In this sermon, the speaker emphasizes the importance of rooting out unbelief in the lives of believers. They believe that God wants to teach His church to be true worshipers, as the Father seeks those who worship Him in spirit and truth. The speaker shares the story of a young boy who, despite being forgotten and alone, was able to worship God and write the Psalms. They highlight the challenges and questions that arise when serving God, but encourage believers to press on and trust in Him.

This message is one of the Times Square Church Pulpit Series. It was recorded in the sanctuary of Times Square Church in Manhattan, New York City. You are welcome to make additional cassettes of this message for free distribution to friends. However, for all other forms of reproduction or electronic transmission, existing copyright laws apply. This morning we heard a very powerful word on how God wants to take and root out the unbelief in the lives of His people. And I believe that when God is able to do that among His people, those that trust Him, that walk with Him because of Jesus Christ His Son, there is now another work that God wants to do and He wants to teach His church to be worshippers. I believe in the end time there is going to be believers and there is going to be worshippers. There is going to be a people who know how to worship Him. The Bible says that the Father seeks those that worship Him, that will worship Him in spirit and in truth. There was a woman who was worshipping, but she didn't know what she was worshipping. So all her worship was in vain. But Jesus came to tell her that those that would truly worship, would worship in spirit and in truth. And today that is what I would like to speak on, on worship. If you would turn with me in your Bibles to 1 Chronicles 29 and also Psalm 32, if you could do that. 1 Chronicles 29 and also Psalm 32. I'm going to pray. Father, I ask Lord that you would make this a very clear word. I ask Lord that you would make it a simple word. Lord, that those that hear it could understand it. I pray Lord that you would lead us to the heart of worship. That you would make it Lord, create in us that desire. Create in us, O God, an understanding. Create in us, O God, that which can worship you in spirit and in truth. Lord, I know it is when you bring us to a truth, O God. And by that spirit you make it so living and real. Lord, it's going to separate us. It's going to set us apart. So Lord, I thank you for that anointing, O God, to make it clear and desired in my life, and the lives who hear this, your people, in Jesus' name. Amen. You know, what do I mean when I say worship? Well, I'm talking about something that we give our heart to. I'm talking about something that we give our life to. That we put our strength behind. And that when we do it, it satisfies us. You know, the heart that God created and put in the heart of man was created to worship. And it will worship. Whether it is truth. Whether it is a living God. Whether it is a worthless idol. Whether it is something we wrap our heart around. No matter what it is, our heart was created to worship. And it will worship. And so whether today we can hear the invitation of the Father, the living God, to have a people that will come to Him and worship Him with all their heart and all their mind and all their strength. And that it satisfies us. That it meets the deepest need in our heart. And brings us to wholeness, beloved. That's what true worship is. But whether we'll come to Him and do that, know something, we will worship something. Because God created us that way. And in the Bible there is no greater example of a man who worships than David. David was a worshiper. And today I want to talk about his life. And I want to talk about some things that were found in his life. But I'm not in any way suggesting to you that worship is a step by step thing that happens in our life. I don't think there are steps to worship. I think worship is something that springs from our innermost being based on the light we have. And I believe that it's something that the Holy Spirit is drawing from us. Where we will begin in confidence and faith to give everything we have to the God that we know. I also want to talk about a man who had a God taught heart and yet ended up being an idolater. And that was David's son, Solomon. I think one of the most tragic stories in all the Bible. But in 1 Chronicles 29, I just want to read to you two verses. And it's one of the prayers that David prayed at the end of his life. In verse 11 he says, Thine, O Lord, is the greatness and the power and the glory and the victory and the majesty for all that is in the heaven and in the earth is Thine. Thine is the kingdom, O Lord, and Thou art exalted as head above all. Both riches and honors come of Thee, and Thou reignest over all. And in Thy hand is power and might, and in Thy hand it is to make great and to give strength unto all. Now this was the words that came from the heart of a worshiper. And it came at the end of his life. If you read commentaries on David, they talk about a man who had God's heart. A man who was after God's heart. Then they'll mention his fall. But then they'll always end up by saying, but he is singularly one of the few men in all the Bible that loved God the way he did. And beloved, when he came to giving this prayer at the end of his life, he was not bowed down by condemnation. He was