Episode 83 -Heart Lessons – The Worshipful Heart

Speaker 1 (00:01):

Life is hard at times. Our hearts often get bruised and battered yet God offers us words that help and heal those hearts when we turn to him. Welcome to the Sweet Selah Moments Podcast, where we study his word and find strength for the day. The Sweet Selah Moments Podcast is a cooperative production of Word Radio and Sweet Selah Ministries.

Nicole (00:30):

Welcome to the Sweet Selah Moments Podcast. This is episode 83, The Worshipful Heart. This season, we’re doing a series called Heart Lessons, Learning from the Life of David. Sharon, David is such an amazing man full of passion and anger and worship and lots more. I guess we’re all drawn to him because he’s a lot like us. He gets super passionate about things, but then he looks foolish at times. (Sharon: Yes) And the Bible talks a lot about David. According to bible.org more has been written about David than any other character in the Old Testament. (Sharon: Wow) Yeah, that’s crazy. (Sharon: Yeah) In the Old Testament alone, there are 66 chapters written about David and in the New Testament, there are 59 references to this great man. (Sharon: Wow) We not only can read about David’s life in 1 and 2 Samuel, 1 Kings and 1 Chronicles, but we can glean insight into what he thought and felt by reading many of the Psalms he wrote. Seventy-three Psalms are attributed to David. So he’s definitely worth studying. So Sharon, how did you choose which stories to cover? Cause there’s quite a few.

Sharon (01:36):

Oh my word. Yeah. See …!! It wasn’t easy. I’m feeling really validated with how hard it was to choose my stories. You know what, once I found the theme, Heart Lessons? (Nicole: Yeah) That’s when it became easy, because my desire always is for a podcast is to teach us how to live today. (Nicole: Yes) As well as telling us about characters in the Bible in the past. I wanna look at them, but I always want to apply it to today. (Nicole: Mm-hmm) So these lessons are designed to teach us more about the human heart and help us to work on our own hearts.

Nicole (02:04):

Mm. I love that.

Sharon (02:05):

So that’s kind of, my goal is, I want a heart that pleases God. So today’s lesson is on worship and that is so, so important. Worship is one of the best things we can do for our hearts. Actually, our souls and our minds because worship turns our focus from our own troubles to the great God who is perfect in every way and able to help us. (Nicole: Hmm) You know what? One of my favorite mind games, Nicole, when I can’t sleep at night is to list the attributes of God alphabetically. (Nicole: Oh) It’s fascinating. I love falling asleep, remembering who God is. And I really don’t get to Z hardly ever, which is good cause that’s a hard one (Nicole: Right!) before I’m sleeping.

Nicole (02:47):

Oh, I love that. And it’s much better than counting sheep, you know? And then like you said, you can fall asleep with your last thought of the one who loves you the most.

Sharon (02:54):

Isn’t that neat?

Nicole (02:55):

A beautiful way to fall asleep.

Sharon (02:56):

It is. It really is. And it’s, it’s amazing how well it works. So.

Nicole (03:00):

That’s awesome.

Sharon (03:00):

I’ll tell you what. Let’s start the podcast doing it.

Nicole (03:02):

Yes. I’m excited.

Sharon (03:04):

Let’s list some of God’s names and attributes because the more we know of who he is, the more we’re gonna trust him. (Nicole: Yeah) So this is kind of a worship thing. So here we go. I’ll start with A. A, he is Adonai, which means Lord. I need to worship him as the one in charge.

Nicole (03:24):

Oh. B, he is Boundless. Nothing is too big for God.

Sharon (03:28):

Yeah. And also Big. You see that? You’ve got two right there.

Nicole (03:31):

Oh yeah.

Sharon (03:32):

C, he is the Comforter when I hurt.

Nicole (03:36):

Oh. D he is our Daddy, our caring heavenly Father.

Sharon (03:41):

I love that. E, he is Eternal. No beginning, no end. God always is.

Nicole (03:50):

Mm. And for F he is Faithful. He will keep his promises and his love for us is forever.

Sharon (03:56):

Yes, he is Good, G. Through and through, good.

Nicole (04:02):

H, he is our Healer. He will wipe every tear from our eyes one day.

Sharon (04:07):

I, he is Immanuel, the God who is with us, because he became like us.

