Worshiping with a Tender Heart

Did you know that God wants to speak to you?

During a youth retreat, the group was gathered around a campfire after an evening worship service.  The guest speaker had just finished talking about the importance of listening for God’s voice.  As the teenagers settled into silence, distant thunder rumbled across the hills.  One girl, Sarah, closed her eyes and whispered a prayer: “Lord, if You’re speaking, help me hear.”  In that quiet moment she felt a clear conviction in her heart: “I want you to forgive your mother.”  Tears ran down her face as she realized God was nudging her toward reconciliation.  She later told her counselor, “It felt like the thunder was just a backdrop—God spoke right through it.”

A few seats away sat Mark, a boy who had joined the retreat because he’d been forced to go.  When the thunder rolled, he looked up at the clouds and whispered to his friend, “Looks like rain—great, now we’ll have to go inside.”  His mind was on his phone and the ballgame he was missing.  The same sound that stirred Sarah’s heart was merely “weather noise” to him.  He never considered that God might use a natural event to speak.

Later that week, Sarah wrote a letter to her mother and began the healing process.  Mark went home unchanged, still insisting that he “never hears from God.”

The difference between Sarah and Mark mirrors scenes from the Bible:
•When Jesus prayed, “Father, glorify your name,” a voice responded from heaven.  The crowd heard the same sound, but they interpreted it differently.  John records that some of the bystanders insisted it was thunder, while others said an angel had spokenlookoutmag.com.  The voice was God’s, yet people standing in the same place reached opposite conclusionsbibleref.com.

•On the road to Damascus, Saul (who later became Paul) heard Jesus speak and was transformed.  His traveling companions, however, “heard the sound” but could not understand the wordsgotquestions.org; they stood speechless, hearing a voice but seeing no onebiblehub.com.  They experienced the same supernatural event, yet only Saul comprehended the message.

•A preacher from Rock Valley Bible Church comments that when God answered Jesus’ prayer with an audible voice, “the multitude responded…‘it thundered’” (sermons.rvbc.cc—)an example of unbelief dismissing the miraculous.

These passages teach that God still speaks, but the condition of our heart determines whether His voice is clear or drowned out by “thunder.”  In the retreat story, Sarah’s receptive posture allowed her to discern God’s gentle whisper, while Mark’s distraction caused him to miss it.  The same is true today: two people can sit through the same sermon or experience the same circumstances—one hears God’s call and is changed, the other hears only noise.

What if God wants to speak to you this very morning? Will you hear him? Will your heart be ready to receive his message?

I would argue that some of you will, while some of you won’t.

Today, we are going to circle back to the Lifted Life once again.

We started the year off with a series called the Lifted Life Journey and we studied Ephesians 4, where we considered a pathway of discipleship that is fully surrendered, fully empowered, fully loved, and fully sent by Jesus’s love. Over these next few weeks, we will expand upon this journey and the different “lifts” that are a part of it: the lifts of worship, community, serving, and deeper discipling.

This first lift is the lift of worship.

You see, the experience of worship is one where there is  Revelation  and then  Response . Revelation — God speaks. Response — We react — We have a choice — we receive what He speaks to us, or, we reject it.

When we come to worship, or when we worship corporately, we must bring God our hearts — hearts that are ready to receive and respond. This is our goal, that we will receive from the Lord and respond to the Lord. Right? Remember, Revelation and Response.

But, to do this, we also have a  Responsibility . Our Responsibility is to SEEK God. Our Responsibility is to DRAW NEAR to God.

Do you want to hear from God? Do you need a word from the Lord? Do you wonder why he is silent?

Let’s learn today from Psalm 95:1-11.