not beating himself up. But here was a man who had truly been touched by the greatness of God. And it was in his soul, so that his final words, the end of his life, all he could do was to exclaim the incredible awesomeness and greatness and victory and majesty and power and exaltedness of his God. Beloved, this is a worshiper. This is a worshiper. How did he get that way? Well, I believe that there were seasons in his life where David had a revelation of God that allowed him to worship. And he started, I believe, to worship when he was just a young boy, when touched by the spirit of God and he was a shepherd boy. And the scripture in one of his psalms, it says, the heavens declare the glory of God. And I believe sitting there alone, touched by the spirit of God, David began, was enabled to worship. And why, beloved? Because I believe in his loneliness, he worshipped. I believe in his forgottenness, his heart crying out for something. He looked up and he found comfort that the spirit of God touched him and had his eyes of faith look upward and say, look who is watching you, look who loves you, look who is with you. And though he was forgotten by family, though he was so alone, that young boy was able to worship. Beloved, he had the least esteemed job and he worshipped. He was in a place where nobody wanted to be at that time. He was given the place, he was given the job, he was given the station in life that others would say, thank God I was not there, I'm not there. But this young boy, touched by the spirit of God, the Holy Spirit came and moved upon him. And began to give him a revelation of this God that looked down upon him and was with him and loved him. And that boy began to worship. And he began to write the Psalms. Beloved, the scripture says a lion came upon him. Could it have been the lion of loneliness? A real lion, but was there also a lion of loneliness that wanted to devour him? There was a bear, perhaps a real bear. But was it also a bear of disrespect that he had to face every day in his life? But in secret, the scripture says that he overcame these things that came against his mind and his soul and his heart. And there came a day when what happened in the secret of his soul, what happened in the battles of his mind, that worship was able to lift him out of. That worship was able to say, this is how you see your life, but this is how I see you. And God began to reveal himself in power to that young man. And so leaving the shepherd's field, David entered into a season of Goliath. Where that young man, that worshiping young man, a stripling, faced an incredible giant and now he was going to have a victory for all to see. Worship had given him a victory, I believe, in his soul, in his spirit and secret. But now, as a stripling, but all faith and all heart, that young man was taken from the sheepfold and he was set before the enemies of Israel. And when everyone else quaked and trembled, this young man, this worshiper, was able to stand before them and shame the men of technique and talent. And shame the men of war who were supposed to know how to do it with all the armor. And would look at them and say, don't put that heavy armor on me, I don't know how to use it, I've not proved that. But I'm going to prove what I do know, I'm in touch with the living God. And because he was a worshiper and he was in touch with the living God, beloved, he was untouchable by the fiercest of enemies. He was untouched by the fear that gripped the nation. And so the Bible says he ran towards Goliath, not with a spear, not with a sword, but with a stone and a sling. That young boy, that worshiper, could run in front towards that Goliath, all heart, all faith, the product of his worship. His lack of fear caused the enemy to fear. And you know the story, after that mighty defeat of Goliath, the scripture tells us that he got a name. He got a position, he became the king's son-in-law. He also knew the wrath of the enemy at that point. Because the scripture tells us that Saul, the king, an evil spirit came upon him. And that evil spirit in him hated David. Hated the spirit that was in David. Hated that worshiping spirit that would throw himself upon a God and know victory and not know the torment and the fear that he knew. And that evil spirit in Saul drove David from his presence. And the scripture tells us that David then, this worshiper David, went through that season of a cave. He was no longer a youth. He was no longer so naive. He was a man now that the enemy was pressing to embitter him. That God, after my worship of knowing you and knowing victories, God, why am I being pressed out of my place? Why am I being forced out of a place I thought was surely from your hand? Why am I being pressed out and separated into a cave? Is this what serving you brings? Beloved, he was being pressed down and shaken together in this season. And when you're moving forward in God, that means when you're moving forward in the call of God on your life, you are going to fight, beloved, these questions. And with them there will be that fight for depression, against depression and discontent and despair. We have spoken about it. And then those that are gathered around you, as in David in this time, and he's leading men full of despair and discontent and depression in a cave. And they're rallying around them and he's called to be their leader. And the Bible says that he begins to raid