Cry out to God

Cry out to God. 

-Statement:  Ps 84: 1 . . . How amiable are thy tabernacles, O LORD of hosts!

The Lord of hosts is a phrase that refers to how ALL men are under the subjection of God.  He is the God of the multitudes – as well as the God of each individual.

“The Lord” is the God of all creation – but He is also MY own personal God.  Jesus died for me personally.

John 20: 27 Then saith he to Thomas, Reach hither thy finger, and behold my hands; and reach hither thy hand, and thrust it into my side: and be not faithless, but believing.

28 And Thomas answered and said unto him, My Lord and my God.

Jesus is truly the God and the Lord of ALL creation – but He is also the God and the Lord of each individual in that creation.

“How amiable are thy tabernacles” simply refers to how well thought of God’s House is or how

well God’s house is loved . . . not only by the multitudes – but also by each individual for whom He died to bring unto Christ.

John 3:16 For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.

It is in God’s House – that the sinner learns about the sacrifice that Jesus made on their behalf – so as a man loves the truth – he will also love the house where that truth is taught.

Supporting Statement:  2.  My soul longeth, yea, even fainteth for the courts of the LORD: my heart and my flesh crieth out for the living God.

My soul desires to be with God, I waste away “looking forward” to being located (placed) in the village of God: my whole man shouts for joy when I consider My God.

Our attitude toward statement:  If we consider the idea of looking forward to an event – how often do we actually (honestly) look forward to church time?

We often hear those who testify – that they are looking forward to The Lord coming back. 

And I suppose that this is something that we are all looking forward too . . .

But I just want to point out – that we cannot honestly be looking forward to the Lord’s return at the end of the age – IF we are not also

Looking forward to visiting His “House of Worship” each Sunday.  So the Psalmist has told us in this Psalm – that God’s house is well

loved . . . He more or less repeats this same thing when He tells us in the next verse . . . that he has a yearning – he has a desire – he has a

hunger – he has a thirst – a craving – to be where God is . . . So after hearing this Psalm – after learning of the Psalmist’s desire . . . Are you and I able to say the same thing?

Our practice of statement:  YES, I love The Lord, I love His house and I love the idea of His soon return.

Well, what I want us to do here briefly – is to test this statement . . . Do we really love the Lord – Do we honestly love His “House of Worship” – and Do we sincerely look forward to His return

In John 14: 15 Jesus says, If ye love me, keep my commandments.

Can we keep His commandments when the church has gathered together in worship to honor God – but WE have chosen to gather with the Razorback fans to honor a football team?

Heb.10:25 Not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together, as the manner of some is; but exhorting one another: and so much the more, as ye see the day approaching.

Do we honestly love His House of Worship if we CAN attend – but just choose to be somewhere else . . .

Depending upon how we were able to answer these last two questions – we should be able to properly judge the real answer to this.

Detailed expl. of statement:  Have you ever looked forward to a distant time/day so much so – that you just couldn’t wait for it to arrive?

We are all anxious for Christmas – Why is that?

We are anxious for Christmas because we like getting presents – we like seeing friends and family . . . and when we think about Christmas

We look forward to it because in our minds

Christmas is “well thought of” – Christmas is something that we love because of what it represents – and because of how “it’s celebration” effects our lives . . .

But to counter this – let’s think of “tax day” – April 15^th . . . how many of us look forward to this – well why not?

We are not anxious for April 15^th because we do not like having to pay taxes . . . we do not like to be reminded that we can’t afford what we

want/need because we have to let the politicians have too much of our hard earned money.

We do not look forward to this because in our minds - it is NOT well thought of – IT IS NOT something that we love . . .

Example to prove statement:  If we assemble with a ball team instead of attending worship services at God’s House – then we love something else instead of God.

This does not mean that we do not have ANY love for God at all – but what it does mean is that we obviously love something else MORE than we love God.

The world is in competition with God – some type of “entertainment” is literally in competition with the dull – narrow minded

teachings – that we hear expressed “in God’s House” every week.  So when we let the competition win – we lose our commitment to God and to that which is spiritual.

We cannot be (keeping or) safeguarding His commandments of true worship on a ball field or in the deer woods – these commandments of

proper worship can only be protected as they are practiced IN HIS HOUSE.

Summary: God has told us . . . The Psalmist has mentioned to us - how much he loves God – and how much that he desires to be with God

We have either accepted or rejected:  Now You and I have the same opportunity to develop this kind of attitude toward God and toward proper worship.

Come unto me . . . and learn how to love me and learn how to love My house of worship – like the Psalmist has done . . .

The way that we come to Jesus – is to turn away from what the competition is offering – and to turn toward “The Truth” that Jesus is offering.

If we leave the same as we entered then we do not believe.  If we leave this service with the same attitude as we possessed when we entered . . . do you think that God’s will has been accomplished in our heart?