Nicole (04:14):

J, He is Jehovah-Jireh, meaning ‘God will provide’. He is all we need.

Sharon (04:20):

K, he is King of all the kings whoever were, The King.

Nicole (04:26):

I like that one. L, he is Love. His perfect love never fails.

Sharon (04:31):

M, he is Mighty. There is nothing he cannot do.

Nicole (04:35):

N, he is Near to us, a friend who sticks closer than a brother.

Sharon (04:40):

O, he is Omnipresent. There is nowhere I can go where he won’t be with me, no matter how dark.

Nicole (04:46):

Mm-hmm. P, he is the Prince of Peace. Oh, how we need peace in our world and in our hearts.

Sharon (04:52):

Amen. Q, he Quiets my heart with his love.

Nicole (04:58):

R, he is our Redeemer. He saved us from eternal death and separation from him by purchasing us with his own blood.

Sharon (05:05):

Hmm. S, he is Savior who alone was able to take my sins on himself and set me free.

Nicole (05:12):

Truth, T. We can trust that what he says is right.

Sharon (05:16):

Yes. U, he’s Understanding of our weaknesses because he became like us and walked among us.

Nicole (05:22):

Oh. V, he is Victorious. He has conquered death and sin. And, in the end he will defeat Satan.

Sharon (05:29):

Yeah. W, he’s Wonderful.

Nicole (05:33):

Aw. Okay. I had to work for this one. X, he has X-ray vision to our hearts.

Sharon (05:39):

I love it. That’s really cute.

Nicole (05:41):

Only he truly knows what’s in them.

Sharon (05:44):

Amen. That’s so true. Y, he is Yeshua and Yahweh, the God who is, and always will be.

Nicole (05:52):

Z, he is Zealous for us. He’s willing to sacrifice his son to be with us.

Sharon (05:58):

This is the God we serve. Oh, man. Almighty, all powerful. Yet gentle and humble and full of steadfast love for us. I’ll tell you, having a worshipful heart keeps worry and fear and anxiety at bay. It’s so restful when we can trust in him.

Nicole (06:16):

Yes. This was really neat to do. It feels like it’s all of God’s character and almost the whole salvation story in just that one simple exercise.

Sharon (06:24):

Isn’t it amazing.

Nicole (06:25):

We can really just get a huge grasp on who God is just by listing that out. Like, oh, that’s a fun thing to do. But I started doing this after (Sharon: You did?) seeing this, like seeing the prep for the podcast. I was like, I’m gonna try this at night. It is so comforting and peaceful and you just can’t help, but smile and drift off as you think about. (Sharon: Yeah. Yeah.) And I don’t think I got past F, but I’ve been having trouble sleeping at night since the surgery. And just having that, like, okay, A, what are you, what are you, God? What are you for an A? It’s just been really (Sharon: Yeah. Yeah.) comforting to dwell on him.

Sharon (06:57):

And you know what? They’re different every time I do it. And they probably are for you too. (Nicole: Yeah. Yes.) And you get really creative, like, A, Angry, you don’t stay angry forever. (Nicole: Oh, yeah.) I mean, we think of that, right? (Nicole: Right) But when I’m— it’s fun. (Nicole: Mm-hmm) It’s just fun to do it. And it just, you nestle in when you do that.

Nicole (07:13):

Yeah. And instead of like praying to fall asleep too, you’re not always thinking or sometimes you’ll have like a worry you’re kind of like chewing on as you’re praying over it. (Sharon: Right. Right.) This is so comforting. (Sharon: It is.) I love this.

Sharon (07:23):

Oh, I’m so glad!

Nicole (07:23):

And thank you for mentioning it. This is my new favorite thing at night.

Sharon (07:26):

Yeah. Well, I have like several different ways to fall asleep, you know? And, but this is one of my favorites.

Nicole (07:31):

I love it.

Sharon (07:31):

Yeah. Oh, that’s so cool. Well, I believe David was chosen to be king partially because of his worshipful heart. We talked about his quiet heart. (Nicole: Yeah) And how God saw him in the quiet, but also his worship, God saw a heart that loved him and more than head knowledge, more than outward appearance, God wants a heart attuned to him. Absolutely. He tells that to us over and over and over in scripture. So let’s read our first passage today about David and worship. Can you kind of set the scene for us?