enemy camps. And in a raiding party he comes back to find his own camp raided. He begins to see when he comes back that his base camp, Ziklag, has been raided of everything. His treasures, his wives, everything he possessed has been taken from him. And beloved, it's in an incredible season in David's heart of where the ways of God don't seem to be matching up with this God that he worshiped. But I love the Scripture that says that David, in that extreme time, he turned and it says he did what he only knew to do, is that he encouraged himself in the Lord. And beloved, that's what worship is. It's when it's God alone. When it's times in your life and my life that the only source of comfort is Him. It's the only source of security. It's our only source of victory. It's our only source of keeping us from going mad. It's our only source of keeping that fear that wants to swallow us up. It's the only thing that keeps our head up. When God alone does that, we're worshiping. When God alone and nothing else is our source and our reason to go on, we are worshiping. And David worshiped. And then the Scripture says that he had a breakthrough. That David was crowned king. That he was seven years king over Judah. And in that time, the Scripture says, at the end of that, You don't need to turn there, but 2 Samuel 5, 12 says, Beloved, here is a man that can be led by God. And when God finally establishes His kingdom, When God finally breaks through, You are my man. I have your heart. You are starting to possess my heart. Here is the evidence. He begins to establish us. And David, when he was established, knew it was not for his sake. It was not for his kingdom's sake. Not for his glory's sake. But he was there by the grace of God for his people, Israel's sake. And beloved, David could worship. Because there was now coming into his heart and life a freedom to forget about himself. There was now coming into his worship where he bore the concerns for other people. Where God could begin to lay upon his heart. Because you see, his heart was getting healed. His heart was being made whole because he was a worshiper. And because he had learned to worship through all those circumstances and not let go of a God who did not let go of him. God began to establish his kingdom because he was getting whole in his heart. And for his people, Israel's sake, David knew why he was called king. It is for my people's sake. God saying, I was looking for a king to shepherd them, David. I've been looking for a king to lead them. I've been looking for a flesh and blood example of a worshiper that you may lead my people into this kind of relationship. And David's kingdom was established for his people, Israel's sake. And it says David perceived that. David knew that. David knew he was planted for his people, Israel's sake. And he was able to worship over that. There was a worship in his spirit that that's why he was called. And David went into a season where he was a warrior and a worshiper. And the Bible tells us that he knew incredible success against his enemies. And beloved, this is what worship will do. It will expand small thinking. We'll start to get a vision. Of the victory we have in our God. We will start to have an understanding heart. Because we have an exalted picture of the God that we've given our heart and life to. And David did that. And David ushered in what was known as Israel's golden age. But beloved, at that same time, when David was established his kingdom. And he was going to put Jerusalem as his capital. He did what would seem to many a strange thing. He did something that I don't even think he had a full understanding of. But the scripture tells us. That David took the ark. He moved the ark from a tent in Gibeon. Now beloved, the ark was the center. It's the heart of worship. Because it was the container that was in the Holy of Holies behind that curtain. That there had been a mobile worship center erected. The tabernacle. And it was a tent and it lived in Gibeon. But David, when he established his kingdom in Jerusalem. He moved what was behind a curtain. The Holy of Holies. The oracle it was called. And he moved that. And he moved it to Jerusalem. And the story is well known. Of how he was moving it. That it was not done in the right order. In the right way. And the scripture tells us. That one of the men bearing the ark. When he put his hand out to steady the ark was slain. And the Bible tells us that David feared. David was displeased with this thing. But David feared. And it was like God was saying. David I'm going to move you now. If you're moving into leadership. If you are going to become a worshiper. Like I'm calling you to be. If I'm calling you to be a worshiper. That those around you. Are moved by your worship of me. And so when they were moving the ark. God says it's going to be done in my order. And David I'm going to build into you a fear of me. An awe and a reverence. I need to increase that in your heart. The scripture says in Jeremiah 32.40. And I will put my fear in their hearts. And they shall not depart from me. God is saying in this scripture. I'm going to put my fear. A reverence. An awe. A godly fear in your heart. Because David when that's in there. You shall not depart from me. David I'm going to keep you. Through this lesson. I'm going to keep you. Because you're going to need it. To what else I'm going to bring you through. I'm going to put that