The Bible is very clear that joyful worship needs to be translated into righteous living. It’s not just singing here together, but your daily activities. Last year I attended the Lausanne Congress in Cape Town with four thousand brothers and sisters from all over the world. There was this tremendous, indescribable experience of worshipping God together for seven days. A glimpse of heaven, you know, all tribes, nations and tongues worship God together. And yet I’m reminded again, it’s not just seven days of being together, but in my daily walk I serve the righteous God. If you read Psalm 97 very carefully, from verse one all the way to the end the psalmist reminded us again that we are serving a righteous God.
Verse 2: ‘Clouds and thick darkness surround him; righteousness and justice are the foundation of his throne.‘ Verse 6: ‘The heavens proclaim his righteousness, and all the peoples see his glory.’ Verse 10: ‘Let those who love the Lord hate evil.‘ Verse 11: ‘Light is shed upon the righteous.’ Verse 12: ‘Rejoice in the Lord, you who are righteous, and praise his holy name.' The psalmist in Psalm 97 reminds us again that joyful worship must be translated into righteous living.
You remember the story of Joseph? In Genesis 39 Joseph says, when he faced seduction from Potiphar’s wife - and I like the way it is described in the Bible in verses 9-10: ‘How then could I do such a wicked thing and sin against God?' He refused to go to bed with her ‘or even be with her'. This phrase really just struck me, ‘or even be with her'. How often do we guard our boundary in order to serve a righteous God? To guard our boundary! You remember the story of Joseph’s brothers? They were very afraid that Joseph may retaliate when his father died and yet Joseph said this, ‘God intended it for good to accomplish what is now being done, the saving of many lives‘ (Genesis 50:20). And Joseph twice says, ‘God sent me ahead of you.’ There was no bitterness. In God’s sovereign rule Joseph accepted what God allowed him to go through. We serve a righteous God, ‘How then shall we live?‘ May I change it to, ‘How then shall we walk?’ Because Paul in Ephesians, actually seven times, said, ‘This is the way you should walk‘, or ‘This is the way you should not walk.’ Walking is an applicable metaphor for our way of life.
Patrick Fung : For what purpose? Psalm 97
Taken from the 2011 Keswick Convention Ministry Book “Word to the World”
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