Let's Learn to Worship

Isaiah 6:1‑8

In the year that King Uzziah died, I saw the Lord seated on a throne, high and exalted, and the train of his robe filled the temple. Above him were seraphs, each with six wings: With two wings they covered their faces, with two they covered their feet, and with two they were flying. And they were calling to one another:

“Holy, holy, holy is the LORD Almighty;

the whole earth is full of his glory.”

At the sound of their voices the doorposts and thresholds shook and the temple was filled with smoke.

“Woe to me!” I cried. “I am ruined! For I am a man of unclean lips, and I live among a people of unclean lips, and my eyes have seen the King, the LORD Almighty.”

Then one of the seraphs flew to me with a live coal in his hand, which he had taken with tongs from the altar. With it he touched my mouth and said, “See, this has touched your lips; your guilt is taken away and your sin atoned for.”

Then I heard the voice of the Lord saying, “Whom shall I send? And who will go for us?”

And I said, “Here am I. Send me!”

I

n a series of messages delivered in 1961 to the Associated Gospel Churches of Canada, A. W. Tozer provided a powerful appeal for Christians to worship God. In the final message that godly man described the factors present in worship. Those factors include boundless confidence, admiration, fascination, and adoration.[1] Worship is an experience, but it is so much more than an experience. In worship we meet the Living God in all His glory. One place where such worship is witnessed is a time when Isaiah received a call to service before God. Through study of that incident I would trust that we also might learn to worship.

If We Will Worship, God Must Be Present. Throughout the world of religion are incidents described when worshippers lose themselves in their worship. Mormon choirs are entranced and sing in unison in tongues. African shamans cause worshippers to fall down in a trance and speak in tongues. Those falling down claim to be refreshed and renewed, having met the gods. Even within Christendom are those who claim the necessity of losing control of their senses in order to truly worship. I suggest that the common factor in all these scenarios is that worshippers share an experience. However, sharing an experience does not mean that one has met the True and Living God.

Those who were confronted by the Living God, the preincarnate Christ (identified as the Angel of the Lord) or even by the Risen Son of God, were terrified and often fell to the ground. Consider but a few examples. Manoah and his wife fell prostrate before the preincarnate Christ when His glory was revealed to them, but they did not lose control of their senses. In fact, while Manoah was crying that they would die because they had seen God his wife was comforting him and acting rationally [see Judges 13:1-23].

Paul met the Risen Son of God while travelling to Damascus to persecute the saints in that city. Though he fell to the ground he yet conversed with this Risen Lord of Glory and obeyed when commanded to go into the city. Those travelling with him were speechless in their terror, but they were not in any way incapacitated [Acts 9:1-9].

When the Risen Christ appeared to His servant John in exile on Patmos, the aged saint fell at His feet as though dead until raised by the hand of Him who lives forever and ever [cf. Revelation 1:17, 18].

In our text Isaiah was terrified because he recognised the contrast presented by his life in comparison to the holiness of the Living God. What each of these incidents shares in common (and share in common with every other instance of divine encounter in the Word of God) is that those witnessing the glory of God were not out of their minds. They acted rationally and logically despite being terrified and appalled at their lack of righteousness. They acted as they did because God was present.

At the time Jacob stood up to Laban he accurately spoke of God as the Fear of Isaac [see Genesis 31:42]. Later he would take an oath in the name of the Fear of his father Isaac [Genesis 31:53]. This is an accurate name. You see God can only be described as Other. He is not like us. He is awesome in might and power; His majesty inspires deep awe. Who can stand before the glory of the Lord?

I seek not simply to state a condition for worship, though it should be apparent that we cannot worship if the One worshipped is not present, but I challenge you to consider those times you believe you have worshipped. Was God present? Did you know the fear of the Lord? Can you remember when you were compelled to confess the awesome presence of the Lord, as did Jacob? You will recall his words as he awakened from his dream, Surely the LORD is in this place. He was afraid! No wonder that he confessed, How awesome is this place! The presence of God has that effect on all mankind.

When the Lord is present, man does worship. Whether voluntarily or involuntarily, man worships whenever God reveals His presence. This is the foundation for that terrible prophecy given through Paul in his Philippian letter.

Your attitude should be the same as that of Christ Jesus:

Who, being in very nature God,

did not consider equality with God something to be grasped,

but made himself nothing,

taking the very nature of a servant,

being made in human likeness.

And being found in appearance as a man,

he humbled himself

and became obedient to death—

even death on a cross!

Therefore God exalted him to the highest place

and gave him the name that is above every name,

that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow,

in heaven and on earth and under the earth,

and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord,

to the glory of God the Father.