Nicole (08:03):

Yeah, sure. So David must have learned to play the harp while out in the fields, or maybe that’s where he just practiced for hours, because somehow David became super proficient at harp playing. King Saul on the other hand, not only did not play the harp, he was a tormented man, it said. (Sharon: Yeah) Wow. That does not sound fun. (Sharon: No) Saul had walked away from God when he disobeyed and started to let the power of his position go to his head. And so he became mentally unstable as a result. We’ll see how David plays (Hmmm and laughter) into this as we read 1 Samuel 16:14-23. And Sharon, why don’t you start today?

Sharon (08:42):

Sure. “Now the Spirit of the Lord had left Saul and the Lord sent a tormenting spirit that filled him with depression and fear.”

Nicole (08:52):

“Some of Saul’s servants said to him, a tormenting spirit from God is troubling you” (Nicole: Probably like, ‘no kidding”)

Sharon (09:00):

Right. Good observation there. (Nicole: Right) “Let us find a good musician to play the harp. Whenever the tormenting spirit troubles you, he will play soothing music and you will soon be well again.”

Nicole (09:12):

“All right, Saul said, find me someone who plays well and bring him here.”

Sharon (09:16):

“One of the servants said to Saul, one of Jesse’s sons from Bethlehem is a talented harp player. Not only that, he’s a brave warrior, a man of war and has good judgment. He’s also a fine looking young man. And the Lord is with him.” (Sounds like David is famous already.)

Nicole (09:30):

I know. “So Saul sent messengers to Jesse to say, send me your son, David, the shepherd.”

Sharon (09:37):

“Jesse responded by sending David to Saul along with a young goat, a donkey loaded with bread and a wine skin full of wine.”

Nicole (09:44):

“So David went to Saul and began serving him. Saul loved David very much. And David became his armor bearer.”

Sharon (09:51):

“Then Saul sent word to Jesse asking, please let David remain in my service for I am very pleased with him,”

Nicole (09:57):

“And whenever the tormenting spirit from God troubled Saul, David would play the harp. Then Saul would feel better and the tormenting spirit would go away.” (Wow)

Sharon (10:05):

Huh? Interesting. Well, first of all, we gotta talk about a tormenting spirit that was sent from God. (Nicole: Yeah) Cause that’s so weird. It seemed so strange to me that I had to look it up. (Nicole: Yeah) I’m like, Lord, why would you send a tormenting spirit? That’s doesn’t sound like you. (Nicole: No, hm-hmm) So, but the answer seems to be that there are evil spirits, always wanting to torment and harm us and would especially be wanting to torment and harm a king of Israel, God’s chosen people, but God keeps them away from us, normally. It’s not like God loves evil spirits, but he protects us. He shields us from them and he did shield Saul (Nicole: Mmm-hmm) from tormenting spirits until Saul walked away from God in disobedience. (Nicole: Oh yeah.) So, when that happened, God allowed that evil spirit to come. He just basically removed the protective shield. (Nicole: Right.) If that makes sense. (Nicole: Yeah. Yeah.) Yeah. And, therefore the torment came and it also introduced David to Saul as a good person. (Nicole: Oh yeah.) So Saul’s seeing David as someone good who could help him. So it’s amazing how David meets Saul first as a ‘soother of torment’, you know? (Nicole: Yeah.) So you love music, Nicole.

Nicole (11:11):

I do.

Sharon (11:11):

Tell me, what is it about music that soothes?

Nicole (11:15):

Music is such a special gift from God. Isn’t it?

Sharon (11:18):

It is. It’s unique.

Nicole (11:20):

Yeah. It just has a way of, of getting into our soul and sometimes helping us when we just don’t have the words to express, you know, sorrow or joy or frustration. It’s so incredibly powerful. I think it gets through our defenses that we sometimes put up?

Sharon (11:35):

I think so too.

Nicole (11:35):

Or we just, you know, our pride or whatever it is, that it just breaks it down and gets to the heart of the issue. (Sharon: Mm-hmm) You know, I remember when I was a new mom and I thought it was interesting that we were told to play music for our babies and when they were still in our tummies.