Psalm 95:1–11
“Oh come, let us sing to the Lord; let us make a joyful noise to the rock of our salvation! Let us come into his presence with thanksgiving; let us make a joyful noise to him with songs of praise! For the Lord is a great God, and a great King above all gods. In his hand are the depths of the earth; the heights of the mountains are his also. The sea is his, for he made it, and his hands formed the dry land. Oh come, let us worship and bow down; let us kneel before the Lord, our Maker! For he is our God, and we are the people of his pasture, and the sheep of his hand. Today, if you hear his voice, do not harden your hearts, as at Meribah, as on the day at Massah in the wilderness, when your fathers put me to the test and put me to the proof, though they had seen my work. For forty years I loathed that generation and said, “They are a people who go astray in their heart, and they have not known my ways.” Therefore I swore in my wrath, “They shall not enter my rest.””

Do you want to hear from God?
If you want to hear from God…
I. Begin with Praise

Psalm 95 is one of Seven Enthronement Psalms. These Psalms call for the people to acknowledge that the Lord is a great king above the gods.

These Enthronement Psalms include Psalm 47, 93, and Psalms 96-99.

Look for a moment at a similar characteristic in just a few of these.

In Psalm 93, Psalm 97, and Psalm 99, notice the first line.

Psalm 93:1
“The Lord reigns; he is robed in majesty; the Lord is robed; he has put on strength as his belt. Yes, the world is established; it shall never be moved.”

Psalm 97:1
“The Lord reigns, let the earth rejoice; let the many coastlands be glad!”  

Psalm 99:1
“The Lord reigns; let the peoples tremble! He sits enthroned upon the cherubim; let the earth quake!”  

There is a relationship between the Lord reigning and ruling, the earth being established, and not moving, and the people trembling because they understand that the Lord is on his throne. These Psalms speak of a reverence as they open us.

Now, notice for a moment the first verses of Psalm 95, Psalm 96, and Psalm 98.

Psalm 95:1
“Oh come, let us sing to the Lord; let us make a joyful noise to the rock of our salvation!”

Psalm 96:1
“Oh sing to the Lord a new song; sing to the Lord, all the earth!”

Psalm 98:1
“Oh sing to the Lord a new song, for he has done marvelous things! His right hand and his holy arm have worked salvation for him.”

Notice in each of these is the invitation to the people to sing to the Lord. It is an exhortation to join in the celebration of the Lord our God and who He is and what He does.

And notice also the call to sing new songs.

Why new songs? Why are we invited to sing new songs?

I believe there are two reasons:
1.We sing new songs because we want to note what God is  doing today  in our midst.
2.We sing new songs because we want our faith  to be our own ...not just our parents faith or our grandparents faith, or our great-grandparents faith.

Now, let's look at this invitation to come and praise the Lord very purposefully.

Psalm 95:1–5
“Oh come, let us sing to the Lord; let us make a joyful noise to the rock of our salvation! Let us come into his presence with thanksgiving; let us make a joyful noise to him with songs of praise! For the Lord is a great God, and a great King above all gods. In his hand are the depths of the earth; the heights of the mountains are his also. The sea is his, for he made it, and his hands formed the dry land.”

I love the fact that these Enthronement Psalms are one after the other. You can’t read these and have a small view of God. But it is so easy to lose sight of just how grand God is.

How do you remind yourself of the greatness of God?

•Some of us look to the heavens to be reminded of the vastness and might of God.
•Others look into a microscope and see the vast diversity of a single cell, and they are blown away by the grandeur and might of God.
•Still others climb mountains and look across a range.
•Others look at sunsets.

How do you see the greatness and vastness of God?
•Through nature?
•Science?
•astronomy?
•studying the animal kingdom?
•Studying the complexity of the eye or the power of the human brain?
•Maybe through Music?

The Psalmist uses words to get us to consider just how Great and Powerful and Mighty the Lord is.

Notice this in verses 3-5.

Psalm 95:3–5
“For the Lord is a great God, and a great King above all gods. In his hand are the depths of the earth; the heights of the mountains are his also. The sea is his, for he made it, and his hands formed the dry land.”

The invitation is to enthrone him as King. So, he uses anthropomorphic language to give us a picture of a God so big that he is holding the world in his hands.

