Worship is not just thanking God, singing about who He is, or celebrating His person, it is also harkening to and heeding His voice.

I. WORSHIP REVEALS THE _____ OF OUR SPIRITUAL LIVES

Worship is characterized by extreme joy over the person and acts of God.

Thankfulness precedes praise. We must recall what God has done before we can appreciate that He is the kind of God who does those things.

A. vv 12 What we should do = obvious external worship

Sing

Shout

Come before

Extol

B. vv 35 Why we should shout =  He's the great God & Creator-King

v3   He's the great God and Greatest King

v45 He's the mighty creator

Note that the call to worship is followed by a reason, both here and below. Our worship of God is not indiscriminate emotional excess, but a reaction based on reason. Remember Psalm 100, where as similar call is issued, followed by what we must "know" in responding to the call to worship.

II. WORSHIP IS _____ TO _____.

Worship involves recognizing God's sovereign control over all creation.

If we don't recognize His control in our lives and circumstances during the week, we won't be able to praise Him on Sunday for His sovereignty.

A. v6 What we should do = bow and kneel in worship before our creator

B. v7 Why we should worship = because we are the sheep under His care

The "He is our God, we are His people" motif uses the language of establishment and renewal of a covenant. It was the terminology  used in the establishment of the 10 commandments under the old  covenant, and is used in Jer 31:33, Ezk 11:20, 14:11, esp 34:31 to  refer to the relationship under the new covenant.

Some people see God as unjust or unfair because they fail to understand His sovereignty and purposes for evil in this world. I can't count the number of times I've been told by self-righteous little rebels "If God let's little children starve, or my relative die, then He's not a nice God and I don't want to know Him. It is the height of arrogance and pride to think that we can set the conditions for our worship of the Supreme Being. God, who sustains us with...

God deserves our worship by the sole virtue of the fact that He is  our Creator. He is also our Savior and Shepherd. If we've been straying from His pasture during the week, we won't be able to worship Him corporately on Sunday.

III. Worship is submission to our creator, as shown by our obedience.

A. vv7c8 What we should do = obedient, internal worship

1. If hear voice

God's never spoken, Oh yes He has = Word of God

2. Don't harden hearts as did fathers

          a. Harden = to rebelliously resist guidance and direction as an oxen does a heavy yolk.

          b. Heart = seat of emotions, mind and WILL (volition)

B. v1011 Why we should obey = consequence of disobedience

Such disobedience brings God's discipline as shown in the case of the Exodus generation. Since their hearts were characterized by going astray, and they did not know (and obey) God's word to them, God disciplined them with disinheritance.

Usage by the author of Hebrews of this psalm raises some problems, because in using it he seeks to show that it proves that there still remains a rest for the people of God; that Joshua didn't give the nation the rest God promised, since in this psalm God speaks of another DAY. Issue revolves around the proper understanding of the term TODAY in Heb 3 & 4, which is linked with the promise of entering the rest