I'm Coming Back to the Heart of Worship

Worship in the Life of the Church

What is Worship?

-Recognizing God for His attributes and showing our selfless devotion to His Being. We do this by way of expressing the following:

a. Adoration

Nehemiah 9:4–15 “On the stairs of the Levites stood Jeshua, Bani, Kadmiel, Shebaniah, Bunni, Sherebiah, Bani, and Chenani; and they cried with a loud voice to the Lord their God. Then the Levites, Jeshua, Kadmiel, Bani, Hashabneiah, Sherebiah, Hodiah, Shebaniah, and Pethahiah, said, “Stand up and bless the Lord your God from everlasting to everlasting. Blessed be your glorious name, which is exalted above all blessing and praise. “You are the Lord, you alone. You have made heaven, the heaven of heavens, with all their host, the earth and all that is on it, the seas and all that is in them; and you preserve all of them; and the host of heaven worships you.

1 Ki 8:54 Now as Solomon finished offering all this prayer and plea to the Lord, he arose from before the altar of the Lord, where he had knelt with hands outstretched toward heaven.

1 Ki 19:18 Yet I will leave seven thousand in Israel, all the knees that have not bowed to Baal, and every mouth that has not kissed him.” Ezr 9:5 And at the evening sacrifice I rose from my fasting, with my garment and my cloak torn, and fell upon my knees and spread out my hands to the Lord my God, Job 31:26–28 if I have looked at the sun when it shone, or the moon moving in splendor, and my heart has been secretly enticed, and my mouth has kissed my hand, this also would be an iniquity to be punished by the judges, for I would have been false to God above. Ho 13:2 And now they sin more and more, and make for themselves metal images, idols skillfully made of their silver, all of them the work of craftsmen. It is said of them, “Those who offer human sacrifice kiss calves!”

1 Samuel 15:22–31 “And Samuel said, “Has the Lord as great delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices, as in obeying the voice of the Lord? Behold, to obey is better than sacrifice, and to listen than the fat of rams. For rebellion is as the sin of divination, and presumption is as iniquity and idolatry. Because you have rejected the word of the Lord, he has also rejected you from being king.” Saul said to Samuel, “I have sinned, for I have transgressed the commandment of the Lord and your words, because I feared the people and obeyed their voice. Now therefore, please pardon my sin and return with me that I may bow before the Lord.” And Samuel said to Saul, “I will not return with you. For you have rejected the word of the Lord, and the Lord has rejected you from being king over Israel.” As Samuel turned to go away, Saul seized the skirt of his robe, and it tore. And Samuel said to him, “The Lord has torn the kingdom of Israel from you this day and has given it to a neighbor of yours, who is better than …”

b. Praise

c. Gratitude (Thanksgiving)

d. Service (Ministry)

e. Holy Living (Obedient to the Word of God by observing the law)

-selfless does not mean that we can diminish or reduce ourselves yet take control of our lives by our own might

-selfless means that you put God above yourself and allow Him to be the Lord over your life.

God places His reverence upon our hearts

simply put it God (infinity) = (INFINITE) Man (finite) = ZERO (NOTHING)

man(finite) God (infinite)

A. ADORATION

Before we define what is worship, we need to sort out who we worship.

Psalm 150:1 (ESV) Praise the Lord! Praise God in his sanctuary; praise him in his mighty heavens!

Lord God is the object of worship.

The root of the word worship goes back to an English word meaning “worth.” Webster defined worship as “courtesy or reverence that is paid to worth.” We can see the carryover of this English word in our courts today. When a judge is addressed in England, they are given an honorific of “your worship”. Also, any magistrates are given that honorific as well like a mayor or a governor in England. However, this term for judge has almost phased out and “your honour” is used in its place. The intent is to show courtesy to someone who represents the law – courtesy or reverence that is paid to that of worth. That is what worship is. It is courtesy or reverence that is paid to worth. Listen to the psalmist as he does this very thing in Psalm 96, the great singing psalm that shall be used in the eternal ages which lie before us.

