yah shows up, everybody else has to shut up. This is illustrated quite well in Second Chronicles chapter 5, which describes the dedication of Solomon’s Temple.


The dedication was preceded by the transfer of the Ark of the Covenant to the inner sanctuary of the Temple, where it was placed beneath the wings of the cherubim. More sacrifices than could be counted accompanied this event. Then the priests withdrew from the Holy Place and consecrated themselves so they would be holy in their relationship to Yah.


After this, the Levites, who were dressed in fine linen, began to make music unto the Most High with cymbals, harps, and lyres, and they were accompanied by 120 priests playing trumpets. In addition, singers raised their voices with the instruments to give praise and thanks to the Most High. This was some choir and some orchestra. Their praise must have literally filled the Holy Place and spilled beyond to the Outer Court as they sang: “He is good; His love endures forever” (see 2 Chron. 5:13).


Now watch what happens:


It came even to pass, as the trumpeters and singers were as one, to make one sound to be heard in praising and thanking Yahuah; and when they lifted up their voice with the trumpets and cymbals and instruments of music, and praised Yahuah, saying, For he is good; for his mercy endures forever: that then the house was filled with a cloud, even the house of Yahuah; So that the priests could not stand to minister by reason of the cloud: for the glory of Yahuah had filled the house of Elohiym. DIVREI HAYAMIYM SHENIY (2 CHRONICLES) 5:13-14 את CEPHER.


Please try to get a picture of this in your mind. Sacrifices and thanksgiving were offered as the Ark of the Covenant was taken into the Temple. Then the priests consecrated themselves in preparation for the service of dedication. As this time of praise began, the orchestra played first. Then the trumpeters and singers joined in. Finally, after all the sacrifices, thanksgiving, and unified offerings of praise, the power of Yah came into the Temple so strong that the priests could not stand up! In truth, everyone in the place was flattened like a line of dominoes. They couldn’t perform their duties because the cloud of Yah’s glory filled the place.


FINDING AND ENJOYING Yah IS THE GOAL OF ALL PRAISE.


Finding Yah and enjoying His presence is the sole purpose of our praise. Only then may we know what to do and how to live effectively. Yah is raising up a praising Body all over the world. He’s preparing a generation who will seek Him above all else. When they start singing, governments are going to become afraid. When they start shouting, nations all around the world are going to be transformed. Then, when Yah finally comes and sits in the midst of all this praise, our world is going to see miracle upon miracle as the walls of prejudice, hatred, and division fall. (See Joshua chapter 6.) Indeed, our world will change so fast that we will be hard put to keep up with everything Yah is doing. This is the power and authority of praise that leads Yah’s people into worship, taking them the whole way into His presence.


PRINCIPLES


1. Yah responds to people who have a deep hunger for Him.


2. Passionate worshipers love to be with Yah, and He loves to be with them.


3. Praise and worship are related but different activities:


- Praise is initiated by us. Worship is Yah’s response.


- Praise is something we do. Worship is something Yah releases.


- Praise is our building a house for Yah. Worship is Yah moving in.


4. Repentance is a necessary part of seeking and praising Yah


5. Humility and trust free Yah to reward those who seek Him.


6. Yah’s plans for each person include intimacy with Him and a future filled with hope.


7. When Yah shows up in the midst of His people, everything else suddenly stops.