That’s what it says in verse 3 — In his hand are the depths of the earth;
There’s a song about that, isn’t there?
He’s got the whole world in his hands,
he’s got the whole world, in his hands;
he’s got the whole wide world, in his hands;
He’s got the whole world in his hands.

Now, consider your life. Consider the struggles, the pain, the frustrations — maybe its your relationship with one of your children. It’s just overwhelming to you...

Or maybe there is a situation at work that is keeping you up at night...

Or you aren’t sure where you are going to go to college, or if you will get accepted into the university you want to get into...

Or...Or...Or...

The Psalmist wants to paint a vivid picture to invite you to worship the one true God, the Lord Jesus, because the challenge you are walking through is really fairly  small  compared to his greatness.

This is why we can make a joyful noise. This is why we can come into his presence with thanksgiving and sing songs of praise even when we have a heavy heart — because He is so much greater than our largest and worst and most difficult problems.

See this invitation again in verses 1 and 2.

Psalm 95:1–2
“Oh come, let us sing to the Lord; let us make a joyful noise to the rock of our salvation! Let us come into his presence with thanksgiving; let us make a joyful noise to him with songs of praise!”

Worship lifts us. Worship reveals to us the greatness and vastness of God. He reminds us of who He is. So, we, even with heavy hearts, can sing and make music. We can lift our voice with confidence. We can be thankful, even when the conditions of our life are far less than ideal.

We can sing songs of praise because the Lord our God has the whole world in his hand...including the whole world of my life, concerns, interests, and needs — it’s all in His hand.

This lifts us. This changes our disposition. This inspires us.

My friend, when you come to worship and when you sit or kneel before the Lord in worship in your own home, remind yourself:
He’s got the whole world in his hands,
he’s got the whole world, in his hands;
he’s got the whole wide world, in his hands;
He’s got the whole world in his hands.

Remember, we have a responsibility —coming into his presence recognizing him for who He is — his vastness, and greatness, and power.

And we want to hear from him, because in hearing from him, our lives are lifted.

Do you want to hear from God?
II. Take a Powerless Posture

Psalm 95:6-7b
“Oh come, let us worship and bow down; let us kneel before the Lord, our Maker! For he is our God, and we are the people of his pasture, and the sheep of his hand.”

Every Sunday, the church welcomed a sharply dressed man named Grant Morgan—CEO of a major tech firm. He always sat in the back row. Quiet. Respectful. But he never sang. Never prayed out loud. And he definitely never knelt.

He once told the pastor, “I worship in my own way. God knows my heart.”

And the pastor would nod and say, “He sure does. But sometimes your body needs to remind your heart who’s King.”

One week, the sermon was on Psalm 95:6

“Come, let us worship and bow down; let us kneel before the Lord our Maker.”

As the congregation moved into a moment of prayer, the pastor invited anyone who was willing, to kneel. For the first time, Grant hesitated. Then he slowly moved to his knees, suit pressed against the carpet, eyes closed.

Later, someone asked him, “What made you kneel today?”

Grant replied, “I realized I spend most of my week standing in boardrooms. It was time I remembered who I really answer to.”

Worship involves posture — from a posture of praise — I lift my hands — to a posture of powerlessness — getting on your knees, getting on your face.

D. Martyn Lloyd-Jones said: "The root meaning of the Hebrew word that is translated “worship” in the Old Testament means “to bow down,” and that is the essence of true worship. It means that we bow down in the presence of God."

David Martyn Lloyd-Jones (Welsh Preacher and Writer): "This is quite a contrast to the way of the world and its message to you."

You see, the message of the world is EXALT YOURSELF. Puff up your chest and look powerful.

Charles Spurgeon said: “Man is such an idolater that, if he cannot idolize anything else, he will idolize himself, and set himself up and bow down and worship himself.”

But the message of the Bible is an invitation to your proper place. The Bible invites you to LOWER YOURSELF — get on your face and become powerless.

In lowering ourselves, we recognize we are dependent.

ANDREW MURRAY ONCE SAID: "The root of all virtue and grace, of all faith and acceptable worship, is that we know that we have nothing but what we receive, and bow in deepest humility to wait upon God for it.

