August 28, 2022
Grow In Faith, Worship
Psalm 95:1-7
Connecting Questions
What are some types of events/places that you would be willing and excited to pay money to gather with a large group of people? Why?
Think about one of the places you mentioned in the last question for a moment. What kinds of activities, attitudes, or behaviors would people display in these places/events? Why?
Context
This week we continue our worship series called “Grow In Faith” by looking at the spiritual practice of worship. The text for this week is Psalm 95. Remember that a Psalm is a poem. Hebrew poetry is built around a system called parallelism. Sentences come in pairs that are parallel in some way. Sometimes the second sentence repeats the idea of the first sentence, sometimes it contrasts the idea. Whenever you read the Psalms pay attention to these patterns and to the rich use of metaphor. This particular Psalm is a call to Israel to worship God. It gives the why and the what: Why worship is important and what worship looks like.
Look at the Book
Read Psalm 95:1-7
Take a piece of paper and divide it in half. On the left side, label it “Let us...” On the right side, label it “Because God is...”
Read through the Psalm again and, on the left side, write down all the things that we are invited to do (for example: “let us sing to the LORD”) AND, on the right side, write down all the ways that God is described (for example: “a great God” and “He made everything”)
Now write the word “What” on top of the list on the left and the word “Why” on top of the list on the right.
Based on these two lists, how would you answer the question: What are we supposed to do in worship and why should we do them?
Read verses 7-11. According to these verses, why does the Psalmist think worshipping God is so important?
Taking it home
What have been some of your most memorable and positive experiences in a public worship gathering, if any? Why?
In what ways is a public worship gathering like the events/places you mentioned in the Connecting Questions? It what ways is it different?
Worship has changed a lot in the past 2 ½ years. What is the value in worship today?