When we ask the question, “Why do we Worship?” we are asking “Why were we created?”
Scripture teaches us that worship is divine calling grounded in redemption. AW Tozer once said, “Worship is the missing jewel of the modern church.” If worship is necessary, then we need to know why God created us for worship, and how He has directed us in it.
“The Essence of Worship is the soul’s full surrender to the glory of God.” – AW Tozer
Created to Worship
Stephen Charnock gave insight to this thought in his work on God’s Glory, “Man’s chief end is not happiness but holiness, worship being the expression of both.”
Psalm 95 gives us a magnificent call to worship the Lord.
Oh come, let us sing to the Lord; let us make a joyful noise to the rock of our salvation! 2 Let us come into his presence with thanksgiving; let us make a joyful noise to him with songs of praise! 3 For the Lord is a great God, and a great King above all gods. 4 In his hand are the depths of the earth; the heights of the mountains are his also. 5 The sea is his, for he made it, and his hands formed the dry land. 6 Oh come, let us worship and bow down; let us kneel before the Lord, our Maker! 7 For he is our God, and we are the people of his pasture, and the sheep of his hand.
Today, if you hear his voice, 8 do not harden your hearts, as at Meribah, as on the day at Massah in the wilderness, 9 when your fathers put me to the test and put me to the proof, though they had seen my work. 10 For forty years I loathed that generation and said, “They are a people who go astray in their heart, and they have not known my ways.” 11 Therefore I swore in my wrath, “They shall not enter my rest.”
The fall and sin did not cause us to lose our desire to worship, but it did redirect it. Paul picks up on this thought in his letter to the Romans in chapter 1:
18 For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who by their unrighteousness suppress the truth. 19 For what can be known about God is plain to them, because God has shown it to them. 20 For his invisible attributes, namely, his eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly perceived, ever since the creation of the world,in the things that have been made. So they are without excuse. 21 For although they knew God, they did not honor him as God or give thanks to him, but they became futile in their thinking, and their foolish hearts were darkened. 22 Claiming to be wise, they became fools, 23 and exchanged the glory of the immortal God for images resembling mortal man and birds and animals and creeping things.
24 Therefore God gave them up in the lusts of their hearts to impurity, to the dishonoring of their bodies among themselves, 25 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.
Paul Tripp wrote, “You don’t have a worship problem, you have a worship direction problem.”
We are called to worship, desire to worship and offer worship. The question then becomes, who or what do you worship?
Worship for God’s Glory
Worship is God-centric, not man centric. We tend to define worship as we “feel” like worshipping, or it was good worship because of how it makes us feel. God is worthy of worship all the time. If we are not guarded, we can make worship man-centric and lean to our own preferences, rather than offering worship to God in spirit and truth.
This is why redemption plays a role in worship. Salvation through Jesus Christ creates a God-centered desire for worship. The gospel does not just provide “fire-insurance” that gives us a “get out of Hell” free card. It restore us to right communion with God, and the fruit of that is worship. We have joy in worship, we have reverence to the God we worship, and we bring God glory when we worship him rightly.
“If God were small enough to be explained, He would not be big enough to be worshipped.” – Adrian Rogers
How We Worship – Does it Matter?
Returning to Charnock, he once wrote about acceptable worship in light of God, His Will, and His revealed word to us. “To worship God in a way he has not appointed is to dishonor Him, even if the intentions are sincere.”
True worship flows from God’s Word. God is glorified when we offer worship His way, rather than our own.
Christ himself tells us that the hour has come that we worship God in “Spirit and Truth” in John’s Gospel:
“but the hour is coming, and is now here, when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth, for the Father is seeking such people to worship him. 24 God is spirit, and those who worship him must worship in spirit and truth.” 25 The woman said to him, “I know that Messiah is coming (he who is called Christ). When he comes, he will tell us all things.” 26 Jesus said to her, “I who speak to you am he.”
What does worshipping in spirit and truth look like? Corporately, that means when we gather, we adhere to Scripture’s teachings about worship. The Word will be central in all we do, Christ will be magnified, and our hearts will have a joy filled awe and reverence for our Sovereign King. The Spirit will make application as only the Spirit can. We will be stirred by truth. God’s truth that flows from a regenerated heart, transformed by and made alive by the Spirit, will lead to true worship. We will not perform, we will praise. We praise God’s revelation to us in His Son Jesus. In our communion with God, worship will be rooted in God’s very Word in concert with the spirit. These are not fading emotions, or cold traditions. Worship will be the whole response of the Christian to glorify the name of the Lord.
Redeemed, We’re Rehearsing
Our corporate gatherings are a rehearsal for eternity. Our worship here on earth joins the choir around the Throne in praising God. When we sing, pray, read from God’s Word, hear the Gospel proclaimed and participate in the ordinances given by Christ himself – we are showcasing God’s glory now and in eternity.
“Heaven is a prepared place for a prepared people – and they are a worshipping people.” – Adrian Rogers
Why Worship? – He is Worthy
If you find yourself asking this day, why worship today?
- Worship because you were made to do so.
- Worship because God is worthy and stands alone to be worshipped.
- Worship because of redemption made possible through Jesus Christ our Lord.
- Worship because God’s Word instructs us in worship and shows us the God is holy and good.
Are you interested in learning more about worship? Check out these resources that will be a blessing:
Wonder and Worship – Adrian Rogers
Worship: The Reason We Were Created – AW Tozer
Worship: The Regulative Principle and the Biblical Principle of Worship – Founders Press