fear in your heart. And you shall not depart from me. When you learn that. And beloved when that ark was going forward. It was like a symbol. It's like a picture in words to us. Of a separating that's going on in the heart of a worshiper. There is a separating. When we began to worship God. Beloved he is going to come. And the worldliness. And the things that are in our heart. He's going to separate us. There is going to be a separating. When we worship God. But beloved I don't believe he understood. Everything all at once. What he was being led to do. I don't believe he understood the full significance. Of what he was doing at that moment. And I'll return to that. But then the scripture says that after he moved the ark. He returned to bless his house. He returned to bless his house. Because when he finally put that ark in place. A joy hit him. A joy as he began to move that ark from a tent to Jerusalem. He began to dance and sing and shout. And a freedom is coming into his spirit. That's what happens to worshipers. A freedom moves into our heart and mind. We begin to worship like we've never been able to before. We begin to obey him and be led by him. And he began to dance and sing. And beloved he returned home to bless his house. And beloved I believe what we learned. And we are following David's step in worshiping. We return home to bless our house. Beloved we return home and bless with forgiveness. We return home and we bless with kindness. We return home and we bless with unselfishness. We return home and we bless with acts of service. That's what David did. That's what a worshiping David did. That freedom in his spirit. Allowed him that freedom to give himself. To those most intimately acquainted with him. But beloved then David went into a season of judgment. It was a time when David knew moral failure. You know the story well. When he knew sin. Actually he knew sin upon sin. A season I'm sure when David felt after all he had been through and what he knew of God. He knew, he knew God. And yet Satan was still able to get the upper hand in his life and heart. The man most intimately acquainted with God. Had seemingly overnight become one of the most estranged from the heart of God. A season where it was one more time his privilege to go out and do battle. But he was not found in his place. Maybe he was weary. Maybe he was lazy. Maybe he was losing heart for the battle. Whatever his reasons and God knows them. He was not found in his place. And we know that he was found in the wrong place at the wrong time. And it led to his sin with Bathsheba. It led to a murder of her husband. It led to the death of the baby that David and Bathsheba had. And scripture also tells us about Satan moving David after the incident with Bathsheba. To number Israel. Sorry, I just want to say too. Also after that the Bible tells us that his house and you know well how family matters. The rage and the rebellion and the rape that went on in his own house. A judgment for sin. And David is under a season of judgment. Isn't this worshipper? This man that knows what it is to touch the heart of God. And have God touch his heart. Is now in a season. He is in a place of sin. He is in a place of failure. And the Bible tells us that Satan was able to move through him and number Israel. Moved by Satan. And the Bible tells us that the judgment comes into David's heart for all these things. But I would like you to look with me to 1 Chronicles 21. A few pages back. David in this dark season of his life. And how dark it must be for a man who lived in light. How dark must it be for a man who has known what it is to be moved by the Spirit of God. And now he is in this place. But beloved, I'll tell you something. He is about to be moved into a place of worship he has never been before. He is about to have a revelation of what true worship is. Of what the heart of worship is. That is going to keep him the rest of his life. He is about to have something so move in his spirit, in his heart, in his soul. That is forever going to have him a marked man. And the Bible tells us in 1 Chronicles 21.13. David is under judgment. David has had Satan stand up. Move against him and provoke David to number Israel. And God is against this thing. And the Bible tells us in verse 13 of 1 Chronicles 21. And David said unto Gad, I am in a great strait. Let me fall now into the hand of the Lord. For very great are his mercies. But let me not fall into the hand of man. And beloved, David knows he is under the judgment of God. Because God told him, the judgment you have to choose between your punishments. And David says, let me fall into the hand of God, not the hand of man. When given a choice. David knows he is under judgment. But beloved, in verse 8. David says, and David said unto God, I have sinned greatly because I have done this thing. But now I beseech thee, do away the iniquity of thy servant. For I have done very foolishly. And God is pressing home to this man. David, you are under judgment. And now, in verse 8. You need to have that repentance. There needs to be a cry from you of what you have done. I am bringing you to judgment. So that you can see clearly what has happened in your heart. And then in verse 28. Of 1 Chronicles 21. It says at that time, when David saw that the Lord had answered him in the threshing floor of Orn in the Jebusite. Then he sacrificed there. And beloved, God had sent under