I believe that is what the Psalmist is helping us see here — that we know that we have nothing but what we receive...

My friend, do you know that you have nothing except what you have received?

Again, you may puff your chest up and say, “Pastor, do you know what I have done to build my company, my business, my reputation?”

My brother or sister, can I simply respond?

Do you know the way the sovereign hand of God has worked to:
•get you introduced to the right people at just the right time?
•move away threats and barriers?
•put his favor upon you so that you would get the contract you know you didn’t deserve?
•connect you to opportunity?
•gave you the mind that can reason and fathom and see the opportunities you see?
•Or provide you with the health that you have to execute at such a high level
•Or continue to open doors for you and make great provision?

We are simply sheep. We are frail. We are powerless. We need our shepherd to provide for us the security, safety, and sense of belonging that we need.

EDWIN BLUM SAID, "The security of the sheep is found in the ability of the Shepherd to defend and preserve His flock. Such security does not depend on the ability of the frail sheep."

My friend, if you want:
• your life lifted...
•your marriage lifted...
•your children lifted...
•your business lifted...
•your own emotional disposition lifted...

bow down before the Lord, our God, our Maker.

In the kingdom, the way up is down. Lower yourself before the Lord and take a powerless posture, and watch him lift you.

As you take this posture, you are now in a position to hear from him. But this last point is most crucial. Remember, worship involves revelation and response.

To hear from God we must have...
III. Hearts that are Tender

Psalm 95:7c–11
“Today, if you hear his voice, do not harden your hearts, as at Meribah, as on the day at Massah in the wilderness, when your fathers put me to the test and put me to the proof, though they had seen my work. For forty years I loathed that generation and said, “They are a people who go astray in their heart, and they have not known my ways.” Therefore I swore in my wrath, “They shall not enter my rest.””

Can I tell you the biggest barrier to breakthrough in your own life?
•In your relationship with God
•In your relationship with your spouse
•In your relationship with your kids
•In your relationship with your parents...
The biggest barrier to breakthrough in your life is a hard heart.

In nearly every conversation I have with a person who is having relational problems, I tell them, “Whatever you do, don’t cross the line.

Take a look at these slides for a moment and I will draw for you what I draw for them.

Many of you have seen this before, whether we were sitting across the table in my office or out to lunch or coffee.

Don't cross the line


Praying for heart to change


If you aren't careful...



Now you have a hard heart


Why is that what happens to us?  Why do we harden our hearts?

Let me give you five reasons:

5 Reasons We Harden our Hearts
1. Trauma — “I’m hurt and have to protect myself.”
2.Continuous Disappointment — “I can’t trust you.”
3.Unforgiveness — “I can’t forgive you.”
4.Shame — “God can’t forgive me.”
5.Unbelief — “God can’t fix this.”

In this Psalm, it’s this reason that the Scripture is referring to.

Look at verses 8-11.

Psalm 95:8–11
“do not harden your hearts, as at Meribah, as on the day at Massah in the wilderness, when your fathers put me to the test and put me to the proof, though they had seen my work. For forty years I loathed that generation and said, “They are a people who go astray in their heart, and they have not known my ways.” Therefore I swore in my wrath, “They shall not enter my rest.””

The reference for the listener is from Exodus 17 when Israel has just escaped the Egyptians and the Lord is beginning their journey through the wilderness.

They are at Rephidim and they don’t have water to drink for themselves or their livestock. So they begin to grumble and complain. They begin to wish for Egypt again. They are almost ready to stone Moses.

They are grumbling because they don’t believe in this moment that God is going to provide for them like He has been doing all along.

They have just seen the plagues play out.

They have just seen the cloud and fire pillars separate them from the Egyptian army that was pursuing.

The sea has just opened up and they have passed through on dry ground.

The Egyptian soldiers lost their lives as the sea closes on them.

Then they get manna every morning.

Yet, they are complaining.

Exodus 17:7
“And he called the name of the place Massah and Meribah, because of the quarreling of the people of Israel, and because they tested the Lord by saying, “Is the Lord among us or not?”  