Sharon (11:46):

I remember my girls doing that.

Nicole (11:48):

Yeah. It’s very good for their brain to help build all these. Yeah. And so we would play certain types of music, classical, not heavy metal. (Sharon: I love it.) But classical music particularly was very good for children’s brains. I would play it everywhere. Like when they’re sleeping, in the car, like, let’s get those brains smart.

Sharon (12:04):

Beethoven, come on, do your thing, make my kids smart.

Nicole (12:08):

Exactly. Work your magic. But it’s just kind of cool. I know there’s a lot of science regarding music and how it’s good for us too, but God is so kind, he’s given us so many tools to help us in this broken world.

Sharon (12:18):

He has, hasn’t he?

Nicole (12:19):

And music is just one of those really special ones.

Sharon (12:20):

Oh, it does lift you out of yourself sometimes. (Nicole: Yes it does.) It really does. It’s wonderful, wonderful things. So I’ve heard it even helps plants. Have you ever heard that? (Nicole: Yes.) That’s hysterical. I don’t know about that one, but.

Nicole (12:33):

Who knew? He knew that music was something we needed.

Sharon (12:35):

Yeah. Yeah. For me, if I’m in a, like a self pity pouting mode, which I might get into occasionally, the best thing I can do is turn on praise. (Nicole: Yeah.) Because if I I’m stuck in it, like a spiral, like (Nicole: Yes, yeah.) you know, hurt and feeling pouty, it breaks that spiral in my head and as I start to sing along or even listen along, it pulls me out of where I’ve sort of been trapped. (Nicole: Yeah.) I dunno if I’m saying that well, but I can get trapped in a spiral of thinking that is not good.

Nicole (13:08):

You get stuck in this spiral of stinking thoughts.

Sharon (13:09):

Now the hard thing is turning it on. (Nicole: Yes) Because you know, one enjoys self pity sometimes. Right.

Nicole (13:15):

I don’t wanna be outta my pity party.

Sharon (13:16):

Right. I’m kind of having fun here in a sad, miserable, tormented way. Right. So, but when I do it makes all the difference.

Nicole (13:24):

It does.

Sharon (13:25):

It does.

Nicole (13:25):

Yeah. And it’s a good, I sometimes will put on music in the morning, worship music. And as you go about, I’ll leave the room and come back in and I might be grumpy or about to yell at a kid and you hear that music worshiping God and I’m like, ooh, hi God. That’s right. I’m trying to be godly mom. I should probably not yell at them and throw something at them. So it’s, it’s so good. It does. It kind of snaps us out of our funk sometimes.

Sharon (13:45):

It does. Music soothes. There’s an old (quote), I think it’s Shakespeare, ‘music soothes the savage beast’.

Nicole (13:51):

Mmmmm.

Sharon (13:53):

Yeah, exactly. So, well now let’s look at the description of David in this passage. One of Jesse’s sons from Bethlehem is a talented harp player. Not only that, he’s a brave warrior, a man of war and has good judgment. He’s also a fine looking young man. And the Lord is with him. What do you think of this?

Nicole (14:12):

It’s so funny. I almost can imagine like the messenger coming up with like these cards, these pictures and this description of the men underneath, and David sounds so robust and had like,—

Sharon (14:21):

It’s a resume.

Nicole (14:21):

Right. Exactly. This one would do well for you sir. But it’s so funny. He sounds pretty great in all of the areas of his life, you know? But it’s not just like, oh, he’s a fine looking young man. But these verses also talk about his great character and his abilities.

Sharon (14:35):

Yes. Yes. So it’s the whole package deal.

Nicole (14:37):

Yeah. Very interesting.

Sharon (14:38):

So, but enter the hero basically, right?

Nicole (14:41):

Yes, exactly.

Sharon (14:41):

Yeah, yeah. So this passage says that Saul loved David and appreciated him very much. (Nicole: Yeah.) So David was a gifted musician who used his talents to worship God. (Nicole: Hmm) I love that. My goodness he was multi-talented. (Nicole: Yeah) There are so many Psalms still read and sung today filled with the wonder and glory of God and his creation. And David’s Psalms also teach us that we can come to God angry (Nicole: Mm-hmm) and depressed. Sullen, perhaps full of self pity. And confused.