judgment an angel who was going to destroy Jerusalem. But then, the scripture tells us. That the Lord repented and stayed the hand of that angel. After there had been judgment for a season. God said he stayed that hand and David saw it. David saw that angel's hand. A sword in his hand for judgment to fall. And David at this threshing floor of Orn saw the whole thing happen there. And the Bible says that there he sacrificed. And finally in verse 30. It says, but David could not go before to inquire of God. For he was afraid because of the sword of the angel of the Lord. And now David has not only gone to judgment. He's not only known repentance. He's not only now known mercy and revelation. But there's a fear here. And beloved, I want to show you where it all culminates in. What have I been saying here? What is the revelation? What is this worshippers heart? What has God broken through to him? That is going to be the heart. The heart of worship. The next verse. 1 Chronicles 22. Then David said, this is the house of the Lord God. And this is the altar of the burnt offering for Israel. What is he talking about? What's David talking about? What is the house he's talking about? What is the altar he's talking about? What kind of worship is breaking in on his soul? What is David understanding, beloved? I want to tell you in this time of judgment. He had a full revelation of the God he worshipped. And this was it. Beloved, when he saw that in his heart he was in desperate need of mercy. When he saw that he had been brought to the judgment bar for what was in his heart. That he who had worshipped was also capable of that sin. And to be moved repeatedly by sin. And knew what failure was. Then he was brought to the judgment. Then he was brought to confession, repentance. Then he was brought to mercy. Then he was brought to fury. And beloved, I believe his eyes were opened into the ark that he had brought into Jerusalem. Beloved, you want to know what that ark is? That ark was a wooden box. This that he had brought into Jerusalem. That ark was a wooden box. And inside, by the time it came to David's time, was the Ten Commandments. But overlaid in that wooden box was pure gold. And on top of that box was a mercy seat that was pure gold. And it totally covered the Ten Commandments inside it. And that ark was brought into a place where once a year the blood of goats and bulls were sprinkled over it. And beloved, David at this time wrote Psalm 32. And all of a sudden this man is getting a revelation. This man is going to understand why he is going to be a worshipper to the end of his days. Because it tells us in Psalm 32 that David said, Blessed is he whose transgression is forgiven, whose sin is covered. Blessed is the man unto whom the Lord imputeth not iniquity, and in whose spirit there is no guile. When I kept silence, my bones waxed old through my roaring all day long. For day and night thy hand was heavy upon me. My moistures turned into the drought of summer. Verse 5, I acknowledge my sin unto thee, and my iniquity have I not hid. I will confess my transgressions unto the Lord. And thou forgavest the iniquity of my sin. For this shall everyone that is godly pray unto thee, in a time when thou mayest be found. Beloved, here is the heart of mercy. That for every time those that have a relationship with the living God, every time there is a true confession of sin, there is a covering of sin. Every time we have failed Him, we are forgiven when there is a true heart repentance. Every time that no matter what I have been to you God, no matter what my history has been, and yet I have found, O God, my need and my want. Lord, you say that you impute, if not iniquity. Every time I know you have brought me to the judgment bar, I go willingly. Because you say this is how a godly man prays. You say that a godly man prays this. O God, I will not hide my sin. I will confess my sin. I will acknowledge my sin. That you may cover it. That you may forgive it. That you may not impute sin. Because, beloved, then when we come to that, the incredible mercy, we get a revelation. That is the heart of worship. That every time I need it, it doesn't matter how many times I failed Him, when I go to you with a true repentant heart, I receive it. And that covering and that cleansing I get, I can rise up. And, Lord, your strength can flow through me. Your plan for me goes on unhindered. I move, God, in a humility. Because, God, I've been cleansed and I know I'm in right relationship. I am restored as if I never sinned. David says, I'm going to face my sin every time you face me with it. David said, I'm not going to back away because, God, I may think myself a worshipper. I may think I have something in God. I think I may be moving somewhere in God. And when I sin, I'm devastated. When I fail, I get so disheartened. When I got, I fall short. But, Lord, I'm coming. David says, this is why I can worship you. Because every time I need mercy, oh, God, you say, blessed is the man whose sin is forgiven. You say whose transgression is forgiven and whose sin is covered. Every time, David said, I'm getting the fear out of me. For, God, you know I have a heart for you. And the enemy has oppressed me for so long because I failed. Because I fall short. But now, God, I'm beginning to understand why I moved that marked ark to Jerusalem. For it is the heart of worship. Every time I sin, there's a covering. If