The Lord has been so gracious to them, providing for them at every turn.

And yet, their analysis of the situation seems to be what they go with — there is no water here, this must be a big mistake. Let’s get a new leader and let’s be honest, God must not be with us anymore.

Your analysis of your situations that goes against God’s will and God’s word is exactly the same.

He is clear about what is right and wrong.

He hasn’t moved off, he isn’t asleep at the wheel, and he hasn’t changed his mind.

Your problem is that you don’t want to hear God. Your problem is that you don’t like what he is saying.

Your problem is that you want to exhibit a posture of worship but still go and do whatever it is you want.

LISTEN TO THE WORDS OF JOHN STOTT ON THE DANGERS OF THE HARDNESS OF HEART.

“...Hardness of heart leads first to darkness of mind, then to deadness of soul under the judgment of God, and finally to recklessness of life.”

Your stubborn heart will destroy you if you aren’t careful.

God has brought his word to you...God has brought his messenger to you...God has made his will abundantly clear, but you reject it.

Guess what, your life won’t be lifted this way! No, it’s a certain path of pain and devastation.
Look with me at the call of Wisdom in Proverbs 1. Wisdom is calling out and there is no fear of God and there is no acceptance of the counsel of God. So, about halfway through Wisdom’s speech, we see these words.

Proverbs 1:29–32
“Because they hated knowledge and did not choose the fear of the Lord, would have none of my counsel and despised all my reproof, therefore they shall eat the fruit of their way, and have their fill of their own devices. For the simple are killed by their turning away, and the complacency of fools destroys them;”

A hard heart despises the word of the Lord. And the hard heart is the surest way to devastation.

Notice the last verse of the Psalm.

Psalm 95:11
“Therefore I swore in my wrath, “They shall not enter my rest.””
When you harden your heart, you forgo the peace of God.

You may say, “Well what do I do? I do want to hear from God.”

I think it is fairly simple — bring Him your hard heart and ask him to break it and give you a new heart.

Confess to him your:
•Unforgiveness
•Shame
•Unbelief

Ask Him to heal you of your:
•trauma
•lack of trust of others

And ask him to renovate your heart so that you can hear from him anew.

Psalm 51:10
“Create in me a clean heart, O God, and renew a right spirit within me.”

After you have gotten your heart right with the Lord, ask Him to lead you to get your heart right with others in your life.

Long ago, in the highlands of an ancient realm, there lived a master archer named Caelen. He was renowned throughout the kingdom for his unmatched aim and fierce independence. He feared no man and bowed to none, declaring often, “I bend my bow to no one—and certainly not my knee.”

Word reached Caelen that the king was traveling the land in disguise, visiting the villages to see the heart of his people. This annoyed Caelen. “If the king is too proud to show his face, then I’m too proud to bow,” he scoffed.

One misty morning, Caelen entered a small village square and found a crowd gathered around a cloaked man teaching children and listening to farmers. The man carried no emblem of royalty, no sword, no crown. Curious, Caelen approached and challenged him. “If you are the king, prove it. Show your throne or call your guards.”

The man only smiled and said, “A true king does not demand honor—he draws it from the heart.”

The villagers began to kneel, recognizing something regal in the man’s humility. But Caelen refused. “I will not bow to mystery,” he growled.

The king turned to him, still calm. “One day, all will bow—willingly or unwillingly. But it is those who bow from the heart that truly know the king.”

Years passed. Famine came. War followed. And Caelen, weary and wounded, wandered through the ruined capital. There on the throne sat the same man, now clothed in royal robes, surrounded by warriors and wisdom.

Caelen fell to his knees, weeping—not out of force, but regret.

The king stepped down from the throne, lifted Caelen’s head, and said, “I was never seeking your fear, only your heart.”

 
This blog is based on the message shared by Senior Pastor Dr. Roger Patterson on Sunday, August 3, 2025 from our CityRise Church West U Baptist campus. Check out the full message below!