Nicole (15:11):

Yeah.

Sharon (15:11):

There are many that start out with a complaint or lament that then end up happy as David reminds his soul who God is. I love the Psalms and I love how they can change your mood. (Nicole: Yes) Just like even David writing them has mood changes, midstream.

Nicole (15:26):

Yes. Yep, I love that about the Psalms.

Sharon (15:30):

Yeah. So amazing. Well, our next passage takes place much later in David’s life, but it also points to his exuberance. David was not, I mean, you know, some people are quiet worshipers.

Nicole (15:40):

Reserved.

Sharon (15:40):

Ray’s a quiet worshiper. I mean his hands stay in his lap and mine are like flying in the air. (Nicole: Yeah) I have to be careful that I don’t over worship with Ray because that distracts him from worship. So, but David is one of those over worshipers (Nicole: Yes) with his passionate love of God. So set the scene for us, Nicole, before we read this next passage of scripture.

Nicole (16:02):

Yeah. So this takes place after David is king and he is finally bringing the Ark of the Covenant very carefully into Jerusalem, where he hopes to build a temple to the God he loves to worship. A man named Obed-edom had been keeping the Ark safely in his own household temporarily. David had waited to move it until he felt he could do it right. He tried once before and a man had accidentally died by touching the Ark inappropriately because no one had followed the rules about transporting such a sacred object.

Sharon (16:31):

Yeah. That was a scary, scary passage of scripture. He just touched it.

Nicole (16:36):

Yeah. He went to stop it from falling off (Sharon: Which one would think would be good)and he touched it and he dropped dead.

Sharon (16:38):

Yeah, yeah.

Nicole (16:39):

Right. We need to be very careful cause God is holy and serious about his holiness.

Sharon (16:45):

Yes, he is.

Nicole (16:45):

So we’re gonna be reading from 2 Samuel 6:12-23 and I’ll start this time.

Sharon (16:52):

Alrighty.

Nicole (16:53):

“So then King David was told the Lord has blessed Obed-edom’s household and everything he has because of the Ark of God. So David went there and brought the Ark of God from the house of Obed-edom to the city of David with a great celebration.”

Sharon (17:11):

“After the men who were carrying the Ark of the Lord had gone six steps,” David has learned his lesson about holy.

Nicole (17:18):

Very careful.

Sharon (17:18):

They’ve they’ve done six steps. (Nicole: Yeah) “David sacrificed a bull and a fattened calf.”

Nicole (17:24):

I think that’s so funny. Very carefully. “And David danced before the Lord with all his might wearing a priestly garment.”

Sharon (17:32):

“So David and all the people of Israel brought up the Ark of the Lord with shouts of joy and the blowing of ram’s horns.” Whoa!

Nicole (17:41):

Celebration, indeed.

Sharon (17:43):

Yeah.

Nicole (17:44):

“But as the of Ark of the Lord entered the city of David, Michal, the daughter of Saul, looked down from her window when she saw King David leaping and dancing before the Lord, she was filled with contempt for him.”

Sharon (17:57):

Hmm. “They brought the Ark of the Lord and set it in its place inside the special tent David had prepared for it. And David sacrificed burnt offerings and peace offerings to the Lord.”

Nicole (18:08):

“When he had finished his sacrifices, David blessed the people in the name of the Lord of heaven’s armies.”

Sharon (18:14):

“Then he gave to every Israelite man and woman in the crowd, a loaf of bread, a cake of dates and a cake of raisins.”

Nicole (18:21):

That was nice.

Sharon (18:22):

I know. Happy, happy. “Then all the people returned to their homes.”

Nicole (18:27):

“When David returned home to bless his own family, Michal, the daughter of Saul, came out to meet him. She said in disgust, ‘how distinguished the King of Israel looked today shamelessly exposing himself to the servant girls like any vulgar person might do’.”

Sharon (18:43):

Oh man. Talk about spoiling all his joy.

Nicole (18:46):

It’s a balloon popper right there, isn’t it? Poor guy.

Sharon (18:49):

Yeah, he comes to bless his family and she’s like you were just a jerk.

Nicole (18:52):

Yeah.

Sharon (18:54):

Oh man.

Nicole (18:55):

That’s tough.

