Worship (Part 7)

Worship is not just singing. Worship is not just playing instruments. Worship is not just preaching the Word of God or just listening to it preached. Worship is not just giving your offerings to the Lord. Worship is not just praying or just communing with Him before His throne. Worship is not just fellowshipping with others. Worship is not just preaching the Gospel. Worship is not just reading the Bible. Worship is not just some church ritual or tradition. Worship is not just meditation.

Worship is not just one of those things; it is all of those things and much more. Worship is something we do with our life. Worship encompasses everything we do. Every minute of every day, we are worshpping. Someone has said, “The worship service is a rehearsal from the everyday life of worship. All of life should be worship. If the rehearsal is true worship in spirit and truth, life itself should be worship with the whole person – heart, soul, mind, and strength.”

In his book , John MacArthur writes, “Worship is the primary essential, and service is a wonderful and necessary corollary to it. Worship is central in the will of God – the great of all Christian experience. …Our definition of worship is enriched when we understand that true worship touches each area of life. We are to honor and adore God in everything.”

And everyone worships – something or someone. How we worship and who we worship implies what we think about God.

Read Psalm 150. Psalm 150 commands praise for God 13x in these 6 verses. And like the previous 4 psalms, it is part of the Great Hallel (Ps 146-150). It is a psalm that really summarizes well all we need to know about worship. It asks the “Who,” “What,” “When,” “Where” and “Why” type of questions.

Where Should Worship Happen? (v. 1)

In His House (vs. 1a) – “ …”

It’s not to say that we don’t worship elsewhere. God wants to see every home filled with worship; He wants to see every school hallway filled with worship; He wants to see every vehicle filled with worship; He wants to see every country filled with worship. But He especially loves to see worship occur when His people are gathered in His house. I would argue that is God’s “favorite” style of worship because that is the design of heaven.

In His Heavens (vs. 1b) – “… !”

Since His glory fills the heavens, our worship for Him should be no less. We should worship Him both in His house and in His heavens.

Both these locations might refer to both private and public or communal praise. In other words, corporate praise is what He received when we gather in His sanctuary and private praise is what He enjoys when we got out into the earth and look up to the heavens. No matter if you are an astronaut in outer space or lying in your bed (Ps 149:5) and no matter if you are with 1,000 other Christians or no other Christians, worship is to be present. That is there “where” of worship.

Why Should Worship Happen? (v. 2) – “!”

Praise Him for all he is and what He has done – “” and “.” It is as John MacArthur also wrote in his book on worship, “Worship involves all that is inside a person, all that is outside a person, and all that takes place within the corporate assembly of God’s people. …Worship is all that we are, reacting rightly to all that He is.”

Worship happens because of who God is. It occurs when we come to realize the kind of God that stands above us as our Creator. John Calvin calls us to worship God as well because of who he is: “If we would have our minds kindled, then, to engage in this religious service, let us meditate upon his power and greatness, which will speedily dispel all such insensibility. Though our minds can never take in this immensity, the mere taste of it will deeply affect us. And God will not reject such praises as we offer according to our capacity.”

Once we taste God, we won’t and can’t do anything but worship Him.You can tell a lot about someone who studies God and who loves His Word; they don’t know of any other way to respond to what they have learned of God but to worship Him.

How Can Worship Happen? (vs. 3–5) – “!”

You have all these instruments listed here: trumpets, lutes, harps, tambourines, strings, pipes and cymbals. Despite a few occasions, these instruments were used for times of high praise. All of these are instruments that could be played by the priests (the “”), the Levites (“,” “,” and “”) and the laypeople (“,” “” and the “.” In other words, the instruments were meant for every type of worshipper.

They are used to elevate the worshippers singing in the sanctuary and in private. And even when we get to heaven, instruments should be there as well.

C.S. Lewis describes this scene of praise in this fashion: “It has all the cheerful spontaneity of a natural, even a physical, desire. It is gay and jocund. They are glad and rejoice. Their fingers itch for the harp, for the lute and the harp – wake up, lute and harp!-; let’s have a song, bring the tambourine, bring the ‘merry harp with the lute,’ we’re going to sing merrily and make a cheerful noise. Noise, you may well say. Mere music is not enough. Let everyone, even the benighted gentiles, clap their hand. Let us have clashing cymbals, not only well tuned, but loud, and dances too.”

I will never understand churches that don’t believe in using instruments when they gather to sing. It is very clear that organized musical ministry in the context of public and private worship took place often in the Bible.

Making music is not the only way we worship but it certainly seems to be a primary way we praise God. I just finished re-reading a book called – written by Bob Kauflin, who is the director of Sovereign Grace Music and an Associate Pastor alongside of C.J. Mahaney. It is not a book that every layman in the church would enjoy unless you are interested in studying what comprises a biblical philosophy of music ministry and would like to know a little more about the unique challenges that music leaders have in churches. In one of his chapters he talks about how music equips the Christian to worship God and I want to share with you his 4 reasons why.

1. Music stirs up and expresses God-glorifying emotion. Singing is a primary form of expressing our deepest affections for God. This means that any musical praise that is half-hearted is an oxymoron – or worse – hypocritical. Kauflin helpfully distinguishes between emotionalism and emotions in our worship. He writes, “Some Christians express their emotions as they sing. They fear feeling anything too strongly and think maturity means holding back. But the problem is emotionalism, not emotions. Emotionalism pursues feelings as an end in themselves. It’s wanting to feel something with no regard for how that feeling is produced or its ultimate purpose. Emotionalism can also view heightened emotions as the infallible sign that God is present. In contrast, the emotions that singing is meant to evoke are a response to who God is and what He’s done. Vibrant singing enables us to combine truth about God seamlessly with passion for God. Doctrine and devotion. Mind and heart.”

2. Music helps us reflect the glory and activity of the triune God. Ever meditate on the reality that God sings too? The Son sang a hymn with His disciples on the eve of His death (Matt 26:30). The Spirit inspires songs in the hearts of believers (Eph 5:18-19). The Father rejoices over those who are also singing (Zeph 3:17). The Father sings, the Son sings and the Spirit sings.

3. Music helps us remember truth about God. In Deuteronomy 31:19-21, God commanded this: “.” Music has a way of helping us remember God and rehearse His workings.

4. Music helps us express our unity in the Gospel. When you look at examples of praise in the Scripture – especially the N.T. – it is often corporate and in the context of the body of Christ. He warns that “churches can potentially undermine this unity by offering different Sunday meetings based on musical preferences and styles. While it may mean numerical growth for the church in the short run, it also can separate families and tends to cultivate a consumer mind-set in the long run.”

Who Is To Make Worship Happen? (v. 6) – “!”

In his , John Calvin has written, “Among the many excellent gifts with which God has adorned the human race, it is a singular privilege that he deigns to consecrate himself the mouths and tongues of men in order that his voice may resound in them.”

Anything alive is called to worship God. The psalmist calls on all living creatures to praise the Lord – both mankind and animal life. It also reminds us that worship is to happen all the time – every time we breathe (I Cor 10:31).  If you’re breathing right now, you’re supposed to worship. This is why God is so offended by the ungodly because they refuse to worship Him.

We are never to make our life about ourselves. Don’t take God’s wondrous glory and trivialize it. Make your life about Him.

Source unknown

, pg. 16, 20.

, pg. unknown

Calvin, pg. 320

, pgs. 51-52

, pgs. 98-100

Ibid., pg. 99

Ibid., pg. 100

, 4.1.5.