[Philippians 2:5-11]

There is a day coming when the dread of the Lord will be known. You may either bow the knee now, or you shall be compelled to bow the knee in that awful day when God reveals Himself to all mankind. Those who know God will now bow the knee and seek His face that they may worship Him. Isaiah saw that day when God shall reveal Himself and warned all mankind of what was coming.

The LORD Almighty has a day in store

for all the proud and lofty,

for all that is exalted

(and they will be humbled),

for all the cedars of Lebanon, tall and lofty,

and all the oaks of Bashan,

for all the towering mountains

and all the high hills,

for every lofty tower

and every fortified wall,

for every trading ship

and every stately vessel.

The arrogance of man will be brought low

and the pride of men humbled;

the LORD alone will be exalted in that day,

and the idols will totally disappear.

Men will flee to caves in the rocks

and to holes in the ground

from dread of the LORD

and the splendour of his majesty,

when he rises to shake the earth.

In that day men will throw away

to the rodents and bats

their idols of silver and idols of gold,

which they made to worship.

They will flee to caverns in the rocks

and to the overhanging crags

from dread of the LORD

and the splendour of his majesty,

when he rises to shake the earth.

[Isaiah 2:12-21]

Either we may learn to worship now while the gracious Lord of Glory invites us to come into His presence where we may adore Him, or we shall be compelled to fall down before Him, worshipping His terrible power on that frightful day when He shall come to judge all the ungodly of all the ungodly acts they have done in the ungodly way, and of all the harsh words ungodly sinners have spoken against Him [cf. Jude 15]. What should be apparent is that God Himself must be present if we will truly worship.

Isaiah saw the Lord seated on a throne, high and exalted. He saw the seraphs and heard their antiphonal song before the Lord God of Heaven and earth. The prophet of God saw the majesty of the Lord Almighty fill the temple. Should we wonder that Isaiah worshipped? Just so, when we know we are in the presence of the True and Living God, we also shall worship. Until He graces our effort with His presence we are merely going through rituals and attending to prescribed forms.

God will reveal Himself when we seek Him. This is the Word of the Lord through Jeremiah: You will call upon me and come and pray to me, and I will listen to you. You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart [Jeremiah 29:12, 13]. The manner in which we seek Him is through obedience to His commands, just as Jesus has said. Whoever has my commands and obeys them, he is the one who loves me. He who loves me will be loved by my Father, and I too will love him and show myself to him [John 14:21]. Also it seems apparent that God reveals Himself through His Word. The LORD continued to appear at Shiloh, and there he revealed himself to Samuel through his word [1 Samuel 3:21].

In practical terms this means that we must prepare ourselves to meet the Lord in worship. It means that before ever we arrive at the house of God we must ensure that we are obedient to that which He commands, beginning with first things such as salvation and submission to His command to be baptised. If there is any unconfessed sin, which we have refused to deal with before ever attempting to worship, we will find a nagging doubt plaguing our minds. Preparation for worship means that we have listened to the voice of the Lord through His Word throughout the week and that we have actively sought Him through calling on Him to reveal Himself as we meet.

I can only wonder what would happen if just a handful of saints committed themselves to spend the week in prayer for the presence of God. At least once each day those saints would ask of the Lord that He reveal Himself to His people as they gather to worship. As they prepare themselves for worship they would commit themselves to read the Word of God, listening for the voice of the Shepherd directing them each day. I have no doubt that when that people gathered on Sunday something unexplainable would happen—God would meet with His people.

We read of those times when the glory of the Lord filled the Temple and the priests could not enter because of His glory. Can you imagine what would happen if God should visit us on a Sunday and His glory so fill the building that we could not conduct business as usual? Instead, because of His presence we would be compelled to fall on our faces and worship. Outsiders walking past would find themselves strangely drawn to enter and entering into this building they would fall on their faces and confess that God is really among us [see 1 Corinthians 14:25].

This is not mere speculation, but it is a recitation of what could happen, and of what should happen, when the people of God prepare to worship. When God comes down among His people amazing things happen and no man can explain what He does. That is the great charge against the churches of this day—we can be explained. However, should God visit us, who could explain what happened? Should God visit His people, who could write that event off.

This is what could happen next Sunday morning and next Sunday evening if even a few of us committed ourselves to seeking His presence. If even a small group of us were to commit ourselves to obedience, to daily requests for His presence, and to reading His Word to hear His voice, our God would delight to visit us. May it be. Amen.