Sharon (18:56):

Yeah. Well, Sharon read, verse 21, just getting so upset. “David retorted to Michal, I was dancing before the Lord who chose me above your father and all his family. He appointed me as the leader of Israel, the people of the Lord. So I celebrate before the Lord.”

Nicole (19:17):

It didn’t dampen him very much.

Sharon (19:18):

No, I guess not.

Nicole (19:20):

“Yes, and I am willing to look even more foolish than this, even to be humiliated in my own eyes. But those servant girls you mentioned will indeed think I am distinguished.”

Sharon (19:30):

Oh, my word, what a fight? Verse 23, ” So Michal, the daughter of Saul remained childless throughout her entire life.” Wow. Michal was not in a partying mood, Nicole.

Nicole (19:42):

I guess not.

Sharon (19:43):

Not at all.

Nicole (19:44):

It’s really sad, she was so concerned with what others thought of him and how he looked, you know, I think it must have been her heart issue to be so affronted (Sharon: Yeah) by his, his uninhibited worship of God. You know, I think she missed his pure joy and the whole hearted worship of his God. And she missed a chance to join in.

Sharon (20:01):

She did. I mean, this is a big deal, bringing the Ark to the City of David.

Nicole (20:05):

Yeah. And supporting her husband in this big, in the way he was so careful to honor God, like she should have been supporting and she could have so blessed by this.

Sharon (20:13):

Absolutely, yeah. And instead she’s at the window being crabby.

Nicole (20:16):

Looking down in disgust.

Sharon (20:18):

Yeah, you know, I wonder, was she childless as a punishment or did she just refuse David? I mean, he had more than one wife at that point.

Nicole (20:27):

That’s true.

Sharon (20:27):

Did she just like say I just don’t wanna see him anymore. (Nicole: Right) I don’t know, but I feel sorry for her. (Nicole: Yeah) Because she missed out on joy.

Nicole (20:35):

Oh yeah.

Sharon (20:36):

And she chose bitterness over joy.

Nicole (20:38):

She did.

Sharon (20:38):

Right? (Nicole: Yeah) That’s what she did.

Nicole (20:39):

In spite of whatever. I mean, she was Saul’s son (*correction: Michal was Saul’s daughter) so maybe there was something leading through that too. I don’t know how that all came about.

Sharon (20:44):

I don’t know how that came about either. I mean, she married him before her father, you know, died and all that stuff and David took over.

Nicole (20:52):

Oh yeah.

Sharon (20:52):

But yeah, she might have some resentment. Well, she might—

Nicole (20:55):

Clearly she had something.

Sharon (20:57):

She had some resentment there.

Nicole (20:59):

Some unresolved issues.

Sharon (21:00):

And it’s just so sad.

Nicole (21:01):

It is sad to read that she remained childless. It’s just a sad, bitter state she remained in. Like hard and unforgiving.

Sharon (21:06):

Yeah, yeah, yeah. Like a hard heart. We’re talking about hearts, right? (Nicole: Yeah) Here’s a heart lesson. And her heart was to despise her husband. (Nicole: Yep)To not go ‘look at him out there, after all those years of hiding in caves’.

Nicole (21:20):

Oh yeah. That’s right.

Sharon (21:21):

He is rejoicing and what’s he rejoicing in? Not himself. (Nicole: Yeah) He’s rejoicing that the Ark of the Presence of God is entering the city and is gonna be put in a place of highest honor. Right?

Nicole (21:34):

So his heart’s in the right place. And she just didn’t want to see that.

Sharon (21:36):

Oh yeah. She just didn’t wanna see it.

Nicole (21:38):

That is sad.

Sharon (21:39):

Yeah. So sometimes we can be so people conscious that we aren’t God focused. (Nicole: Yeah) And I think that’s what happened. She’s like, uh, you’re not acting like a king. A king acts a certain way.

Nicole (21:49):

Right.

Sharon (21:49):

You have to look proper. (Nicole: Right) And David’s like, I’m just gonna dance and have fun.

Nicole (21:56):

I love his response.

Sharon (21:57):

And actually that’s a good leader, a leader that doesn’t set themselves above. And, set themselves on a pedestal they’re gonna fall off of.

Nicole (22:04):

Set themselves up for failure really. Yeah.