there is a repentance. If there is a heartfelt repentance. It doesn't matter how many times I come to you. It matters not what I come to you about. It matters, God, no matter how many times or for how long I've tried to hide it. You say that you will bring me to judgment. And then you say when I come face to face, if I will repent, God, you will cover. And you will forgive. Lord, you will not impute it. You will say I see it no more. I choose to see it no more when I hear a repentance and a cry from you. And the mercy that flows into our life. We rise up and we worship. Beloved, we cannot worship any other way. We do not have true worship until this gets into our spirit. That in Christ, I have an ark. Christ Jesus, you are the ark. That my broken ten commandments lives in a wooden box. But in salvation, it is wrapped in gold. But then when I confess my sin, you say it is covered. So that nobody can see the broken commandments inside. It is completely covered by that golden seat. And then it is sprinkled by the blood of the lamb. And when it is sprinkled by the blood of the lamb, it says, blessed is he whose transgression is forgiven. Blessed is he, and it says I'm a blessed man. And I walk a blessed man all the days of my life. Blessed man, because my transgression is forgiven. And my sin is covered. And my sin is not imputed. You choose not to see it, because I have an ark. Because in Jerusalem, the very heart of it is mercy. And David knew, he had an understanding. That every time he needed it, with a heartfelt transgression, he was going to get it. And he was going to rise up in the strength of a cleansed and a covered soul. And he was not going to be afraid to say, ride on King Jesus. Lead me where you want to take me. For I know what it is to worship you. Because every time I need that forgiveness, I have it in you. This is the heart of worship. We can have other kinds of worship like David knew it. But till he had that understanding, that the mercy never ceases. For a repentant heart, that he could rise up, changed. Because he was a forgiven man. Because he's a blessed man. Now beloved, the scripture tells us that David had a son. And Solomon, his son with Bathsheba. From that union of failure, God declared, David you're not going to build me a physical house. He said, David you have a heart and you've done well to want to build me a house for that ark. You do well to want to build this temple of glory. That the very heart of it is that ark that speaks of a forgiven sin. And every time you need it with a heartfelt repentance. That his glory of the house would reflect the glory of the mercy in my life that causes me to worship day and night. A forgiven blessed man. David you've done well. But it is for your son Solomon to build. He said to David, David you want to build me a house, I'll tell you something, I'm going to build you a house. And David was undone. He couldn't imagine that after all how he had sinned. But when he repented, just even for God to accept him. But then he said, Lord I'm moved, I so understand your mercy, I so understand the blessing in my life. I want to build you a house. God says, no you can't, but I'm going to build you a house. And I'm going to build it because your lineage will usher in my son. But he said through your son, I'm going to build a house. And it was an incredible thing because Solomon could have so much been the son of failure. Solomon could have so much been the son of rejection. Because he was from a union that initially was so inside the will of God. But God entered into that failure of David and he turned it around for nothing is impossible. The Lord says, behold I make all things new. There is nothing behind us God cannot touch and make new. There is nothing that God cannot move into. And when we have a heartfelt, when we come to the judgment bar and we know a heartfelt repentance, God says I can make it all new. And that's what he did with Solomon. And scripture tells us that it was David's chief delight and great joy to begin to teach Solomon everything he had learned. The scripture tells us that in 1st Chronicles 28.11 I believe. Yes, if you want to turn there quickly back to 1st Chronicles. It tells us that Solomon was given the pattern of the house. Sorry, by the pattern of the house by David his father, by the spirit. And so here we have David beginning to pour into his son Solomon the pattern that he was given by the spirit. And God was saying now this is what this house is going to look like. It's going to be built like this and it's going to have this porch and you're going to use these materials. And by the spirit of the Lord David was given it. Because it all was going to show the incredible heart of worship. Which was the ark. And so David began to give Solomon this by the spirit. And David began to store up treasures for him in abundance. And he stored up costly materials, the best of everything. So that when Solomon's time came to reign and to build the house. Solomon would have the pattern by the spirit. And he was going to say, Solomon, if you can see it, if you have the eyes to see, my life is the pattern. The spirit of God that is built in me, my understanding now of how we worship God. Has been, is seen in my life. Is seen how he's led me, what he's taught me, what he's brought me through. And now I want you to understand by the spirit of the very center of it, this ark, this