If We Will Worship, We Must See Ourselves as God Sees Us. Woe to me! cried Isaiah. I suggest that the language of worship has lost this verb woe. One would hear this verb often walking the halls of a Jewish school in New York City—y/a! We imagine that we can come into the presence of Holy God and there conduct our business as usual. Our God is a gracious and loving Father who delights to receive His children. He does hear our petitions—the requests which ascend before Him. However, the surest evidence that we have failed to worship is that we can no longer say Woe to me when in His presence.

Isaiah was humbled, even humiliated, at the thought that He was in the presence of God. Seeing God as God—high and exalted, holy and awesome—Isaiah realised that he was lowly and abased, unrighteous and unpretentious. Woe to me! I am ruined! For I am a man of unclean lips, and I live among a people of unclean lips, and my eyes have seen the King, the Lord Almighty. Who was this Isaiah? He was the prophet of God situated in the palace of the King. He survived four kings [see Isaiah 1:1] and is reputed to have been sawn in two because of his prophetic ministry under a fifth. He boldly confronted kings, both godly and less than godly, warning them of the wrath of Holy God. He truthfully declared the mind of God and called a wayward nation back to holiness. He was himself godly and righteous in all that we see of him. Yet, when found in the presence of the Living God he confessed that he was unclean and that he lived among an unclean people.

The tragedy of evangelical churches is that we think we live exemplary lives worthy of divine commendation. We Christians seek affirmation of our life and service when we come united each Sunday. We sing songs which exalt our feelings and which speak of our experiences. I challenge you to think. When did you last come to church and feel unclean? When did you last confess that you were unworthy to worship? I don’t mean to imply that you perhaps said something aloud which revealed your feeling of debasement, but I mean to challenge you to think when you last knew you were in the presence of the King and knew that you were unclean.

We call on a God who is utterly unlike us. We cannot describe Him, though we see the aspects of His Person which He is pleased to reveal to us. As we read those aspects—eternal, holy, mighty, omnipotent, omniscient, omnipresent—we are confused because we can only describe this God as Other. This is in the Fiftieth Psalm a disturbing challenge to the wicked—disturbing because I struggle to exclude myself from the challenge.

You thought I was altogether like you.

But I will rebuke you

and accuse you to your face.

[Psalm 50:21]

I confess that I grow contemplative whenever I read these words because the clear implication is that if I attempt to make God in my image I invite His direct rebuke. Clearly God invites me to worship. God indeed delights to answer prayer and delights to fellowship with those who seek Him. However, I must always bear in mind that He is God and I am His creature. He is holy and my holiness is that which is imputed by His grace. He is righteous and my righteousness is that which is extended me through His mercies. He is glorious and I can but reflect in a measure His glory. He is mighty and I have no power save for that which He confers. God is God.

Therefore, I must be careful not to think that I can create God in my image and according to my imaginations. This disparity between Creator and creature is the basis for the proscription against making any representation of God.

I am the LORD your God, who brought you out of Egypt, out of the land of slavery. You shall have no other gods before me.

You shall not make for yourself an idol in the form of anything in heaven above or on the earth beneath or in the waters below. You shall not bow down to them or worship them; for I, the LORD your God, am a jealous God, punishing the children for the sin of the fathers to the third and fourth generation of those who hate me, but showing love to a thousand generations of those who love me and keep my commandments [Exodus 20:2-6].

Whilst few of us feel compelled to craft an idol out of clay or wood or even to attempt to paint a portrait of God, we are tempted to imagine what God is like. Thus we are not threatened by the god we think we worship because he demands little of us and would never think of disciplining us even for our own good.

However, when Isaiah worshipped, the God he saw was Other. Because He was high Isaiah knew he was abased. Because this God was exalted Isaiah knew he was humbled. Because this God was holy Isaiah knew he was unclean. Not only was the God whom Isaiah saw high and exalted and holy, but He was powerful and capable of imposing His sovereign will on Isaiah.

I am not being crass when I warn that you shall never worship until you see the awful contrast between God and yourself. I am not suggesting that you engage in some artificial effort to abase yourself, but I am stating clearly that as you seek the presence of God you will discover His glory and His majesty and His awesome presence and you will be horrified at who you are. You cannot worship Him, rejoicing in His grace and in His mercy until you realise what an awful sinner you are except for His glorious redemption.

If we will Worship, We Must Hear the Voice of the Lord. Notice that eighth verse: Whom shall I send? And who will go for Us? When Isaiah responded he again heard the voice of the Lord saying, Go! Just so, if we will worship we must hear the voice of God. God does speak, and it is the responsibility of those who will worship to hear His voice.