Sharon (22:06):

David instead is like, I’m dancing with all of you guys. You want a raisin cake?

Nicole (22:10):

You want a raisin cake? (Laughing) Ah, David!

Sharon (22:14):

Kinda loving this. Okay, well, we gotta get going. My goodness. Well, Nicole, let’s talk about how to develop a worshipful heart ourselves. I’ve gleaned some principles that I’m going to share. Number one, to develop a worshipful heart being alone with God helps.

Nicole (22:31):

Yes.

Sharon (22:31):

We need to be alone with him. If we’re always busy with other people and people focused, we won’t be writing Psalms of praise or spending time getting to know God. David chose to use his time in the fields to get to know the living. God. And we have to build those Selah times in ourselves (Nicole: Yes) for worship.

Nicole (22:47):

Absolutely.

Sharon (22:48):

Number two. Music is a great gateway to worship whether we play or sing or simply enter into worship by listening to others who are gifted and hearing their words can help us worship. And number three, God delights in those who spend time with him, enjoying him. We get to sit in grass.

Nicole (23:08):

I know. Yeah.

Sharon (23:09):

He lets us, he loves us and wants a love relationship with us. So, Hmm. Well, would you end our episode today with the reading of one of David’s beautiful worship Psalms?

Nicole (23:19):

Yeah.

Sharon (23:19):

Which one did you choose?

Nicole (23:20):

I picked Psalm 19. There’s so many. It’s really hard to find just one.

Sharon (23:25):

I know. And that’s why I made you do it. I’m like, I don’t know which one so Nicole’s reading it so Nicole can pick it.

Nicole (23:29):

I didn’t pick Psalm 119 for time reasons, so Psalm 19.

Sharon (23:35):

Oh well thank you for that.

Nicole (23:35):

All right. So Psalm 19, and this is written by David. “The heavens proclaim the glory of God. The skies display his craftmanship. Day after day, they continue to speak; night after night, they make him known. They speak without a sound or word. Their voice is never heard. Yet, their message has gone throughout the earth and their words to all the world. God has made a home in the heavens for the sun. It bursts forth like a radiant bride groom after his wedding. It rejoices like a great athlete, eager to run the race. The sun rises at one end of the heavens and follows its course to the other end. Nothing can hide from its heat. The instructions of the Lord are perfect, reviving the soul. The decrees of the Lord are trustworthy, making wise the simple. The commandments of the Lord are right, bringing joy to the heart. The commands of the Lord are clear, giving insight for living, Reverence for the Lord is pure lasting forever. The laws of the Lord are true, each one is fair. They are more desirable than gold, even the finest gold. They are sweeter than honey, even honey, dripping from the comb. They are a warning to your servant, a great reward for those who obey them. How can I know all the sins lurking in my heart? Cleanse me from these hidden faults. Keep your servant from deliberate sins. Don’t let them control me. Then I will be free of guilt and innocent of great sin. May the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be pleasing to you, Oh Lord, my Rock and my Redeemer.”

Sharon (25:07):

Oh, I love that. I love how it starts with the heavens proclaiming the glory of God.

Nicole (25:14):

It starts with creation.

Sharon (25:15):

It starts with creation. (Nicole: I love that) And don’t they? (Nicole: Mm-hmm) When I go outside at night, I can remember before Bella and the days before Bella, BB, I hardly was ever out at night, you know, I just wasn’t. I’d be home and I’d just, you know, be in my night gown watching TV or doing whatever I was doing. (Nicole: Right) But, Bella, I have to go out with all the time cause she’s so tiny the vet said don’t let her out alone because an owl could catch her or a fox or something. I don’t know if foxes catch dogs, but whatever.

Nicole (25:45):

Something

Sharon (25:46):

I had to protect her. Right. So I started looking up.

Nicole (25:50):

Yeah.

Sharon (25:50):

And I loved what I saw. The moon and all its, you know, different phases I see now and I’m picking out constellations (Nicole: Yes) and just loving it and they do. They declare the glory and the faithfulness of God.

Nicole (26:05):

Oh it’s so true. It’s funny how these dogs get us outside to see God’s glory, in early morning too. I don’t normally rush outside at 6:00 AM.

