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What do we mean when we talk about worship? We call our Sunday meeting a “Worship Service.” Does worship refer to the part of the service that comes before the preaching, or the preaching, or both? Is it a feeling of being close to God? Does your mental image of worship gravitate toward the gathering of the church or to a solitary experience? Do you think of stained glass windows, family devotions, or your own personal prayer closet?
Take 30 seconds to write down the first ten words or phrases that come to your mind when you think of worship. Here are some of mine.
Now consider various scenes of worship that have left an impression on you. These scenes could come from the Old Testament or New; from history or from your own life.
Just this morning, in my Bible reading plan, I came across a powerful scene of worship in 2 Chronicles 20. It’s just dropped into the narrative of the various Kings of Israel and Judah. A huge army is gathering to attack God’s people. Listen to what happens next:
2 Chronicles 20:3–4 (ESV) — Then Jehoshaphat was afraid and set his face to seek the LORD, and proclaimed a fast throughout all Judah. And Judah assembled to seek help from the LORD; from all the cities of Judah they came to seek the LORD.
Then we are taken to the scene itself. Jehoshaphat stood among the assembly in the house of the LORD and prayed publicly before all the people asking for God’s help. I love the end of his prayer.
2 Chronicles 20:12 (ESV) — O our God, will you not execute judgment on them? For we are powerless against this great horde that is coming against us. We do not know what to do, but our eyes are on you.”
As the assembly stood before the Lord (with their little ones, wives, and children) God’s Spirit spoke to a prophet who spoke a message of hope and deliverance to the people. Then Jehoshaphat and all the people bowed down before the Lord.
They arose the next day to go to battle to witness the Lord’s deliverance for his people.
2 Chronicles 20:21–22 (ESV) — And when he had taken counsel with the people, he appointed those who were to sing to the LORD and praise him in holy attire, as they went before the army, and say, “Give thanks to the LORD, for his steadfast love endures forever.” And when they began to sing and praise, the LORD set an ambush against the men of Ammon, Moab, and Mount Seir, who had come against Judah, so that they were routed.
What a scene of God’s faithfulness, power, and deliverance. What a picture of man’s dependance, prayer, faith, praise, and thanksgiving.
Our second scene of worship comes hundreds of years later as God’s people are returning to the Promised Land after God’s judgment had sent them out of the Land. As they return, they find the book of God’s Law.
Nehemiah 8:1–3 (ESV) — And all the people gathered as one man into the square before the Water Gate. And they told Ezra the scribe to bring the Book of the Law of Moses that the LORD had commanded Israel. So Ezra the priest brought the Law before the assembly, both men and women and all who could understand what they heard, on the first day of the seventh month. And he read from it facing the square before the Water Gate from early morning until midday, in the presence of the men and the women and those who could understand. And the ears of all the people were attentive to the Book of the Law.
Here, we don’t read of any singing or instruments—just respect, humility, and reverence at hearing the Word of God.
Nehemiah 8:5–6 (ESV) — And Ezra opened the book in the sight of all the people, for he was above all the people, and as he opened it all the people stood. And Ezra blessed the LORD, the great God, and all the people answered, “Amen, Amen,” lifting up their hands. And they bowed their heads and worshiped the LORD with their faces to the ground.
The people were so hungry for the Word of God that they stood for hours just to hear it read and explained. Following this scene of worship, God’s people obeyed what they heard from the Word. They celebrated the Feast of Booths, and then confessed their sins before the Lord.
We could mention so many others from the Old Testament.
What scene would you pick from the New Testament?
Revelation 7:9–12 (ESV) — After this I looked, and behold, a great multitude that no one could number, from every nation, from all tribes and peoples and languages, standing before the throne and before the Lamb, clothed in white robes, with palm branches in their hands, and crying out with a loud voice, “Salvation belongs to our God who sits on the throne, and to the Lamb!” And all the angels were standing around the throne and around the elders and the four living creatures, and they fell on their faces before the throne and worshiped God, saying, “Amen! Blessing and glory and wisdom and thanksgiving and honor and power and might be to our God forever and ever! Amen.”
In that short survey, we saw worship taking place…
Could you add some impactful worship scenes from your own Christian journey? I would imagine these scenes are quite varied. Here are a few of mine:
Why take the time to recite all of those scenes of worship as we begin our series together? We need to be reminded that worship is not limited to the Sunday morning calendar event called “Worship Service.” On the flip side, worship is not just an attitude or atmosphere. Worship is man’s proper response to the self-revelation of God to us.
Wayne Grudem
Worship is the activity of glorifying God in his presence with our voices and hearts.
— Wayne Grudem, Systematic Theology, Second Edition, p. 1236.
Bob Kauflin
Christian worship is the response of God’s redeemed people to His self-revelation that exalts God’s glory in Christ in our minds, affections, and wills, in the power of the Holy Spirit.
— Bob Kauflin, Worship Matters Blog, https://worshipmatters.com/2005/11/07/defining-worship-part-2/
Donald Whitney
Worship is focusing on and responding to God.