forgiveness, this blessed life. That is the very center of it, Solomon built it this way. And the scripture says that when Solomon took the throne, he was well equipped. But turn with me quickly to 1 Kings 3. Solomon now king, he sets out to build. And in 1 Kings 3.3, it says, And Solomon loved the Lord, walking the statutes of David his father. Only he sacrificed and burnt incense in high places. And verse 2, Only the people sacrificed in high places. Because there was no house built unto the name of the Lord until those days. And beloved, it shows us here that Solomon now being given the pattern and the materials by David. He goes to the place where the tabernacle is, but no heart, no ark. He goes to an empty shell, and he sacrifices there. He's given the pattern of how to build, but Solomon is found going to Gibeon. Not the ark in Jerusalem, but where the outside exterior worship is. And he goes and he worships there. And beloved, that's such a picture of a people yet that don't understand what worship's about it. And with their lips they proclaim him, but the scripture says their heart is far from him. And there is no understanding of what true worship is. But beloved, Solomon like us, he is learning how to worship. And though he goes to that place, the scripture says that God appears to him in a dream. After he's worshipped in that empty place. And the Lord says to Solomon, Ask me what I shall give thee. Beloved, this so speaks of God. Trying to get a hold of his people. We have been given the pattern of how to build a house of worship. The scripture says we are the temples of the Holy Ghost. That inside us in our heart is to be that ark of understanding. Of what the death of Jesus Christ and his blood and his resurrection means. And beloved, we will turn to an empty shell of worship like Solomon did. But God comes to him and he says, Ask me what you need. He's going to turn, he's going to reach out now to Solomon. And say, What do you need? Ask me and I will give it to you. And that's God reaching out to those that still don't understand the heart of worship. When God says, I've given it to you by the spirit, I'm going to show you how to build the temple. I'm going to give it to you by the spirit and we're worshipping in another direction. We're worshipping what we know, not what. And the Lord appears to Solomon and says, What do you want? And Solomon says, Wisdom. God says, That's a good thing. And it's God wanting to work with us. And as soon as he has that dream, the scripture says that Solomon says he returns back to Jerusalem. And he worships there in verse 15. It says, And Solomon awoke and behold it was a dream. And he came to Jerusalem and stood before the ark of the covenant of the Lord. And offered up burnt offerings and offered peace offerings there. And beloved, that is our God. He is forever wanting to turn us back to the right direction. To point us in the true direction. And then to bring us there. And that's what he did with Solomon. You are in a wrong direction, Solomon. I've given you all that you need to build wisely. And you're standing in a wrong place. But I'm going to turn your direction and I'm going to bring you to Jerusalem. And to the ark. And the Bible goes on to tell us in 1 Kings 6-10. That Solomon now facing the right direction. Now in that place of true worship begins to build the temple. And the Bible tells us that he builds magnificently. The Bible tells us that he takes all that David gave him his father by the Spirit. And he builds it exactly according to plan. And he builds it as he was given it. And he builds with the materials he was given. And he builds this magnificent temple of worship. He builds well and he builds wisely. And God appears to him a second time. And he speaks prophetically to him. And he speaks promises to him. And then beloved, Solomon now himself will go into a time of testing. He will now go in having had built this incredible temple of worship. God is now saying to Solomon. It's completed, now won't you walk in it? You have built me an incredible temple of worship. But Solomon, is it in you? Solomon, have you understood what you've built? Solomon, do you understand it? And the scripture tells us that I know and you know that Solomon at the end of his days, his heart was turned. That Solomon did not worship. Solomon was not found being a worshipper. But he was found building temples to idols. He was found building other temples. And beloved, the same heart of worship that his father David learned. David that Solomon never learned. And that was this. That it tells us in Psalm 32 that God's hand upon the godly. His hand will be heavy upon us day and night till we confess. Till we not hide our sin. And you know that the hand of God was heavy upon Solomon to bring him to the judgment bar. That when he began to multiply horses and women and money to himself. That God would have been faithful to the man who built the worship. That temple of worship. That his hand would have been upon him to turn him. But the scripture says that he did not heed that. He would not be brought to the judgment bar. And because he would not be brought to judgment, he was never brought to mercy. He left, he would live the life uncovered with sin. Uncovered at the end of his life. And because in his heart, beloved, his heart was not given to the worship of the true. His heart was given to the worship of the false. That in the