Sharon (26:12):

Yeah. That’s right, cause you’re not a morning person.

Nicole (26:14):

No, I’m outdoor with the puppies and sitting there and you look up and you just hear creation waking up. It’s so beautiful.

Sharon (26:20):

Yes. Bird song in the morning.

Nicole (26:21):

The birds. They’re so chipper in the morning. (Sharon: Oh, man!) I’m hoping I can learn from them.

Sharon (26:26):

Lord, make me more like a bird.

Nicole (26:28):

Yeah. But it’s just neat and so we can see God in so much of creation.

Sharon (26:32):

We can. It’s lovely. And a Psalm like this when we are having a day (Nicole: Mm-hmmm) reminds us of so many truths.

Nicole (26:40):

Yes.

Sharon (26:40):

Of who God is, that he’s trustworthy. That his commands, you know, you get tired of being good sometimes. Right?

Nicole (26:46):

It’s hard.

Sharon (26:47):

But his commands are trustworthy and it pays off. (Nicole: Yes) You know, it just, it reminds you of all the things you need to be reminded of. Which is why worship is so important. And reading the Psalms is important and listening to worship music.

Nicole (27:00):

Mm-hmm.

Sharon (27:00):

That we are reminded of truths when our, when our hearts wanna forget it. So,

Nicole (27:04):

Exactly. And you can’t always be reading if you’re driving in the car, you can’t read your Bible if you need little pick me up, but you have God’s word to songs.

Sharon (27:11):

Yes you do.

Nicole (27:11):

And if you have good worship music that is true to scripture, then you’ve got it right with you.

Sharon (27:15):

You’ve got it with you. And it really, really helps. And I love verse 14 too. “May the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart.” There’s our heart again (Nicole: Yes) and heart lessons. What I think is gonna come out, sadly, in what I say, right? (Nicole: Yes) So even my heart needs to be clean and the things I’m thinking about need to be pure.

Nicole (27:39):

Right.

Sharon (27:39):

And that’s why when I get into one of those spirals, I’ve gotta stop it.

Nicole (27:44):

Yes. Our thoughts become our habits and our body follows those habits.

Sharon (27:47):

Exactly. Yes.

Nicole (27:47):

So knowing, (Sharon: Yes, yeah) to make our heart meditate on his word, to meditate on music that worships him, it does, it gets our heart and our whole being into the right place.

Sharon (27:56):

It does. It does. Otherwise we become like Michal. (Nicole: Yeah) The wife of David, we allow bitterness to encrust that heart and the more callous it becomes, the more layers we put on, the harder it is for God to, you know, rip it open for us when (Nicole: Right, right) we want a soft heart again. So we have to guard the meditations of our heart.

Nicole (28:15):

Absolutely.

Sharon (28:16):

We want that to be pleasing to him. Okay. Oh, Nicole, you chose well.

Nicole (28:21):

Oh, thank you. There’s so many. I wanted to do all of them.

Sharon (28:25):

Okay. Well let me pray. Okay. Oh Lord, your commandments are right. They do bring joy to our hearts. You do give us insight for living through your Word. You are the great Creator that speaks through your creation. We praise you. We worship who you are. We thank you that you are Rock and Redeemer, both. You are the steadfast One we can count on. And you are the Redeemer who buys us back from the enemy who has captured us. Thank you. Thank you Lord, for your greatness and your goodness. Draw us to worship. Help us remember when it’s the last thing we wanna do that that’s when we need it most. In Jesus’ name. Amen.

Nicole (29:17):

Amen. Thanks for joining us today as we studied worship. How do you worship God? Are there certain songs that lighten your heart when you feel heavy? Write us at SweetSelah.org/podcast and let us know. We always appreciate donations and we’d love for you to become a Podcast Partner by checking out SweetSelah.org/donations. Reviews help us be seen by more people who then can listen, would you help us out in one of these ways? And please do come back next week for episode 84, we’re calling it The Courageous Heart. Until then we wish you a week rich in times of worship to the God who loves us so dearly.

Speaker 1 (29:57):

We are so glad you stopped for a while with us. The Sweet Selah Moments Podcast is a cooperative production of Word Radio and Sweet Selah Ministries. More information about this podcast can be found @sweetselah.org. Thank you for joining us.