— Donald Whitney, Spiritual Disciplines for the Christian Life, p. 104.
D. A. Carson
Worship is the proper response of all moral, sentient beings to God, ascribing all honor and worth to their Creator-God precisely because he is worthy, delightfully so.
— D. A. Carson, Worship By the Book, p. 26.
John Calvin
And here let us engrave the useful lesson upon our hearts, that we should consider it the great end of our existence to be found numbered amongst the worshippers of God.
— John Calvin and James Anderson, Commentary on the Book of Psalms, 318.
Harold Best
In the most basic terms, worship consists of someone acknowledging that someone or something else is greater—worth more—and, by consequence, to be obeyed, feared, and adored.
— Harold Best, Music Through the Eyes of Faith, p. 143.
Not all forms of worship are equal.
In America, we are grateful for the First Amendment which recognizes the freedom to practice our religion of choice.
Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances.
Though we defend and appreciate this freedom, this does not mean that all worship is pleasing to God. It is a recognition that everyone worships something. A survey of human history shows that man always finds something or someone to worship. The conclusion of this survey need not be that all religions are equal or that all worship is the same, but simply that man was created to be a worshiper.
One of the most prominent storylines of the Bible is man’s tendency to worship the wrong things.
Worship in the wrong direction is called idolatry.
— Bob Kauflin, True Worshipers, p. 50.
The question we need to ask is, “what is acceptable worship to God?”
If we were inventing our own criteria to determine what comprised acceptable worship, what would we come up with?
1 Kings 18:26–29 (ESV) — And they took the bull that was given them, and they prepared it and called upon the name of Baal from morning until noon, saying, “O Baal, answer us!” But there was no voice, and no one answered. And they limped around the altar that they had made. And at noon Elijah mocked them, saying, “Cry aloud, for he is a god. Either he is musing, or he is relieving himself, or he is on a journey, or perhaps he is asleep and must be awakened.” And they cried aloud and cut themselves after their custom with swords and lances, until the blood gushed out upon them. And as midday passed, they raved on until the time of the offering of the oblation, but there was no voice. No one answered; no one paid attention.
What was wrong with this worship? The worshipers were very fervent. They were offering sacrifices. They called on the object of their worship. They were clearly fervently devoted and persistent.
Something important was missing.
To consider this question of acceptable worship, let’s turn to Hebrews 12 for some clues.
Hebrews 12:28–29 (ESV) — Therefore let us be grateful for receiving a kingdom that cannot be shaken, and thus let us offer to God acceptable worship, with reverence and awe, for our God is a consuming fire.
This text doesn’t tell us everything we want to know about what makes worship acceptable, but we can learn a lot.
We have received something, and we respond. There is a lot wrapped up in “receiving a kingdom that cannot be shaken” which we won’t go into tonight. But, basically, we can only worship rightly because God has revealed himself and his word to us. Our worship is a response to that revelation, not our own ideas. Because God has spoken to us, we can speak back to God in worship.
There are two statements in our text specifically that address the object of our worship.
Hebrews 12:28–29 (ESV) — …let us offer to God acceptable worship, with reverence and awe, for our God is a consuming fire.
It seems like a small detail, but it’s not. WE must offer our worship to God.
We have already glimpsed a worship scene from heaven. Let’s look at another.
The apostle John had just seen a vision of the Marriage Supper of the Lamb.
Revelation 19:9–10 (ESV) — And the angel said to me, “Write this: Blessed are those who are invited to the marriage supper of the Lamb.” And he said to me, “These are the true words of God.” Then I fell down at his feet to worship him, but he said to me, “You must not do that! I am a fellow servant with you and your brothers who hold to the testimony of Jesus. Worship God.” For the testimony of Jesus is the spirit of prophecy.
John is witnessing amazing visions. I can’t imagine the glory, the regality, the splendor. It was so powerful that John fell down to worship the Angel, and received a stern rebuke for his troubles. There is an urgency in the Angels rebuke: “You must not do that!... Worship God!
We see the same clarity when Jesus is tempted in the wilderness.
Matthew 4:9–10 (ESV) — And he said to him, “All these I will give you, if you will fall down and worship me.” Then Jesus said to him, “Be gone, Satan! For it is written, “ ‘You shall worship the Lord your God and him only shall you serve.’ ”
Jesus is quoting scripture in the midst of temptation, hearkening back to the Ten Commandments themselves.
We have already considered the reality of Idolatry—worshiping in the wrong direction. Paul writes about this in Romans 1.
Romans 1:24–25 (ESV) — Therefore God gave them up in the lusts of their hearts to impurity, to the dishonoring of their bodies among themselves, because they exchanged the truth about God for a lie and worshiped and served the creature rather than the Creator, who is blessed forever! Amen.
If our worship is only acceptable if it has the right object (the True and Living God), then our accurate knowledge of God becomes significant.
Thought we may not set out to worship idols directly, we are all tempted to worship God as we want him to be instead of how he is.
Perhaps you can imagine worshiping a “God of love.” But can you worship a God who describes himself as “a consuming fire?”