heart of Solomon, like in the heart of every man. If we will not worship God's way. If we will not be awed by what that ark of mercy means in our life. Where true worship flows from that God. You will forgive if I have godly sorrow. If we will spurn that. Then beloved, if we in knowledge spurn it like Solomon. We will end up building temples to our rebellion and our pride and our stubbornness. Because in the heart it will worship. And if we are not found worshiping the true. If we will spurn that which we have been given. We will find ourselves like Solomon. And he built even idols, temples to idols and he worshipped there. The scripture says that as many wives turned his heart. The scripture says that he had 700 wives, 300 concubines. But beloved, I will tell you something. His problem was not a problem of lust. That was a branch. The root of his problem was a lack of intimacy with God. His problem was having known the truth. And the way to true worship that would subdue every other idol that wants to plant itself in his heart. There are other idols that want to plant themselves in our heart in the house of God. The scripture is clear when it says in Jeremiah. They set their abominations in the house which is called by my name to defile it. It's talking about a people that if we will not say God you lead me into worship. You lead me oh God let me be overawed by this arc of forgiveness. And if I will not worship at that and rise up forgiven and cleanse that I may go in your name and do what I never could do. If I will spurn that. It talks about a people that will set abominations in my house which is called by my name to defile it. That means in this temple and in this temple we will bring other idols in. And it will be set planted in our heart. And there will be a harvest. And Solomon because he was not brought to judgment and not brought therefore to mercy. Beloved he never knew the fellowship and the forgiveness. There was no worship in his life. This time God is looking for those that will worship him in spirit and in truth. We are called not just to believers but to be worshiping believers. We start by faith in the blood of Christ. We heard it this morning the faith that saves us is the faith that keeps us. And when we come to receive that forgiveness for our sin by the blood of Christ we keep coming and that's the basis of our worship. We are overawed by what we are offered in Christ. That we live forgiven lives, blessed lives when we walk in the mercy and the humility of what Christ has bought for us. We will become worshipers because we will be a clean and a free people because we keep coming to the judgment bar. We keep confessing our sin and we receive the mercy. And then this fear keeps us. Beloved this is the hour. Will we live as worshipers? Or will we be found like Solomon knowing the truth and building other temples in the house of God? We know too much beloved to go back. We have been given too much mercy. We need the humility to walk in it. And God will give it to us. As the musicians come God is speaking to many. That we don't realize what we've been worshiping. That we don't realize what has found its way in our hearts along with the worship. That we have not been appropriating. We have not been found regularly going to that park. We have not been living in the awe and the worship of it. We have not walked clean and free because we have not been going to it like we ought. We have not been willing to let everything in there be exposed as God wants to reveal it to us. We have said God I have a history with you. God is saying I want to do so much more through you but you must come my way. Those that the Lord has been speaking that Lord you want to make this a temple of worship and prayer. This heart, this mind, this spirit. Lord I want you to dig out every other idol. Everything else that my mind and heart has been set on. Those things that I've been battling. Beloved if you've been fighting the battle of your life God is saying I've brought this word as a judgment bar. Come to me. Come. I see it. Now you see it every time. Only know you will only know forgiveness. You will only know a covering for a child of God that will come and confess everything. Those that want to come. As they're playing you come. Before we leave this place. Those that have known there have been other buildings. There have been other idols there. Beloved we don't leave till we know with a heartfelt repentance there has been a heartfelt forgiveness. That there has been a heartfelt covering. That it is not imputed. That we're going to rise and worship in that incredible mercy. That we're going to worship because he's going to keep us by that mercy. That we're going to worship because we walk out of here a cleansed and forgiven people. And we can do what he's calling us to do in the strength and the glory of that covering of sin. That every time we need to a hundred times a day we come back because the righteous get mercy. The righteous get a covering every time. And the Bible says the godly know that. The godly know that. The godly pray that. The godly if they have to come a thousand times a day they don't come hanging their head. They come saying I need you Jesus and I come because it's my right. You paid for it. You gave it to me. You're my life. Worshipping you for the mercy in my life. That means I'm blessed. Will you come? This is the conclusion of the message.