What must be our condition when we read the Word and yet fail to hear the clarion voice of the One who gave that Word? The preacher who reads the Word of God only to discover a text and never hears the voice of the Great Shepherd has no message for the flock of God. The Christian who reads only to fulfil a duty, never hearing the voice of God directing his steps saying This is the way, walk in it [see Isaiah 30:21], is impoverished beyond measure. We read the Word expecting to hear the voice of God. When we have heard His voice we will worship, for then we shall respond with submitted heart and willing soul.

Just so, when we unite with the people of God two great activities should occupy our time. We should hear the Word of God read in our presence and we should hear the Word of God proclaimed before us. Surely this is the meaning of Paul’s instruction given in 1 Timothy 4:13. Devote yourself to the public reading of Scripture, to preaching and to teaching. Those who read the Scriptures are to prepare themselves to read aloud, and those who dare to proclaim the mind of God are required to prepare themselves to herald that Word.

We worship when God is present, when we see ourselves as God sees us, when we hear the voice of God. It all seems so simple and yet most of us must confess that this business of worship is elusive and effervescent. We want to experience God’s presence, we long to know that we are accepted before Him and to know that we have been with Him. What can be done to prepare us for such worship?

God is ever present. We do not bring Him near nor do we drive Him from His holy people. However, God reveals Himself to whom He wills. Our sins come between us and the Living God and ensure that we do not see Him in His unveiled glory. Perhaps you recall the rebuke which God delivered to His ancient people in Isaiah 59:1, 2.

Surely the arm of the LORD is not too short to save,

nor his ear too dull to hear.

But your iniquities have separated

you from your God;

your sins have hidden his face from you,

so that he will not hear.

When Moses asked to see God he was reminded that no one may can see the face of the Living God and live [Exodus 33:20]. Moses could, however, see the glory of the Lord—and he did see God’s glory. If we ask, will not God show us His glory? Of course God delights to reveal His glory to those who ask. Recall the high priestly prayer Jesus presented before the Father and you will recall that final request He made. Father, I want those you have given me to be with me where I am, and to see my glory, the glory you have given me because you loved me before the creation of the world [John 17:24].

When did we last ask, either as a people or as individuals, to see the glory of the Lord? Can you remember the last time you heard someone ask that God would reveal His glory in the midst of His people? Jesus has promised to show us His divine glory. What would happen if we were to covenant together to ask that God reveal His glory among us as we unite for worship on the coming Sunday? I cannot help but believe that God would honour the request of His people and reveal His presence among us. We would marvel at His glorious presence, not because it was seen among us, but because we had not witnessed it before this time. Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us, to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, for ever and ever! Amen [Ephesians 3:20, 21].

We can prepare ourselves to confess the disparity between our own lives and that glory of God for which we long through reading His Word and seeing the beauty He has revealed in that Word. We can prepare our own hearts to discover the beauty of the Holy One in our midst, but we must be ready to witness our own vile character. As we confess the grace of Christ, as we testify to the goodness of God, as we worship before the Lord of Glory, we will be compelled to admit our own fallen nature and rejoice that we are redeemed by His grace. All that we are is evidence of His grace and of His goodness.

Above all else, let the people of God listen for the voice of the Risen Son of God speaking through His Word and quietly directing as they meditate on His Word and they will prepare for worship. If young Samuel could be trained to respond to the voice of the Lord, saying Speak, Lord, for your servant is listening [cf. 1 Samuel 3:9, 10], how much more can we learn to invite Him to speak to us through His Word and in the church!

In a final service to worship with you I long to see the glory of God revealed. I long to worship … truly worship. I invite you, as individuals and as a community of Faith, to seek the Lord even this week. As the week progresses I ask that we unite in prayer asking that we may hear the voice of God. I ask that we may seek to discover His might and majesty, His glory and His grace, that we may exalt Him through seeing the awesome wonder of His love for us. I ask that we may seek Him through asking that He reveal Himself in our presence as we gather this coming week.

Why should we wait even that long? Why wouldn’t we long to have Him reveal Himself to us in our families, disclose His presence in our homes, demonstrate His love in our lives? I know that you will take to heart the admonition to seek Him, that you will take seriously the call to lose yourself in the wonder of His glory, that you will make every effort to hear His voice as you read His Word throughout the coming week. As you prepare your heart for worship, and as together we endeavour to prepare the church for worship, I am confident that we will worship. Amen.

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[1] A. W. Tozer, Worship: The Missing Jewel of the Evangelical Church (Christian Publications, Inc., Harrisburg, PA, n.d.) pp. 25-28