It reads: Psalm 96:4–8 “For great is the Lord, and greatly to be praised; he is to be feared above all gods. For all the gods of the peoples are worthless idols, but the Lord made the heavens. Splendor and majesty are before him; strength and beauty are in his sanctuary. Ascribe to the Lord, O families of the peoples, ascribe to the Lord glory and strength! Ascribe to the Lord the glory due his name; bring an offering, and come into his courts!”

This Psalms was composed by King David when the Ark of the Covenant was brought into the temple in Mt. Zion. His joy and his adoration overflowed and gave a great unspeakable adoration for His worth in this Psalm of worship. In the Ark of the covenant, The true essence of God was written on the stone tablet that read in the first two commandments of the 10 commandments given to Israel at Mt. Sinai.

First is, “Thou shall not have any other gods before me.” God commanded that there is no other who is to be worshipped as He proclaimed His name as a command to Israel.

Second, “Thou shall not make unto you any graven image, or any likeness,” or any idol that represents deity at all. In other words, you shall not make any images for your to worship.

God alone is worthy to receive our very act of worship because He is worthy. Because he is holy, holy, holy Isaiah 6:3 “And one called to another and said: “Holy, holy, holy is the Lord of hosts; the whole earth is full of his glory!””

God is the object of worship but many have objections to the object of worship, God. God created the universe and everything in it including mankind for the purpose to have fellowship with and to be praised by his creation. There is no other purpose for man’s existence. In our Catechism, the very first question asks, “What is the chief end of man?” The answer is, “The chief end is to glorify God and enjoy Him forever.” To this end, we are created for one purpose and one purpose only and that is to worship God for His glory and His glory alone.

I heard a man wanting to change his church the other day because he was not getting out of his church attendance at his current church. God created the universe all things in it that it might glorify Him. We were not created and brought to existence for our own sake. Job 38:7 said “when the morning stars sang together and all the sons of God shouted for joy?” they were glorifying God.

When we worship, we worship in Spirit and in Truth John 4:24 “God is spirit, and those who worship him must worship in spirit and truth.”” In other words, you must worship in the trinity of God the Father, Son and the Holy Spirit.

REFLECTION OF OUR ATTITUDE TOWARDS GOD IN WORSHIP:

When we come into worship, what is our mindset? One that is full of God and God alone to give Him all the glory for He is worthy to be glorified and adored

Do we prepare our hearts to participate in the very act of worshipping and honoring God who is Holy, Holy, Holy?

When we enter into the sanctuary, what kind of heart do we bring to worship God?

B. PRAISE

Romans 12:1 “I appeal to you therefore, brothers, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship.”

2. Where Can we Find Worship in the Scripture?

3. Why Do We Worship?

Personal worship

What is worship and components of it

Personal worship requires

2 And again, she bore his brother Abel. Now Abel was a keeper of sheep, and Cain a worker of the ground. 3 In the course of time Cain brought to the Lord an offering of the fruit of the ground, 4 and Abel also brought of the firstborn of his flock and of their fat portions. And the Lord had regard for Abel and his offering, 5 but for Cain and his offering he had no regard. So Cain was very angry, and his face fell. 6 The Lord said to Cain, “Why are you angry, and why has your face fallen? [1]7 If you do well, will you not be accepted? And if you do not do well, sin is crouching at the door. Its desire is contrary to you, but you must rule over it.” [2]

Has the Lord as great delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices,

as in obeying the voice of the Lord?

Behold, to obey is better than sacrifice,

and to listen than the fat of rams.

23 For rebellion is as the sin of divination,

and presumption is as iniquity and idolatry.

Because you have rejected the word of the Lord,

he has also rejected you from being king.” [3]

We try so hard to do the will of the Father but what God requires is not our sacrifice or service unto the Lord but simple obedience to the Word of God. We can run around doing things for God and as we do them, we think that we are doing it for the glory of God yet we never stop and question ourselves and ask, “Am I glorifying God by becoming obedient to God

[1] The Holy Bible: English Standard Version (Wheaton, IL: Crossway Bibles, 2016), Ge 4:6. [2] The Holy Bible: English Standard Version (Wheaton, IL: Crossway Bibles, 2016), Ge 4:7. [3] The Holy Bible: English Standard Version (Wheaton, IL: Crossway Bibles, 2016), 1 Sa 15:22–23.