Someone said, “God made man in his own image, and man returned the favor.”
We must not direct our worship to God as we wish him to be, but as he has revealed himself.
This means studying theology, specifically the study of the nature of God is so important.
Where do we start?
What has God done?
What is God like?
Don’t fall for the common misunderstanding that the God of the Old Testament is different from the God of the New. God doesn’t change.
God has been holy and merciful from the beginning.
Exodus 34:6–7 (ESV) — The LORD passed before him and proclaimed, “The LORD, the LORD, a God merciful and gracious, slow to anger, and abounding in steadfast love and faithfulness, keeping steadfast love for thousands, forgiving iniquity and transgression and sin, but who will by no means clear the guilty, visiting the iniquity of the fathers on the children and the children’s children, to the third and the fourth generation.”
Don’t forget the Gospels and the incarnation in your study of who God is?
From our sermon last Sunday, consider this response of the disciples.
Matthew 14:32–33 (ESV) — And when they got into the boat, the wind ceased. And those in the boat worshiped him, saying, “Truly you are the Son of God.”
One of the primary attributes of God referenced throughout the Bible for our worship of him is his Steadfast Love (hesed)—his covenant faithfulness.
Psalm 92:1–4 (ESV) — It is good to give thanks to the LORD, to sing praises to your name, O Most High; to declare your steadfast love in the morning, and your faithfulness by night, to the music of the lute and the harp, to the melody of the lyre. For you, O LORD, have made me glad by your work; at the works of your hands I sing for joy.
For our worship to be acceptable, we must worship the God who is!
We were getting at the right actions with our verbs at the beginning of our teaching tonight. For a good sample of our worship actions, pay attention in the Book of Psalms. Particularly, you could focus on Psalms 92-100 and underline or highlight all of the worship action words.
Two of the most used words for worship in the OT and NT capture the idea of bowing down and serving.
Exodus 20:5 (ESV) — You shall not bow down to them or serve them, for I the LORD your God am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers on the children to the third and fourth generation of those who hate me,
Bowing down captures the lowering of oneself and exalting of another. We bow down to acknowledge the greatness of another.
Serving captures the obedience and devotion of life given to another.
Though these also point toward the right heart, don’t miss that they are also actions.
As you read through the Psalms mentioned above, a good check would be to consider whether or not you actually are doing those actions in worship.
There is another aspect to the right actions of worship, which we won’t spend time on tonight. That is—what are we told to do in our corporate gatherings as expressions of worship. Do we get to do whatever we want in the worship of God, or has he told us what we are to do.
If you’ve ever read through Exodus and Leviticus, you know that God can be very specific about how he is to be worshiped in the assembly of God’s people? Remember Uzzah (2 Sam 6:3-8)? When moving Ark of the Covenant, he reached out to steady Ark on the cart (not God’s way of transporting the Ark), and God killed him for it. God’s way matters.
There are certainly changes in the New Testament regarding the liturgy and place of worship. But, this does not mean everything goes. Philip, Mike, and Daniel will be teaching more on these topics in the coming weeks. Philip will highlight the actions of our worship “every day” and on the Lord’s Day. Mike will teach in a few weeks from John 4, and Daniel will teach specifically about the Regulative Principle answering the question about what we are to do in corporate worship.
We’ve considered the importance of the right object and the right actions in worship. now let’s consider the importance of having the right heart.
This is familiar territory, but it’s good to be reminded that acceptable worship is not just about having the right sayings or actions. It’s not simply about doing the right religious activities or following a religious formula.
The Pharisees of the New Testament era were very scrupulous about doing “the right things.” Yet, their worship was not acceptable to God.
Mark 7:6–7 (ESV) — And he said to them, “Well did Isaiah prophesy of you hypocrites, as it is written, “ ‘This people honors me with their lips, but their heart is far from me; in vain do they worship me, teaching as doctrines the commandments of men.’
This is a scathing rebuke: they honor me with their lips, but their heart is far from me.
What do we mean by “right heart?” We don’t meant that our heart must be totally pure, or else none of our worship would be acceptable.
One of the favorite phrases I’ve encountered recently in my Bible reading has been in Kings and Chronicles. The Kings either did or didn’t— “set his heart to fear the Lord his God.”
We come to God in “reverence and awe” we know our place before him (we are bowed down and serving him).
We don’t worship to earn God’s approval.
Gospel — who can ascend to the hill of the Lord
Psalm 24:3–4 (ESV) — Who shall ascend the hill of the LORD? And who shall stand in his holy place? He who has clean hands and a pure heart, who does not lift up his soul to what is false and does not swear deceitfully.
Hebrews 13:15 (ESV) — Through him then let us continually offer up a sacrifice of praise to God, that is, the fruit of lips that acknowledge his name.
Psalm 34:1–3 (ESV) — I will bless the LORD at all times; his praise shall continually be in my mouth. My soul makes its boast in the LORD; let the humble hear and be glad. Oh, magnify the LORD with me, and let us exalt his name together!
What’s coming Next:
Here are some other recent messages.
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